5 Chrome extensions that are sure to make your browsing fun !

If you need your browser to do more than regular things then concept of extensions are not new to you. Both firefox and chrome offers plenty of features for users as extensions. These extensions are small programs that showup on your browser header as links. Here are 5 chrome extensions that can make your browsing fun and productive. Everyone has a different taste and need, so search for one that looks interesting to you:

1. WOT - This is a must have tool in my opinion, WOT or Web of Trust warns you about risky sites that can't be trusted. WOT provides rating in 4 categories namely Trustworthiness, Vendor reliability, Privacy and Child Safety.
2. Google Dictionary lookup - This extension will show the definition of any word double clicked on the page in  a tiny yellow box like tool tip. The extension will also add a small icon in the address bar that you can click to search for the definition. Just highlight any word on the page and click the icon. Pretty cool !
3.  Email this page - Many times, you want to share the web page link you are on with your friends and others via email. This extension will enable you one click email of the web page you are on using gmail or your default email software.
4. StayFocused - what an idea, this extension help you self regulate your browsing behavior. You can set specific time killing websites to be blocked for rest of the day after the allowed time. As the name suggests, it helps you stay focused on the productive work, you are supposed to do.
5. Google Translate - This extension when installed adds a button to the browser toolbar. When clicked, it translates the entire page you are browsing to a list of supported language. Very useful extension.

There are plenty of other useful extensions that you can try installing and keep if you use it. If you haven't used it for a couple of days, chances are you will never use it so uninstall and look for better ones :-)

Home Improvement that could make you happier

Money magazine in its latest issue published a survey report that it conducted with home improvement store Lowes about American homeowners and the impact of their houses on their overall happiness. Lowes being involved in the survey, I would consider this more like a marketing thing than a scientific or psychological study, but there are few recommendation made in this article that are interesting and sure to caught your attention:

• Hide the TV - The report says, more you watch the TV, you tend to overestimate the affluence of other people and as a result you become less happy. Recommendation is to hide the TV behind a wood panel or something so that you watch less TV. Beware couch potatoes:-)
• Raise the ceiling - Article points out that researchers have concluded that people think more freely and creatively in rooms with 10 foot ceilings than in those with 8 foot ones. Now you know why universities buildings and classrooms have 15 foot ceilings. 
• Using different lighting - People find harder to connect with others in a room filled with uniform lighting. The recommendation is to install multiple sources of lighting(under cabinet lighting in study area, recess in gathering area, and a hanging fixture at the island. Wow, thats something I never thought about. Can be easily experimented with cheap lighting fixtures from Ikea. 
• Use 24" monitor - If you work on computer, researchers have found that you are more productive on a 24" monitor and work 52% faster than working on a 18" monitor. LG and samsung have brought some nice LED monitors which are very pleasing if you work on graphics and multimedia stuffs. 
• keep desk chair at right spot - Experts say, you will be happier and more productive if you have a direct view of door and a window. If you can't have a window overlooking natural beauty, a nature photo or artwork is effective too.

Let me know what you think...

Smarter Analytics story simplified

IBM's Smarter Analytics story is a very compelling one backed by a suite of products. Analytic is all about driving the business results through the study of business data using statistical analysis for decision making. Business optimization is the application of analytics to help organizations make better decisions and get the most from their business processes. Optimization can reduce costs and increase speed, consistency, precision and overall business agility. Watch this video to understand the smarter analytics overview, Its pretty cool:

Listening ipod can be fatal

Listening music with earphone or earbud blocks us from hearing external noise, but it can cost listener's life, no body would have imagined until today. Jogging with ipod is not uncommon, but a jogger at South Carolina beach got hit by a 4-seater plane that was making emergency landing at beach and lost his life. See the youtube video:

5 Tips for Strategic Execution

Last week, I attended a 3 days workshop/training on Leadership for Strategic Execution, a course designed and delivered in collaboration with Stanford Center for Professional Development. This course is part of Advance Project Management certificate program and targeted for (see who should attend ) senior managers and professionals who wants to bring  new dimensions of leadership to project, program and portfolios. So what are these new dimensions, a lot of my friends and colleagues asked, if I can summarize the lessons learnt from this course in one bullet that can be applied to the day job. I thought, I will give them five points and not just one and let them decide which one they liked most and would like to apply at their respective situations. Before we even talk about the 5 tips from this course, we must understand the definition of execution in the context of Leadership. From the famous book Execution The Discipline of getting things done by Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan, Execution is:

• a discipline
• a set of behaviors and techniques
• critical to establishing competitive advantage
• a major responsibility of the leader

Now, here are the 5 tips taken from the workshop:

1. Making Evidence based decisions - This is a critical part of effective decision making. All critical decisions should be made based on past evidences mixed with visionary approach. 
2. Avoiding Illusion of Invulnerability - When critical decisions are made, usually more than one party are involved and Group thinking can take place in an environment where decision makers and others unintentionally create illusion of invulnerability. Experts point out that same thing happened in the pre-launch conference call between NASA and contracting company one day before Challenger take off. Read this story to understand Group based decisions and its impact on challenger disaster.
3. Using framework for strategic execution - You need to break down your strategy logically and get it done. One such proven frame work called SEF (shown in the picture above) is provided in the book by Morgan, Levitt and Malek. Make sure to move your mouse over the ovals in the picture to get description of each section.
4. Treating people the way they like to be treated - if you noticed, this is different from the one our parents taught us. True leader recognizes the personality traits of important people they deal with and treat them the way they like to be treated. There are many ways you can find out the persona based on the human nature and traits; Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and color energy based profiles(more on color energy in a future post)
5. Using Power when necessary - True leaders are expected to use the power they have, to get things done. When, how and how much to use depends on the dynamics of the organization. Many people wonder, how to influence without authority? There are few resources available that can help such as this one. 

Good time to buy Toyota?

Toyota has been getting bad PR pretty much everyday. Probably more than any other car company. I mean, which car company has not recalled its car for mass problems. If you google on recall paired with other car brands, you will know what I am talking about. I never had problem with reliability of Toyota which I have owned since 98. Technically speaking, I haven't spend any money on it other than tires and regular maintenance. I still consider Toyota quality far more superior than it's competition. I might had a different opinion if I was involved in the acceleration problems with one of the Toyota vehicles, but let's make "evidence based decision" here. Data does not prove that Toyota had any history of problems and negligence about fixing them. Once they found the problem, they are handling appropriately in my opinion. If I am in the market for  a new car, am I going to consider a Toyota - SURE !! In fact there Toyota is giving you many new reasons and bonuses to buy your next car from them, good for us isn't it? 

• They are offering 0% APR for upto 60 Months on pretty much every popular model except Prius OR $1000 cash back. 
• $1000 cash back for recent college graduates ( graduated in last 2 years)
• Current Toyota owners get a free two year maintenance plan with the purchase or lease of a new Toyota

All the above offers end April 5, 2010. I believe, considering the current recalls and potential lawsuits, Toyota will be very aggressive in saving it's brand image and consumer has more room to negotiate a better deal on a new car. 

Fiverr - Things people do for $5

WOW ! This is most interesting concept for a money making website, I have found lately. I am sure, Fiverr is one of the few newbies which is making money without relying on ad revenue. Take a look at this thrifty web portal, where people post the service they are willing to offer for just 5 bucks. If a customer bids for the service, the provider gets the $4 share one day after providing the service. A buck goes to Fiverr. Cool Idea.
Think about it little more.... The person or a business offering a unique service for $5 get to build his credentials and market his expertise over time. Consumer of the service gets his specific thing done for a price of mini lunch.
You will see serious programming job offered for $5 like these:

and fun and bizarre offering like these:

American economy is service dominated and creating a transparent platform to enable cheapest services delivery sounds like a well thought business idea to me. Its like "craigslist" of services, of course interesting thing is to know how much of these 5 bucks offering turns into real transactions.

Organize yourself with Evernote iPhone app

I am a big fan of David Allen's book "Getting Things Done", but how do you get so many things done with limited amount of time that you have. Well, thats what Mr. Allen Suggests, Organize yourself. Keeping tab on everything going on in the life is one way of organizing. In the age of massive information flow, it is ultra important to keep a note of anything/everything and to find them anywhere anytime.
I found a fantastic app called Evernote which runs on my iPhone and syncs with server which is accessible from anywhere in  a browser. Evernote let you take a text based note, snapshot, picture from your iPhone or your voice and send it immediately to the server. Imagine, getting innovative ideas while driving or stuck in a slow traffic. You need to jot them down immediately, otherwise you forget them. You can just tap voice and record them, they get instantly uploaded to your web account at Evernote.
Evernote items are organized as Notebook and you can share and link your notebook with others. You can email, short and print your notebook items. The best part is that you can just snap important receipts and invoices and automatically organize them online which you can access from anywhere. Give it a try and let me know, if you like it and yes...iPhone app is FREE.

Cloud Connect event in Santa Clara March 15-18 2010

Cloud computing is real and its happening now. Those of us who will fail to understand the technology and economics behind cloud will feel sorry later. Conferences like these may not be 100% useful and productive for your time, but at least it will provide the state of cloud technology and give us sense of major and minor players in the industry. I found an overview video for you to decide, if you should attend or at least visit the free expo. For free expo pass register yourself here and select Expo only. On final page, $100 discount will be applied automatically.

San Jose Evergreen Community college wasting public money

This story came to public when KGO-TV I-Team ran the story last evening. Read the full story about how your money is wasted on lavish spending by college executives while classes are being cut for students. You will feel outraged and confused, why Evergreen college need to spend $18,0000 on a picture frame when entire state of California is facing huge budget crisis. We are lucky to have our local media like ABC I-team which  is exposing these corrupt and irresponsible people. Look at this news cast:
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/video?id=7135078

Happy Holi everyone !!

Wishing everyone very happy Holi. For those who want to know more about the significance of Holi(the festival of colors), wikipedia article will definitely help.