Google are at it again

It’s a clever advertising/marketing ploy, one that Google have used before with great success when they were introducing Gmail. Basically, they made Gmail “exclusive” at the start, with new members having to be “invited” – and for a while they even rationed the number of invites that each new member could issue.

 

It worked tremendously well, you have to admit - especially as Gmail was the first (as far as I’m aware) to offer practically unlimited “storage” as one of the main advantages. And to be fair, it WAS a big draw for me because I’d lost some emails (that I didn’t really want to lose) by not clearing the rubbish emails from my inbox.

 

Anyway, Google is doing it again with Google Plus. I’ve got an invite, but I haven’t checked it out yet – and I might not get the chance to do so as I understand that Google are saying even to invited “members” that there’s no room in the inn at the moment.

 

I won’t feel desperately out of it if I don’t get “admittance”, but I AM curious to see what Google Plus is like, to see if it’s better than Facebook. Even if it is, I might not change over to it if everybody that I want to keep in touch with continues to use FB. If they stop using FB – well, I’ll have to move, too.

 

Random thought: If FB stops being the flavour of the month, will Mark whatsisname become a pauper? Yeah I know... not bloody likely, although FB investors might lose out.

 

Mainly, I'm just tickled at how obvious Google’s marketing is, and yet people are drawn in by it – even those who can see the “exclusivity” for what it is. Me included. 

Sunday Scribblings - "Gift"

Click on the headline to go to the Sunday Scribblings site

Of all the unwanted bequests that come our way, the ones that are the least welcome are those which are passed down in our genes as dangerous inheritances for unwilling recipients - sometimes from birth, like haemophilia, cystic fibrosis, Huntington's disease and so on; sometimes later in life, like diabetes, heart problems, cancer, etc.

Genetic inheritance - the gift that keeps on giving down the generations...

Limerick-Off Monday

Click on the headline to go directly to this week's Limerick-Off on Mad Kane's blog.

My rather feeble effort using the prompt "A fellow was playing with fire". Dunno why but I had some trouble trying to get words to rhyme with "fire" - and still more trouble trying to come up with a limerick that made sense. Anyway...

A fellow was playing with fire
When he called his wife a liar.
She sulked, shouted, saw red,
Banned him from the marital bed,
Making him realise the extent of her ire.

Medecin sans English?

I guess everybody in the UK must know of the surgeon who shouted at CamerClegg and their TV crew for not following hospital procedures as regards good hygiene practice. That surgeon is now on “indefinite leave” – suspicious, suspicious. I also read somewhere that the surgeon had "created a controversy" a few years ago when he complained about foreign nurses who could not understand him. Nobody mentioned the word “racist”, as far as I’m aware, but the suggestion was very much there in the way the word “controversy” was bandied about.

I don’t understand what was so controversial about what he said. If you ask me, he was making a perfectly valid point. He did not question their professionalism or basic competence – his complaint was about the very wide gap in communication. What’s the point having foreign nurses, however qualified or sympathetic they are, if they are unable to communicate competently in English, unable to understand what the doctors/surgeons/patients want of them, and unable to ask or answer questions? At the very least, they should be able to speak/understand the local language. Do the racism-mongers honestly not see any potential for disaster during an operation, say, if the surgeon’s instructions are misunderstood by the nurses, or patients are unable to get across to them the specifics of any discomfort/pain they feel?

Any foreign staff – doctors and nurses both – should have to be competent in spoken and written English if they are to work in this country. Knowing other languages would definitely be a bonus, but I personally think English is an absolute must. I just can’t imagine any logical objections to this. Can you?

A confession

Limericks aren’t easy to write
Apparently one needs to be bright;
Finding words that rhyme
Is a challenging pastime -
But sometimes, it’s an absolute delight.

Workplace woes

A gal who hated to sit
When bored, would chafe at the bit.
To her dismay, her job
Was to assist a foolish nob –
It aint no joke working with a half-wit.

Here is what you may or may not know about me…

Click on the headline for a direct link to Umm's post.

Thanks to Umm for giving me the chance to do a post that isn't a limerick!

• I am an introvert. I chose editing over reporting (when I started out in journalism) because I very quickly discovered that I didn’t want to talk to strangers, ask intrusive questions or do any schmoozing at all whatsoever.
• I have one very good friend from school, one very good friend from college, and a handful from the Hindu Business Line (my 2nd job). Since then, I’ve maybe made 2-3 new real-life friends, at most. What can I say, I prefer quality over quantity.
• I like people who are outgoing and friendly. They make it easier for me to be friends with them because they take the pressure off me to be entertaining.
• I’ve always thought I disliked the colour pink, but I find I’ve had so many pink clothes over the years – and still do - that I’m forced to conclude that I DO like pink. But my most favourite colour of all is still orange.
• I'd love to wear high heels but my feet aren't up to it.
• I very rarely wear lipstick but that doesn't stop me from buying them... and I always end up with the same two or three colours even though I think I've made a radical choice at the point of purchase.
• I love different coloured writing inks - upgraded from colour pencils, which I loved till my early teens. My most favourite possession was a 60-shade colour-pencil set from Caran D’ache which I kept for many, many years after I stopped using them.
• I still have no idea how to pronounce Caran D’ache (pronounce correctly, I mean).
• I am always taken aback when I see my photos. Because I truly believe I look better than what the Kodak moment gives me credit for (borrowed verbatim from Umm). Mirrors deceive the eye but candid photos don’t lie.
• I would like to be in a much better financial position than I’m in currently. Sure, money can’t make you happy or buy you love, but – at the risk of sounding smug – I AM already happy and loved. Now I’d like some money, please.
• I have no illusions about myself or my abilities. Because the truth is that for every person that I'm better than (at anything), there are at  least double that number of people who're at least twice as good as me with only half the effort.
• I hate - really, really hate - the thought of people being sorry for me, or worrying about me, so I find it very, very difficult to confide any real problems to anyone. I can't stop anyone from thinking what they like, but I don't like to provide personal fodder for any potential discussion.
• I’m constantly amazed at how shallow some people are but yet think they’re deep/intelligent/funny/name your illusion. Especially funny. And constantly tempted to disabuse them of their illusions.

So, Umm... have I surprised you at all? :)

Limerick-Off Monday

Click on the headline for this week's Limerick-Off Monday at Mad Kane's blog

My limericks for the prompt: "A man/gal who could never say 'no'"

A man who could never say “no”
Wanted to stage a one-man show.
Asked by the director: “Can you sing?”
He coolly lied, “Why, sure thing!”
Sang a note One note, tho' - and he got the ol’ heave-ho.


A gal who could never say “no”
Was upset at being called a “ho".
Said she: “It’s not nice
To be asked my price
By all my potential beaux.”

Limerick-Off Monday

Click on the headline for this week's Limerick-Off Monday at Mad Kane's.

My limerick for the prompt "A man who was proud of his clout". I have to say this one came pretty easy :) I'm going to see if I can come up with more. Possibly with a gal who was proud of her clout, too.

A man who was proud of his clout
Did challenge Mohd Ali to a quick bout;
Alas for him, Cassius Clay
(As he was known in his day)
With one punch knocked him clean out.

And another (the gal didn't quite make it!):

A man who was proud of his clout
Thought he needed to standout;
He giggled and preened,
And boasted and queened -
But ev’ryone thought he’d at last come out.

And yet again - the gal made it! (I'm on a roll!):

A gal who was proud of her clout
When ignored, was inclined to pout.
At every party she’d complain,
Drinking far too much champagne -
Until, irritated, they threw her out.

Somebody stop me!:

A man who was proud of his clout
Was honestly a bit of a lout.
He would bully and tease
Imagining he was the bee’s knees -
But socially he was a washout.

Limerick-Off Monday

Click on the headline to access Mad Kane's Limerick-off Monday

My slightly risque effort of the week, using the starting line "A fellow who loved fine cuisine":


A fellow who loved fine cuisine
Always cleaned his teeth with fluorine,
And every girl that he fed
Spent the night in his bed.
His secret? “Good oral hygiene”.