For a cause : Aid the famine hit East Africa

Everyone is in a hurry, but did we stumble upon the news today to see East Africa’s despair? Husein Momin, a 3-years-old malnourished child from southern Somalia sit on bed at Banadir hospital, Mogadishu, Somalia, Tuesday, July 26, 2011, after fleeing from southern Somalia. The U.N. will airlift emergency rations this week to parts of drought-ravaged Somalia that militants banned it from more than two years ago _ a crisis intervention to keep hungry refugees from dying along what an official calls the “roads of death.” The foray into the famine zone is a desperate attempt to reach at least 175,000 of the 2.2 million Somalis whom aid workers have not yet been able to help. Tens of thousands already have trekked to neighboring Kenya and Ethiopia, hoping to get aid in refugee camps. (AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh, Yahoo News)

        

In the displaced camps of Mogadishu, field hospitals of doctors in the town of Dadaab and at the Banadir hospital many more are waiting for rations. The U.N is airlifting rations to parts of Somalia this week. The authorities have said if the right aid is not supplied to famine hit East Africa, it would be five times more worst by Christmas this year.

Lets look at some statistics and figure if we can ACTUALLY help them with a meal. Who claims to be the most powerful country in the world today? You guessed it right, USA. And people of the country make it powerful. Most of us are aware of the population of US.

And you would be amazed with the next statistics. Per capita is referred to per head or per person. And 99% US citizens I met were very humble, trustworthy and true to their dealings. There is absolutely no doubt in people losing jobs and claiming unemployment benefit. But just see how much more money they have to dispose.

On the other end of the world, India is seen to waste tons of grains. In Feb, 2009 it wasted one lakh(hundred thousand) metric tons of wheat. Last month, 2011 the wheat bags were lying on the railway stations for rats. The excuse Indian Government has in return is it has no place to store that huge pile of grain. I am sure some of it is still lying somewhere without anyone’s attention. Can someone guide me to the right person so I can collect it for famine hit East Africa. Also please help me connect with U.N and World Food Program and others. Citizens of US, India and all other big nations. I urge you to follow this cause on Twitter @a_cause. At least make people aware…

– The least you could do is feel sad about the present state of ‘We The Humans’ – Mo

Google+ iPhone app now available on iTunes. 1500 users rate average of ⅗.

Google+ app for Android was released earlier. It was awaited on iTunes for close to a month so iUsers can use it. It is now released and is No.1 in the Free Apps list on iTunes. I added Vic Gundotra to my circles as soon as he announced the release. He is head of the Social Media at Google. I immediately searched the app on iTunes search bar. This is what you need to do to get yours. Simply type ‘Google+’ on the search bar. Or you could also see it in the ‘Free Apps’ section.

G+ has an edge over Facebook that users can differentiate between who they want to share their content with. On Facebook what ever you post on your wall it is available to eveyone in your list. But you could restrict the same in G+, which allows you to create ‘Circles’; of friends, family, etc. Basically creating category or group of people who will get the license to your controlled content.

The app also has Huddle, which is a instant group chat feature. It is currently not available on web. The reason I guess could be that G can always have it on their + site. But to have it on their phone, either people need to install the new version or update the. Unlike the Android Google+ app, which has been available since the Google+ launched. The iPhone version still needs ‘Sparks’ and many other under development features.

The app is only available for iPhone 3G, 3GS and 4, and works with iOS 3.1 or higher. The app does not work with either iPad or iPod touch devices.

From what I see, since the time of launch. In one day there were about 1500 users who rated the app averaging 3 on 5. This is hard to tell how many users out of 18 Million(Stats by Paul Allen) G+ users currently have downloaded the app. Hardly a few of the downloads would be rated. But 1500 in a day is still a big number. And it is displayed as no 1 app in Free App category.

– From Orkut, Buzz, FriendConnect to G+ … Can Google impress us this time – MO

Google Malware Alert – I am safe, are you?

As state by Google’s security engineer Damian Menscher in Google’s official blog 

Today is like any other and you open the google search page. And if you see the alert message on it. It means that your computer is affected with malware. Google has noticed that this malware is redirecting unual traffic to its servers. G worked with several companies and its security engineers to figure out why this traffic being sent. Later it came to a conclusion that it is because of the malware. “As a result of this discovery, today some people will see a prominent notification at the top of their Google web search results:”

“This particular malware causes infected computers to send traffic to Google through a small number of intermediary servers called “proxies.” We hope that by taking steps to notify users whose traffic is coming through these proxies, we can help them update their antivirus software and remove the infections”.

– Flowers in the screen shot. But if you see the alert, search for ‘Anti Virus’ – Mo

Insight with Google Hangouts – Why I anticipate to be fail series?

Google wants to do everything on the web. Just because you are really good at something doesn’t mean you are best in everything. I understand you wrote real good code to search the web. But there are better people out there for everything else. Facebook has its story around socializing and Google failed to come up with better site. They failed in Orkut, Buzz, Friend Connect and Wave as to name a few.

What – is Google Hangouts? Lets just deep dive into google plus product, handouts.

-With Hangouts, the unplanned meet-up comes to the web for the first time. Let specific buddies (or entire circles) know you’re hanging out and then see who drops by for a face-to-face-to-face chat. Until teleportation arrives, it’s the next best thing. – Google Plus

I want to hangout now and I post it on plus. What is the probability that the limited friends I have will be online and how many would actually like to hangout with me? It would be great if I can also schedule a time for hangout and have it on the wall post. So my friends are aware that I have something important to share or just hangout for the heck of it. Then it would not be an unplanned event as google calls it. I am sure you would allow specific buddies of mine or entire circle to join the hangout. But please have a check if the attendee wants to invite someone, the host permission is required.

For an unplanned meet-up on Hangouts, if I am Lady Gaga or Steve Jobs would make sense. As I would be having million fans. And some of them or all of them in that limited online bucket would hangout with me to hear what I have to say. But then I would like to through up a video of mine alone. I don’t need to see who is who and get their glimpse. It would be more of saying hello to fans or showing my newest invention.

I am almost certain that google is planning for mobility of hangouts. You better have an app of hangouts on iPhone and Android. If I am a Queens NY college going kid, I would get my gadget ip and ping my circle. “Someone pick me up while you are on your way to school as I have a flat tire”. Well I guess this is what it means by unplanned meet-up, doesn’t it?

If you are a startup firm then you will find it helpful. You can schedule a video conference with your team. You obviously would not want to go with companies who charge you. But to certain extend you would get something for free in those companies. Like a one on one video chat on Skype. And you can also hunt for many free services online. As a startup I would think again!

‘Facebook announced that it partnered with Skype to allow group chats – news.cnet, July 6, 2011’

Hmm, Google Plus has not yet opened doors for all. It is still in beta and Facebook has 750 million active users. It would be just another day after weekend for Facebook. Mondays are really long and so will be Skype on Facebook. But all Mondays shed their light away for another day to come. And will Facebook handle the traffic of users group chatting with help of Skype.

‘Hangouts need to Google more for better product – Mo Ansari’

Get invested with tiny plans – you have 10 seconds to have him interested!

Not long ago I socialized with an aspiring entrepreneur after a tech event. Here is his story. He worked for a fortune 100 firm for close to three years. He then decided to put down his papers. And I asked him the reason behind such a strong step. As moving out of a large organizations takes a lot of guts. He pointed out that he just couldn’t do it, have dreams and work for a living at the same time. It was time that he quit and start thinking on what he should do that he loves doing. And I don’t suggest everyone to do the same. Just taking a bold step is not the right ingredient for a delicacy. As to his part, he had already come up with a set of ideas and knew the direction he was going. He said to get the venture capitalist money having a beta version is first step. None will invest in your ideas if they don’t see growth in it. And I agree with him here.

The first raw sculpture is to be carved from the big rock, from the big idea. You have to be quick and witty in changing your plans from what you think is right to what customer see is correct. Get your business to a point where you see potential buyers and not regular users. Customers will pay for your service if you really help solve or ease their issue of today. It need not be a real trouble, it may only be speeding up the present process. After all speed is what we need!!

-A lot of people thought Steve Jobs was a CEO of Apple but he never was until he came back to Apple in 1997
Andy Hertzfeld

It wouldn’t have been possible for Steve Jobs to reclaim his seat unless he changed his ideas rigorously. And then he found his customers who are ready to pay for what he supplied.

Now you have the customers and not just free users as I call it. You need that little sheet of paper with entire business on one side. Humongous business plans are only good in Madagascar movie. But in a real life elevator you have mere 10 seconds! Don’t spend 3 months for hundred page plan and no beta. Generate facts based on your research and initial development. Show the target investor what you make and the future prospect of the business. Facts are always appealing than hypothesis. If you have him interested in 10 seconds elevator journey. You will have him throughout the journey of the business.

If you are seeking someone to invest in your ideas, it suggests the investor is busier than you are. The investor is of course making more money than you. And for sure he has better things to do rather than looking at more hypothesis. Rather show him the web site income statement. Show him your business website hits and the traffic. A reference to someone you know and is a good friend of his. All he needs is security and credibility for you and your business.

And finally trusting your ideas is most important aspect. It is more valuable than the product itself that you build. Because when you talk with confidence and trust in yourself, it shows in your eyes. When you have all of these you will also have his appointment by the elevator door opens.