CircleCount helps you better understand Google+

2013-05-24 00:08:41 (78 comments, 158 reshares, 632 +1s)

A nice article about some of the powerful search technology we released last week.  I also like that the graphic they chose for the article is someone being "blown away".  

2013-05-23 19:29:07 (58 comments, 18 reshares, 346 +1s)

I'll be live from the 24 hr party at Disneyland this week! Check out today's blog post for the details!

2013-05-23 19:10:59 (174 comments, 120 reshares, 934 +1s)

Just wait till you see us continue to invest in the product. We are just getting started here.

2013-05-22 17:57:19 (78 comments, 567 reshares, 2012 +1s)

Good night Me luvilees! 

stolen from +Ben Zaitz 

2013-05-22 17:47:34 (33 comments, 81 reshares, 413 +1s)

"Conversational search has natural language, semantic search and more built into it, and while it’s far from perfect, this really is one of those significant changes that makes even a “seen it all” person like me sit up and take notice." - +Danny Sullivan 

2013-05-22 17:39:31 (50 comments, 242 reshares, 608 +1s)

THIS

2013-05-22 09:49:25 (67 comments, 165 reshares, 1623 +1s)

Night Light... Donner Lake, 1am, Truckee, California

A good night light makes you feel safer. Lets you see in the dark. Is discreet and doesn't sear your eyeballs out of their sockets if you have to get up in the middle of the night and don't want to run into the door frame.

A good night light kisses you on the forehead and says quite tenderly; "It's time to sleep, sweet thing. Good night." And you always reply "'Night, light. Sweet dreams."

A good night light is timeless.

2013-05-21 05:55:49 (140 comments, 254 reshares, 1137 +1s)

Are you sitting down? This has just blown me away. The new Google+ Photos section in the app is astounding.

1. Built-in photo editing
2. People tagging
3. Image search
4. Highlights - albums that take the best photos from an album and show them off.
5. A single button to auto enhance photos with a before and after button and option to undo.
6. Rename and delete albums
7. Edit profile and cover photo

Image search has me shaking in disbelief! All the example screenshots are from family photos I have uploaded, none of them have added tags and they are all standard from-camera filenames.

2013-05-21 03:33:58 (45 comments, 56 reshares, 826 +1s)

2013-05-20 15:10:48 (126 comments, 145 reshares, 762 +1s)

Here's why Vic couldn't sleep last night!  A fresh new Google+ Android build that incorporates all of last week's goodness... and more.   Enjoy.

#googleplusupdate

2013-05-20 14:57:55 (54 comments, 14 reshares, 299 +1s)

Good morning everyone.
Here is what I'm listening to right now.

Holy Ghost! "Hold On" (Live in NYC)

2013-05-20 04:31:37 (263 comments, 214 reshares, 858 +1s)

I am struggling to sleep tonight. Can't wait until tomorrow :-)
+Bradley Horowitz +Ujjwal Singh

2013-05-19 08:25:17 (63 comments, 19 reshares, 1251 +1s)

Lots of memories from last week's Google I/O. Thank you for making it so special. (That includes you +Brynn Evans and +Jonathan Terleski for photobombing +Bradley Horowitz and me :-)

2013-05-18 22:53:06 (10 comments, 1 reshares, 10 +1s)

Bluetooth stream music problems?

I have my streaming music cut out intermittently. (HTC one). After about 30 seconds the car recognizes the phone again and I can restart the music. Anyone else having this issue?

(Yes I've rebooted console)

2013-05-18 02:06:34 (94 comments, 43 reshares, 1173 +1s)

A beautifully #AutoEnhanced picture from my walk this evening.

Have a great weekend everyone.

2013-05-17 14:19:46 (27 comments, 50 reshares, 311 +1s)

Offer posts in Google+: Easily save and share offers with your circles

Millions of people follow brands they love on Google+ to keep tabs on them, get the latest news on products, join in on the conversation or simply to be entertained. Many people also engage with businesses to get great deals and discounts. Starting today, we’re making it easier to discover, save and share offers right from Google+.

We’re beginning with a select group of brands like +ZAGAT , +Hello Kitty , +Art.com , +NOOK , +Adafruit Industries  who can now share offers with their followers. If you follow any of these brands, you'll soon see offers from them in your stream.  You can save these offers directly from the post. Once saved, you can use the Google Offers app or simply follow the email confirmation on how to easily redeem the offer online or in-store. 

And just like in reallife, if y... more »

2013-05-17 01:20:22 (39 comments, 25 reshares, 738 +1s)

Mel's Drive-In here in San Francisco. Here's another quick shot through Glass.  

I love the wide-angle lens on this thing.  I don't actually know what it is.  It feels like a 28mm or so?  Maybe 30?  I can't figure it out.  I haven't actually checked the specs on it...I'm just going by feel.  Still experimenting and having fun!  #throughglass  

2013-05-17 01:15:11 (57 comments, 78 reshares, 423 +1s)

*Getting started with #AutoEnhance  and #AutoAwesome *

Many of you have been asking, "How do I apply Auto Enhance and Auto Awesome to my photos?" The good news is, all you have to do is upload some new pictures, and we'll do both automatically: 

- To review Google's automatic enhancements, just open a newly-uploaded photo in the desktop lightbox
- Click the new "Enhanced" button to toggle between your original, and Google's enhancements
- If you like the changes, keep them. Otherwise, just uncheck "Auto Enhance" from the More menu
- You can also turn off the feature completely in settings: google.com/settings/plus

It's the same story with Auto Awesome. Just upload some new pics, and we'll get to work:

- Visit your Photos page (plus.google.com/photos), and look for one the five Awesome icons ont... more »

2013-05-17 00:58:55 (52 comments, 29 reshares, 716 +1s)

Walking home after a long week. Nice to see the gate already open. Oh wait... Where is the dog? :-)

2013-05-16 19:16:37 (55 comments, 123 reshares, 1050 +1s)

WOO..Google+ knocks it out of the park

I was stuck in meetings all day, peeking at my phone when I could to get a hint of the changes we were all anticipating from G+. I'm honestly completely thrilled by everything that's happened. I have already forgotten what the old stream layout looked like. I love how easy it is for me to see the amazing content that packs the G+ halls. I also love how my own page looks.  

The one thing I was dying to get home and try out is the Auto Awesome function, showcased earlier by +Brian Matiash. As I don't have any DSLR images to plug into the Motion feature, I decided to test it out with some +GoPro timelapse images from the SF sunset last weekend. Ok, these are GoPro images so the quality isn't great but the functionality in G+ is pretty fast, super user-friendly, and c'mon...it's a little bit of genius. Can't waitt... more »

2013-05-16 15:01:57 (91 comments, 116 reshares, 622 +1s)

Understanding Google's new design: It's all about cards.

From The New Yorker: "A card will be the atomic unit of information display across all of Google."

See what I did there? I put what we journalists call a "pull quote" as the top line. The reason is that I know in your stream you will see only my "headline" and my first line, and I wanted to make it compelling enough for you to click and read. 

Welcome to the new Google+. 

Some people are complaining about this, saying its anti-writer, anti-words, pro-photos or too much like Pinterest. 

In fact, Google+ always displayed only the first few lines of each post, but now they're displaying fewer. 

Let's be clear about why this is happening: Google is fully embracing the cards interface. A card is a unit of information that could containany... more »

2013-05-16 03:12:51 (135 comments, 27 reshares, 1745 +1s)

My friend +Matt Waddell and me as we prepared for our keynote this morning.
Thank you all for the very kind words of encouragement. I am so proud of the incredible team behind Google+ and am honored that I had the chance to present their hard work.
#googlepluslove

2013-05-16 00:45:34 (60 comments, 251 reshares, 1248 +1s)

An article about +Larry Page.
Worth reading in my view. 

2013-05-15 22:48:35 (59 comments, 7 reshares, 229 +1s)

Now that pretty much everyone has had access to some or all of the new toys from Google, lets take a poll on which new thing is your favorite by +'ing the associated post or adding one of your own. 

2013-05-15 18:14:39 (49 comments, 87 reshares, 509 +1s)

You have to see these examples of Google+ AutoEnhance!

#googlepluslove

2013-05-15 18:12:57 (96 comments, 104 reshares, 672 +1s)

Uh guys. Can everyone please stop hitting refresh at the exact same time? k thx bye.

#googlepluslove

2013-05-15 18:02:38 (116 comments, 713 reshares, 764 +1s)

We just introduced the new Google+! Enjoy the details below.
#googlepluslove

2013-05-15 11:51:09 (96 comments, 154 reshares, 752 +1s)

We will be starting Google I/O in a few hours. The keynote will be streamed live. Click link below to watch starting at 9 am PST.

2013-05-15 01:57:21 (31 comments, 19 reshares, 245 +1s)

Rocking out to this song as we prepare for tomorrow's opening keynote.

Love it.

2013-05-14 23:56:33 (84 comments, 118 reshares, 1286 +1s)

About to get real.

2013-05-14 18:25:03 (16 comments, 36 reshares, 260 +1s)

About 14 years ago, I got a bad cold, and my voice became hoarse.  At the time I didn’t think much about it.  But my voice never fully recovered.  So I went to a doctor and was diagnosed with left vocal cord paralysis.  This is a nerve problem that causes your left vocal cord to not move properly.  Despite extensive examination, the doctors never identified a cause — though there was speculation of virus-based damage from my cold.  It is quite common in cases like these that a definitive cause is not found.

While this condition never really affected me — other than having a slightly weaker voice than normal which some people think sounded a little funny — it naturally raised questions in my mind about my second vocal cord.  But I was told that sequential paralysis of one vocal cord following another is extremely rare.  

Fast forward to last summer, when the same patternrepeated itself... more »

2013-05-14 15:49:50 (35 comments, 63 reshares, 819 +1s)

Today's latte, Google I/O 2013. #geeklatte   #io13

2013-05-13 16:39:14 (33 comments, 32 reshares, 309 +1s)

Enjoyed my Q&A with Steven Levy, looking forward to Google IO +Steven Levy +Android +Google Chrome 

2013-05-13 14:10:06 (11 comments, 38 reshares, 211 +1s)

Content Recommendations for your Mobile Website

Today we’re announcing smart content recommendations for your mobile website. Recommendations consider Search Authorship, Google+ activity (including +1's and shares), and content on the visitors' current page to keep the quality high. And they only appear when people tap for more, so as not to interrupt their browsing experience.

Check out the mobile website of +Forbes on your favorite iOS or Android device to see it in action.

#googleplusupdate   #googleplusplatform  

http://googleplusplatform.blogspot.com/2013/05/content-recommendations.html

2013-05-12 22:00:52 (44 comments, 93 reshares, 448 +1s)

Sony NEX-7 Photo Album -- Update from +Sony at the end (they actually responded -- and only on Google+ even though I posted this story everywhere!)  I put up this a few days ago, but this time I am including this album with a bunch of Sony NEX-7 photos so you can judge for yourself.  In this album, you'll see lots of photos including my kids, +Jeremy Cowart, +Vic Gundotra, +Ben Silbermann, +Natalie Villalobos, +Brian Rose, and +Neal Stephenson looking at a Mark Twain curiosity. 

Dumping My Nikon for Sony - THE CHINA EXPERIMENT

See full article with photos at: http://goo.gl/odY28 

The Sony NEX Experiment in China

I’m going to spend a few weeks in China using only my Sony NEX (see Sony NEX-7 Review at http://goo.gl/5ejEZ ) I’m sidelining the Nikon D800 (see Nikon D800 Review at http://goo.gl/gwtxz ) for the time being. It will bemy backup ... more »

2013-05-15 17:35:04 (113 comments, 53 reshares, 693 +1s)

It's hard to believe this photo was taken with a HTC One smart phone camera!

2013-05-15 17:34:41 (106 comments, 139 reshares, 807 +1s)

He really hates walking.
+Amy Essigmann

2013-05-10 05:56:23 (43 comments, 73 reshares, 492 +1s)

"Consumer Reports is calling the Tesla Model S the best car it has ever tested."

Congratulations +Tesla Motors and +Elon Musk

2013-05-09 18:54:14 (36 comments, 130 reshares, 217 +1s)

Ingress Report Episode 7 is now live. 

In this week's episode, Susanna Moyer and the Ingress Report news team shed light on a global L8 portal run, recap a major Cross-Faction Meet-Up at Seattle's Space Needle, and have breaking news on new scanner capabilities:  the Jarvis Virus and the ADA Refactor.

+Ingress 

2013-05-09 05:22:45 (20 comments, 15 reshares, 229 +1s)

On a (electric!) steel horse I ride :-)

2013-05-09 04:28:24 (81 comments, 667 reshares, 1133 +1s)

This is just amazing, and absolutely worth your time. I promise, it is worth your time.

2013-05-15 17:21:07 (111 comments, 82 reshares, 869 +1s)

Google I/O is coming.

2013-05-08 06:38:52 (57 comments, 27 reshares, 316 +1s)

Alive and Kicking
For those of you who remember Simple Minds... This is my favorite song from them. And yes, this is the long version. 

2013-05-08 06:19:55 (161 comments, 721 reshares, 1786 +1s)

What a fantastic commercial. If you are a Star Trek fan, I promise you will laugh :-)
Congratulations +Audi International and +Audi USA on making me smile. 

2013-05-08 06:01:00 (15 comments, 19 reshares, 136 +1s)

Meeting Location:  Check Back Soon!  (Time is 5:30 PM PT on May 14)
After-Party Location:  Check Back Soon!
Hashtag:   #GlassPhotoWalk  

How to Win Google Glass:  This will be a random selection for people at the PhotoWalk.  You can join in and take photos live with Party Mode with your Android or iPhone.  Details to come!

Join +Thomas Hawk  and +Trey Ratcliff  for a once-in-a-lifetime free event!  If you've never been to a photowalk, this will be a great one.  We'll help teach you more about photography and you can join in the fun!  Bring a friend or come alone.  It's a family-friendly event, and we look forward to seeing you!

Thanks to +Brian Matiash  and the rest of the Google team for help in getting the whole event together.  We'll have a TON more details soon...  this will be a great celebration ofphotography!
more »

2013-05-08 00:49:38 (64 comments, 94 reshares, 831 +1s)

Happy night in New Zealand...  here's a little pond that is a short walk from my house...  I should get over here more often to take photos I think! :)

2013-05-07 19:12:36 (36 comments, 47 reshares, 336 +1s)

Some highly-requested improvements to Hangouts On Air

Have you ever missed the beginning of a live Hangout On Air and wanted to rewind? How about viewing and sharing your recording right after your broadcast, versus waiting for "processing…"? Today we're launching these, and two other features, to improve your Hangouts On Air experience: 

- Rewind live broadcasts. Regardless when you start watching, you can always go back to the beginning.

- Access recordings immediately after your broadcast. Once you're no longer On Air, your recording will be waiting for you on YouTube.

- Watch higher quality Hangouts On Air on the go. If you're tuning in from your mobile device, you'll notice better-looking video.

- Start live broadcasts without having to refresh. When you visit a page with a Hangout OnAi... more »

2013-05-06 02:33:01 (12 comments, 83 reshares, 313 +1s)

New video on G+ for you first!  Thx 5mil followers!!
Extended Visual Consciousness: Google Glass, Ravens, Shared Vision...

Anyway, you guys are awesome... you know how much I love Google and Google+!  I don't take any of you for granted... I really don't!  I just can't believe it.  I'm happy that so many people are excited about photography, and I think we're all going through this thing together.  It's so fun!  So, I thought I would share a cool clip from a recent video just for y'all first... 

 Extended Visual Consciousness - Google Glass, Ravens, Shared Vision, Mobile-Photographer-Brain 

2013-05-05 14:24:50 (19 comments, 48 reshares, 203 +1s)

This piece brought tears to my eyes.  It is beautifully written, and oh so true. It's amazing how American good will can be so badly misspent by those in power.

This piece matches the stories I heard from Clare Lockhart, co-author with Ashraf Ghani, of the book Fixing Failed States, and founder of the Institute for State Effectiveness http://www.effectivestates.org/, which has a methodology for making sure that aid money goes to the people who actually need it.

But I digress. This piece is about the bundles of cash that go to Hamid Karzai, and how it ought to be spent.  If you read only one thing today, let it be this.

2013-05-04 14:07:08 (47 comments, 67 reshares, 215 +1s)

"For every complex question, there is a simple answer, and it is almost always wrong." - H.L. Menken

Via +Thunder Parley:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mobileweb/dr-jonny-bowden/red-meat-health_b_3119520.html