Google Social Network Attacks Facebook And Foursquare

Google wants your attention! Google Social Network is here!

In its never-ending quest to catch up with, rather than work with, Facebook, Google is rolling out its latest effort called Google +, or the Google Social Network.

This blogger is not a beta tester for Google +, but as one who's used Google accounts almost since gmail started, and was prepared to hate the very idea of a Google Social Network, after reading through the online presentation, I have to say, Google may be on to something here.

The main question is, is Google + compelling enough to want to use, and is that enough to supplant Facebook? The answer is yes, but no. Yes, because it combines features, and in a way fuses a Foursquare-like check-in system into its social network, but no, because it totally misses the design element that makes Facebook so popular.

What's cool about Facebook is it's simplicity - everything starts from your profile page. The Facebook news feed is kind of the "town central" for what your friends are up to.

So, in a way, it's like living in a neighborhood with your house as the profile, and the downtown park and mall as the place where you go and see what everyone's up to. When they come to your house, that's when they comment or "like" on something that appears on your profile.

It's that function that makes Facebook so very, there's that word again, compelling.

What's that word again about Google Social Network is its' design, using circles and colors to designate places and actions. But, and I can see this without a beta account, it doesn't have that neighborhood feeling that makes Facebook work.

And I don't think Facebook was deliberately designed to work in the way I described above, it just turned out that way. But if you think about it, that "way" is so organic, so much the way we work as people, it explains Facebook's success.

That Google didn't copy that aspect of Facebook's design is why it will not replace, or really put a dent into, Facebook's dominance.

The problem is that Google didn't think about how the "circles, hangouts, Instant Upload, Sparks, and Huddle," all fit together, or about what really binds people to each other. Google's system connects people but it does not let me see what people - my friends - are doing.

People like to know what other people are doing. Facebook's News feed allows that, even more than the status updates. Google should find some kind of way to incorporate Facebook's user experience into the Google Social Network, or else, it's just not going to catch on with many other than early responders.

UPDATE: PC World, which was invited to try Google + reports that the "Stream" is equal to the Facebook News Feed. From PC World's account, Google does copy Facebook's "feel" but I have to try it for myself to be sure. I'm still skeptical.

Tom Cruise's height like it's the next big scandal

Tom Cruise Height
People talk and speculate about Tom Cruise's height like it's the next big scandal.  The Cruise height scandal seems to be synonymous with any news about the famous actor.  While Tom's stature may be below average, his career is not.  Tom Cruise has appeared on many influential lists throughout his career, and yet twenty plus years later, Tom Cruise height is still a hot issue.
According to IMDb, the official Tom Cruise height is 5'7.72”.  This is about two inches below the average height for a man.  Tom could the poster boy for short men.  Despite his short stature, Tom has been involved with beautiful women including ex-wife Nicole Kidman, Penelope Cruz, and current wife Katie Holmes.  All three of these women are all taller than Tom Cruise.
The Tom height issue definitely did not influence People magazine, which named him the sexiest man alive.  Entertainment Weekly and Premier magazine could not be persuaded either.  Both magazines ranked him 31^st and 3^rd for greatest movie star of all time respectively. Tom Cruise was also not a factor for VH1.  He was honored at number 18 of the hottest hotties list.
Tom Cruise height followers can be found all over the Internet as they post pictures trying to decipher how he manages to appear taller in pictures.  There are several theories on the Tom height issue.  The first is that Tom has lifts in his shoes.  One company that makes lifts has even gone so far as to strongly suggest that Tom Cruise uses their product.
Another Cruise height theory is that he is simply a master of illusion.  Katie Holmes, his current wife, is 2 inches taller than him without shoes. Katie likes to wear 3-4 inch heels, which she refuses to stop wearing.  Fans have noticed that Tom is a fan of taking pictures on stairs with his wife.  He usually stands a few stairs up from her in order to even out the obvious height difference.  His previous wife, Nicole Kidman, simply chose to wear flats when hitting the town with Tom.
The Tom Cruise height issue has also affected Cameron Diaz, his co-star in the movie Knight and Day.  Pictures of the two of them at the premier show a slouching Cameron and a pair of one-inch heels on Tom's shoes to even out the height difference.
Despite the debate over Cruise height, his talent cannot be ignored.  He has been a successful actor, and one of the best paid of all time.  Tom Cruise has stood the test of time, and has remained a Hollywood superstar for more than 20 years. 

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Tom Cruise, a famous Hollywood actor. His complete name is Thomas Cruise and he was born on third July 1962. He is actually an actor as well as producer of American film industry. He was nominated for three different Academy awards and he had also won Golden Globe award three times. He had acted in a film Risky Business as a lead actor. This was a career maker for this actor.
Second successful film by this actor was Top Gun. He has also acted as secret agent in the series of movies known as Mission Impossible. Apart from these kinds of successful movies he had also acted in lots of other well-known movies of Hollywood. From long time, he has been given a charge of United Artists studio for films. There Tom is working as a producer.
Tom Cruise's birth city is Syracuse of New York. Her mother was a teacher and father was an electrical engineer by profession. He got his surname from his grandfather.
If you look at the history part then you can see that he was really born in poverty area and he was from Catholic family. Even his father has also beaten him many times. Now when the question comes, what is tom cruise height, then what should be your answer? You can find lots of rumors regarding the same on the Internet. Because of some close resources you can surely get the perfect measurement of his height. It is actually 172 cms. If you look at his image on Internet or in some magazine then you can surely get the idea about tom cruise height. You can see that even his height is lesser then his wife. But, in picture it is seen that he looks taller than her wife. So, how it could be possible? During his career or his complete film life, there were many rumors spread regarding his height. Even if you search properly or read some older magazine you can get the detailed information about the same controversy. Some of the people are having a doubt that he is wearing Taller Heels. But, we need to make sure that weather he is really wearing same or not? The company itself is not ready to provide this judgment that he is wearing it or not. So, it is totally up to us to judge that Tom Cruise is wearing Taller Hills or not.

Roddick fears he may never win the Wimbledon title

London: Andy Roddick fears he may never win Wimbledon after the three-time finalist suffered a shock third round exit against Feliciano Lopez on Friday. Roddick has always believed the faster grasscourts of Wimbledon made the tournament his best bet to win another Grand Slam.
    But the former US Open champion looks increasingly unlikely to fulfil his dream after yet another early exit from the All England Club.
    Although Roddick made the final in 2009 — losing in five sets to Roger Federer — the American has now failed to get past the fourth round in three of the last four years.
    With age no longer on the 28-year-old’s side, he concedes it has occurred to him that he may never get to lift the championship trophy. “Well, sure. You’re human. I mean, of course it does. You may never get your favourite job either,” Roddick said. “I haven’t played well this year. I don’t think I’ve played my best since probably April of last year. I’ve been up against some stuff. But it has to get better, there’s no doubt. You keep moving forward until you decide to stop. At this point I’ve not decided to stop so I’ll keep moving forward.”
    Although Roddick was hugely disappointed not to make the second week of his favourite Grand Slam, he insisted he wasn’t as devastated as when he lost in the second round against Janko Tipsaveric in 2008 and Lu Yen-Hsun in the fourth round last year. “It’s easier for me to walk out of here and move forward with that than, let’s say, 2008 where I lost to Tipsarevic and I felt like I completely choked or last year where I had a million opportunities and gave it away,” Roddick said.
    “He played an outstanding match. He served about as well as someone has against me. The stuff that’s enabled me to beat him seven times, making passing shots under duress, making him play defence on his forehand, he did well today.
    “The thing you guys have to understand is there’s no script. Some days you’re going to play well and lose, and some days you’re going to play like crap and win.”
    Roddick had won all seven of his previous seven meetings with Lopez, but the last of those encounters on grass at Queen’s earlier this month suggested the eighth seed wouldn’t have it all his own way on Centre Court.
    It had taken Roddick three tough sets to see off Lopez at the Wimbledon warm-up event and this time the Spaniard was finally able to break his losing run.
    Lopez, twice a Wimbledon quarter-finalist, served brilliantly and stopped Roddick establishing his power-game as the world number 44 secured a tie against Gael Monfils or Lukasz Kubot in the last 16. AFP

Andy Roddick during his match against Feliciano Lopez on Friday