CircleCount helps you better understand Google+

2013-05-21 15:20:19 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

Quite frustrating to be looking for work in the USA since my focus is digital media and online travel marketing - At 42 I'm too old and over-qualified (in the eyes of HR departments and staffing companies) for an entry level position and in terms of experience - since I've been an executive in my own small company for most of the past decade - my resume lacks verifiable experience consummate with the work I'm best suited to do. 

The result, sadly, is that we probably won't be able to stay in the San Francisco Bay area because supporting a family here is so extraordinarily expensive.  My little company can support us in the USA, but I'm going to have to start focusing my energy back on my business and leave the job hunting behind. It's a shame, because I had high hopes of joining a dynamic start-up focused on travel and social media - but all of those companiesw... more »

2013-05-21 15:04:09 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

An interesting take on the future of online travel. I would suggest that it's travel apps that have more potential to kill destination stories than social media - an app that can collate all the data about a place makes all those fluffy words redundant...however, nothing can ever replace a great experience story

2013-05-21 04:03:34 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

We are so sad for those who are suffering in Oklahoma. We send our prayers and wishes that all of your loved ones are safe!

2013-05-20 17:19:30 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 4 +1s)

I've identified six clear social media strata -
1) Actual real world friends you would share with  (usually less than 10)
2) Family and Obligatory Friends (anywhere from 10-100s)
3) Shared significant moment friends - people with whom you've shared a significant moment - these are potential 1st strata who have not yet made the leap (potential best friends) - usually 20-30 of these
4) Acquaintances - these are usually people who friend you and you consider saying no to but don't want to offend - this is a potentially unlimited pool.
5) Interesting strangers  - these are people who you find interesting and either follow or interact with in the hopes of having a shared moment and moving them into tiers 3 and 1
6) Creepers - these are false friends and people who sneak into your social network with requests, likes, or ulterior motives - profiles are often pictures ofs... more »

2013-05-20 17:08:46 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

If you'd like to see evolution in action - hand a young toddler a smart phone or tablet. Hand a grade schooler a tablet. Hand a high schooler a tablet. Hand a20-something, 30-something, 40-something, 50-something, 60-something, 70-something, 80-something a tablet - watch their instinctive first moves - completely different.

2013-05-20 17:05:46 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

Information delivery systems used to rely on broadcast media and mass media took that to the largest possible level. At this point we have left that behind and a significant part of the population has opted in for instantaneous media with a delay that is as small as possible and progressively getting smaller. Have you noticed that you get the news before your favorite news service? Instantaneous media. The medium is no longer the message, the medium has become the present reality.

2013-05-20 17:00:55 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

I've written before about how the intersection of technology and humanity is creating a new genus - of homo sapiens - I"m not sure that anyone takes it seriously, but I"m serious. Homo sapiens connecticus is evolving in front of our eyes -

2013-05-20 03:27:07 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

Wow. Yahoo + Tumbler = 2 things I haven't wasted my time on that will probably wither away.

2013-05-17 01:48:38 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

Google has the power and wealth of a nation without the necessity of an army, without needing a bureaucracy like the IRS, and without a government. Astounding that the governments of the world have let anything like Google come into existence.

2013-05-16 16:59:22 (3 comments, 0 reshares, 4 +1s)

By limiting the amount of visible text G+ has done what I thought was impossible before - they've made me consider making Facebook my primary social network again...

2013-05-16 15:20:09 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

The folks complaining about the new G+ look are mostly those who are already established users. These changes aren't for us, they are to excite, attract, and interest the hyper-users that G+ has failed thus far to attract - you know, the people who spend hours and hours each day on Facebook and Pinterest - in light of that - these changes make perfect sense - but I do wish there were some options for those of us who prefer to see more text, longer comments, and even gasp post without pictures once in a while.  A text only version of G+ would be a cool option to have ...

2013-05-16 01:13:32 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

Signed up to try out Google's new music service...I can't imagine why anyone would pay for it when you can get it for free from Pandora and Spotify...first impression is that it's not very user friendly on my Nexus 7

2013-05-15 23:43:18 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

What's up motherplussers?

2013-05-15 22:55:48 (2 comments, 15 reshares, 16 +1s)

Google is changing the world. 

2013-05-15 15:37:07 (5 comments, 1 reshares, 1 +1s)

spoiler alert Ah, I wrote my last comment before the watching the Season 3 Finale of Walking Dead.  While the spirit of my comment remains true, for a season finale, it was a huge disappointment after building up towards a world changing war, instead it was a sort of ridiculous rout by the underdog followed by the suicide of the most annoying character in the series being the big meaningful moment - finally, a group of people who have repeatedly killed or allowed able bodied people who want to join with them to die - decide to take on a bunch of old sick and too young to be useful people and instead of living in the nice fortified town filled iwth supplies and guns, they move them into the zombie infested prison with them.  Great show, lousy finale to a suspenseful season.

2013-05-15 06:32:54 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

The Brilliance of The Walking Dead is really in the masterful use of the Southern Gothic tropes - sure, it could have been in New York or California and still been a zombie flick, but the Southern Gothic elements and the general mise en scene and mise en place of the shooting locations really makes the show spectacular. All in all AMC has done an astounding job at turning a joke horror trope into a serious and  compelling drama series with some amazing writing, editing, and innovative ideas coming all the time. Great freaking show.

2013-05-15 05:15:06 (6 comments, 1 reshares, 1 +1s)

mathematics around the world

99 * 99 =   98 01
1 + 1     ->   2
1 * 1     ->         1

hm , I have to think about it ..... ;-)

goo.gl/ouETw

2013-05-14 15:31:43 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

I find it very interesting that something like 80% of PRs are female and upwards of 80% of those are attractive women between 25-30 years old - and yet, when you look at Advertising and Marketing, those statistics are turned on their heads. Approximately 20% of 20% of Advertising and Marketing execs are women between 25-30.  Strange gender notions and stratification.

2013-05-14 15:06:54 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

#microvictory  Wife got to see her first bank robbery in progress yesterday complete with cops running around with guns unholstered, AR-15's, and shouted radio commands. We rather wisely ( I think)  changed our dinner plans and took our daughter to another restaurant several miles away rather than eating in the one next to the bank and watching the action. There are too many weeping parents in the world because of stray bullets already. God Bless America.

2013-05-12 04:58:01 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

I went to a community event here in Sacramento today and spoke with a guy about a CSA program he works with (community supported agriculture). I'm all about that stuff, but he was pulling a hard sell on me and when I asked for a card or website he said "You won't get the discount from the website and I won't get any benefit from talking to you if you don't sign up now." Self-fulfilling prophecy bro. Apparently, I didn't get any benefit from talking to you either, thanks for pointing it out.

2013-05-12 04:54:55 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

Organic, vine ripened, fair trade, sweet home grown tomatoes with slight tobacco hints $5.99 / lb. Fuck you, I'm getting that pack from the $ .99 cent store.

2013-05-12 04:52:33 (5 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

I do find that America has taken to using too many words to describe things that don't need so many. I don't need a fucking hot dog or pizza described like a fine wine...and what's with the god damn smoke obsession? I like smoke and fire as much as any guy but does everything have to be wood fired, smoked, or pit roasted? How about saying something like "It's a greasy delicious hot-dog" or "Its meat and cheese and freaking delicious." Do I really need to have an apple smoked sausage?

2013-05-12 04:44:43 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

I've discovered a way for you to take what you know now and give it to who you once were....you can do it!

2013-05-12 04:41:29 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

I wonder if snark (snide+remark) and cynicism are a result of our short attention spans. It takes no depth to be cynical or snide. Both are very surface oriented.

2013-05-12 04:16:22 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

Our attention spans are too short and as a result we are missing the subtle beauty of the world. The world does not work in time lapse.

2013-05-12 04:12:44 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

I've worked so hard to bring depth to my words and to place multiple layers upon the same sentence so that each one has a multitude of meanings written like strata in the rock - but perhaps, that has all been a mistake. Perhaps, creating a composition, a painting of words where the individual pieces make up a greater whole (like Dali's portrait of Lincoln) is a huge mistake. No one looks at the whole, or rather, so few look at the whole as to make it unprofitable. In my novels, a sentence read later in the book almost always relates to an earlier sentence - but not necessarily the one before it. They are connected by the brain. My novels are 3-d books where if you haven't read the first chapter, you won't understand the true meaning of the last.  For me, that is the point of a great novel. Otherwise, you might as well watch TV.

2013-05-12 04:07:16 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

Perhaps, and I'm making a conjecture here, so bear with me, but perhaps, the reason so many of the most profitable writers are lacking depth is because they understand that too much depth is too easily confused by the reader. I've heard the most profound analysis of Harry Potter and I'm nearly certain (though I haven't met JK Rowling) that she meant no profundity in the writing of her stories...Dan Brown has a huge following not for his ability to capture the intangible with words but for his relatability - another example would be Seth Godin, or Tim Ferris, for that matter - so little depth that the reader has to project their own depth upon them..

2013-05-12 04:02:35 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

If I say I love you, the words have a different meaning depending on who you are, how you feel about me, and how you think I feel about you. My own meaning is lost with the words - it is only you (the reader) who can provide the meaning to my words - not me. 

2013-05-12 03:59:18 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

I used to think I was this amazing writer able to express things with words that were perfectly clear - I was wrong about that. Social media has taught me just how convoluted a simple statement can become and just how misunderstood what I think is a direct statement can be. Words are always interpreted by the reader...as a writer, living in the age of social media is a bit like torture, but I'm trying to come to an understanding of how to turn this particular lemon into the sweetest lemonade.

2013-05-12 03:24:15 (4 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

I realized something profound today - something that I had no way of knowing these past ten years but now, it is so clearly in front of me, I can't deny it.  America hasn't changed over this past decade. In fact, America hasn't changed in the past five decades. It never changes. America is always the same. Always beautiful, always fucked up, always in a hurry, filled with wonder, and testing those that make it here.

2013-05-12 03:09:35 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

I've often thought to write a novel of complete and utter beauty where the words express things that words are unable to reach for. Here it is. 

A Novel of Complete and Utter Beauty
Where Words Express Things that Words Are Unable to Reach For
by Vago Damitio

Footsteps too soft to be heard and yet as she looked up she felt them like the supple fingers of a masseuse plucking at her heartstrings. Not the dreams she'd had when just a girl, but still, the raw emotion of the moment tore through her synapses and drew her to a place where things could never be the same. Wilting petals now gone forever as the sunrise of her soul leapt to the hidden lobes of her love-struck now. Far from the days when she spent her Friday evenings listening to the tinny sound of her grandfather's radio while she stared upwards at the mating rituals of geckos and wondered if... more »

2013-05-12 02:56:06 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

I'm enjoying being in the USA. I'm enjoying not doing much at all. I suppose all of that will have to change at some point (hopefully just the not doing much part), but for the moment, life is peaceful, idyllic, and non-stressful. Calm before the storm? Perhaps. Or maybe life is really this easy after all....

2013-05-11 15:41:52 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

I have a friend who got in trouble because she thought LOL meant lots of love and she kept using LOL in places where it came across as completely offensive...LOL.

2013-05-11 15:36:38 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

A nice way to begin the weekend...

2013-05-09 16:28:49 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

I'm working on an alternate CV.

Dishwashing Dude

Looking for a job where I don’t have to think and where I go home with clean hands each night.

Work Experience:
1998-2013 - No Relevant Work Experience - was working in tech, social media, and travel but always insisted on washing the dishes at home.
1996-1998 - The Station Pub - Bellingham, WA - Technically, I was a bartender, but I also had to wash all the glasses. Left when automatic dishwasher was installed. 
1997- Anna’s Caddyshack - Dishwasher. Quit when promoted to Sous Chef
1994-1996 - Top of the Tower - Raleigh, NC.  I started as a dishwasher but was unwillingly promoted to head bartender because of my incredible people skills. I still snuck in and washed the dishes. 
1990-1994 - US Marine Corps.  They only allowed me to work in the pot-shack for a month during mess and maintenanceduty an... more »

2013-05-09 16:08:07 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

The World Shortest Marketing Plan                           +goo.gl/6RWvE
by +Kelly Odell

"Below is a template that I created for that presentation and it has been adapted in used in several companies since then with good success. Try to answer each square in the template with no more that one page including diagrams and pictures. This will result in a marketing plan of no more than 24 pages."
- Kelly Odell

Download -> thinktank.se/tt/Om-Kelly-Odell/The-Worlds-Shortest-Marketing-Plan/                                                     h/t +Guy Kawasaki 

2013-05-09 16:00:40 (17 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

Having been calling my own shots and running my own company for most of the past decade, my CV skills are a little rusty. I wonder if my kind friends in the Plusland would have a looksy and offer me any tips or pointers. Feel free to make job offers if you like what you see. Thanks.

2013-05-09 15:59:33 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 0 +1s)

Having been calling my own shots and running my own company for most of the past decade, my CV skills are a little rusty. I wonder if my kind friends in the Plusland would have a looksy and offer me any tips or pointers. Feel free to make job offers if you like what you see. Thanks.

2013-05-09 07:01:00 (4 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

Here's the photo +Georg Tirebiter -----

2013-05-09 06:12:22 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

Delicious snails from the yard.

2013-05-09 06:05:37 (4 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

My wife gathered up all the snails in the garden a few days ago and today we ate them. California, Moroccan, and French snails are all the same and all taste delicious. I've heard that California snails were brought by a Frenchman who wanted to sell them to miners during the goldrush of 1849 but they weren't interested so he released them and ruined all the spaniard's gardens...

2013-05-09 03:19:53 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

Fulsom prison blues with Sophia

2013-05-07 18:23:06 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

My latest from Travel and Escape

http://www.travelandescape.ca/2013/05/5-extraordinary-souvenirs-to-take-home-from-turkey/

2013-05-07 05:22:23 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

I was at the California Department of Justice today and waiting in a line where poor folks were doing a lot of complaining, mostly over the fact that there were three windows but just one clerk to help them. The clerk was great - a super positive, friendly, and helpful guy. One lady, obviously very poor, said to him "I'm going to make sure you get a raise."  Maybe she can, who knows? One thing for sure, she made everyone in that line smile when she said it. 

btw - I was picking up some documents there for a buddy who had to work

2013-05-06 18:37:40 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

Another great feature from Photographer Dave Stamboulis...wow...

2013-05-04 23:49:34 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

Just got a very nice piece of email from a reader about this book...made my day.

2013-05-04 18:13:30 (3 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

It's been a wild ride so far but will probably get much wilder...

2013-05-04 04:34:53 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

I've always liked dogs and never really cared for cats but on coming back to the USA, I've discovered that I much prefer cats to dogs - how very odd!

2013-05-03 17:13:35 (4 comments, 0 reshares, 4 +1s)

Bacon is the smell and taste of America. Oh, it's nice to be home.

2013-05-03 07:23:28 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

#microvictory  I've escaped Redding and am safe with friends.