Real voting Machine for Presidential Election 2012

Over the last decade Internet is playing a major role in our decision making process. We tune to Google maps to find most suitable route to our destination! We tune to internet for finding nearest restaurant for authentic food! Do you think voters for the Presidential election 2012 were using power of Internet?

Here are some facts that shows how voters were not far behind from using power of internet before deciding to whom to cast their vote.
Let us look back few months from now and see what information voters were looking for on Internet about their future President? 

If you look at Google trends over the past 12 months and compare how many people were looking for information about ‘Obama’ and ‘Romney’ you can find surprising facts! Throughout the period more and more people were interested in searching for ‘Obama’.

Similarly, Yahoo’s trend analysis data says people were more interested in searching information about ‘Obama’ over ‘Romney’!








Check out this Interesting Infographic from StateTech magazine about social media engagement. Mayoral and gubernatorial race winners for year 2010, 2011 and 2012 had close connection with their leader’s social engagement. The winners had more twitter followers and facebook fans than their opponents!


When President Barak Obama claimed his victory by posting a tweet ‘This happened because of you. Thank you,’ ,it became most popular tweet on the twitter. Moreover, a Facebook photograph posted after his Presidential victory became the most liked photograph on Facebook.

Now, can we say that Internet has became our new voting machine?

Tips for Searching images on Internet

Many a times we need images or photographs for variety of purpose.

You may need it to share a funny message on Facebook with your friends in a creative way or just want to make a personalized greeting card with a nice image. 

Many a times clipart is not enough to convey a message in a presentation so you need to search more suitable image!

What ever the purpose may be however, our goal is to find best image that suits our requirement. So let’s explore some tips on searching Images on internet.

Google Image Search is a very powerful tool that allows you to filter your search in a variety of ways using advance search!

For example while searching for a recipe, key in your word in Google image search for more visual results. Here is my result page on Google Image Search for carrot recipes.

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Google Image Search can help you in a detailed project research where you need to search for documents. For example it can readily give you an insight on ancient documents. 

You can even narrow down your search result by selecting region from advance search. 

If you want to make a greeting card for your friend who loves purple color and you need to find pictures of flowers with shades of purple color only. Here is what Google Image Search can do for you! 

Key-in flower in Google Image Search and choose Advance Search from Settings.

Now, From option Colors in the image choose radio button this color to specify your color choice.

Result page will surely offer plenty options for you to choose. Now, Choice is yours to narrow down it by choosing specific flower names like rose or lily!

For example, you need inspiration for drawing a picture of flower ! Try using option Line drawing from type of image under Advance Image Search. 

You will surely be amazed with result page about what others have shared with you!

Similarly if you want funny dog picture to share a message on facebook or need a clipart for one of your presentation! Try searching for clipart in Advance Image Search.

Though you can enjoy most images on Internet look for its copyright.

Searching Images that you want to share or use commercially becomes easy with filters for creative commons in Google Image Search.

Flickr image search is another favorite tool for finding images ! It lets you search for illustration or art on any given subject! Give it a try and you will surely enjoy it!

Here is what you can do with Flickr image search!

I don’t want to see just photographs of lion rather I want to look for illustration or art work shared by other for subject ‘lion’

Result page with variety of art work and illustrations on subject ‘lion’ is listed.

Apart from using Google and Flickr there are many more ways to find interesting images using flickriver, deviantart , imgur  and many free stock image sites.

Let me know your ways of finding interesting images too!

Searching the Internet for trustworthy information

Hi! 

From last few days I was thinking of writing something useful for few of my friends who loves Googling and searching internet.

I am actually very happy to see their reaction when they open Google in their web browser, key in a term and confidently press the search button. Choosing one website from a long list of websites from the result page is even more exciting for them! 

What next?

They just start reading the webpage religiously.

Google can flood our laptop screen with information on any topic. Now, let me ask you one thing; Have you ever thought that you might not be the first one looking for information on the topic? What you are searching on Google may have been searched many more times before.

How about finding webpages that many more people have already searched, found, read and liked? Those are the webpages actually worth reading.

So, how do you know what is most trustworthy information the Internet on any topic?

The answer is through social bookmarking cloud.

With cloud bookmarking services like delicious.com or diigo.com you can filter the best webpages on any topic of your choice.

Cloud bookmarks are nothing but a list of your favourite webpages that you can access from any ware and any time. Saving your bookmarks in a cloud means it is saved on a remote computer or server giving you freedom to access it either from your home computer or from office computer.

For example, I am a big fan of crocheting. Whenever I find any interesting crochet pattern I bookmark it using diigo.com. I also group them based on tags so later I can access them easily. I don’t even have to remember whether it was for kids or it was for home decoration; I just tag them with the term! 

Here is a screenshot of my diigo library with some of my favourite tags.

Interestingly, on these cloud bookmarking sites you can find many social groups based on your interest. You can bookmark webpages that you came across while surfing the internet and bookmark them as well as share it with specific social group. Every member in the group can share bookmarks and add it to the group’s pool.

Other members of the group can usually vote for new bookmarks just like facebook likes! Thus, filtering the best ones with more votes! 

So, searching through this pool of social bookmark can give you thorough insight of how many people have liked or voted a particular webpage! Here is an example, if you search a term ‘kids’ in delicious.com you will get a list of webpages tagged with the term ‘kids’.

Another example, In my diigo library I follow home and garden group where I share whatever I find interesting related to home and garden as well as check out what other have found they feel is worth sharing on the topic. To stay updated I subscribe through rss button on the right most corner of the group page. 

Similarly reddit.com has hundreds of subreddits on variety of topics. You can visit subreddits of your interest and look for webpages that are up voted the most.

Some of my favourite bookmarking sites are diigo, delicious, xmaks, Google bookmarks and yahoo bookmarks. All you need is an account with respective website and a browser extension to quickly bookmark your interests. If you have not yet installed that browser extension just grab one! 

Download and install Google Chrome extensions or Mozilla Firefox add-ons for bookmarking and start building your own bookmark cloud!

So, next time when you Google something do not forget to check the social bookmarking cloud of your choice!

Crocheted Cover for Samsung Galaxy Ace Plus

Recently I have been using pinterest for lovely crocheted items like flowers, pillows , bookmarks and many more items. I am collecting and pinning them all on my board crochet ideas.

Last week I made this lovely sleeve for my Samsung Galaxy Ace Plus. I just used yarn balls that I had (Royal blue and cream cotton yarn). It turned out so good that many of my friends want me to make one for them!

I am planning to make woollen sleeve too for coming winter!

Thank you for stopping by my blog. 

10 Best android apps I have found so far.

A Smartphone can really help you become smart!You can trun it into walkmeter, heart rate monitor or a scanner! Here a list 10 best android apps I have found so far. 

Google sky map :  My kids have keen interest in astronomy. Google sky map is a wonderful app that allows us to browse the sky and locate current position of planets , stars and constellations.

Being able to view current position of Mars and Saturn along along the horizon is breathtaking!  

Showing my kids RA/Dec  grid time by time is real fun! They love to locate planets early morning and late night to feel the spinning of earth!

Though my kids are small, they love to search their favorite constellations Pegasus, Ursa Major and Scorpius. Making them learn so much at such an early stage of life was just not possible without this app!

Cardio Trainer My favorite app that keeps me motivated for my evening walk! It counts every step that I take for enjoying better health! It even tell you the speed you are running at! It tracks number of calories burned during variety of workouts like pilates, aerobics, badminton and many more!

Instant heart rate: It may sound childish but, true that after every session of power yoga I do check my heart rate to know my workout intensity!

Google currents :

My favorite reading hub to hook throughout the day where you can get news articles directly from sites like Hindustan Times and  IBN live, business articles from Entrepreneur and Techdirt , Science and Technology articles from  PCWorld , CNET and TechCrunch , lifestyle articles from  Women’s Health, Lifehacker and yoga journal.

 Hold on!

These are just my favorites you can subscribe to many other interests in various categories from sports to politics!

Google reader : This wonderful app helps me stay tuned to my favorite blogs that I have subscribed to! I can read their latest post directly from my Smartphone! Hurre!

TOI:  My favorite newspaper’s digital copy along with local news from more than 30 cities of India. This is my very first app that I use with my morning cup of tea!

Indian Train Locator: Ours is train friendly family ! Every week one of our family members is travelling by train. This app helps a lot to find arrival / departure time as well as its running status!

Whatsapp: Must have app to share pics and videos with family and friends!

Yahoo Answers Launcher: Fun app that gives lot of satisfaction by helping people solve their problems!

Camscanner : Converts any documents into .pdf files like ID cards, news paper article. This app comes handy when I want to share recipes from my recipe book with my friends!

I am still missing a long list of my favourite games like Temple Run and Drop! Music and video players, FB, Twitter extensions and much more...

Dynamic android market is coming up with hundreds of new apps everyday!

Every popular websites need a makeover as an app interface. So, let’s wait and watch for much more exciting apps!

Please do let me know your favorite apps too. I would love to explore more in android market!

How to set up wifi for Samsung Galaxy Ace Plus

Very first thing that I did after purchasing my Samsung Galaxy Ace Plus was to set up Wi-Fi and access Internet! I have capture screenshots of each step to share it with you.

At home I have setup Wi-Fi access point that allows me to access Internet on my laptop without any messy wires!

I have chosen unlimited broadband plan to enjoy internet without worrying about data usage. So, why not set up Wi-Fi for Smartphone too!

Step by step configuration shown here is for Samsung Galaxy Ace Plus. However, once you understand basics of Wi-Fi set up, you can easily configure other Smartphone too.

First of all you need to turn on Wi-Fi for your Smartphone. 

Step-1 Tap on the bottom left Menu button. Screen as shown in the Figure 1.1 will appear.

Figure 1.1

Step-2 Tap on the Settings option. Options as shown in the Figure 1.2 will appear on your Samsung Galaxy mobile.

Figure 1.2

Step-3  Tap on the Wireless and network option, Options as shown in Figure 1.3 will appear.

Figure 1.3

Step-4 Tap on Wi-Fi settings. Wi-Fi Settings options as shown in the Figure 1.4 will appear. 

Figure 1.4

Step-5 Tap on the Wi-Fi check box to turn it on. Your screen will quickly flash a message “Turning on wi-fi...” as soon as your check box will get selected.

Step-6 It will take a few seconds to search for nearby Wi-Fi networks. Soon you will be able to see a list of available Wi-Fi networks.

In my case my home Wi-Fi network’s SSID( name of my wi-fi network) is ‘Omshanti’ at present. However, I keep changing it periodically! 

Figure 1.5

Step-7 Tap on Wi-Fi network you want to get connected to. You are done with your Wi-Fi configuration if you are connecting to an open Wi-Fi network.

In my case ‘Omshanti’ is Secured Wi-Fi network.

When you try to connect to a Secured Wi-Fi network it will as for Network Security Key(usually a 13 digit number). Once you enter it you are connected to your Wi-Fi access point!

You can even check signal strength from the top bar of your Samsung Galaxy Ace Plus as shown in the Figure 1.5.

Let me know if this little piece of information of some use to you! I would love to hear from you!

Thank you for stopping by my blog!

My first Smartphone took me to the world of Android!

Last week I bought my first smartphone – Samsung Galaxy Ace Plus & joined the army of smartphone owners accounting for India’s 9% mobile population.

I didn’t knew neither cared much about Smartphone. My previous mobile phone had a proper keyboard to key in text messages where as Smartphones just have one key! I was happy with my Dell Inspiron to get all my work done!

Now, I have a tiny device that can get most of my work done without even switching on my laptop.

What made me proud owner of this android run smartphone was its configuration. This tiny device has 1GHz processor! 5MP  camera with LED flash! 3 GB internal memory!

Holding a Smartphone in my palm and browsing through icons took me way back in 1996 when I had used Windows 3.11 for the first time! Times of using Windows 95, Windows 98 & Windows NT!

Times when I used to wait for next release of PC World Magazine which used to come with free CD loaded with lots of trial versions of newly released software , screen savers and other goodies. Those where proud moments of using speech recognition software for the first time in 1998!

Home screen of my Samsung Galaxy Ace Plus has Google Search with speech recognition. 

All I need to do is just tap on the microphone, say a search term & voila! 

In a moment Google search result with thousands of pages are available on your Smartphone! Isn’t it amazing?

Google Mobile apps like Maps, Gmail, Youtube and Google + are pre installed. Meaning I can check my mails without switching on my laptop, Checkout my Google plus stream updates on the go.

Even post new updates & +1 content that I like!

My first visit to Android Market, now called Google play was amazing! So many applications for almost every task! I am so excited about installing new applications & experimenting with them.

Thank you for stopping by my blog. Stay tuned with me as I start my journey to explore more & more Android applications. Do not forget to let me know your favorite apps too!