Google Tools : Google Trends

While people meddle with Google Earth, I rather experiment with Google Labs.
Google labs allow one's creativity to run wild with the different possibilities that Google provides. It allows one to study the trends that are out there and of course trends that aren't out there yet.

Wanna know if Gucci or Louis Vuitton is more popular? Where do you get such statistics? Well, you can go to the streets and conduct surveys, but that will require a lot of time and man power. Wasting resources is the last thing on your mind!

So what do you do? Google Trend it!
your answer comes in less than 30 seconds

Key: Blue - Gucci
Red- Louis Vuitton

there you have it! according to Google, Gucci has been a more popular brand amongst world users. Plus, Google tells you where it got its statistics. Check out below:

You might not want to base your assumptions based on Google Trend's results, but at least, there is a guide line that you can follow :D
well apart from looking for guidelines, if you are really bored.. like REALLY BORED like I was a few days back, you could use Google trends to find out if Elmo from Sesame Street or Tigger from Winnie the Pooh is more popular.

This was really random :p
Have fun!

Looks like Elmo is a more popular character!



3 cheers for Elmo!

Google Lab- Trends is a fun tool to play around with yet it can help you greatly with research purposes.
3 x 3 cheers for Google Trends!

Video!

this is a short video that my friends and i made for a module; com 217. Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQqr8WUUXws

Digital Classroom

I grew up in classrooms with chalks, blackboards and not forgetting dusters. Everything that was to be copied into our exercise books was on the blackboard.
It didn't matter if it was Science or Math or Literature; my teachers would write whatever they had to on the board and let us copy it off from there.
There were no such things as powerpoint slides or youtube videos to help us along the way. The blackboard and chalk were the ultimate tools of a teacher back then.

Bart Simpson definitely has issues with the blackboard as he was always being punished to write lines after skipping school and etc. I'm sure a handful of students were enemies with the blackboard for the various "crimes" committed in school as well.

It was only when I entered poly where technology had advanced tremendously and incredibly. Lecturers started using websites to lecture us and some even opened up programs from their laptops to specifically show us how to go about using it. Take for example: SPSS. The program SPSS is a statistics program which helps one organize data into graphs.

Soon enough, our marketing lecturer was introducing websites to us to help us with our exams. Before you knew it, our class tests were conducted ONLINE (E-TESTS) and our projects had to be submitted either via digital dropbox or email.

Everything was practically converted from a blackboard which used dusters to create write new pieces of information to a computer which only needs one button: The Delete button.

from...

to..

our lives have improved greatly from manually dusting the blackboard to the mere pressing of just one button. However, with such readily available information at our fingertips, will we be reliant on the web to give us answers?

Will Google be the internet God? well it has sort of become the internet God. Millions of people use Google or other search engines to look up information for their own purposes. Answers are provided with a click of a mouse.

Although the internet makes life easier for both students and teachers, it is inevitable that one day we might forget the fundamentals of life. With dictionary.com and conversion tools available online, fundamentals of a manual tools such as a calculator, or an encyclopedia can be easily forgotten. A digital classroom helps greatly but it is also possible to make us forget how to do things manually.

Let's hope this won't ever happen.

10 reasons why E-commerce is successful

E-commerce has been on the rise since the beginning of the Internet. The wonders of the internet brings millions of people together through social media and of course, e-commerce.
Businesses online are booming and everyday, new businesses are being setup hoping to earn revenue.
So why is e-commerce so popular right now?

Here are 10 reasons why E-commerce is successful & why people want their feet into it.

Here goes!

1. No such thing as : Time Limit.

In the world of the world wide web, time knows no boundaries. You can work anytime without worrying having to punch in your time card or about the traffic jam along the highway. Managing your business online allows you to be free of the 24 hour prison cell. Since time is flexible, anybody and everybody is allowed to visit your site at any time and in any country!
Hopefully they make purchases too :)

2. Knowledge is free

Everything you need to know about starting, running and growing a business is available online, not to mention online tutorials from prestigious universities, from books (google's scholar search helps you with that) and from people who are already doing it successfully and who you now have unprecedented access to through blogs and social networks (blog search, facebook, you name it!). And nobody cares what your portfolio anymore. :x

3. Your "employees" are affordable

Technically, your employees are your computer, mouse, internet connection, search engines, software and everything that you can find online is, well sort of nearly free. Instead of getting a loan from the bank and borrowing thousands of dollars, why not setup online when it is conveniently free? :)

4. Marketing is Free

Information about your business can be put online! with all them artsy fartsy thing-a-migics.
marquee banners and web titles, flash objects/short clips or even music! You have a chance to provide your information in any format that you want that will suit your business.
How great is that? and you don't even have to pay a interior designer to do it.

5. Spider webbed!

With your business online, YOU CAN REACH THE WORLD. Your website can be and will be viewed 24hrs a day, 7 days a week; practically the entire year. No worries about nobody hearing about your website, when it's good, the word of mouth travels faster than you can send out flyers telling people about your website.

6. Convenient for Customers.

Customers can view the website as many times as they like. It's not like you are forcing them to view your website to purchase your products but more like, customers have the luxury of viewing your products over and over again. There is very little or no coercion at all. It's good for you, and your customers!

7. Your website doesn't need to sleep.

You are only human. Eating, sleeping, and other daily activities are part of your life. However, your website doesn't. It will continue to generate income for you and all you have to do is wake up to orders and wait for the money to roll in. $_$

8. The address book

Allowing customers to fill in their information, you can always let them know about the latest updates, the special discounts of certain items, or even maybe special sprees that are only available to them. By building such customer relations, the bond will strengthen and customers will become loyal. Business repeats, so does the cash-ins!

9. Competitive prices.

It isn't rare that someone else sells the same products / services that you have. The competition will get rough as you fight to keep your price the lowest yet the best. However, such competitive prices keep you in check and it creates the drive to attract your customers even more! Competition is always good.

Last but not least,

10. Your commitment.

One needs commitment to make any business successful. Being on the edge helps. Read the books or visit the sites of those who have made it big. It is never too late to learn and by learning more, your business online will only reap results!

:D cheers.