Google+ will impact search in a huge way. Google+ gives us an easy way to signal our approval of web pages and other content. The +1 button is the “like” button for Google+ and increasingly we can use it anywhere and everywhere we are online. This +1 is a signal to Google and others that we approve of content we find.

I get this question a lot – almost every day in fact – so I’ll try to answer this question in a way that makes sense to the non-technical and those interested in the business benefits rather than the geeky stuff.

Google+ on the face of it is (yet) another social network – something most of us need like we need an extra nose or another 200 SPAM emails every day.

It really isn’t just a new social network though; it’s far more than that. It is what will ultimately join the dots between all the Google products and link them together to create a complete, integrated Google ecosystem.

Some time ago Google began asking us if we minded having a single log-on to all its offerings, rather than one account for YouTube and another for Picassa, for example. A single Google account to rule them all.

This was the first clue that Google planned to integrate everything it did. What do I mean by integrate? Let me explain by illustrating how adding Google+ to an existing Google product like YouTube adds value to both, such that 1+1=3… or more.

THE NEW HANGOUT SPOT

Google+ has built-in video conferencing called Hangouts. It’s really very cool indeed. The idea is that two Google+ users equipped with either PCs, tablets or smartphones can video chat with each other in seconds. That in itself is pretty cool, but not unique. You can do this in Facebook, Skype or even with Microsoft Windows 8.

Where Google scores is that we can use Hangouts to talk to groups of people as well as one to one chats – online, live webinars if you will – and record those Hangouts directly to YouTube for others to see later.

We can share videos we like from YouTube directly with Google+ and our Google+ picture and profile is available from our YouTube channel so people can check out who we are if they like our videos.

We can take this further. Imagine you find a YouTube video you really like and want to share the moment with a friend or colleague. With a single click you can start a Hangout with your friend and put the YouTube video on screen while you chat about it.

Google+ is already integrated into more than 100 other Google applications and, in this way, makes each application more useful by doing so – provided you use Google+ of course.

550 MILLION USERS

Google+ as a social network is probably the best social media product I have ever used. It makes sharing the right information with the right people incredibly easy and is something I use daily now.

It fits into my world in a neat way. I use Facebook to chat with my friends and keep my finger on the pulse of my social world. Linkedin is where I do my business networking and Google+ is where I hang out with those that share my particular passions – web marketing and motorcycles.

I’m not the only one finding it useful either. Let’s be clear, Google+ is the fastestgrowing social network in history. Latest figures from Google suggest that more than 550 million users have set up accounts, of which maybe 160 million are active on a regular basis. That’s already roughly the same number of people that use Linkedin, and Google+ is still some way off being two years old. It is also a damn fine product – as one might expect from Google.

YOUR PROFILE EVERYWHERE

This initial success is not enough for Google though. Google is prepared to get significantly “more aggressive,” in the words of Google founder Larry Page, in making Google+ part of our lives. Up until recently it was elegantly integrated into Gmail. Moving forward you will have to have a Google+ profile to use Gmail and other services. By making Google+ mandatory for many of its services, it will effectively force us into having a profile in its online directory of the world.

This makes many people deeply uncomfortable but personally, I don’t have a problem with it. I have long felt that cyberspace is a place where people can hide behind weird and obscure user names and behave very badly indeed. Just look at the vile filth that YouTube comments often contain. Would these online chavs behave like that if their real world identity were used? You’d like to think not. Would online reviews be more genuine if the identity of the reviewer could be checked out? Absolutely. Let’s all stand up and be counted. Anonymity is often a cover for online cowardice and I welcome this move toward a more accountable and respectful virtual world.

It doesn’t end there though, oh no. Google+ will change the world in more fundamental ways still. Google+ will impact search in a huge way. It gives us an easy way to signal our approval of web pages and other content. The +1 button is the “like” button for Google+ and increasingly we can use it anywhere and everywhere we are online. This +1 is a signal to Google and others that we approve of content we find.

Increasingly authors of online content are discovering how to use Google Authorship techniques to ensure Google knows who created their work. By connecting your content – photos in Picassa and blog posts in WordPress that extend your brand – to your Google+ profile you can ensure that Google knows you created each of your masterpieces.

SO WHAT? WHY DOES THIS MATTER?

Well, we now live in a world where finding information is not a problem (type “Aardvark” into Google search and Google will find more than nine million pages for you to peruse), so the problem moves from finding information that might not be relevant to finding information you can trust.

Use the +1 button to tell Google you like content by a specific author and you are effectively telling Google to show you more by that author. Continue to like and engage with this content and you’ll find more and more of that author’s content showing up in your search results and throughout your Google world.

Your friends become aware of your endorsement of this author via the +1 button, they check out the content and then they use the +1 button to signal their approval. Before you know it, Google is deciding that this author’s content rocks and it is showing up all over search results everywhere and as more and more people endorse the content the author gets a higher and higher profile. And thus, a new age of Google+ rockstars is upon us.

The opposite is also true. I’ll end with a quote from Google CEO Eric Schmidt that I believe illustrates perfectly why you have to use Google+.

“Within search results, information tied to verified online profiles will be ranked higher than content without such verification, which will result in most users naturally clicking on the top (verified) results. The true cost of remaining anonymous, then, might be irrelevance.”

I interpret that as: “Link the online content you create to your Google+ profile or it won’t show up in searches like your competitors’ content does…” That is just my take. You may, of course, feel free to interpret Mr Schmidt’s comments as you see fit.

The Audi Q-Drive is an initiative by the company to let the present owners and prospective buyers of their SUVs experience and enjoy the off-roading capabilities of their cars without any concern.

After visiting various places across the country, the latest edition of the Q-Drive was held recently in Pune in association with Pashanakar Auto India, the authorised dealers of the brand in the city. Pashankar and Audi had provided six cars that included the Q3, Q5 and the Q7 SUVs, which the participants drove on a specially prepared off-road course in Koregaon Park.

There were two instructors from Audi to guide the participants and the course had three different levels, based on the difficulty of the terrain. There were inclines, declines, trenches and slush patches across the field where the partipants got a first-hand demonstration of the features like the ‘quattro’ all-wheel-drive system. About 250 customers drove the cars during the three-day event, which is an indicator of the enthusiasm and the success of this initiative.

Normally, a facelift means a new headlamp and grille at the front and a new tail-lamp at the rear. At Audi, however, a facelift means giving the whole car a makeover – right from reworking the engine, suspension, interior and exterior of the car.

The sporty design of the Audi Q5 with its flat roof-arch has now been revised and it appears to be sharper. The single-frame grille has chamfered top corners and its vertical chrome struts and Audi rings have a sculptural look. The bumpers, air inlets and fog lights are new. The Xenon headlights get a continuous strip of LED daytime running lights around the edge, similar to the tail-lights at the rear.

All Audi cars are known for their interior, which sets a benchmark for the rest of the industry and the new Q5’s interior has been further upgraded and taken to another level. The re-worked seats give excellent support and one can spend hours in the car without any fatigue whatsoever.

Thanks to the engine refinement, now it is impossible to make out the difference between the petrol and diesel engine cars unless you take a close look at the RPM meter and see the lower red-line compared to the petrol engine. The 2.0 TDI engine produces 177 BHP and 380 Nm of torque. The combination of this power and torque along with the seven-speed S tronic gearbox gives the Q5 exceptional drive ability with added bonus of 15 per cent gain in fuel efficiency.

The reduction in unsprung weight can be felt as the SUV has become even more nimble and agile around corners and the reworked spring and shock-absorber improves the ride quality. The new electromechanical steering is light at low speed and weighs up nicely at high speed.

The Q5 has improved in all the departments right from performance, fuel efficiency, refinement and NVH level is lower than that in its predecessor. To sum it up, the best just got better.

Thus when Volvo recently announced that the world’s very first diesel plug-in hybrid is about to go into production, we sat up and asked, “What? Hasn’t that been done and dusted yet?” As it turns out, it hasn’t been and Volvo were right. Delving deeper into the recesses of the worldwide web revealed that there were a limited number of Peugeot 3008 Hybrid 4s some time back in Europe and Hino Trucks also had a Class 5 work truck for the US market earlier this year, but both these are diesel hybrids, not plug-in hybrids.

On the surface, there are a number of reasons justifying why diesel and electric are not exactly the best of friends. For one, there is the high cost of production coupled to less impressive improvement. Compared to petrol, a diesel engine is costlier to produce, but is more efficient already. Which means, there is less ‘headroom’ for improvement. Then there’s the different or non-complementary torque curve of both the engines, which makes it all a bit trickier than landing Curiosity on Mars. So, basically, a diesel hybrid would add a very expensive electrified system to an already expensive engine, but produce a less impressive overall increase than in petrol cars. Which brings us to the money question: have Volvo managed to buck these shortcomings finally?

The V60 Plug-in Hybrid isn’t intended to set the sales charts on fire. For the first year, the Swedes had a target of making 1,000 of the 2013 models, but high advance orders have now led the company to ramp up production levels to between 4,000 and 6,000 cars for the 2014 model year. “The first year’s 1,000-car batch was sold out even before the car reached the showrooms and the order books for next year’s cars are already filling up,” said Peter Mertens, Senior VP (R&D), Volvo, in a statement.

Maybe, part of its appeal is because the V60 is no tree-hugging slouch despite its green skin. Motive power comes from a 2.4-litre five-cylinder turbo-diesel engine rated at 218 PS and 440 Nm of torque, sending drive to the front wheels via a sixspeed automatic transmission. Working in conjunction with it at the rear wheel is a 70-PS electric motor, powered by an 11.2 kWh lithium-ion battery. With a combined peak power of 290 PS and 639 Nm of torque, it is capable of sprinting to the century mark in just 6.2 seconds. Those are staggering figures given the claimed mileage of 52.7 km/l and more than enough to make the car an interesting drive, never mind the low-rolling-resistance tyres and other efficiency-enhancing thingummies.

The V60 Plug-in Hybrid goes on sale in Europe early next year with a sticker price of approximately $70,000 (Rs 38 lakh), but the rest of the world will have to wait a little more to lay their hands on it. A small step for Volvo, a giant leap for mankind then.

What you will get at this price is a fourcylinder, 1,994-cc motor that develops 183 PS of power, an eight-speed automatic gearbox, which is the same unit found on the bigger 328i, though it will be tweaked for lower power output. The base 320i will be equipped with a basic version of the iDrive, an eight-inch infotainment system, a single-CD player with USB and AUX connectivity. Other changes include faux leather trim and conventional headlamps instead of the Xenon ones.

French media are abuzz with reports that Renault are working on a range of low-cost vehicles to capture a bigger market share in the emerging markets. According to the news website, Latribune. fe, the company has developed a small car to be produced at their Chennai facility and priced around Rs 3.5 lakh ($6,400), which will be unveiled in India early next year. This probably will be the Modus. Spy pictures of the test vehicle were featured in the October 2012 issue of Car India and the hatchback has recently been spotted in different places like New Delhi and Chennai.

The other interesting news is that Renault-Nissan are co-developing a new small car, which could be priced as low as Rs 2 lakh ($3,800), which would be on a par with the Tata Nano. The car will be developed in-house in India and sold in the sub-continent. The company is keeping the cards close to their chest for now, but we’ll get more information. So, watch this space.

Eating Right
Eating right does not necessarily mean eating boring food, nor does it mean giving up your favorites  The idea is that you take in a little bit of everything that is good for you in a balanced wholesome way. Taste new foods and old ones you haven’t tried for a while. Some foods, such as green veggies, are more pleasing the older you get. Try to get at least five serving of fruits and vegetables a day. Fresh fruits keep you cool during the summer as well, so that’s another reason to enjoy them.

Hide the remote
Spending hours in front of your TV or computer limits the time you could use to do other things-like riding a cycle around the compound or playing a friendly football match with your friends. Besides, constantly staring at a screen puts too much strain on your eyes.

Staying Active
The best part about being a kid is that you get to choose the activities you like best. If football isn’t your strongest point, maybe you could sign up for a trek club. If you don’t like sweating it out on the court, perhaps swimming is your thing. You could even choose a different activity for each day of the week so that it doesn’t get boring.

Drinking enough fluids
There’s nothing like a glass of water after a particularly exciting game of football. But apart from this wonder drink, milk is really important too. People need calcium to build strong bones, and milk is a great source of this mineral. And if plain milk is not your thing, you can always whip up some delicious milkshakes to enjoy after you come back from school. However, remember to try natural flavours and go easy on the sugar. Stay away from aerated drinks and juices with too many preservatives.

Your body talks
It’s true Your body knows what it needs. When it feels like you are full enough for your stomach to burst, having another morsel is probably not a good idea. Similarly, if you’re feeling too tired or too sleepy, listen to your body. Try getting in at least eight hours of sleep every night. You’ll be surprised at how good you feel for the rest of the day.

Considering the benefits to the heart, muscles, joints, and mind, it’s easy to see why exercise is wise. And the good thing about exercise is that it’s never too late to start.

The unit features a fresnel lens that can either be a spot light covering just 12-degrees, or, thanks to a controller on the back of the unit, turn into a 65-degree flood fill that will illuminate an entire room. The advantage of using a metal halogen lamp, which has a life expectancy of 6000 hours, is that it creates considerably less heat than a tungsten lamp and is compatible with a large range of light modifying accessories in the Hedler range. The other side effect of having a cooler lamp is that it doesn’t need a fan to keep the temperature under control, with the attendant problem of what happens when the fan packs up. The DF-15 is made of aluminium and is available as a single light unit or in kits with two or three heads. The price includes a 150-watt halogen lamp and they’re available from importer, Flaghead Photographic.

KEY FEATURES
● Focusing range: 12-degree spot, 65 floods
● Tough aluminium construction
● 150-watt metal halogen lamp
● Low running temperature, no fan
● 6,000 hour operating lamp life
● Colour temperature: 5800K
● Large Hedler accessory range
● Modest 2900g weight

VERDICT
This is one for those in need of some serious light for extended periods. The high colour temperature makes it easy to get great white balance indoors in dim or mixed lighting. The fact that it’s considerably cooler than a traditional tungsten lamp will be of benefit for anyone who has to stand in front of it. With the control on the back for altering the spread of the light as well, this makes for a superbly flexible and powerful lighting source.

It’s time for your iPhone 4/4s to prepare for adventure!