Google Brain: Are We Losing Our Memory to the Search Giant?

Google is great for looking up words, finding movie times or perusing recipes, but recent research out of Columbia University shows our dependence on Internet search may be hurting our memory.
The Internet has replaced our brain’s ability to remember information we could easily search for online, a study led by neuroscientist Betsy Sparrow shows. While we heavy Internet users remember where to search for information, we have forgotten information itself.

Just as computers use external hard drives to store information, our brains use the Internet as a back up. Many of us are rarely without an Internet connection, meaning we can rely on the memory of where we read something online. As a result, we often forget information we don’t think we will need again.
“People actively do not make the effort to remember when they think they can look up information later,” the study’s authors write.
Furthermore, we go into withdrawal when we can’t find something online. Losing our smartphones is becoming more like the experience of losing a friend, The Daily Mail explains.
The study’s participants underwent four experiments, which tested their memory of easily searchable information, whether they responded more quickly to computer-related words than other words and whether they remembered where to search for information online.
Do you think constant Internet connection has influenced your ability to recall information? Do you make any effort to remember information you can search for later? Let us know if this study describes your behavior in the comments.
mashable

The 101 Most Useful Websites

Useful Websites Worth a Bookmark!                                           

The sites mentioned here, well most of them, solve at least one problem really well and they all have simple web addresses (URLs) that you can easily learn by heart thus saving you a trip to Google.

01. screenr.com – record movies of your desktop and send them straight to YouTube.
02. bounceapp.com – for capturing full length screenshots of web pages.
03. goo.gl – shorten long URLs and convert URLs into QR codes.
04. untiny.me – find the original URLs that's hiding behind a short URLs.
05. qClock – find the local time of a city using a Google Map.
06. copypastecharacter.com – copy special characters that aren't on your keyboard.
07. postpost.com – a better search engine for twitter.
08. lovelycharts.com – create flowcharts, network diagrams, sitemaps, etc.
09. iconfinder.com – the best place to find icons of all sizes.
10. office.com – download templates, clipart and images for your Office documents.
11. followupthen.com – the easiest way to setup email reminders.
12. jotti.org – scan any suspicious file or email attachment for viruses.
13. wolframalpha.com – gets answers directly without searching  - see more wolfram tips.
14. printwhatyoulike.com – print web pages without the clutter.
15. joliprint.com – reformats news articles and blog content as a newspaper.
16. ctrql.org – a search engine for RSS feeds.
17. e.ggtimer.com – a simple online timer for your daily needs.
18. coralcdn.org – if a site is down due to heavy traffic, try accessing it through coral CDN.
19. random.org – pick random numbers, flip coins, and more.
20. pdfescape.com – lets you can quickly edit PDFs in the browser itself.
21. viewer.zoho.com – Preview PDFs and Presentations directly in the browser.
22. tubemogul.com – simultaneously upload videos to YouTube and other video sites.
23. dabbleboard.com – your virtual whiteboard.
24. scr.im – share you email address online without worrying about spam.
25. spypig.com – now get read receipts for your email.
26. sizeasy.com – visualize and compare the size of any product.
27. myfonts.com/WhatTheFont – quickly determine the font name from an image.
28. google.com/webfonts – a good collection of open source fonts.
29. regex.info – find data hidden in your photographs – see more EXIF tools.
30. livestream.com – broadcast events live over the web, including your desktop screen.
31. iwantmyname.com – helps you search domains across all TLDs.
32. homestyler.com – design from scratch or re-model your home in 3d.
33. join.me – share you screen with anyone over the web.
34. onlineocr.net – recognize text from scanned PDFs - see other OCR tools.
35. flightstats.com - Track flight status at airports worldwide.
36. wetransfer.com – for sharing really big files online.
37. pastebin.com – a temporary online clipboard for your text and code snippets.
38. polishmywriting.com – check your writing for spelling or grammatical errors.
39. marker.to – easily highlight the important parts of a web page for sharing.
40. typewith.me – work on the same document with multiple people.
41. whichdateworks.com – planning an event? find a date that works for all.
42. everytimezone.com – a less confusing view of the world time zones.
43. gtmetrix.com – the perfect tool for measuring your site performance online.
44. noteflight.com – print music sheets, write your own music online (review).
45. imo.im - chat with your buddies on Skype, Facebook, Google Talk, etc. from one place.
46. translate.google.com – translate web pages, PDFs and Office documents.
47. kleki.com – create paintings and sketches with a wide variety of brushes.
48. similarsites.com – discover new sites that are similar to what you like already.
49. wordle.net – quick summarize long pieces of text with tag clouds.
50. bubbl.us – create mind-maps, brainstorm ideas in the browser.
51. kuler.adobe.com – get color ideas, also extract colors from photographs.
52. liveshare.com – share your photos in an album instantly.
53. lmgtfy.com – when your friends are too lazy to use Google on their own.
54. midomi.com – when you need to find the name of a song.
55. bing.com/images – automatically find perfectly-sized wallpapers for mobiles.
56. faxzero.com – send an online fax for free – see more fax services.
57. feedmyinbox.com – get RSS feeds as an email newsletter.
58. ge.tt – quickly send a file to someone, they can even preview it before downloading.
59. pipebytes.com – transfer files of any size without uploading to a third-party server.
60. tinychat.com – setup a private chat room in micro-seconds.
61. privnote.com – create text notes that will self-destruct after being read.
62. boxoh.com – track the status of any shipment on Google Maps – alternative.
63. chipin.com – when you need to raise funds online for an event or a cause.
64. downforeveryoneorjustme.com – find if your favorite website is offline or not?
65. ewhois.com – find the other websites of a person with reverse Analytics lookup.
66. whoishostingthis.com – find the web host of any website.
67. google.com/history – found something on Google but can't remember it now?
68. aviary.com/myna – an online audio editor that lets record, and remix audio clips online.
69. disposablewebpage.com – create a temporary web page that self-destruct.
70. urbandictionary.com – find definitions of slangs and informal words.
71. seatguru.com – consult this site before choosing a seat for your next flight.
72. sxc.hu – download stock images absolutely free.
73. zoom.it – view very high-resolution images in your browser without scrolling.
74. scribblemaps.com – create custom Google Maps easily.
75. alertful.com – quickly setup email reminders for important events.
76. encrypted.google.com – prevent your ISP and boss from reading your search queries.
77. formspring.me – you can ask or answer personal questions here.
78. sumopaint.com – an excellent layer-based online image editor.
79. snopes.com – find if that email offer you received is real or just another scam.
80. typingweb.com – master touch-typing with these practice sessions.
81. mailvu.com – send video emails to anyone using your web cam.
82. timerime.com – create timelines with audio, video and images.
83. stupeflix.com – make a movie out of your images, audio and video clips.
84. safeweb.norton.com – check the trust level of any website.
85. teuxdeux.com – a beautiful to-do app that looks like your paper dairy.
86. deadurl.com – you'll need this when your bookmarked web pages are deleted.
87. minutes.io – quickly capture effective notes during meetings.
88. youtube.com/leanback – Watch YouTube channels in TV mode.
89. youtube.com/disco – quickly create a video playlist of your favorite artist.
90. talltweets.com – Send tweets longer than 140 characters.
91. pancake.io – create a free and simple website using your Dropbox account.
92. builtwith.com – find the technology stack of any website.
93. woorank.com – research a website from the SEO perspective.
94. mixlr.com – broadcast live audio over the web.
95. radbox.me – bookmark online videos and watch them later (review).
96. tagmydoc.com – add QR codes to your documents and presentations (review).
97. notes.io – the easiest way to write short text notes in the browser.
98. ctrlq.org/html-mail – send rich-text mails to anyone, anonymously.
99. fiverr.com – hire people to do little things for $5.
100. otixo.com – easily manage your online files on Dropbox, Google Docs, etc.
101. ifttt.com – create a connection between all your online accounts.

Digital Inspiraion

Keep your Mobile Phone Safe at a Public Charging Station

This is not an uncommon problem. Your cell-phone is running out of battery, you need to make an urgent call but left the charger at home. What do you do next?

If you are at an airport or a shopping mall, it is not that big a problem because these places often have charging stations installed that can be used to charge the battery of almost any mobile phone. It doesn’t matter whether your phone requires a Micro-USB connector, a Mini-USB or a 2mm charger, the kiosk will have a suitable charging port for you.

Mobile charging stations are convenient but at the same time, there’s a level of security risk associate with them.

Security researchers have warned that public charging stations may be configured to upload malware on your phone and, at the same time, data can also be downloaded from the mobile phone while the battery is getting charged.

Keep your Phone Safe While Charging at a Public Kiosk
There are basically two ways to charge a mobile phone’s battery. You can either use a power cord that plugs directly into an electric outlet or you can use a USB based charger that draws power from a computer’s USB port. If a charging station internally uses the latter option, it may put your phone data at risk.

It is however relatively simple to keep your phone secure even while charging it at a public kiosk. Just remember to power off your phone completely before connecting it to the charging station and you should be safe.

The mobile charging stations installed at airports can be considered safe but the same may not always be true for other public kiosks that are operated by unknown people. If you have no option but to use such kiosks, do turn off the phone first.
Digital Inspiration

One Charger Fits All In 2012

The GSM
Association’ s recent announcement
at the Mobile World Congress 2009
that we would all be using universal
mobile phone chargers by 2012
should be warmly greeted . Many
people I know have a pile of
chargers locked up somewhere in
their closet for different mobile
phones, sometimes from the same
manufacturers ’ . This can be a source
of frustration particularly if one
mistakenly took the wrong charger
on a journey or completely forgot to
take any along. This development
came about as a result of an
agreement reached between the
GSMA and 17 leading mobile phone
operators and manufacturers such
as , Nokia, Orange, Samsung etc. and
the aim is to make the standard
chargers available from the 1 st
January 2012. When implemented ,
the universal chargers will have a
similar Micro- USB charging interface
and therefore provide a wide range
of benefits to consumers’ and the
environment alike. These benefits
range from environmental protection
by its consumption of less energy,
waste reduction and relative
longetivity when compared to current
available terminals.
Furthermore , consumers’ will now be
able to use the same charger for
future handsets which means that
when one either takes the wrong
instrument on a journey or
completely forgets it at home he can
be sure of finding an alternative in
any available charger. In addition,
this would imply that user
dependence on mobile phone kiosks
could be significantly reduced and
manufacturers would not need to
produce so many chargers again
thus resulting in the possibility of
further reduction in the cost of
mobile handsets due to the fact that
chargers would now be produced
and sold as separate items from
mobile phones . Although this
standardisation plan is said to be
“ ambitious” and still in its early
stages , it is clear that if successful we
would all be beneficiaries .
TechSling Weblog

Now Use Google Cloud Print without a Phone

Google Cloud Print is an interesting
web service that brings wireless
printing (well, sort of) to your home
without any complicated set -up or
hardware upgrades. Once Cloud
Print is enabled , you’ ll be able to
send documents and emails to your
local printer for printing from
anywhere over the Internet.
Google Cloud Print currently
supports printing only through
iPhones and Android mobile phones
but if you find that limiting , here ’s a
new Chrome extension that will let
you print documents even from your
desktop without requiring a phone.
It adds a little Cloud Print icon to
your address bar whenever you are
viewing a PDF, a Word document or a
text file in the Chrome browser
( video demo) . Clicking that icon will
show a list of all printers that are
connected with your Google Account
– select any one to start a print job
that you can later manage from the
Cloud Print dashboard .
This works only with files that are
already on the web and if you are
print your local documents with
Cloud Print, you first need to upload
them online. Thank you @NirmalTV

Overcoming Fear of Public Speaking

According to most studies, people's number one fear is public speaking. Number two is death. - Jerry Seinfeld

If you have the fear of public speaking, you are not alone. You must first recognize what fear is. Fear is the anticipation of pain. Is your fear real or imagined?

Here are some great insights into Overcoming Fear of Public Speaking.

Steps to Overcome Fear of Public Speaking -

1. Fears - The fear of being judged, making a mistake, not measuring up, getting hurt either mentally or physically can get in the way of a good performance (speech, seminar, sales presentation, etc). Remember that people in the audience really want you to succeed. Nobody is standing there hoping you'll be boring or bad. If you are coming from an authentic place, and you cover the material with clarity, you've won 3/4 of your inner battle with fear.

2. Learn how to enroll and engage your audience - If you haven't yet taken a professional development course on public speaking, consider finding a public speaking training course appropriate for your needs. Learning the art of public speaking can enhance your results in a boardroom, in a sales presentation, and even accelerate your climb up the corporate ladder. It is a must-skill for any executive and/or business owner.

3. Practice - Find business organizations, networks and clubs in your area that can afford you the opportunity to practice. Remember to choose topics that you are already an expert on. Speaking on a topic that you are not familiar with will increase your stress, and impede on your performance.

4. Use recording software - Record everything on your PC/laptop. Review it to see where you can improve. Have speaking pros attend your live presentation to give you feedback. Allow yourself the opportunity to learn more every time you go out.

5. Remember, even the top professionals learn something new every single time they go out!

Silent Inspiration (Nothing is Impossible)

Cody McCasland is not an ordinary child. When he was only 15 months old, a rare condition called Sacral Agenesis took is legs. But that didn’t stop Cody.

Some months later he got his first prosthetic legs and since then he can move almost like any other kid.
Can not only walk, but run, swim, play soccer, golf, karate, ice hockey etc. He’s a real inspiration.

Reliance mPay - Use your Reliance Mobile as a virtual HDFC Bank credit card

In yet another step forward towards mobile banking, Reliance Communications and HDFC Bank have launched India’s first virtual credit card.

Anyone who has a HDFC Bank credit card and a Reliance mobile can use this service and as per current estimates, around 15 lakh people qualify under this. The card do away with the need for carrying a physical card but instead the mobile phone work as the payment instructor.

Thus the Reliance Mobile becomes the Credit Card while the mobile number becomes the Credit Card number.

Reliance mPay service can be used at various merchant establishments but initially it will be used for payment of Reliance Mobile bills and Reliance Energy electricity bills.

HDFC Bank already has a virtual credit card called NetSafe, which can be used for online shopping.

The advantage of having a Virtual Credit Card is that there are less chances of misuse as a PIN has to be entered at the time of usage. So, even in case of mobile phone loss, the credit card details cannot be used as there is no magnetic reader, signature, or CVV number which is used for authentication.

The concept has been successfully tested in Asian countries and would eventually become a preferred medium of transaction owing to its convenience and safety.

Digital Inspiration

English is a difficult language.........

Even God has a Sense of Humour

God was in the process of creating the universe.And he was explaining to his subordinates"Look everything should be in balance.
For example, after every 10 deer there should be a lion.

Look here my fellow angels, here is the country of the United States.I have blessed them with prosperity and money. But at the same time I have given them insecurity and tension....

And here is Africa. I have given them beautiful nature.But at the same time, I have given them climatic extremes..

And here is South America. I have given them lots of forests.But at the same time, I have given them lesser land so that they would
have to cut off the forests...So you see fellows, everything should be in balance.

One of the angels asked..."God, what is this extremely beautiful country here?"God said........ "Ahah...that is the crown piece of all. "INDIA",My most precious creation.It has understanding and friendly People.Sparkling streams and serene mountains.A culture which speaks of the great tradition that they live.Technologically brilliant and with a heart of gold.....The angel was quite surprised: "But god you said everything should be in balance.

"God replied --"Look at the neighbor country I gave them."

PLEASE BE CAREFUL WHENEVER YOU'RE USING A PC AT A PUBLIC PLACE (Like INTERNET CAFES..ETC).

PLEASE BE CAREFUL WHENEVER YOU'RE USING A PC AT A PUBLIC PLACE (Like INTERNET CAFES..ETC). CHECK THE REAR OF THE PC AND SEE IF THE BELOW DEVICE IS THERE..IF SO..DO NOT USE IT!!!!

New storing device fits at the end of the keyboard cable connecting to the PC specialized to save all typed keys in it… Mostly could be used in net cafes, exhibitions, hotels and airports therefore be careful especially the people who use the internet in these places to enter their bank accounts online or any other important sites.After you enter the bank account and leave the PC it will be easy to open your account again as all what you have typed has been saved in the Black device. Therefore, you should check the PC for any suspicious piece behind it before using the net in public places for important sites.