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Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Google launches 'Shelfie' on All Fools Day ...

1st April is a different day … it heralds the starts of Financial year (I started my career with the present company 11 years ago) … for strange reasons, it is also associated with ‘fools’ – informally known as ‘April Fools' Day (sometimes called All Fools' Day).  In many countries, people play practical jokes and hoaxes on each other – during my school days, remember that people used to spill ink from their pens on others [how many of us till have an ink pen now ?]

It is also ‘Kha b' Nisan’ – the new year of Assyrians. Assyrians wear traditional costume and dance in parks for hours. The Assyrians are an ethnic group whose origins lie in ancient Mesopotamia. They are Semitic people, who speak and write distinct dialects of Eastern Aramaic exclusive to Mesopotamia and its immediate surroundings.
The Assyrian nation existed as an independent state, before the BC era, gradually they became a minority in their homelands.  

You know ‘Selfies’ – the famous and ignoble ones recently circulating the web… heard of ‘Shelfie’ ……. ..here is something from the desks of Google …..as posted in their official blog.  Today, April 1, Gmail hits the double digits. Over the last 10 years, our users—have been our biggest inspiration. You've sent us ideas for features you want, and told us what you like (and didn't like...). So while it may be our birthday, we want to say thank you to you with a gift that is, well, all about you. When custom themes were launched back in 2012, we urged you to find “your perfect image and make Gmail your own.” And you did. Many of you rushed to take photos of yourselves to upload as your Gmail custom theme, which you started referring to as selfies.  The term quickly spread beyond email themes and has permeated our culture so thoroughly that the Oxford Dictionaries named it Word of the Year in 2013.

Google has already started with this year’s April Fools’ silliness. On the Gmail blog, they announced “Gmail Shelfie,” a way to turn your Gmail background into a selfie, and share it with your friends and family. Software engineer Greg Bullock writes: You all love setting selfies as your custom theme in Gmail, but you’ve told us there’s one major problem: there isn’t a way to share your selfie with others. As the pioneering platform for selfies, Gmail is committed to being at the forefront of innovation in the selfie space. And we think it’s a tragedy that your handsome hair, luscious lashes and beautiful brows have been trapped in your own inbox. Until now, that is. Today, we’re proud to free your selfies by launching Gmail Shelfie, the Shareable sELFIE.

Gmail Shelfie is built on the idea that you shouldn’t be selfish with your selfie. With just a few clicks, your mom, your aunt, or that girl you have a crush on can set your Shelfie as their Gmail theme so they can enjoy checking, reading, and writing emails while seeing your friendly face in the background. There will be plenty more of this stuff from Google tomorrow, I’m sure. 

April 1st just happens to be the ten-year anniversary of when Google first released Gmail in beta. It would appear that the product was not an April Fools’ joke.

Is it a prank by Google or mocking the Self appreciatory culture – is Shelfie for real ? – we tend to ask …. To put simply, Gmail Shelfie makes your Gmail background, technically known as your custom theme, shareable with others. Google claims that so many people have selfies as their custom theme that the company decided to make them shareable with others. Share. Selfie. Shelfie.

So how do you get this new feature on your Gmail? It's simple. Open or refresh your Gmail, and the option will appear at the bottom of your screen. I tried this morning and it worked for real !  ~ so what are you waiting for – got an awesome Selfie, share and make it ‘Shelfie’ ……. Join the current trending…


With regards – S. Sampathkumar

1st Apr 2014

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