“Come Monday…” is a
weekly series that will involve a review of, or commentary about, websites, movies, documentaries, television
shows, sports, music, and whatever else may tickle my fancy at the time. Be assured that these reviews will be
generally positive, as in accordance to the Jimmy Buffett song “Come
Monday.” This is subject to change,
however. In fact, I would be most
derelict in my duties to neglect going on a rant every once in a while. For rants promote change, and change can be
good—right? Therefore, since good is
generally considered as being a positive force in 99.3% of the parallel
universes that I am aware of, even a rant could be considered as being
something positive, and a genuine hissy-fit would be even better (so I’m told).
One
of the great many truly outstanding things about me that is not nearly
appreciated enough is that I am an intrepid reporter of the highest order. Hey, Ima a-telling yous (Yo, I will even get
plumb Jersey Shore to get at mud to sling!) that I will fill in the blanks
myself to bring a story home, and the following transcript from a recording of
a possible meeting that could have been held in a room filled with skunkweed
smoke deep down in the bowels of the catacombs underneath the headquarters compound
of Google serves as a good example of that.
Google Bigshot: “How many new versions of the Chrome browser
have been released so far this week?”
Soulless Minion: “None, sir.
There hasn’t been any need for any changes.”
Google Bigshot: “Do you know how
many new versions of Firefox have been released lately?”
Soulless Minion: “Seven, the last
time I checked.”
Google Bigshot: “It’s now up to
nine.”
Soulless Minion: “Whoa.”
Google Bigshot: “That’s nine new
versions in the last five days. Now,
that’s what I call innovation!”
Soulless Minion: “But change
for the sake of change leads to chaos!”
Google Bigshot: “If we don’t
innovate, we die. If it leads to chaos,
bring it on. Do you want to die,
Soulless Minion?”
Soulless Minion: “Um, no, sir.”
Google Bigshot: “This is Google. There is nothing we cannot do.”
Soulless Minion: “I’ll get right on
those changes, sir.”
Google Bigshot: “Never mind, I
have already shifted my focus elsewhere.
Where are we at with showing Zuckerberg how it’s really done?”
Soulless Minion: “Google+ is coming
along quite nicely.”
Google Bigshot: “Nice won’t put
Facebook down. Have you got rid of
Google Friend Connect yet?”
Soulless Minion: “Its execution is
scheduled.”
Google Bigshot: “What about Google
Reader?”
Soulless Minion: “Are you sure we
want to do that, sir? I mean, lots and
lots of people truly love Google Reader.”
Google Bigshot: “Ever heard of
Facebook Reader?”
Soulless Minion: “No, sir.”
Google Bigshot: “Exactly, and
Facebook has over a billion users.”
Soulless Minion: “Yeah, but we’re
talking about two different things here, sir.”
Google Bigshot “Advertisers want a
captive audience, and the way to get there is to herd everyone into one place
and keep them there.”
Soulless Minion: “But as long as
something is a part of Google…”
Google Bigshot: “When the numbers
are counted, advertisers are only looking at who was where and for how long. Since Facebook is a one-trick pony, their
numbers look much more impressive than ours.”
Soulless Minion: “Are you saying
that the billions who use our search engine and maps do not count for us over
here in this division?”
Google Bigshot: “Have you seen
what the head of the Search and Maps Department drives around the compound?”
Soulless Minion: “I think it is a
new Bugatti Super Veyron.”
Google Bigshot: “I want to drive a
new Bugatti Super Veyron between buildings.”
Soulless Minion: “That would be
something, sir.”
Google Bigshot: “Have you ever
heard of the term, dead man walking?”
Soulless Minion: “Yes, sir.”
Google Bigshot: “If we don’t
innovate, we die.”
Soulless Minion: “I will start
working on the Google Reader obituary right away.”
If
you have not already heard, that [obituary] has been released, and I am among
the [great, great many] who are mourning the impending demise of such a wonderful
service. For I have used [Google Reader] for years to both keep track of new content from those who have really caught
my interest and to keep old content that may prove helpful in some way later
on.
The
last part of that proved most helpful to a friend, who had let go of their site
a few years back. For they no longer had
access to what they had published, but since I had been a long time subscriber
to their RSS feed and had not deleted their site from my Google Reader list
after they quit publishing to it, I was able to provide them with copies of
many of their old posts.
Even
though I still have my Google Reader firmly in place, I have started looking
for a replacement, and I have found that [The Old Reader] really is, in
essence, the old Google Reader. However,
it can be rather slow at times in comparison, and [Ann] is liking what she has
seen of [Feedly] so far, as are [hundreds of thousands of others].
Alas,
I must admit that the title to this piece has changed from being Google- to
Google+/-. For I have started trying to
play with [Google+] a little more, and I can see where it has some distinct
advantages over Facebook for bloggers.
Well,
that should really be [Bloggers]. For
those with [WordPress] and [Tumblr] are not afforded the same advantages, but this is not to
say that they are shut out. For a
Google+ member can still “share” an article published on those other blogging platforms with everyone else in their circles on Google+. I suppose the sharing concept could be
expanded to include everyone on both Google+ specifically and the internet in
general, if one has their share setting on public, but…
It
is in regards to that “but” where those pushing the Google+ agenda are going so
very wrong. For it is a wonderful thing
to make it possible for someone like me to be able to give a theoretical shout
out to everyone in this world, but it is terrible thing to make it more
difficult for that shout out to be actually heard.
May
we take my own personal experience with Google+ so far for an example? Well, at the time of this going to print, I
had 589 people in my circle, and all of their stuff was being piled into one
gigantic heap. In other words, I was
automatically receiving all of their shares, but seeing specific pieces by
individuals was like spotting a single face in a picture of a crowd of
thousands. That is, unless it was on (or
very near) the top of the pile, which does not last very long—be assured. Oh, and every share of another’s piece is
mixed in with one’s own stuff, which makes it difficult to determine just whose
is what for someone not quite as hip as others.
Yeah,
like me. Happy now?
Be
assured that I am learning. For I am now
in the process of placing individuals into different circles in order better
see what they have to show, but I will still keep an RSS feed reader around in
order to keep what someone has actually published separate from what they like
about someone else’s work.
Is
there a way to do that with Google+?
Alas, I sure wish there was some sort of manual on how to actually use
Google+. Google has been always very good
about this before. Did I miss another
evolutionary step?
***UPDATE***
(03/25/2013@3:00
p.m. CT (+/-)
I
have found the [“manual”] to Google+. I
still think I must have missed another evolutionary step, but [this] did help
me to delete some of the new circles I had made and change the names of the
ones I wanted to keep.
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