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I've been phenomenally obsessed with Google Reader for quite some time now. I don't know how I ever lived without it. I really actually used to visit each of the blogs I followed to check for updates. Stupefyingly stupid.

And now I'm quite kicked with the little button that shows you the number of subscribers each blog has, and how frequently the blog updates.

Bombay Diary - Unexpected Trip

Was in Bombay for 2 night and 3 days courtesy Google, put up at the Hilton Towers (really really), and shuttled about in a fancy car (if one can really shuttle about in Bombay's seriously worsening traffic.)

Was there as a volunteer for the Be NetSmart initiative by Google and the Bombay Police's Cyber Crime Cell. Basically, heading from school to school and teaching the kids to be smart and safe and avoid becoming victims of cyber crime. There's loads of press coverage for the project, so read more about it somewhere else.

What I'm writing to say is...

I had a blast. Flew in and out. Checked into the Hilton Towers, in all its glory. Hung around at Marine Drive and met up with long, lost junkie friend. Lounged about in bathtub. Ate with silver cutlery. Adjusted the room temperature and lights and every goddamned thing with a button. Snuggled into the cosiest bed and fluffiest pillow ever. Ate incredibly crisp apples.

The second day, after my work was done, I managed to roam around at Colaba for a bit, drop in at Furtados and buy a lovely Granada acoustic guitar for Agent P, shop for swimming trunks and USB cables, and bubble bath, and also managed to surprise my granny at Colaba with a 400 second visit.

What I didn't do was:
Eat vada pav. Travel by train. Eat chaat. Swim.
Shame.

But the highlight of the trip easily was that I got to meet the boys - Split performed at Hard Rock Cafe on Tuesday, and it was a fabulous evening. The boys, Michelle, Hardik in funky tshirt with inbuilt equalizer, food, free drinks, cameras, and Split Unplugged. What more can a girl possibly want.

Who's reading my blog

I was going through my Google Analytics information about this blog, and here are some keywords that people searched for and found - my blog.

• breathe in breathe out while gyming (hmm, ok)
• freedom struggle quotes in telugu  (no idea what that means)
• night temperature of mumbai on 8 feb 2007 (yes, I also provide noon temperature on the moon)
• mallu girls nude sex photo (oh. my. god.)
• sodawaterbottleopenerwala (I'm Parsi, I probably have a cousin with that surname.)
• things that rhyme with brandy poem (that would be my brave attempt at poetry)
• staccato beds (I had to do a Google search to see what this means. Nothing, apparently.)
• Tam Bram (Prrriyaa, they're reading my blog!)

The list goes on and on. But the one that takes the prize this week is:

google daughter who loves to be spanked by moms

Really? How did they find out?

Google Analytics

Do you have a blog? Or own a website? Do you want to know how many visits you had, from which country (and city) and how long they stayed on your page?

Or maybe you'd be interested in knowing where they found your blog, or how many of your visitors left your page in 1 second.

Or maybe you'd like to know that they searched for 'kitten stuck on roof' and were led to your page.

Try Google Analytics. Tells you all this, and more. And keeps you occupied when you have absolutely nothing to do besides dig out cookie crumbs from your keyboard. Anyway -

www.analytics.google.com

My photos are on Google Earth. I've uploaded a few photos of Goa and Bombay on a service called Panoramio, and after a month of waiting, they've approved my photos and put them up.

Its brilliant.

Une Annee

Psst: I finish ONE year at Goooooogle today. What seemed so far away a year ago, is finally here. And I feel good.

Life at Goooooooooogle

Some times you just see things that make you say, 'Ah, yes, there's a Googler.'

Google Maps and Vacations

I work for Google. I was hired to work for AdWords, but recently, I got the chance to jump into a small group that's working on a Google Maps project. Some engineers in Bangalore set up a tool that makes drawing maps (digitizing) very simple.

So, a small group (3 actually) started, a few months ago, a project to draw maps for India. At that time, there were NO maps for India, available. Well, there are maps, but you have to pay for them, and of course there is Wikimapia.com, which is great, but not 'reliable maps,' more like Google Earth, and mapmyindia.com, but still not very good. Not good enough for what we want to do anyway.

Now Google is brilliant (it is a living thing) and we like to make money, and make our users happy. Making maps available online, and on your mobile phone is a nice thing. We would be able to give you detailed directions (which roads to take, which roads are one-ways and which roads go where, and so on) to you while you are in your car, driving to anywhere.

So that's how this team got started. Its very exciting. A few of us were invited to help draw cities we came from. I drew Bombay. It was awesome. We used the same satellite imagery that you see in Google Earth, and marked locations. It was like going home.

We've finished drawing all the big cities. I'm now drawing Jaisalmer, all alone. Good fun. Have never been there, but I know the names of the streets now...

Well, so this project is growing, and last week, I joined the team full time. I'm helping running the show... and its gorgeous fun. Look up your city.

There's lots more actually. A couple of months ago, after we launched Maps India, we had a nasty shock. Yahoo! without any warning, launched www.maps.yahoo.co.in. And with lots more maps than we had been able to draw. Though, of course, those maps had just been bought from other sources. They hadn't drawn it themselves, like we are. Our content is dead authentic, and in great detail.

So we're on a hectic but good journey of drawing everything.... small towns, tiny roads, everything. Everywhere. I think our maps in many cities are much better than Yahoo!'s. Though, ours have many errors too. If you find any, I'd be glad to have them corrected.

We have a long way to go. And many places to go to.
Check out Bombay. The 'Hybrid' view, will show you the map atop the Satellite Images.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=mumbai&ie=UTF8&ll=19.056439,72.849312&spn=0.086968,0.138702&z=13&iwloc=addr&om=1

PS: Also check out Gooogle Earth's latest version. You can upload pictures of places. It's stunning.

So, coming back to where I was, I was saying that there are many places we are going to get to. But, in the meantime, I'm going on a week long holiday. First, to Panchgani for the weekend, and then to Bombay for Melly's shaadi. Woooooohooooooooooo.

Global Warning

Everytime I fell ill - cold, cough, headache or anything - my dad would say, 'This is a warning from your body, don't abuse it and don't ignore it.' It might sound silly and of course, I'm also full of the arrogant ingredient that young people have - I don't care, but. But, I know that there's truth to it. There's always some truth to what daddys and mommys say, and some lesson to learn. So, heed my body's warning or not, there is another parallel I must draw.

The Global Warning.

Its getting hot. And not because of hip-hop culture. I'm writing this blog not out of scientific enlightenment. I'm writing it because I can't bear the heat. And I wonder, its only April. It's going to get much worse this summer. And what will it be like next year? And the year after? Will we be able to step out into the sunlight? Or will we be 'dangerously' prone to skin cancers and other horrors if we basked in the sun?

How soon before the water runs out? And how soon before the oceans rise? This issue is now bothering our political leaders, or well, at least visionaries. The Times of India thought enough to print a first page article about it. Al Gore made a film about and dramatically warned The White House. Apocalypse is coming.

What I'm scared about is, in whose hands lie the important decisions? Who can save us now? Can we all make a difference? Or is it really too late?

Jane Goodall visited Google Hyderabad a few months ago. Her talk was incredibly inspiring. She's living the life of those we read about. The One Man Army. Woman, I mean. She goes around the world, touching lives, writing books, making speeches. She inspires young people to start doing something. And kids from around the world have responded.

Jane Goodall told us about Roots and Shoots. Her little program that allows volunteers from anywhere in the world to start their own little Roots and Shoots in their city, town, school, home. Each Roots and Shoots group takes up 3 projects. Community level, environmental level, urban, rural or natural levels. Anything their want to make an effort towards, that becomes their project. And there's no compulsion. No monitoring. Just your own will to do something.

It's not too late. Jane Goodall came here a few months ago. I wanted to do something then. That little fire in my belly died out easily. But a little guilty spark remains. Tomorrow, Jeetu and I will start our little Root and Shoot.

More soon.

My roller coaster love affair with Google

I've been at Google for nine months. I love the place. I love everything it stands for. I love Larry Page and Sergey Brin. They are amazing. Reading about them is so fascinating coz they're always upto something. And the press can never quite figure them out.

But here at Google, we see a video every week. A video of what happened at Googleplex, in Mountain View. Larry and Sergey make announcements, discuss things and take the floor for questions from anyone. About anything.
Which company's presidents or founders will allow any employee to ask questions about why they did what whey did, or why they're wearing what they are? It's brilliant fun. They're known for being crazy and uncoventional, and they take that very seriously. We saw a video when our Quaterly objectives were discussed, and the Executives of teams that didn't manage to hit good scores of performance were dunked in a dunk tank. It was hilarious.

Google's ideas and ambitions are strong, overwhelming but pure. That's why its so exciting when we think of the future and read about 'what's coming up soon.' The nicest thing is that anyone with an interesting enough idea, will get support, finance and a chance to make a brainwave into reality.

I know I'll probably quit this job in a few months. Every time I decide that I'm sure I wanna do it, all I have to do is attend a Googly meeting, and I fall in love all over again. It would be heartbreaking to leave and not be a Googler. But then, when they hire us they say that they look for Googly people. Which means I was Googly before I got here too, and will always be. Nice thought, but not consolation enough.

Land Ho!

Flew to Bangalore, from Bombay, a few days ago. I like the window seat. We took off, and as we rose up into the air and flew over Mumbai, I clapped my hands, pointed out of the window and said, 'Wow, Google Earth!'

a-MUSE

Watching a bunch of boys roar over a violent game of Foosball is a very easy way to rid yourself of stress.