What's Earthquake And Instagram Acquisition Have In Common?

Last week, two of the major global news that stole the limelight were the Major earthquake in Indonesia and the acquisition of Instagram by Facebook. These two seemingly very different events have something in common. Read on to find our why I say so....

Before I share their similarity, let's go through some background of the news:  

Earthquake In Indonesia:

On 11 Apr 2012, two massive major earthquakes struck off the coast of Indonesia with a reported magnitude of 8.6. It sparks Tsunami fear in the neighbouring countries like Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and even India. Tsunami alert were put in placed in these countries (by the Authority) and many residents were evacuated from the coastal area to the higher ground.  Thank God, no real Tsunami attack were reported since and it's a non-event after all.

Acquisition of Instagram by Facebook:

On 9 Apr 12, it was officially announced Facebook will acquire Instagram for a mammoth 1 billion dollars. If you are still clueless about what is Instagram, it is a mobile social networking app that allow users to snap photos, filter it (if deemed necessary) and share it across the network instantly. This business deal definitely has it's pros and cons but it has set off the panic button among the existing Instagram users for fear of the potential integration of Instagram into Facebook as well as the data privacy concern, among other things. Thus, many authority sites/blogs have since published many posts on the Instagram alternatives (for the leavers). In short, it has triggered an virtual Tsunami alert among the users that something "bad" is on it's way! 

So, what is the similarity between these two events? 

They have both triggered the Tsunami Alert (one physical and the other virtual) and created psychological fear for uncertainty among those who have affected. However, ultimately it might not be as bad as it seems to be (like in the case of the earthquake in Indonesia), thus, let's not press the panic button too hard and cause disruption towards our normal routine. As it is, life itself is already full of uncertainty, as long as we live our life to the fullest by preparing for the best and expecting for the worst, we all will be just fine.

Do you agree with my view and what is your takes on the future of Instagram? Do share your view here.

Cheers!

Titans Of The Digital Age

It is official! The four titans of digital age are Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon. In fact, they are termed as "Gang Of Four" of technology. You might view that these 4 giants are focusing on different races in the eWorld but they are closer than what you thought.

Do you know that Google has their own brand of Google smartphone (i.e. direct competition with Apple's smartphone)? Do you know that Google has launched their social networking site, Google+ with a bang (again, direct competition with Facebook)? Do you know that Apple is also a direct competitor with Amazon in the online eBooks and MP3d download business? And the list goes on....

With the recent acquisition of Motorola Mobility by Google, it means that Google meant business! They are conquering the eWorld bit by bit, from the current internet world to the soon to be mobile world! Be very scared, Apple and the rest of the titans!

If you study deeper, all of these titans are involved in the "information" business, one way or the other, e.g.:
1. Apple is selling apps through their iTunes store.
2. Google is the top search engine with the built-in online advertising business model.
3. Amazon is selling eBooks or MP3s.
4. Facebook is heavily involved in their online advertising business model.

So, what does it means to you? It means that the money lies in the INFORMATION or ONLINE RESOURCES! The best part is that everyone has the equal chance to make it BIG in the digital age! In short, everyone can be the fifth titan! So, start to squeeze your brain juice now and hope that the next "killer site" is from you!

Last but not least, my sharing of inspirational quote:


"The demon (self-doubt) that lies within yourself is more dangerous than what is seems to be! It destroys your confident, defeats your will power! So, if you do not wish to have a doubtful future, you need to slay that demon! "

Cheers!

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Type of friendships

With the booming of social networking sites in the internet space, from facebook to twitter to Google+, I believed many of us would have more than 100 "friends" in our social networking circles (on average, each Facebook user has 130 "friends"). For me, I have 316 friends in Facebook alone.

The question is how many of your social networks friends are really your personal and true friends and how many are just, facebook friends? Or you don't even care as long as they are your "friends"? Many decades ago, the Greek philosopher Aristotle defined friendships with the following levels:

1. Friendship of utility (FOU) - formed between people who are useful to one another.
2. Friendship of pleasure (FOP) - formed between people who share common interests or hobbies.
3. Perfect friendship (PF) - true and lasting friendships based on mutual affection and regard.

Of course, each category of friendships do serve their own purpose and it's necessary to have mixture of friendships, in some extend. Having said that, it might be interesting to find out your friendships ratio (between FOU, FOP and PF). Why don't you do a quick check now? My guess is in the range of 50:30:20. Do you agree with me?

In any case, the important point is not how many friends you have in your social networks, but how many souls you can declare as Perfect Friends in real and physical life! Think about it...

Finally, today's original quote is a short and simple one:

"The defining moment for true friendship is hardship!"

Cheers!

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The Next Big Thing : Google+

Today I am going to talk about something HUGE coming your way...

If you are into Social Networking sites like Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn, you can't possibly missed this forthcoming giant player called Google+ (read: Google Plus). As the name suggest, it's a social networking arm of the internet giant Google. Google has just released it's beta version last week to selected invited groups to trial test the site. Something great is brewing...

As most of the visitors of my blog are directed from facebook, thus, thought it would be good idea to share a sneak preview of what is Google+ and what to expect from it. The UI (User Interface) of Google+ is kind of resembling facebook's (i.e. in 3 panels column display). Following are the key features of Google+:

Circles:
Allows you to create different groups from friends (here refers to as Circles) e.g. colleagues, classmates, best friends etc... so that you can share different things with different people (circles). Just like real life, you would not share the same thing to ALL your friends.

Sparks:
Allows you to collect/save anything from the web of your interest so that you can read, watch or share it when you are free. It will be a collection of articles, videos, photos and other content grouped by interest.

Hangouts:
You can have face-to-face chat while on the move or while hanging out with others. This is sort of like group video conferencing.

Mobile Features: Instant Upload and Huddle:
For mobile users, you can snap, upload and share your photos on the go.  Huddle is a group chat feature which allow multiple friends chatting at the same time in the same platform.

Plus 1 (+1):
Use the +1 button to indicates what you like, agree with, or recommend on the web. In future, I am sure you will see more and more websites with the +1 button for you to "like". When you click on the +1 button, the color will be changed from white to dark blue. It's another form of social bookmarking tool

For more details, please visit Google+ Project website. Meanwhile, stay tune for the next big thing coming our way...

Last but not least, my sharing of inspirational quote:

"If you think you are perfect, you can't find others who can match you; If you think others is perfect, you can't match them. So, don't looks for perfection, looks for being YOURSELF!"

Cheers!

P/S: The very first Great Little Moments newsletter has just been sent out over last weekend. For those who have not subscribe or have not confirmed your email registration, please do so by filling-up your contact details at the right panel.

Social Networking Mania - LinkedIn

When talk about social networking sites, I am pretty sure the first that came to your mind is Facebook, follow-by say Twitter, Youtube etc... In fact, there is another heavyweight that making it's round recently in US as well as in Singapore.

The name is LinkedIn.

LinkedIn touted as the social networking destination for job seekers and recruiters (mainly for white-collar job seekers), it has over 100 million accounts worldwide spanning across 200 countries. Of course, it's memberships is consider rather low as compared to the mighty Facebook's 500 millions plus users.

LinkedIn has just went public last month and made headline when its share price more than doubled following its Wall Street debut. It's current valuation is more than US$9 billion (S$11.1 billion).

In Singapore, LinkedIn has just opened its regional headquarters yesterday. It is part of their plans to use Singapore as a base to expand its Asia-Pacific presence. Mr Arvind Rajan, managing director for Asia Pacific and Japan, commented "The company has ambitions of becoming a "worldwide network for professionals!""

Folks, social networking is here to stay, the world is getting smaller and all of us are getting connected more than we thought we possibly can. Besides, with the gaining popularity of smartphones and tablets, social networking can only get closer and faster to you. You can run, but you can't hide!

So, embrace the change, get connected! For those who like to connect with me on LinkedIn, my email is richard-ng@hotmail.com.

My sharing of original quote:

"The only way you can find solace is through connection with your own heart or the hearts of others. Hardly, there is other way!"

Cheers!

Inspirational Sharing - Inspire It Forward (#6)

Ever since I started the blog, I've been receiving quite a number of Facebook friends request (mainly from overseas) and I find that it's a very good way to get connected and to Inspire It Forward.

Thus, please feel free to add me in your Facebook or follow me on twitter. I hope we can shrink our world even further by getting connected through social media. What's more important is to share the positive energy outwards by keep yourselves happy and stay POSITIVE. If you ran out of idea on how to inspire it forward to the people around you, feel free to share my blog forward! ;-P

Last week, chanced upon the following clip from the web which I thought is very motivational. Just a short 3 minutes video but will change your view of your future. I hope you folks will enjoy it...

1. Inspirational Video : 3 minutes of motivation:


2. My Inspirational Quote:

"SUCCESS without prior failure(s) is like winning a computer game with cheat sheets, there is NO true satisfaction!"

Cheers!

P/S: To share my blog, just click on any of the following social bookmarking icons: