New Gmail Themes

Gone are the days of spam and Gmail has consistently provided spam free email. This is as good as it gets folks! Persistent innovation has led to Google's successful approach to spam control in Gmail. Switch from yahoo or hotmail and the first thing one notices is the drop in the rate of spam. One hardly ever runs into a spam mail and if you do encounter one, just mark it as spam and Gmail will handle the rest! Spam discussion is not the intention here, I wish to share with you happy Gmail users some new themes that were recently posted on the official Gmail Blog. Enjoy Gmail and kudos to the folks at Google!

Virtual Box - Summary Review

Here is a summary on my VirtualBox installation. The download itself was a small foot print while the installation was a breeze. You could literally be up and running in a few minutes! Yes, this is powerful in that the spirit of open-source collaboration has brought us free virtualization right to the desktop on the Mac! The scope of my testing was limited to Mac OS X (Leopard) desktop, I look forward to sharing my experience on the Snow Leopard implementation next. I did see inquiries from curious users about Snow Leopard, and all I can say for now is - it looks great and has worked well so far for the pioneers. I will try and share my experience on it soon. For now, Windows has been jailed into a virtual machine on my MacBook!

For those not familiar with the rambling here, VirtualBox is an open-source software that allows you to say run Windows on your Apple MacBook. You may ask "why would you want to run Windows on Mac?". The answer is, there could be something that is only available on the Windows platform (the list is lean) and virtualization using VirtualBox software is a great way to run it within your Apple environment. This is the current trend in computing and is in keeping with the green initiative of a low carbon footprint, low energy consumption and a smart way to do things.

I remember running about six different servers in my lab in 1999, with every one of them running a unique operating system. While most of it was to do with testing, the advancement in virtualization now enables us to do it all and not mess up your running PC. In other words, you could be sitting in your favorite coffee shop and virtually be in your lab. Dating back to the same time, I remember some of us running back home after an evening at Barnes & Noble, to begin the lab sessions we awaited all day for.

Smart computing you say, sometimes we tend to take for granted the benefits of smart computing. Imagine the convenience, portability, virtualization, efficiency, accessibility, availability, modularity.... the list goes with the benefits that change our lives for better. Even more interesting are the brilliant minds behind this and how their dreams have given us hope. I foresee opportunities in the realm of virtualization and connectivity, where the triple domains of our phone, notebook and TV need to be in sync to make life easier. While you may choose to have multiple profiles, imagine the clutter and mess of managing and maintaining multiple profiles on these three devices? Software will play an even bigger role in the near future. Lots of job opportunities for creative programmers that think outside the box and outside of conventional frameworks, while promising ideas will still find the venture capital they deserve. The market corrections globally will ensure quality funding and that is good for the consumer. Mr. Gates and Steve Ballmer, along with all the other entrepreneurs will always be remembered for their contribution and persistent effort that changed life for the better. Their stories are being compiled for the history books and we hope generations to come will be inspired towards a better world for all.

Be Humble - Advance in Wisdom

It is not uncommon to bump into people that are so into themselves that they hardly observe the others. The greatest downside to this is wisdom; it really suffers! You may be good in what you do but progress beyond that really does not get the sustainable ration if you are not humble enough to learn from others and realign yourself.

To acquire knowledge, one must study; but to acquire wisdom, one must observe. - Marilyn vos Savant

Be agile - I love this word and was inspired to ponder over this after a reference made by a coworker, Chris Batchelder during a brainstorming session. In fact, this is the first lesson you are about to learn (Ideas come from everywhere) from the embedded video I have for you today by Marissa Mayer, Vice President of Search Products and User Experience at Google. Google has always been a winner for me ever since one of my beloved old bosses, David Fossler got me hooked on it. Enjoy the video and do share your comments. Healthy discussion is always welcome on this site. Thank you for visiting and enjoy!