CircleCount helps you better understand Google+

2013-06-17 23:38:22 (20 comments, 2 reshares, 40 +1s)

Today is my 30th birthday, so I'm writing this letter to Google

I'm going to put all the jokes about my youth coming to a close aside and talk about something that I usually don't ever speak of. The wave of technology in the past couple decades has been amazing. I used a lite brite as a kid. Now 3 year olds are using iPads. We've reached whole new levels but have somehow managed to ignore people with disabilities who could really benefit from these advancements. I know we all want to create things for recreation, but how about helping some people out along the way.

Hearing disabilities are rarely ever talked about and if you watched that deaf girl hear for the first time on youtube about a year ago, you'd think that deafness had been cured once and for all. Less than 1% of hearing impaired people in the U .S. could even benefit from the type of surgery she... more »

2013-06-16 23:03:39 (16 comments, 1 reshares, 6 +1s)

Impromptu Study:

There was a recent article being passed around stating that the majority of self-published authors made less than $500 in a one year period.

Self-published authors: Choose 1 or 2.
Traditionally-published authors: Choose 3 or 4.

Relevant Time Frame: 365 day period taken between January 2012 to now.

Have you:

1/3: In a one-year period of time, you have made $500.00 or higher in royalties. This is before taxes, but after Amazon or other sources have taken their share. If you do not have a year's worth of data but you HAVE exceeded $500.00, you may participate.

2/4: In a one-year period of time, you have made between $0.01 and $499.99 in royalties. This is before taxes, but after Amazon or other sources have taken their share. If you do not have a complete year's wroth of data, you may NOT participate.... more »

2013-06-13 18:24:40 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 12 +1s)

Here is the video where I spoke to +Demian Farnworth and +Johnny B. Truant regarding marketing for writers. We spoke about blogging, the importance of having an online presence that you own, marketing funnels and calls to action. 

There is a lot of good information in here.

This video was done for the Writer's Discussion Group community. You can visit that community here: http://goo.gl/UUIGO

2013-06-13 18:16:59 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 5 +1s)

Here is the interview I did with +Kevin Hearne yesterday.

Lots of questions from the Urban Fantasy Fans community. Here's a link to the community, if you'd like to take a look: http://goo.gl/riVGQ.

2013-06-13 02:30:11 (36 comments, 1 reshares, 20 +1s)

Do you enjoy True Crime dramas, Mysteries, or Police Procedurals?

If so, I'd like to introduce you to +Joseph Giacalone. He is new to Google+. He is a retired NYPD Detective Sergeant and the former Commanding Officer of the Bronx Cold Case Squad. He is also a recipient of the NYPD Medal for Valor. If that wasn't enough, he's also a frequent guest for different TV shows where he appears as guest consultant on A&E, Eyewitness News and Investigation Discovery.

If all of that sounds interesting to you, add him to your circles. He has already made several posts about these issues. He's brand new to Google+ and is following less than 100 people. He's trying to connect with individuals who share his interests. So, if you like this stuff, he'd like to get to know you better.

2013-06-10 23:56:58 (9 comments, 3 reshares, 9 +1s)

One of the Best Articles I've Read

The article takes away all of your excuses about how you spend your time and forces you to be honest about what it is that you actually value. It is a wonderful way to look at life.

Normally, I try to dig down and quote some of the meat of an article. Typically, the weighty material comes about three-quarters of the way through. The article is different. Right from the very beginning, he hammers you with a cold, hard truth. That revelation is key because this admission allows you to accept all of the points that he brings up later in the article. Here's his introduction: 

"Every day we exchange value for value. Your time for your employer’s money. Your money for the restaurant’s food.

What I’ve recently realized is that the intangible exchanges are no different. My desire to stay in shape is traded forthat i... more »

2013-06-09 17:17:34 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 5 +1s)

More details about the NSA's PRISM program

This article does a decent job of explaining why the recent denials from every tech firm regarding their participation with the NSA's PRISM program can both be honest (as in the person who made the statement is saying what they believe to be true) and factually wrong.

I'm not saying that those statements are wrong. I'm just pointing out that it is possible.

Here's a bit from the article that is relevant to my statement above:

“...The U.S. government does not have direct access or a ‘back door’ to the information stored in our data centers,” Google’s chief executive, Larry Page, and its chief legal officer, David Drummond, said in a statement on Friday. “We provide user data to governments only in accordance with the law.”

Statements from Microsoft, Yahoo, Facebook,Apple, AOL an... more »

2013-06-09 16:59:43 (6 comments, 10 reshares, 52 +1s)

An interesting scenario...

2013-06-09 13:54:24 (9 comments, 14 reshares, 78 +1s)

This won't end well.

From Endless Origami: http://endlessorigami.com/2013/06/04/empathy/

2013-06-09 13:48:28 (4 comments, 0 reshares, 4 +1s)

+Andy Goldman this made me think of you. I'm not saying that it happened to you exactly, but I am suspicious.

2013-06-09 03:17:33 (1 comments, 3 reshares, 13 +1s)

This comic is about perfect.

2013-06-09 00:34:55 (20 comments, 1 reshares, 47 +1s)

Turtle on the Loose

Yesterday, this turtle was trying to cross one of the busiest streets in my area. He was in the middle of the first lane with three more lanes to go. 

I pulled over to the side of the road and rescued him. I took him home with me. I let him loose in my back yard. I was going to take him to a nearby river in a heavily wooded area, but the turtle had other plans. He has wandered off somewhere and I can't find him anywhere.

Now, I'm concerned.

Not for the turtle's safety. I live in a pretty rural area. He'll be okay here. I'm worried though because I'm afraid that he may have misunderstood my intentions when I rescued him. I'm worried that he's out there now plotting and planning his revenge.

I hope that he doesn't have any skills in ninjitsu.

2013-06-08 03:15:37 (28 comments, 1 reshares, 8 +1s)

Will Medium become the Writer Nirvana that Google+ used to be?

Recently, several people within my circles have been speaking about the most recent changes to the Google+ interface. Specifically, they feel that the way posts are currently truncated to the first three sentences is discouraging reading and engagement.

Hope may be on the way... if you're willing to leave the Google+ platform.

I don't plan on leaving, but I am intrigued by a new venture created by one of the founders of both Blogger and Twitter. Here's a bit from their site: 

"A better place to read and write things that matter.

Medium is a new place on the Internet where people share ideas and stories that are longer than 140 characters and not just for friends. It’s designed for little stories that make your day better and manifestos that change thewo... more »

2013-06-08 01:39:02 (0 comments, 7 reshares, 12 +1s)

Rod Serling Talks Writing

Earlier today, +Joseph Persia posted news about J. J. Abrams attempt to revive The Twilight Zone. Had I known there was so much interest in Rod Serling, I would have shared these earlier.

I have set up a YouTube playlist (17 videos) that contains every Rod Serling interview I've been able to find. It'll take you a while to get through them all, but he really covers a lot of great material about writing.

Enjoy!

2013-06-07 17:19:57 (6 comments, 1 reshares, 6 +1s)

The Brutally Honest Truth about Ghostwriting

Where I share the low down on ghostwriting. The good, the bad, the ugly. 

I've got quotes from +Rand Fishkin, +Sean Platt, +AJ Kohn, +Rob Philbin, +Anthony Sills, +david jacoby, and +Paul Magee. 

Let me know what you think. 

#contentmarketing   #publishing   #writing   #SEO  

2013-06-07 13:47:13 (2 comments, 4 reshares, 35 +1s)

2013-06-07 02:45:17 (23 comments, 7 reshares, 14 +1s)

Welcome to 1984

From the article: 

"The National Security Agency has obtained direct access to the systems of Google, Facebook, Apple and other US internet giants, according to a top secret document obtained by the Guardian.

The NSA access is part of a previously undisclosed program called PRISM, which allows officials to collect material including search history, the content of emails, file transfers and live chats, the document says.

The Guardian has verified the authenticity of the document, a 41-slide PowerPoint presentation – classified as top secret with no distribution to foreign allies – which was apparently used to train intelligence operatives on the capabilities of the program. The document claims "collection directly from the servers" of major US service providers."

Here's a link to the full article: ... more »

2013-06-07 02:35:05 (4 comments, 4 reshares, 10 +1s)

Found this quote via +Karen Woodward.

Here's a quotation from Ernest Hemingway Creates a Reading List for a Young Writer, 1934:

“The most important thing I’ve learned about writing is never write too much at a time,” Hemingway said, tapping my arm [a young writer named Samuelson] with his finger. “Never pump yourself dry. Leave a little for the next day. The main thing is to know when to stop. Don’t wait till you’ve written yourself out. When you’re still going good and you come to an interesting place and you know what’s going to happen next, that’s the time to stop. Then leave it alone and don’t think about it; let your subconscious mind do the work. The next morning, when you’ve had a good sleep and you’re feeling fresh, rewrite what you wrote the day before. When you come to the interesting place and you know what is going to happen next, go on fromthere and stop at anoth... more »

2013-06-06 23:19:59 (3 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

+Kevin Hearne *Interview Re-scheduled Due to Hangouts On Air Outage*

We will be doing the interview tomorrow at 3 PM Eastern Time.

2013-06-06 17:10:34 (4 comments, 3 reshares, 14 +1s)

Gamers, Programmers and App Developers: Read this.

Did you know Amazon has an Indie Game store? Maybe you did, but I just found out about it. If you're a gamer, you can pick up a lot of games for a cheap price (granted some of the games are pretty dated) and if you're a developer, you may want to consider uploading something there to start raking in the money... well, hopefully.

Here's a link to the site: http://goo.gl/w6Rc4

2013-06-06 16:56:38 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 6 +1s)

Just confirmed everything for tonight's interview with Kevin Hearne. 

We'll be talking about his Iron Druid series. Tune in at 7 PM Eastern time or watch the archived version on YouTube. Here's a link to my YouTube channel where I have past interviews with Jim Butcher and Chuck Wendig: https://www.youtube.com/user/jlwardx

2013-06-06 05:08:09 (16 comments, 0 reshares, 29 +1s)

Not Comforting

I'm sure whoever designed this meant for it to be a source of comfort. Really, it just means that there is no escape. How can you evade the monsters that live inside your head?

2013-06-05 19:22:24 (23 comments, 9 reshares, 46 +1s)

Worth thinking about.

2013-06-05 19:00:21 (6 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

I look forward to reading +Evo Terra and +Jeff Moriarty's review of this beer created by the boy band Hanson. Here's the article with all of the details: http://beerpulse.com/2013/05/hanson-bands-mmmhops-beer-officially-now-exists-428/

2013-06-05 18:43:57 (6 comments, 8 reshares, 22 +1s)

This is pretty much how +Amanda Rachelle Warren describes her life to me.

2013-06-05 17:14:18 (20 comments, 1 reshares, 5 +1s)

What is ScrewPulp and should you care?

No, this isn't a new erotic imprint.

Recently, +S. A. Hunt asked me for my thoughts on a new publishing endeavor called +Screwpulp. He has his book, The Whirlwind in the Thorn Tree listed through their service and wanted to hear my thoughts on their unique approach to marketing and distribution.

First, a brief explanation. Here's a bit of text from their site which explains their operational philosophy: 

"Screwpulp has developed an innovative pricing model that helps you work toward having a truly successful book. Your book will enter our system initially as a free book. As you promote your book and your book starts to gain good reviews on our site, the value of your book will increase. The more popular your book becomes, the higher the price will become, and the more money you'll make.
more »

2013-06-05 14:23:42 (11 comments, 0 reshares, 6 +1s)

+Kevin Hearne interview tomorrow night at 7 PM (Eastern)

This is being done for the Urban Fantasy Fans community. If you have a question that you'd like to ask him regarding his Iron Druid series, go post it on this thread: http://goo.gl/U8uwF

If you know someone who is a big fan (or even a small fan) of Kevin's work, please let them know about this post. Feel free to tag them in the comments or re-share this to get their attention.

2013-06-04 01:06:17 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 12 +1s)

Should I be using Google+ more?

2013-06-03 00:51:39 (7 comments, 0 reshares, 10 +1s)

Youth versus Age

There are times when we will 'encourage' (that word is pronounced bribe) our daughters to finish their dinner by telling them that if they eat some particularly odious item (that word is normally pronounced broccoli, but it has gone under different names as well) that they will be able to get a piece of candy. That fills them with happiness and anticipation and normally results in an empty plate.

The older I get the more frequently I find that I have to use the same motivational techniques on myself. No, it's not to grab a Tootsie Roll (pronounced Yum), but rather to grab TUMS.

I'm getting old.

2013-06-02 02:05:26 (3 comments, 2 reshares, 7 +1s)

Surface Pro or Wacom's forthcoming multi-touch mobile tablet?

Wacom has announced that they are going to be releasing a stand alone tablet sometime this summer. They announced this on their FB page on March 1rst. Here's a link to the post: 

https://www.facebook.com/Wacom/posts/10151269211541691

That's all of the information I've been able to find on Wacom's tablet.

Apparently, Microsoft's Surface Pro uses the Wacom digitizer and delivers the same functionality as a graphics tablet. The video below is of Mike Krahulik drawing on a Surface Pro tablet. It appears to offer the exact same level of sensitivity as an Intuos tablet. I've never used a Cintiq so I can't make that comparison.

Krahulik wrote up a great review of Surface Pro here:

http://www.penny-arcade.com/2013/02/25/the-ms-surface-pro
more »

2013-06-02 00:48:14 (26 comments, 0 reshares, 16 +1s)

I was trying to be a good husband

I noticed that the dishwasher had been half-way unloaded. My wife had emptied most of it, but there were still a few glasses, a couple of plates and all of the silverware. So, I unloaded it and put everything away.

A few hours later my wife had returned from shopping and came to me and asked, "You ran those dishes before you put them away, right?"

"Um, no. They were all clean. Weren't they?"

Her look said it all. This was the first time I've ever had to apologize for doing the dishes.

I think there is an obvious lesson to be learned from this: I shouldn't be involved in doing the dishes. At all.

2013-06-01 23:18:15 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 10 +1s)

Dan Harmon is officially back on Community.

Somewhere +Johne Cook is quietly weeping tears of joy.

2013-05-30 23:28:28 (63 comments, 0 reshares, 34 +1s)

I may need an intervention.

I'm really enjoying introducing my daughters to the 80's shows and cartoons that I watched as a child, but I think I might be over-doing it.

My six year old just described something as being RADICAL!

I'll know that I've overdone it if she starts saying things like Gag me with a spoon or Grody to the max.

2013-05-30 20:11:49 (23 comments, 0 reshares, 16 +1s)

One gripe I have about the new Hangouts app is that it is no longer to quickly and easily see who is online. Instead, I have to go type their name to see if they have the little green bar indicating that they are online or not.

2013-05-30 01:43:12 (5 comments, 2 reshares, 21 +1s)

I'm not saying it was aliens, but it was aliens

NASA posted this image with the description: "Once thought to be an impact crater, the Richat Structure's flat middle and lack of shock-altered rock indicates otherwise. The possibility that the Richat Structure was formed by a volcanic eruption also seems improbable because of the lack of a dome of igneous or volcanic rock. Rather, the layered sedimentary rock of the Richat structure is now thought by many to have been caused by uplifted rock sculpted by erosion."

Doesn't it seem obvious that this is the landing/launch pad for an enormous flying saucer? Yeah, I didn't think it was either, but it's fun to think about.

Link to the article: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130519.html

Found via io9

2013-05-28 23:31:04 (18 comments, 0 reshares, 10 +1s)

Dan Harmon is in talks to return to Community

Here's the article: http://io9.com/what-dan-harmon-in-talks-to-return-to-community-510141772

2013-05-28 23:27:22 (8 comments, 1 reshares, 10 +1s)

Researchers figure out how to change cement into liquid metal capable of conductivity

Imagine if there was a cost-effective way to do this with existing cement.

From the article: "In other words, they blasted the shit out of levitated cement with lasers until it melted and turned into liquid metal. Who says the future isn't here yet?

The scientists discovered that the conductivity was created when the free electrons were "trapped" in the cage-like structures that formed in the glass. Interestingly, the trapped electrons provide a mechanisms for conductivity similar to what happens in metal.

The end result was a material that's metallic- and glass-like, but one that exhibits better resistance to corrosion than regular metal — and is less brittle than glass. And of course, it's a semi-conductive material."

Iw... more »