Sometimes when I'm all alone, I Google myself!

Haven't you ever wondered if you were being talked about or if you were famous in some other part of the world, famous cause you did something awesome or talked about because you've achieved greatness? Oh well, aren't you ever curious, a little bit? Well I am and I have to break it you, my name is the MOST common one you'll come across in South India. Or atleast I believe so, no fact checking on this one!

On a more serious note, you can secretly 'listen' to what people are saying about you on the internet. It could also be about your business, your workplace, favourite products, anything at all.

But in case you wanted to know if you're being talked about on the internet, where would you go?  Here are a couple of online tools that I came across which seemed very interesting:

Google Search:  The obvious resource, won't you think of Google to search for the keywords whose results might interest you? You can use the 'past 24 hours' or 'sort by date' options to see the most recent results.

If people tend to misspell your name, like they do mine, use the real name and then input the misspelled version separated by OR.

Yahoo Alerts: If you are some sort of a celebrity, this is a fantastic option that'll alert you as soon as you or your brand are mentioned in the print media.

 

Facebook Public Search: Facebook as we all know is now being tracked not just by you and me but also by big companies and marketers. Use the search to learn whether you're being talked about on anyone's wall or page. Don't forget to use the 'posts by everyone' option.

 

 Yahoo Pipes: Use pipes to discover more and more blogposts. Some of which you wouldn't even know existed.

Yes, I'm not very popular on pipes. Good thing that.

StepRep: The online reputation management tool. I had no idea public relations got so big.  There's a directory of trusted experts to handle your business and you can turn every transaction ino an advertising opportunity.

Socialmention: I think the world is all about being social - on the internet. Try socialmention to see if you were mentioned on any website. It helps you track your name across varied social websites like Twitter, Digg, StumbleUpon and you can get alerts from this service as well!

There you go! So many ways to look up your name and anything else you care about. Be social, Google yourself and stay connected to what's being said on the internet.

All images are under the Creative Commons license 2.0

We are living in exponential times.

I am inspired. Not by a person but by people, all around me. This is not a cheesy line but something of an elaborate conclusion.

You have to see the video below. It is unbelievable and it'll make you think. Not just of today, not just of people around you but also about the future and where we're headed. The progression of information technology has never been better put before. Researched by Karl Fisch, Scott McLeod, and Jeff Bronman.

Did you know?

China will soon become the number one English speaking country in the world 

The 25% of India's population with the highest IQ's is greater that the total population of the United States. Translation: India has more honours kids than America has kids.

We are currently preparing students for jobs that don't...using technologies that haven't been invented ... in order to solve problems that we don't even know are problems yet.

The #1ranked country in Broadband internet penetration is Bermuda 

There are 31 billion searches on Google every month. In 2006 this number was 2.7 billion.

The first text message was sent in December of 1992. Today, the number of text messages sent and received exceeds the total population of the planet.

There are about 540,000 words in the English Language. About 5X as many during Shakespeare's time.

It is unbelievably true. We are living in times where change is the only the thing that's constant. Everyday we evolve and so do the things around us.  And with technology, it doesn't evolve, it grows - exponentially! 

Let's take the example of computers and mobiles: the laptop first came into existence in 1981 by Adam Osborne. Progressing from an earlier version called Dynabook in 1968. Today as we enter 2010, there are more than 8,745,693 laptops in the world! (Source: Wikianswers) In the start of this year more that 950 million mobile phones were sold! The number continues to grow everyday.

Mobiles have ceased to be the boon of the erstwhile 'first-world country'. Third-world countries have now become the favourite haunts of tech companies. In Kenya, one in three adults own a mobile device! The world as I see it, will continue to experience tremendous growth and every device that hits the ground will multiply in sales and grow exponentially!

Companies know that in countries like Japan, China and Korea most people use the mobile phone as the means to connect to the internet and are slowly realizing the full potential of driving advertising and sales revenues on the new medium. Obviously, they want revenues to grow exponentially! People have started to get 'social' through mobiles as well. According to eMarketer, in a article titled 'Mobile Plus Social Equals Opportunity' predicts that the number of mobile phone users accessing social networks from their mobile devices will reach 607.5 million worldwide by 2013!

Numbers with four zeros at the end multiply and see millions in matter of a few years.  Devices that are new and  awesome today are obsolete in the next. Everyday we hear of a new innovation, a new mind, a novel idea being put to test. Even if we're assured that tomorrow is not promised to us, let's wait for the question mark to fade away and see in its place, the light of something new and exciting.



We are living in exponential times and there is no denying that.