According to a survey by Meraki, nearly 60 percent of people now access the web through mobile phones, compared to a mere one-third last year.

Mobile devices now surpass computers in Wi-Fi network usage, as more people access the Internet with smartphones and tablets than traditional PCs. Computers running Windows and the Mac OS declined among all devices using Wi-Fi networks to 36 percent from 63 percent a year ago. Specifically, Windows-based PCs shrunk to 23 percent from 42 percent last year, while Macs fell to 13 percent from 21 percent in 2010.

The study suggests that desktop PCs may soon go the way of the dinosaur. However that is somewhat optimistic.

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Mobile Devices Use More Wi-Fi Than PCs

If Google Docs is a new term to you as a mobile device user, then you are missing a real opportunity to improve your performance and efficiency. If Cloud Computing is not a term you have come across, then another term you may hear is Software as a Service, often shortened to SaaS. You connect via the Internet with a computer owned and operated by the SaaS provider which runs the software. If there are any updates of the software, that is done automatically on those distant servers.

What Google Docs provides

Basically Google Docs provides a cloud-computing version of almost all the software programs that are available in the Microsoft Office suite of programs.

Even if you alone will be working with the files you create in Google Docs, you will find this can increase your productivity and ease of working.

If you are collaborating with other people who have Google accounts (in other words a Gmail address), then Google Docs improves the effectiveness of online collaboration by an order of magnitude.

A more extended introduction to Google Docs will be found on the StayGoLinks website.

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Google Docs Intro

The Second Brain, as defined by Dr.Michael Gershon, is the extensive network of neurons lining our guts. This mass of neural tissue, filled with important neurotransmitters, does much more than merely handle digestion or inflict the occasional nervous pang.

The little brain in our innards, in connection with the big one in our skulls, partly determines our mental state and plays key roles in certain diseases throughout the body. Although its influence is far-reaching, the second brain is not the seat of any conscious thoughts or decision-making.

See also:

• The Other Brain
• Second Brain Or Third Brain

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The Second Brain

The Other Brain is a term that Dr. R. Douglas Fields uses for that part of your brain that is not gray matter. Gray matter describes the folded-up layers of neurons found in the cerebral cortex, responsible for memory, perception, language and logic.

The other brain is White Matter that includes four types of brain cells known as glia. Unlike neurons that operate by electrical signals, glia behave chemically and interact with neurons in previously unknown ways. The insulation they provide to nerve axons speeds the impulse conduction 100 times and allows the miniaturization of our brains. Glia perform a range of important duties and control other complex brain activity.

See also:

• The Other Brain
• Second Brain Or Third Brain

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The Other Brain

The Comscore Search Market Rankings data for the US in March show that search is growing at 7% between the two months, much of this from the mobile web.  Google has a new slogan, Mobile First.

Google is renaming the Local Business Center as Google Places. One out of five searches on Google are related to location so this is their focus.

Google offers customized QR codes for business cards or other marketing materials.  Customers can scan them with certain smart phones and be taken directly to the mobile Place Page for that business.

The mobile sector has much greater potential than the existing PC world and Google is determined to get the lion’s share.

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Google Places

Your mobile device can increasingly be your window on the real world while you’re on the go.  Retailers can use that to help you with more information and thereby boost offline sales.

Here are some of the innovative ways:

1. Store Locator
2. Bar code reader
3. Product Research
4. Ratings and Reviews
5. Persistent Shopping Cart creates shopping list
6. Social Media to check what your friends think about a store or product
7. Product Finder / Search
8. In-Store Availability
9. Flyers / Newsletters for current specials
10. Offers or coupons

It is your cell phone that almost becomes their sales representative.  This is pull selling at its best.

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Offline Sales Through Your Cell Phone

Frank Koller has written Spark: How Old-Fashioned Values Drive a 21st Century Corporation. Lincoln Electric, in Cleveland, Ohio refuses to lay off its employees in tough times. The company has a century-long record of profitability and innovation.

In fact, Lincoln Electric has 6 core values and none of them refer to a no-layoff practice. These values are:

1. Be customer-centric
2. Value your team
3. Reward Performance
4. Be financially prudent
5. Respect the environment
6. Support local communities

This is very much an order of priority.  Only by applying these values in a tough-minded way will success he achieved. #3 is the lever by which a climate of success is maintained and enhanced.  It is not solely rewarding the good performers but ensuring that unsatisfactory performance is identified and corrected.

See the Lincoln Electric Spark for more details.

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Lincoln Electric Sparks Success

Tele Atlas, one of the map suppliers to Google Maps has now included the Golden Ears Bridge in British Columbia in their database.  This has been picked up by MapQuest but Google Maps still does not show the Bridge, which was two years in the making and has now been in operation for 9 months.   Going from Fort Langley to Pitt Meadows across the Fraser River, Google Maps still suggests taking the Albion Ferry, which has not run for 9 months.

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Golden Ears Bridge Now On MapQuest

Sheena Iyengar, of Columbia University’s business school, is an expert on ‘choice overload‘. Basically too many options either paralyze the chooser or may mean an unsatisfactory choice is made to get out of the choice dilemma.  See The Fewer The Better for more details on that.

She is in the news again with her new book, The Art Of Choosing. One of her findings covers the other end of this scale. No choice at all leads to depression.  Belief in the power of choice and a strong desire to expand choices has long been part of the American Dream.  Having choices is both valuable and necessary.

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Choice Overload

On the go, you need to know whether the stuff you are looking for is available at stores nearby. Google has launched an in stock info system with data from five major retail outlets and are taking volunteers from businesses that want to join in the program.

As Google explains, just look for the blue dots. If you see a blue dot next to search results, tap on the adjacent “In stock nearby” link, and on the seller’s page the item will show as either “In Stock” or has “Limited Availability” near you. You can also see how far away the stores are from you if you’ve enabled My Location or manually specified your location. It works with any iPhone, Palm WebOS phone, or any Android-powered device in the US.

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Google In Stock Info