All too often I am speaking in front of a large group and find the need to take a quick poll of the audience. Stopping a presentation to do this is awkward. It interrupts the flow of information and there is just no elegant way of quickly compiling the results.

Enter Poll Everywhere.

They accept SMS messages from the audience to questions posed by YOU and post real time results on their site. A simple solution to a common problem. Genius.

UPDATE: Since posting this article Google has updated their terms of service for the Google Chrome product. Still not entirely consumer friendly it is *much* better than the original and even carries a Google apology along with the terms of service amendment.

Is it just me or does that new model car on the road make the model only 1 year older look like it has aged decades? You know the feeling. You put down a massive amount of money on a new car and 1 year later the new model comes out. Your car looks completely outdated at that point. I suppose we can chalk the sensation up to good design.

Speaking of which…..I hopped on the Google Chrome bandwagon as soon as it was released. Switching back to Firefox 3.0 gave me that old car sensation. Is Google onto something? I wouldn’t say that they have completely changed the landscape but they have created something very useful.

Pros –

1. Javascript heavy web apps load a heck of a lot faster. Noticeably faster. I mean *really* fast.
2. The minimalist design is worth mentioning. The amount of screen real estate available for websites is increased without sacrificing necessary browser features.
3. Desktop shortcuts for your favorite web applications: Similar to Mozilla’s Prism offering you are able to create desktop shortcuts for any web app that you frequent. Handy.
4. The name….Google Chrome. While I may not have tricked out my car, I have tricked out my internet experience.

Cons –

1. Third party cookie support…ugh. This is the biggest con for me and something that everyone should be paying attention to. Google Chrome allows for third party cookie support out of the box. You are then required to turn this feature off in the options menu if you so desire. My opinion: By default, all browsers should disable third party cookies thereby creating an opt-in solution vs. an opt-out solution.
   <sarcasm> I wonder if this has anything to do with DoubleClick? </sarcasm>
2. Privacy. Google Chrome has the potential to leak massive amounts of information about you….the internet user. While nothing catastrophic in the way of an overflow or other attack has been discovered, the potential is there.
3. As per usual, the Google terms of service is not very consumer friendly.

What I found most interesting was not how to apply Google Maps to the business world or how to take advantage of the newly integrated Postini features.  Don’t get me wrong…..that’s all good stuff.  But the coolest parts of the presentation came when Google spoke about how they run their business and what some of their key drivers are.

For example, David Girouard listed 5 notions for innovation.  From Google:

1.  Be open and transparent.

2.  Ideas come from everywhere.

3.  Focus on the user, iterate and improve.

4.  Scale matters a lot.

5.  Security matters even more.

We also got a peek at how MOMA functions.  It was a great advertisement for the Google search appliance.

The point of the entire event was to showcase the Enterprise-level products that Google currently offers.  They are great.  They all work.  Really well.  So why isn’t Google the preferred vendor of choice for email retention, secure messaging, corporate intranets or web security?

The answer is in the cloud.

You see, one of the primary focal points of innovation at Google right now is cloud computing.  That’s obvious to anyone even remotely paying attention.  The problem lies in a corporations willingness to allow their confidential data to be stored with Google and not within their own LAN/WAN infrastructure.

This issue was addressed at the Google Innovation event, albeit not very well.  When talking about security Google said [paraphrasing here]:

Your data is more secure at a Google data center than at your own company.

And they had a few good points to back it up:

1. The biggest source of lost data is laptops.  On average, 1 in 10 laptops are lost or stolen.  Presumably, very few of these devices have whole-drive encryption (or any encryption for that matter).
2. Another popular leak of data is the autocomplete feature in Outlook.  You draft a message with confidential information and intend on sending it to “Frederica” (an employee).  Autocomplete accidentally sends it to “Fred” (a vendor) due to your quick fingers.

At the end of the event I was overwhelmed with great ideas regarding how to apply Google products in trying to solve enterprise issues.  I never heard a significantly compelling argument allaying the fears of company confidential information being placed in a third party’s hands (a Google data center, in this case).  I believe Google’s arguments but the Enterprise does not…….well, not yet anyway.

Google Spreadsheets now allows anyone to collaborate on a file WITHOUT LOGGING IN (emphasis Google). No kidding. Setup a spreadsheet. Post the link. And watch the collaborators trickle in.

The fine folks at Google Operating System have already setup an example for us. Check it out while there is still significant activity. And think of the possibilities for your specific business…

Kai-Fu Lee on Cloud Computing [Google Operating System]

This is also a good time to mention Microsoft’s Live Mesh announcement from Ray Ozzie.  Similar concepts…different approach.

With the success of Microsoft Office comes that awkward stage in technology when some of us are using Docx files and others are using the tried and true Doc file. What’s the difference? Docx files are generated by Office 2007 and Doc files are generated by older versions. This isn’t an issue unless you are still running an older version in which case you cannot open Docx files with a handy double-click of the mouse.

Here are your options:

1. Install the Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for 2007 File Formats. Here are the instructions from Microsoft. Good luck with that.

2. Using an online converter. There are plenty of them out there. Here is an example Google search. One that pops to my mind is Zamzar. Clean interface. Quick conversions. Move on with your life.

So, while we sit in technology limbo with half of us using Office 2007 and half of us using an older version of Microsoft Office we will have to deal with file compatibility issues. Make your life easier and use one of the options detailed above if you find yourself in a jam.

Using a jailbroken iPhone (Don’t tell Steve, ok?) I have added the Snapture, Capture and iFlickr applications.  Snapture enhances the camera on the phone and provides a few extra features geared towards increasing photo quality.  Capture allows me to take screenshots of anything being displayed on the phone.  Both are easy to use and incredibly handy.  iFlickr allows me to send photos directly to Flickr (and subsequently to the new photostream on the right hand side).

Very nice!  Now….if I could only figure out how to stream live video from my iPhone using Qik.  That would be perfect.

Now, Facebook is a different beast altogether. You have a generation of college students out in the workforce who spent a good portion of their college careers hanging out on Facebook. They are still visiting the site regularly but their lives have shifted to the business world.

Enter Twitter. This short messaging phenomena has had a solid 1.5 to 2 years of growth and even Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have an account. Evan Williams strikes again.

OK…still with me?

Enter Qik. This one was a point of no return for me. Buy a Nokia phone (more will be supported as this product moves out of Alpha) and stream *live* (fairly decent quality) video to the internet. An impressive service indeed…

So lets pull it all together.

You are a real estate agent (for example). You build a network of prospective buyers on Facebook (immediate notification is not key but staying in the loop for your clients is a must). You build a network of real estate professionals on Twitter (immediate notification in short message form is a must for this group). Then you stream live video of properties for sale via Qik.

Qik sends an automatic update to Twitter (immediate notification for real estate professionals). The whole thing is eventually archived on Facebook (to keep your prospective clients in the loop).

Your cost for these services? Currently they are all free but require that you painstakingly build a network of individuals and groups that are interested in what you have to say.

I hope you’re still with me.

I have only mentioned Microsoft Sharepoint once on this site. It’s an amazing tool and really deserves more attention on CTRL + SHIFT + K.  After participating in a week-long “power users” training session I have a few more comments to make about this technology:

1. If you ever have the chance to visit Belgium, take it. I was only able to see Brussels but am told that Brugge is an amazing place.
2. While there might I recommend a fantastic group of folks over at U2U. Kevin is an amazing trainer and I’m pretty sure that he knows what he is talking about.
3. The new version of Sharepoint has been re-written practically from the ground up. This is version 3 of the product and, historically speaking, when Microsoft really hits their stride.
4. There is almost no need to engage an IT resource for creating a powerful collaborative environment using Sharepoint. This is a big step forward for knowledge workers. If you can point and click your way through the interface then creating business applications is within your reach. Remember though….I said “almost” no need.

Seeing this product in action and thinking about the possibilities really does show how far we have come. Rapid deployment of sites complete with features such as intense security permissions, business workflow and document management are now all within your “point and click” reach. Take this opportunity and your competitive advantage could be huge.