Google Galore, Google Glory and other alliterations

This post is about the overwhelming control that one technological firm can have on the lives of its consumers. Unsurprisingly I have Google in mind. I want to list down(only because people read lists more often now) the aspects of my life that are, if not in direct control, then at least influenced heavily. It has a list of things that are "sent through" the servers of a company called Google Inc.

---- Google knows what searches I make on line ( the Google search engine)
---. Google suggests me things I may have meant when I "Google" stuff online (the "did you mean..... ?option" and actually every time Google has suggested something I have always clicked on it. because I have always meant it.
---Since I use Google Chrome . It has conveniently stored my bookmarks for me, and I(or it) can access them on any computer I(or it) like(or likes). Also knows how frequently I visit which websites because saves history.
---It knows which videos I watch. Which video channels I have subscribed to and with which adds to target me ( Youtube)
----- The email that I send and receive( I use gmail).What? Most people use gmail now.
-----Google translate knows what is the level of the language that I may be learning online. This is a long shot though but its still there.
----It knows the news I read from which website and knows how much time I spend reading which paper and which news item the most. ( Google RSS reader app on my phone and Google Reader on chrome)
--- I have had an android phone for a while now. So it knows the contacts I have( the Google sync contact feature) along with their email addresses oh but hey it already has all the contact details because I use gmail)
---Because I sync all important data on the "Google on-line Drive" it has exclusive access to all my pictures videos files etc.
---Knows about my appointments. Syncs automatically with my phones calender.
-- Google map on my phone knows to the nth decimal place my longitude and latitude.
---Knows the apps I have installed , when I use which I use. Consequently knows my interests.
---and to top it all, this euphemistic Blog post about Google is written on a platform that is being provided to me by Google.
---Because the whole android OS is Google based. May have access to important personal private confidential and classified data that I may have on my phone regarding personal financial or societal life.


Google has me. More so than the Matrix had Neo . and I am a consumer( like many others I would say) who actually uses ALL these things I have mentioned above. There are still other things that it offers but I dont use them and have not written them down.

The reader may be thinking that oh but thats nice to have all the information in one place which is accessible just with one account and I used to think the same. but this. this is getting too much now. I need other websites to take control of my life as well. Long live Mark Zukerberg.

p.s As a sidenote Google has that Google Plus as well. thank God people havent started using that as much as facebook. Add that and an individuals dependence on Google will be complete. 

Facebook You SOB!

[[[[Are you looking for a Muslim women to befriend,marry or date?]]]]]]]]]]]]]


So I am using Facebook with little or no purpose behind it. Scrolling up and down the page trying to waste time on trivial things so that I can later complain how little time I always have. and suddenly to my utmost amazement and surprise I see this add which seems like a brilliant attempt by Facebook to show me adverts that are tailored made for me. and that's funny and here is why

I live in Berlin now, installed my windows here and heck even have my Facebook in the German language now but even then I see this add. and for the record I do not think it is a result of mere chance that I am seeing this and neither do I think that Facebook shows this add to all other people here. Just goes on to show how much and to what extent social media knows about us and how much it controls things that we are exposed to, what things we see, and in this instance what things do we react to.  

There is however this little thing that has been overlooked by Facebook. Which is quite a reprieve actually. or maybe not. Facebook knows. It just doesn't want to tell me it knows.

Disclaimer: I have not been paid by Facebook or another group for the publicity(if any) that may be the result of publishing this picture on this blog . Moreover I do not, will not, shall not, and can not take any responsibility for the use ,distribution, digital or otherwise of this picture under any circumstance whatsoever and shall not be liable to pay any damages incurring as a result. (if the disclaimer was read in the news , it would be done at such a pace that the audience will not be able to understand a single word)

On thoughts that come to your mind

"The proceeds from the sale of this cigarette will go to the advancement of research for the cure of lung cancer and related illnesses" said no cigarette packet cover ever in the history of the cigarette consumption.. But imagine if it were to do that would the sales of cigarette increase? or decrease?

In other news, recently I have been thinking how powerful our minds are and how they create analyse criticise and distort the perception of reality around us. They say money is everything these days( pretty certain it has always been like this). Studies suggest only 15% of the population of the world comprises the ultra rich and people living below the poverty line. Then that means that 85% of the people in the world have virtually the same monetary resources at their hands. If both of these things are true then how come people end up having such different lives?

I feel not really as much attention and care is given to the development of the faculties of the mind as there should be especially compared to how much attention "how to look good" gets in our society. but by this I dont mean formal education. I mean teaching people how to think. Channelling their mental focus. Teaching them to choose the thoughts they want to think and discard others. Because alot of times things that bother us are nothing more our distorted perception of how things are, or how they are not, of what someone said , or didnt say. It is such an immense waste of mental faculties. 

and I fall prey to it again:(

"Do not have prejudices, Do not judge, get details before forming an opinion about an issue" is what I find telling myself often and yet I cant help but fall prey to these evils on some unconscious level.
Case in point is several point of views I got from people and the internet about the the division of Berlin and the erection of the wall and Germany's eventual reunification in 1989.

A quick google search and you know how dismal and disdainful the plight of the east Germans were and how  "all" of them wanted to go the west and all that.
"BUT thats not enough to have a point of view on something" sherry tells himself.
Because I had never met an east German/Berliner before. and now that I have I can safely say that its just another one of those times where one keeps hearing one point of view and starts to think its right. ahh whats the word for it? oh yes propaganda. Its everywhere. We all do it . We do it even without knowing we are doing it. 

Connecticum; The Career Fair

So at the career fair I am trying to look for anything that may come my way. Going here and there in search of the light which was supposed to be at the end of the tunnel but isnt. There are many workshops going on and on several of these they are giving out free drinks and snacks. Since I have my trusted backpack along, I make sure I eat some and put many in my backpack. Around the time I think I have had enough I see this.  

I apologize to the fair maiden although I think in hindsight she is the one who should have done it. and the video above leads me to do this. 

The guy who is making the video now actually starts the commentary for the match. but unfortunately what he says eludes me, for now atleast. 

The Holocaust Memorial

 

Well I knew it was only a matter of time that something along these lines will be written and here it is. The picture above is a real life full scale artist's rendition near Potsdamer Platz Berlin, of the massacre of the Jews during the 2nd world war. These are concrete slabs shaped like tombs which revoke the events of the ghastly memory. When you enter the maze(the war begins) the slabs are a mere 2 or 3 feet high(people step on them kids play around them, couples kiss and hug and what not) and as one continues to move inside, the ground beneath starts getting lower and lower and slabs start to  become conversely higher. Then one reaches a point where the slabs stand 12 to 15 feet high. There one can actually feel quite trapped lost scared and isolated within the field(when the war and holocaust were at its peak). and you continue walking and you step out of the maze(the war and the holocaust ends)
This memorial has been criticised for being too abstract and many would agree with it. I however feel that its quite a smart/intelligent way to depict the gory events of that time without the use of imagery or forms of communication.

And there is a museum under it which has stories, biographies, diary entries, pictures, souvenirs and other memorabilia  For people who are interested in history this might seem like a goldmine. I feel a disclaimer would be quite fitting here. The events the stories and their representation in the museum is not for the weak of hearts. It is a brutal and ghastly reminder of what humanity has suffered to reach where it has, today. I fashion this blog, a feat of immense technological advancement itself, in a restive neighbourhood  in a quiet room, on my super fast computer, but behind the calm on my face there lurks a deadly violent and grotesque history that I as a human am a part of.  

The Berliner Dome

Not being a Christian is no reason for me to not visit, with some consistency, this beautiful building called the Berliner Dome near Alexanderplatz Berlin. Today was the third consecutive Sunday that i went there for service( if I go at other times I will be charged for it ). I could tell the reader some details about the dome but I will not dare because the internet definitely has more literature on the subject. 

I cant help but notice the remarkable similarities that exist between all religions around the world. The "liturgist" of the church spoke about so many things that I can personally relate to being raised as a practising Muslim that I was. The "prayer" at the end of the sermon is the same, asking for suffering of different people to alleviate, the sick to be cured and the hope that the heavenly father will forgive us our sins. The church has an organ and when it plays it creates an aura of religious fervour which is quite missing in mosques.

"In these secular times" and in this city I find it quite hard to believe that people still follow religions so avidly as they do. It comes as a startling "revelation" to me:)