#win

Taken with picplz.

Of horses and amps

Taken with picplz.

Taken with picplz.

1.21 Gigawatts Later and Marty's Still Stuck in Traffic

Weekly Schedule

The Google+ Filter Bubble - Results Tampering.

+Google+ team please be advised, at this moment I believe someone(thing) is tampering with Google+ Trends.

Take a look at these Search Trend results: If some company (who will remain nameless) just filed their initial public offering, wouldn't that company be listed on that trend as well? It seems odd because for the last 18hours every post was about this specific IPO.
In the past Google has emphatically denied the accusation of manually curating search results when accused by Governments etc. Employees like +Matt Cutts defends his company and I tend to take his side because his explanation comes across as honest. _ Plus I like the guy, I've met him personally, he's very down to earth and he radiates honesty_ :-)

+Google+ should reflect some sense of civic responsibility by staying pure with the results it presents us. The service starts to loose the trust of its users when results become clearly inaccurate. ( I'm not talking about results tailored to me either ) Keep this platform free of the politics and keep it open. Please.

The term 'filter bubble' here relates to a Ted Talk regarding the Google Search and Facebook skewed/tailored search results. I generally disagree with that since it over simplifies the issue and doesn't take into consideration some of the steps Google has taken to present relevant and sometimes unfiltered information on a subject. See image:

This "filter bubble" fear gives all of us pause and we begin to look at alternatives like DuckDuckGo.com for our search needs. (Though ironically that search engine also uses Google/Bing/Yahoo results) Check out the traffic spike that occured after Google's recent Search+ Your World Launch.

I care about this subject because I am a Google Apps for Business reseller i.e. I sell Google+ and all these Googley services to my customers for money. My reputation is on the line.

#rant

Smart Home Project (Part 2: Heating and Cooling)

Part 1: EV and Smart Meter :https://plus.google.com/u/0/109854785137745177366/posts/bTPTcazeBDB

How many IP addresses at home does it take to make me happy? Tons apparently. Just to name a few: currently running off my wireless network:
+Home security system,
+Various gadgets & toys,
+TV/AVR/GoogleTV/Boxee etc
+Computers peripherals,

+Test transceivers for smartmeter, test boards etc,
+Some 240v appliances and now
+Thermostat.

The Nest
The Nest Thermostats got delivered today. A set of pliers, a level, sandwich and an hour later, my home thermostat is "self aware" and can be controlled from anything i own with an internet connect. The idea is to reduce energy and its cost at home, measure and share my energy consumption.

My travel stats for 2011

Trips: 15
Days: 49
Distance: 25,513 mi or 41,059.19 km
Cities: 21
Countries: 4

That's just a tad bit over the circumference of the earth (40,075.04 km). I will be doing another lap next year and Latin America, Austrailia, Africa, Russia and Western Europe look pretty ripe for a visit.

Stats by tripit