Partly Yours, Partly Lost

Image
Some places stay with you long after life has moved elsewhere. There is something strange about destiny. You just cannot overcome it, but at the same time, you cannot simply do nothing because something is destined to happen. In India, it is not uncommon to have your horoscope charted about a year after birth. Grandparents wait with bated breath to hear how well the stars were aligned, and what remedies might be needed to appease the Gods. So when I was a year old, my grandmother took my birth date and time to Dharmaraja Ghanapadigal, one of the most revered astrologers in Pudukkottai. He apparently told her that I would do reasonably well in studies, travel to multiple countries, and eventually live abroad. Here was an old lady asking about her grandson from a small town. My parents were then living in Gobichettipalayam. This was the eighties, long before economic reforms had changed the country. My grandmother thanked him politely, but quietly wondere...
Post a Comment

The Google "Reality"

Google has been one company that started off incognito in the Stanford dorm to emerge as a leading search engine in the 21st century. It has beaten hands down any hint of competition from Altavista, Excite, MSN, Yahoo or in fact any other. Larry Page and Sergey Brinn created history of sorts, when they sat back to decipher, or rather invent the Back Link Algorithm. Imagine downloading the entire web content on your desktop. Well, that was the idea that propped into Page's head before hitting it off with what one can hail as one of the greatest turning points in the internet world with a sleek, usable and simple search engine that caught on easily with the masses.

I came to know some time back of The Google Story written by David Vise and Mark Malseed. I was hunting for this book for quite some time in various libraries, and obviously there are a lot of readers who have made a beeline in the waiting list for this book. Thankfully, after a long time did I realise that the University library had the digital rights for the book, and as I sat back to read this book, I found it really engrossing. The book opens with a presentation by the Google founders at an Israeli school, taking questions at ease from some really bright and intellectual kids. The authors have done a good job in capturing the essence of Google. The way Larry and Sergey get the initial funding to kick off the Google project is exciting to read. Why is it Google and not Googol? What did they do at Stanford? What were the issues in getting funded from a Venture Capitalist? It is also exciting to note how they did not partake any information though they get funded from a venture capitalist. That is not possible and is never heard off being done by any other company. An exciting round up of Googleplex is provided with good insight into Charlie's Corner. The recruitment of Eric Schmidt as the CEO of Google is an interesting read. The best part of this was that neither of them was ready to get into the other's fold. The way Google went public is covered in good detail. The hiccups, the speedbreakers, the agony, the anxiety and everything else is finally overcome by some steady progress that can stimulate anyone in achieving something in life. Overall, Google with its wide array of products has forayed into almost every aspect of internet, without any compromise on quality.

This book is a must read for Google fans. Though the authors at many times have stressed that Google derives its inspiration from technology and not for money, it is difficult to fathom. At the end of the day, money does matter, but it really does not matter to give this book atleast a one time read.

Comments

Post a Comment