Archive for Ze Rest
Farewell to Steven Jobs
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Wow. I knew he had pancreatic cancer, but it’s still a shock to think of the world without Steven Jobs.
Many of the news reports emphasize his legacy of the iPhone, iPad, iPod, iMac and iTunes products. But, that’s not the first thing that comes to mind when I think of all he’s done.
I first got introduced to Jobs long ago and far away when the Apple computers were just entering our consciousness. I was working on evaluating business tools for a large corporation. We were already familiar with “typewriter-based” word processors. Sounds silly now, but it was fairly revolutionary in the office environment.
Then, Apple I and Apple II hit the market. The power of computers that usually filled an entire room was now sitting on our desks. I remember buying my own Apple II and the long nights I spent trying to debug a BASIC program I had written. There really wasn’t any software except what you made yourself.
Then, we discovered Visicalc! It was a more primitive version of what we now know as Excel. But, we were mesmerized. A piece of software that added up a bunch of numbers without even writing a line of code. Amazing!
I’ll never forget the day my home was broken into. The police came to file a report so I could give it to my insurance company. I had a very difficult time trying to explain the loss of my Apple II. After some bumbling around, the officer thought he understood. “You mean it’s a calculator that costs $2000.” He still didn’t look convinced, but he wrote it down.
To be sure, all the products like the iPhone and iPad have had an amazing impact on our world. But, really they’re all just an extension of the vision Jobs had to put computing power into the hands of regular folk.
The world will be a little less magical without him.
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Google+ Has Me Running in Circles
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Google+ is the future of social networking. I hear that from lots of different people. And, maybe they’re right. After all, Google hit the 25 million user mark within a month of launching. It took Facebook three years. And as you’d expect, since it was riding on the moving social media train, Twitter took 30 months.
But, are Google’s products outside the search engine world really the best thing that has hit the earth lately? The problem I have with Google is that they are so remote and don’t seem to much care about people who are trying to use their products, but need a little help.
Now, I realize that if all 25 million Google+ users sent a support email on the same day, Google would be overwhelmed. Of course, they don’t have to worry about that because there is no email support. Not for Google+, not for Google Apps, and, well you get the idea.
But, you argue, there are lots of Google help forums. Well, yes, there are. But, have you ever tried to get an answer on one of those Google forums? Have you ever cruised through the questions to see how many have any answer at all? For most of the forums I’ve seen, the number of answered posts is pitifully low. And, many of the posts with answers are just other frustrated user having the same problem and begging for a fix.
My Latest Google Issue
My Google+ profile isn’t active. Hasn’t been for weeks if not months. Why? Because Google says they are reviewing it and it should take a few days. Ha!
Here’s what happened. I got an invite to Google+ fairly early in the beta cycle. And, in good Google fashion, there wasn’t any way to get much insight as to how to use the site. I thought that I’d set up a profile for the business, like a Facebook fan page. Well, that was the wrong thing to do!
Later, I learned that it was against Google guidelines to use the profile for a company. . . . that capability would be coming later. So, I went to look at the profile, and sure enough, there was a notice that the profile was under review. But, evidently, no one is reviewing it. I immediately read the guidelines (which I only found because they put a link to them in the error message) and made the profile compliant.
(Interestingly enough, if you search for Google+ Guidelines, you get a lot of results, none of which are the Google+ Guidelines.)
Well, more than a few days has passed. A while back, I found some form that was sorta intended to ask for a review, but nothing has happened.
Today, I found another Google forum – I could swear I looked at a different one a while back, but never mind – and posted a thread asking for help on getting the profile reinstated.
So, again, Google has taken way too much of my time for something that should be so simple. Ever do a search for Google+ Documentation? Know what you get? A lot of results leading to information on the API. Great.
I can’t conquer the stupid profile, and they want me to turn into a developer overnight. Silly people. Anyone have a GOOD experience with some Google tool?? I’d love to hear it!!
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Beware Fake Facebook Notices
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Sometime ago, I got on someone’s spam list. I’m getting 50-100 spam messages a day. I’m hoping they get bored and take me off the list. If anyone knows how to make that happen, I’d appreciate hearing about it.
Whether this email is related to being on some grand list or not, just thought I’d pass it along.
Facebook notices come in all the time. I’ve gotten several in the last day or two that are obvious spam emails. Here’s what it looks like:
I’m not sure if real Facebook emails look just like this one because I generally am on autopilot when I look at them. So, I’m not sure I would have noticed this one was off except for one thing.
If a friend request comes from someone I don’t know, I will use the link in the email to look at their profile. On this email, the name of the person making the request is not linked to a Facebook profile. In fact, while it is in blue, which I think is the way it normally is, the name doesn’t link to anything.
So, that got me looking at the headers for the email, and it was obvious that Facebook wasn’t involved in sending this email.
Just FYI.
OMG – One Week from Today!!
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I can’t believe August 2 is a week from today.
To All You Politicians:
Remember – The Whole World is Watching!!
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