I love nights during the winter. They’re so …calm. Cold. Silent. It’s like … almost pleasurable. The sound of breathing through a cold-stricken nose. Every click of the mouse. Every tap on the workdesk and every step towards the refrigerator. Every time the two pant-legs of my jeans brush against each other and make that swooshing sound. Every time the cold, dry Karachi wind find its way in through the window and makes the curtains uncomfortable. Every time I move a little and the chair squeaks. How my bathroom door makes that scary movie sound when I purposely open it so slowly that it’s almost painful. To wait. To hear the sounds.

I like winters. They somehow make being depressed justified. It’s like, I have someone to blame now. For wearing grays, for not wanting to get out of bed, for being lost in the world of my vivid imaginations. For not having him by my side.

It’s like I have a reason for my silence.

P.S. I know it’s destructive but winters make me want to smoke.

P.P.S. I lied when I said I like winters.

Ok, I will be first person to admit I wasn’t the biggest fan of Google+ when it came out. But despite all criticism thrown at it, it seems to have come out of that early phase and is slowly and steadily increasing its user base. With the addition of Google Pages, business of all size and popular websites are creating their pages on it. Looks like Google+ is here to stay. But how long before companies start touting their Google addresses publicly, in advertisements, in theaters, on TV? Google still has a long way to before it catches up with Facebook, but do we even know if its gaining on it? For example, how many of you have dumped Facebook in favor of Google+ yet? Not many I bet. The only reason I’ve seen people *really* switch is because they can’t stand Facebook, and it’s ok. Having 1000+ friends and gradually becoming overly-social can take its toll. But those users are a minority.

What Google+ is great at, admittedly, is gathering new followers. People add me almost daily over there. How many of them are spam bots, I’m not sure though. I love Google as a platform. I love Gmail, I use it all the time. Google Calendar is what drives my iPhone. Google Reader, Images, Videos, Scholar, you name it I use it. But what innovation will Google bring via Google+ that Facebook won’t replicate soon, and present it to its much larger user base? But I bet Google has a great plan for it going forward. We’ll just have to wait and watch.