Google Forced to Get Back into Fightin' Shape

I'm always forced to pick my jaw up off the floor when I hear about the luxurious working environment offered to Google employees. From "safe" lap pools (note the Life Guard) to lounges that compete with today's nicest pool halls, Google employees are well taken care of. Oh, and did I mention the "pamper" services? These services include barbers, professional masseuses, world-renown chefs for Google's world-renown cafe(see below), and a kennel for your dogs (no cats). If amenities like these don't make you second guess your own workplace, then you're just plain crazy and you should leave now. Seriously. Leave.

But now it seems Google is having to make some small sacrifices, due to the recession that's plaguing the majority of world markets. Early rumors were that many of the above mentioned "bonus" services would be done away with. Other rumors even started about Google possibly laying off its own employees. Needless to say, even employees of Google were feeling the strains of economic downturn just like the rest of us.

And in case you heard a loud "whoosh" recently, that was the sound of Google employees breathing a unanimous sigh of relief, as their employer announced that no full-time employee will be let go at this time.

Here's Time's take on the matter:
"It's not just afternoon tea that's falling by the wayside at the famously employee-friendly firm. Although Google hasn't handed out pink slips to any of its 20,000 full-time employees, it has cut about half of its additional 10,000 contract workers in recent months. And, previously one of the biggest recruiters of MBAs on college campuses, Google is eschewing such pricey new hires, although it is still bringing on new engineers."

But while many people view "change" or "cut-backs" as a bad thing, this can potentially make Google bigger, faster, and stronger. Just as an athlete will lose "fat" when conditioning his/her body, so will Google shed the unnecessary and wasteful parts of the company. This will make them an even more competitive business force than they already are.

So is the market forcing Google to change? Yes. Is it forcing Google to cut back? Yes. Are either of these things a bad thing? No, neither of them are. In fact, they will force Google to become better than they already are by losing

Reason Not to Trust Google Maps

This REALLY happened to me and my friend! Please watch:

Google.org

Google.org
Here's a site that's truly amazing. It's like Google compiled all of their most noble qualities into one location. The direction of Google.org is explained by this quote from its site:

"...In collaboration with experienced partners working in each of these fields, we will invest our resources and tap the strengths of Google’s employees and global operations to advance five major initiatives: Develop Renewable Energy Cheaper Than Coal (RE), RechargeIT, Predict and Prevent, Inform and Empower to Improve Public Services, and Fuel the Growth of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises."

Google goes on to explain just how it "advances" the above five initiatives by showing where their grant money is going. Here's the link to the "Grants and Investments" page.

The final notable feature of Google.org is the "Flu Trends" page. This is Google ingenuity at its best. Some time ago, Google noticed that large amounts of users would search for "Flu" keywords on google.com several weeks before any other methods notified the public of a "flu epidemic." Someone on the Google team realized if they could see what area of the country the users were from when they implemented their "flu" search, they could create a map of where the flu virus was most likely to rear its ugly head.

Goog-411

Google has a useful tool called Goog-411, which gives directory assistance to anyone who calls for free. This feature is not very new, but is a surprise to me nonetheless. It is very easy to use: Just dial 1800-Goog-411 (1800-466-4411), state the location of your business, then the name of the business, and Viola!- Google will connect you to your business for free. Sweet! Below is Google's video on the subject.




I am a true believer- I have family who will dial "411" three times a day and draw a $2.00 charge each time its used. If he continues his trend, this will save him almost $100 a month.

Google Pack

If you're anything like me, you have setup countless computers for friends and family alike. It's almost sad- I can literally walk someone through a complete Windows re-installation over the phone, without even looking at a computer screen. But no matter how well I know the whole "Setup" process, no amount of familiarity can make the mundane times interesting or engaging. These mundane moments include installing the "Other" software- the good stuff installed after the BIOS, drivers, &/or Overclocking is all finished. This "Other" software includes an Antivirus, an Antispyware, Firefox, Adobe, Flash, and a few other minor programs like Googletalk, Skype, & various Firefox extensions.

However, as I already mentioned, this can be extremely boring & tedious, to say the least. That's why I was pleasantly surprised to find a new feature by Google- Google Pack. Its a set of most of the above programs, but only for XP or Vista. You pick which of the 12 programs you would like, and instead of hunting down each individual program, you can download the ones you want all at once!

Google Pack includes:

• Google Earth
• Norton Security Scan
• Google Desktop
• Firefox with Google Toolbar
• Adobe Reader
• Skype
• Google Toolbar for IE
• Spyware Doctor
• Picasa
• Google Photos Screensaver
• Google Talk
• Realplayer

Again, you select as many (or as few) of the above programs you would like, and download the entire group. This keeps you from having to search for downloads for each individual program, which saves a lot of time. So spread the word and keep your friends from wasting their valuable time.