Friday 7 September 2007

A couple of Stanford University students thought they had a pretty neat idea about a new fangled thing called the internet. They were doing their doctorates and thought that the method used by the then prevalent search engines, like Altavista, could be bettered. Rather than ranking results according to the number of times the item being searched appeared on a page, they reckoned that a ranking system based on the relationships between websites would produce better results. So the search engine called Backrub was born.

Fortunately Larry Page and Sergey Brin decided to rename their creation otherwise we'd be telling our kids to research their school projects by "Backrubbing". Instead we have Google which was incorporated as a company nine years ago today.

Mr Page and Mr Brin's simple concept has evolved into a corporation with a stock market value of US$162B. Yup one hundred and sixty-two billion US dollars. Now how many US$162B ideas have you had? It's not enough to have a genius idea. The key is actually making things happen in the way that was intended. This statement of the obvious seems less obvious when you see reports of companies like the Royal Mail. Their premium postage service called "Recorded Delivery" may not be what it seems. An official intriguingly advises that "It is operationally impossible to keep records of items sent by recorded delivery".

Google's genius was not the original idea. It was following through, supported by a company philosophy that provides a meaningful and clear framework for action. The famous Google Ten Things are:

1. Focus on the user and all else will follow.
2. It's best to do one thing really, really well.
3. Fast is better than slow.
4. Democracy on the web works.
5. You don't need to be at your desk to need an answer.
6. You can make money without doing evil.
7. There's always more information out there.
8. The need for information crosses all borders.
9. You can be serious without a suit.
10. Great just isn't good enough.

The mission/vision/values industry in companies chews up hundreds of hours in their creation, communication and, most of the time, in water cooler derision by those whose behaviour they're meant to drive. The Google way, albeit not perfect, shows that genuine simplicity can enable extraordinary results. I intend applying this approach to the following business concepts (all rights reserved):

* Fizzy Chicken - burpilicious low fat fast food
* Pimp My Pimple - the TV makeover show for teenagers
* My FaceSpace - a social network integrator utility

So Happy Birthday Google and what's three times US$162B?

Wednesday 5 September 2007

Kids safely delivered to school, there is now the space to focus on my own activities. The last six weeks have been great. Largely taken up with our holiday travels, meeting up with family and friends, and various outings. It is now time, however, to take stock of the opportunities ahead. Assess what needs to be done - tax return is heading to the top of the list. Resurrect memories of pre-holiday conversations - what exactly did I promise JS on the phone at the same time as I was digging out the passports? And take action.

This provides a host of distraction opportunities. Cups of tea are always a good one. Sorting out my office is another. I've been meaning to dig out that old bookcase from the garage. Surplus to requirements, it has been gathering dust and discarded items over the last year. It should fit in the corner of my office, provided I move things round a bit.

Two hours later, it does and it's great. A bit of a distraction from that focus thing. The moving things round a bit rapidly evolved into an a more significant range of activities. Deciding which books should be housed in the newly dusted bookcase became a wider assessment of which books deserve house room. And then the discovery that the shredder no longer shreds. And do I really need that unused Rolodex, much though I love the design? And ...

The random pile of stuff for the charity shop now totters along side the stuff for re-cycling next to the front door.

The vacuum cleaner is beckoned by the fall-out from the book sorting, furniture moving and the shredder waste bag. The noise associated with all my activities causes my wife, a fellow home worker, to move into a distant corner of the house. Ironic since I was resurrecting my office in a retreat from my summer invasion of her terrain.

The morning has gone. Along with four cups of tea, a houmous filled bagel and some difficult literary farewells (and some easy ones - The "Timewaster Letters" complies fully with the Trades Description Act). Much is left to do. The visit to the charity shop, the gym, keeping up with my Facebook social obligations and the kids return from their first day back at school. And some work stuff.

So my tax return has not been done. I know now, however, that it will be done more quickly and easily than if part of my brain was still occupied by office resurrection planning. I also know that positively channeled energy results in more energy and more action. Now if only I could think of what to put in my blog.

Monday 3 September 2007

It's the biggest thing on the internet. Unfortunately. It comes in wave after wave. It's annoying, boring and tedious. The evil spam. The email kind not the meat "treat".

Presumably there is a financial reward for generating huge volumes of emails and sending them randomly into the ether. If not, they would have dried up and gone away. Except for those that are aiming to infect computers and use them for ill got and gain. Or obtain some sort of weird thrill.

I had a quick scan at the emails that my spam filters caught. I also looked at those that evaded the filtering process. I couldn't work out the difference. Overall, however, they fall into three categories as the following example email subject lines demonstrate:

Category 1 - Tempting

You have new mail from Olga

Didn't I know an Olga once? Maybe I'd like to know an Olga? Lets have a look at what she sent me.

This video rocks

How did the sender know that my hobby and passion is geology?

Funny ecard

Excellent. I need some jokes I can borrow for my blog.

u are so nice, dear

This is so, so true. I implicitly trust where this link will take me.

I have numerous other examples of the Tempting spam category that I could mention. I think it best that I save you from temptation.

Category 2 - Improving

don't get left behind

Oh no. I'm at risk of getting left behind. I'd better see how I can keep up.

can you imagine that you are healthy?

I can. But what if there is something horrible lurking unannounced within my body. What does my nocturnal bathroom visit really mean? Did I have that mole yesterday? Needing to drink twelve cans of Red Bull every day is normal, isn't it?

hey man, stop throwing away your money

Come to think of it, our holiday was somewhat expensive. Actually very expensive for someone not in full time employment. And then there's all that back to school stuff.

become fit and happy again

When was it that I was both fit and happy at the same time. Oh yes. Childhood memories are always so, what's the word? Confusing? No. Misleading? No. Selective? No. Confusing.

I have numerous other examples of the Improving spam category that I could mention. I don't think you want me to go to those lengths.

Category 3 - Weird

cradlers

I have cradled many a baby, particularly two very special ones. Now they are twelve and eight, my cradling needs have diminished thank you.

mollison

I think there is a Mollison Way in north-west London. I'm not totally sure. The spelling might not be the same. In any case, I have no pressing need to go there.

effisant

It's words like effisant that annoy me. I'm enjoying a book and some smarty pants author sends me to the dictionary to discover how well read I am not. Frankly, you've turned me off.

kkuhsuos

Now you're just being silly.

If I want weird. I can just follow this link.