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My First Impressions with Google Plus I ...

My First Impressions with Google Plus I think Google Plus is a great concept but there is a genuine risk of running into information overload. Google needs to add more features to the settings of the project for the individual user so that the individual is put into control as to how much of it he or she wants to consume and how much to leave out. Besides, I couldn't see the tight integration between what's written in public domain and flowing in versus what's written in your groups and folks and how that is displayed. I think this balance is crucial because both emails and facebook have this balance of what's important to me as a person in my daily transactions versus what's out there in public domain. I think we are already supersaturated with information and there is a need to be eclectic about what I want to "consume", and what I want to leave. The choice is not easy and Google does not make it easy either. In combination with buzz, tweets, facebook updates, there's already too much to read and digest and a lot of duplications. I think one of the challenges in the coming weeks is to control what features to turn on and what features off, and whom to follow and whom to skim by, and specifically how to manage all of that information. There are people who will push their blog stuff into their streams (actually this is a test stream to push stuff directly from the stream to the blog post which in turn will fill in all the social networks). So, writing on the stream perhpas with [multimarkdown format](http://daringfireball.net) or whatever can possibly work. What I particularly like about Google Plus is its concept of circles and building discussions and threads where you can opt in and opt out. This is tremendous, and I can immediately see how powerful it can be in building a whole new concept or paradigm if you will of building discussions and offering guest lectures, and so on. The second aspect is that of the sparks. The sparks are great, and not easy to be overlooked in the information bazaar if you will, but I do not know as my spark list will grow where they will end up. The third thing is the whole integration bit with everything like my email/buzz/document reading (I guess the black strip that now sits on the top of my google website is the clincher here). I think this is a fantastic medium, but like all other powerful google products it requires a little bit of hand holding and tutorials. It's not like twitter that one can shoot off a 140 character stuff out in the wild, or facebook where people can easily start conversatons and bring in people to build networks. I think there is a need for a clear "user manual" for a way of work on the social web. The potential and the power unleashed by Google Plus is stunning. No wonder Google is slowly releasing the invites and letting people. I understand nothing of the machine strength required to sustain this, the fidelity with which this whole thing mimics real life networking is absolutely stunning, and its for this experience alone, it's worth to be on Google Plus. Daring Fireball Daring Fireball. By John Gruber. Archive; Projects; Contact; Colophon; RSS Feed; Sponsorship. Ads via The Deck. Bloomberg: Apple Cutting iAd Rates ★. Adam Satariano, reporting for Bloomberg: Apple Inc... View or comment on Arin Basu's post » The Google+ project is currently working out all the kinks with a small group of testers. If you're not able to access Google+, please check back again soon. Learn more about Google+

Wii fit plus, I think, is a great metaphor for balance in all aspects

This evening I was playing with the wii fit plus. I quite liked the concept of how using the balance board as a metaphor of issues around balancing the body, and possibly many other things in life. Besides interesting take on stretching exercises and its application in balance/vestibular rehabilitation or other aspects, fostering balance and depth of focus in concentration were two things that I found really remarkable playing with the wii.

I think one of the most remarkable aspect of the wii fit plus (at least the little that I played with it) was the way it integrated the sense of balance in a very physical and psychological sense, and perhaps in a personal way, although it did not seem to enhance or recommend that aspect. For example, the evaluation of an individual on the wii fit plus system starts with the player stepping on the balance board and doing some simple balancing exercises. This in itself can have other app(imp)lications, including balancing exercises and balancing diagnostic tests for vestibular nerve disorders or vestibular diagnostics and rehabilitation exercises. Although not much work has been done on using wii fit or the balance board as such for vestibular diagnostics, there seems to be quite a bit of interesting studies on using the wii or the balance board for vestibular rehabilitation as well as using for rehabilitation of older adults which is encouraging.

I played for about half an hour with the board and the system. This could be a good accompanying or supplementary tool for the actual workout or yoga sessions, but where it struck me was the beauty of this programme in fostering the sense of balance. The focus of the programme was in ensuring an optimum balance in posture, but also if one played games such as meditation (very simple game really, where one just sits on the balance board and focuses on a flickering candle flame and there are occassional distractions, if distracted the body shifts and this is captured by the software and the score gets lower; the idea is the stiller the body is, the better the balance and the higher the score). if you discount all of the scoring and game playing, the very fact that it makes one aware of the need for maintaining balance and equipoise is a significant thing. I’d be interested to see if people have generally researched this aspect of wii in fostering a sense of balance in almost every sense of the term: physical balance, mental poise, and concentration. At least it has impacted my thinking about striking a balance not just in the physical sense of the term.

I think using this device it is quite possible to develop earthquake simulations and adjustment exercises for a range of applications. This becomes relevant in the context of the city where I live in where people’s lives have been badly affected by earthquakes.