Caffeine has stimulated the entire set of searchers all around the globe. The Microsoft Bing’s sensitivity to caffeine is expected to show up, with Caffeine keeping both Yahoo and Microsoft; awake at nights. Caffeine is the upgraded version of the Google search engine, which is superior in infrastructure and features when compared to the current Google version in existence.

Now there is a mutual agreement between Microsoft and Yahoo, the two biggies are on a strategic pact to control the search empire. Now the searches conducted in Yahoo are powered by Bing and the marketing for Microsoft is done by Yahoo. Bing has had a good start supported by its ads targeted against Google. Some of the ads depicted that Google provides us with irrelevant results and has made us Seo machines, churning out keywords by the minute.

Google Caffeine gives the most relevant results optimized to the right number leaving out false links. Google has to prove that the accusations posted by Microsoft are untrue. The drop in market share of 1.3% for google eroded to its top two rivals is a worrisome factor. This didn’t undeter Google; it came back with a challenging upgrade to google termed Caffeine. Will this work out for Google or backfire?

Google has come up with an interesting marketing strategy, which is very interactive and which involves the end users. Now the link to caffeine is posted in the google Blog and if a person visits Caffeine and finds something useful that can be added. There is a section to provide feedback at the bottom of the page. Google encourages high level feedback from the developers community. This would definitely work as it solves two purposes. One-creates good Word of Mouth, two-helps improve the site.

Caffeine is all about speed. The display on the page is very quick, on the click of search; the results are displayed immediately.

There is a complaint that Caffeine’s focus on real time results has given too much way forward to the social media. I typed my name in Caffeine and found that my Facebook profile and Twitter account were given the most importance and displayed as the first few in the search listing.

Caffeine has a new iteration in place which is more advanced than google. This helps in increased accuracy of search and indexing of results. This time around Google has focused on size, accuracy and speed. All this they say is because of google’s superior storage system for Caffeine and a new file system on which it runs. This is similar to Microsoft word running on Windows. The new file system powers the new architecture and is termed as GFS II.

Is this a stitch in time saves nine sort of an experiment? When analyzed it looks so on the exterior, but is a camouflaged google strategy. Caffeine has been in the making for almost two years now. It is actually a google strategy to bring out Caffeine at this opportune moment to break the rhythm of both its rivals. How else will the world know of Google’s leadership in search technology, where as Microsoft is just catching up.

We users are on the look out for real time changes to Caffeine as the search screen looks like the usual google screen. External user experience hasn’t been changed. Waiting for Caffeine to have a full fledged launch. Caffeine is here to get us addicted.

The work which goes behind every mouse click is immense. With information bombarding us on all sides even the most organized will find the web a clutter of people selling an item or the other. If a general user gets an annoying experience with a website, with pop-ups and ads disturbing intermittently, there is an immediate repulsion to accept the ideas as we think “All they do is Sell”

Then how does one sell on the Web?

The word Social media Marketing crops up. Again a result of information explosion.

The Description of Social media marketing in Wikipedia reads:

“Social Media is the democratization of information, transforming people from content readers into content publishers. It is the shift from a broadcast mechanism to a many-to-many model, rooted in conversations between authors, people, and peers.

Social media uses the “wisdom of crowds” to connect information in a collaborative manner. Social media can take many different forms, including Internet forums, message boards, weblogs, wikis, podcasts, pictures, and video.”

We have said goodbye to monologues and it’s a time for engaging, multidimensional communication platforms. With the introduction of a free web, Web 2.0 to be precise, the ‘jadoo’ lies in a series of ideas exchanged and shared, because everything goes viral here.

If you scrap in Orkut, “I have got a new job”

‘Congratulations’ pour in from friends in Twitter, Face book, and from all Social networking media that you are a subscriber to. That’s how fast information spreads through Social media. You tell your friends, they tell their friends and the network widens, and everything by a click. Quoting a Web Designer from Chennai, He says Del.icio.us is a cool book marking tool. He uses it to keep track of his favorite web pages. He adds that, he also likes the features of Stumble Upon, but since he had started book marking with Delicious, he has stayed with it.” This implies that loyalty is also existent in Social media, based on first mover advantage or features.

So it is important to know People’s preferences.

There’s a general perception that the applications of Facebook like Games and polls are better in it than Orkut. The current face of Social media is exchange of existing applications and also developing them for the global community. Orkut has to catch up in this arena says the Facebook addict. For some regular Social Media users life becomes a standstill without any webbing activity. This has been identified by the brands and leveraged. Some social media marketers are into Twitter because that’s the trend.

Pictures can be shared via Flickr and even Facebook or Orkut. Usually memories are frozen and shared because of these sites. For instance a bride-to-be I know eagerly posted her engagement photographs on Flickr. Sometimes Social media has an emotional tinge to it. If we touch the right chord in people’s hearts and are really trying to improve their lives, a Social media marketing campaign succeeds. Think Dell for instance or Ford that has made changes in the lives of people with Social media marketing.

It’s an inherent marketing activity, but that doesn’t mean you have to bombard the Social media sites with links to your business to start with. It works out better, if we understand each Social media tool in-depth for some time to see what’s happening around and join in the conversation in tune with other users who will turn friends later for sure. Some interesting statistics as to why Social media is important:

These conversations are going to occur whether you like it or not…do you want to be part of that or not? My argument is you absolutely do. You can learn from that. You can improve your reaction time. And you can be a better company by listening and being involved in that conversation.–Michael Dell

This is very true for a small and medium enterprise, when it plans to enter Social media. Social media marketing steps are listed below:

· Understand Social media tools and sites

· Listen & Listen carefully

· Choose the Social media viable, based on your consumer preferences

· Strategize within available resources

· Engage the users by getting feedback

· Respond positively

· Create awareness with a purpose - to make lives better

Let’s find out how these steps are executed with examples in the up coming blog article. To know what’s behind a click, watch this space.

The sun rose as a partial Eclipse over the horizon. The day - July 22nd 2009. The longest solar eclipse of the century has come over Asia. We at Chennai had to be contented with a 60% partially eclipsed Sun. Today it seemed as though it took longer for daylight to join up our daily routine. Most of the pious Hindus amidst Chennaites are supposed to be in a ‘viradham’, a fast for the day. I gobbled my coffee early in the morning to break the fast before it even started. Sun started blazing down on us and I have to include myself in the list of people who were gazing at the Sun with Unprotected eyes. The learning came very late that the right way to watch the Eclipse is to see the reflection on a white paper when projected by a telescope.

I realized I was way behind today’s standards of awareness and started on the Quest to Eclipse - education. The umbra of the moon is the inner shadow which is cast on the earth when the moon comes between the sun and the earth at a certain angle on a new moon day. The eclipse was part of Saros series136. The next event from this series will be on August 2, 2027. The exceptional duration was a result of the moon being near the earth with the apparent diameter of the Moon 8% larger than the Sun (magnitude1.080), where the Sun appeared slightly smaller.

A group of children in my neighborhood gave every one a hand out, which read that no harm will come out of eating while there is a solar eclipse. It also added that a solar eclipse has not been proved harmful even to child bearing mothers. The traffic was immense near the Birla Planetarium as people were gathering to know the scientific truth behind a solar eclipse.

It strengthened the belief that a solar Eclipse cannot be harmful for a person. The day turned out be boiling hot. The news came that people were killed in Varanasi because of a stampede on their eclipse pilgrimage; the reason again could have been because of poor organizing set up and crowd management.
As a contrast, It was heartening to know that Indian Astrophysicts aboard the Indian Air force flight followed the umbra and filmed the solar eclipse with the help of Doordarshan. Let’s hope, it could lead to path breaking discoveries. Tourist traffic to India and especially to Gujarat was high, to witness the totality- Solar eclipse. The day had affected our lives in more than one ways. It’s a natural celestial phenomenon to be accepted with awe and admiration. I shuddered to hear that prolonged exposure to ultraviolet rays could penetrate and cause harm to the eyes. The Sun staring act flashed across.

We saw that everyone’s tweeting, but with a sense of prudence. Guidelines are always a necessity be it any technology to aid the users to utilize the technology to the maximum potential. Only then did I decide that it was my duty to pen the etiquette of micro blogging for a beginner. Long term prominence for a tweeter comes out of good image formed the instant you are introduced to twitter. The negative consequences would be, either you don’t get followers or else spammed or at the worse your motives completely misunderstood. You will be victimized to be left stranded.

Complete Your Profile:

Include your real name, make sure your time zone and location are both accurate and fill out your bio with things that are interesting and relevant to you. The bio will have 120 characters in which you describe about yourself. This will ensure that when people search for users to follow your account will show up. Don’t hide yourself by excessive protection as twitter is all about networking. Once a tweeter comes to appreciate you tweet and visits your profile it is imperative that you have a photograph for your avatar. Don’t change your image too often as other people are aware of the image before the name, and you can get lost if you change your image too frequently.

Follow with Prudence:

Pick people from your contact list of your e-mail. Check out external trackers and directories like Twittercounter and Twellow. Also checkout whom your friends are following and if your ideology is met follow them too. When somebody follows you, check out their profile and if they seem at all interesting, follow them back. It’s courteous and encourages socialization. Make sure that only legitimate tweeters are followed.

Stop self-centered content

Don’t take Twitter’s ‘What are you doing?’ question too literally. If it’s only about you, it might look self centered. So find and share content. Be interesting. Check out TwitterLocal.net and follow roughly 20 interesting Twitter users that live in your area. As they follow you back, it might be a good idea to check out their blogs and see what they’re about. This would be a good time to try out your @reply skills to comment on how amazing their blogs are or simply the fact that you are from the same area. Find some like minded Tweeps. Twitter Search can be used to find other Twitter users who share the same interests. It’s also a great way to check up on who is talking about my blog posts or my company

Ask Questions:

Ask questions, both one-to-one and open to your entire network. Twitter is a great way to get solutions to things that require experience or an opinion. And if somebody answers your query or solves your problem, be thankful.

Answer Questions:

If you know the answer to a posted question, answer it. If you know some of the answer, reply back. Don’t wait for or assume somebody else will do this. Take the initiative. Use Twitter’s search facility to find common problems and solve them with your expertise.

Build a Positive Reputation:

This can be accomplished easily by following the steps above. Remember your etiquette A-B-C: Always Be Crediting, so re-tweet. Thank people when they re-tweet you. Use hashtags but do so sparingly and with good reason. Keep it less than 120 characters to be sure there is enough room for people to add RT @username before your Tweet.

Make Sure Your Link Works:

Bad links are the worst enemies of Tweeting, with many a follower being lost out on this account.

· You posted the wrong URL

· You posted an incomplete URL

· You added an extra character to your URL

· The URL shortening service you are using is down (Twurl)

Re-tweet for loyalty

Check out what is trending on sites like Retweetist to learn what is working for other people. This is a great way to learn how to structure your Titles as well as what other people are finding interesting. Don’t re-tweet often as how will a person know if all you do on twitter is re tweet. Remember to share other people’s work as well as your own. If you are successfully forming relationships on Twitter then there will be a group of people willing to share your Tweet.

Its upto you to decide whether to ask users to re-tweet your tweet. It’s all about honesty, integrity and belief that somebody follows you on Twitter, which holds social media up -straight.

On reading the previous post you would have gotten a fair idea as to why twitter is popular. By now you would have realized that if you are not on Twitter you are missing out on something. Twitter serves to create an identity for yourself and connects up with friends in the web space. So all set for tweeting. If you are an aspiring tweeter than you need no qualifications other than a valid e-mail id.

Type in the address twitter.com and then join click for free. If your friends should recognize you join up with your original name. If you select protect your updates checkbox then it will restrict people from reading your tweets. You can experience twitter completely only if you left the box unchecked. My advice is that you can leave the box unchecked unless you have a terrorist attack planned on you. Every Twitter user has a page for themselves with Twitter.com\username. If you are really desperate for followers, there is nothing wrong in letting your friends know that you exist in twitter and they are doomed to follow you by sending in the link to your twitter page or announce your username.

From the desktop enter a message in the entry window at the top of your page. Your Tweet will be displayed to all your followers on their own Twitter pages. To add a friend click the “add” link in the action bar after you log on to the account. If your friend has set the public views option then his or her tweets will be visible, if set for private, a friend request has to be given to see your friend’s tweet updates on your page.

If you want to expand your network and bring the friends of friends into your follower list. Hover your mouse pointer over the pics of friends in the side bar of your friend’s page. If you click on the pic you can add him/her to the list.

You can view tweets of any persons friends by clicking on the ‘with friends’ tab above their message window. You can switch off views by the ‘previous tag’

The important numbers on the window are the list of followers and the list of friends whom you follow. If you want person to person tweeting. Enter @username when you tweet to the person though others will be able to see the tweet as well. We have to make sure that the person is your follower; otherwise the tweet will not reach the person.

Hook up your mobile phone and Instant Messaging account:

Once you have registered in Twitter on the web, you can connect up your mobile phone and IM account .Go to settings then phone and IM and activate the account. It is completely legal to view tweets on your devices, since twitter encourages mobility. You can set up twitter to send updates to the mobile phone or IM every time a follower tweets. In order to avoid a frenzy of clutter select direct message, you will be alerted only on receiving a direct tweet from your friend. SMS to 40404 to send tweets and since your caller id is attached to twitter, it will allow it after authentication.

Now you would have grasped the twitter basics. If you want to become a pro in tweeting, trace these steps and get into tweeting action and don’t forget to connect up your mobile and IM too.

Check out the Twitter user guide on YouTube