This is a pretty simple giveaway. I have two…just two…Google Music invites to share. If you’re interested in an invite, please leave a comment below. I will randomly select two people from all that respond.
The deadline for this giveaway is midnight (EDT), Friday, August 5.
Good luck!
If you are not familiar with Google Music, you might want to check out the official site or read this review to learn more.
The latest shiny new object in the online world and social-media universe is Google+ (Google Plus)
For Googlephiles like me, the release of Google+ is golden! Though I have frequently stated that I’m not wed to a particular platform or brand — Android, iOs, Apple, Windows — it would be a little disingenuous to suggest that I don’t have a thing for Google. Be it Gmail, Google Apps (which powers my domain’s email, calendar and docs), Google Docs, Calendar, Picasa, Blogger, I’ve been a fan. Principally for two reasons — 1) Google makes pretty cool stuff; and 2) Google usually designs things with a minimalist design. I hate clutter, and most of the Google products I use are super clean, almost to the point of being simplistic. The products are not incapable, though. In fact, I haven’t owned a copy of MS Office for years. I only use Google Apps for my email, calendar and docs. The services are seamlessly integrated into my Android phone. (This is probably the only reason I haven’t yet made the leap to the iPhone.)
Ok. Onto the topic at hand. The most frequent comment I’ve seen about Google+ is really a question. Is Google+ a ”Facebook killer?’ Now, I have never been fond of the sadly overused expression about a product being a [ fill in the blank ] ‘killer.’ Usually, in the Apple-obsessed tech world, the blank is filled with iPad, iPhone, iPod, MacBookPro, or iMac. I love my Apple computers, but…Boring! With that said, though, when you look at what Google’s has done with Plus, it is hard to resist doing a side-by-side comparison of Facebook and Google+.
I just signed up, so I don’t have a lot to report just yet, but I love the simple, clean layout. When you first logon, you’re taken to the home screen, which shows your stream.
Where things get interesting with Google+ is when you click on Circles.
Circles is where you can see all the people you follow with Google+, as well as add new people. Now, as many of you know, Google+ is currently in a limited Beta phase, so the number of people actually on Google+ is limited. As more people join Google+, the Circles area will grow. What’s really cool about Circles is that you can drag-and-drop people into a Circle, or multiple Circles. For instance, I follow Gary Vaynerchuk. I will add him to a soon-to-be created “Wine” Circle. However, I also consider Gary to be a friend, so I would also drop him into the “Friends” Circle. Why do this? Well, when you’re on home screen, you can adjust the content of the stream to show only updates from individuals in specific Circles. Facebook does this, in a way, in your news stream with Top News vs. Most Recent. I find the way it’s set up in Google+ to be more intuitive and gives you much more control of the content you want to see in the moment.
Speaking of content, I love the way you can post information on Google+. Much like with Facebook, you can post an update, share a photo or a link to an article. What’s different is what Google carried over from Google Buzz. You can write a long post (Facebook limits you to 420 characters) AND you can edit your post. I am a stickler about grammar; and, as Karma would have it, I often need to fix my errors. You can do the same with comments you leave on other’s posts. One thing I don’t like about Facebook is that if you make a typo in a post, you cannot go back and change it. You either delete and repost, or live the the mistake. Not with Google+. You can easily go back into your post and edit and update. You can also chose who you would like to view your posts. You can select public, or choose from you circles or specific individuals.
Thanks to Twitter, the @(someone’s name) has become rather ubiquitous. Google will take the @ in front of someone’s name, but also introduced — no surprise — the + sign when tagging someone. I think @ is more intuitive than using the + for tagging, but I’m sure it’s something I’ll get used to. It’s a rather minor adjustment.
I have yet to use what is, arguably, the coolest feature of Google+ — Hangout. This is the are a of Google+ where you can invite any number of people join you in a video chat.
I’ve seen glimpses of Hangout in action on some tech blogs, and it looks really nice, and very easy to use.
I will come back with a follow up post, once I’ve had more time to really dig into all the Google+ features, including the app for Android devices.
As it stands right now, I’m loving Google+! If you’re on Google+, you can find me with +Matthew Lyons.
I really enjoy writing, but you wouldn’t know it by the way I have been neglecting my poor blog. I have been busy lately working on my wife’s website, as well as taking images (for the site and some media requests). Excuses…excuses!
Trust me, adding some content has been on my mind, and I was gratified when a friend asked, “So, what’s going on with your blog? Are you just posting music now?” The question made me chuckle, but was a little embarrassing. While I love my music, It has always been my intent for this blog to be more than just a place to share music that I’m grooving to. I have plenty of things on my mind that I’d like to share and, hopefully, discuss. I hope that you’ll stay tuned for most substantive posts. With that said, there will be a “now THIS is friday music” post tomorrow. Don’t let that discourage you. I’m still here. Thanks for caring enough to ask.
Earlier this week, I sent email to family and friends, and posted a note on Facebook, breaking the news. After a good run with Google Voice, almost two years I think, we are splitting up. Don’t fret. It was an amicable split. In fact, we’re still friends, though, and may even come back together to work on my photography project.
Jokes aside, it was a tough decision for me to jettison my Google Voice number in favor of my underlying Verizon Wireless digits. What made me switch, you ask? Well, there were a number of connectivity issues that were nagging me, but the straw that broke my camel’s back was, surprisingly, no MMS. (picture and video messaging for the uninitiated). So often, people would say, “Did you see the picture I sent you?” Uhh…nope, I would reply. For a while, I the dots were not connecting for me. Oh…you sent me a picture in a text message. That’s why I didn’t get it. Now, for a while I simply thought, “Why not just email the picture to me?” It can be done with smartphones or basic feature phones. Of course, that’s asking the sender to remember my special, limited, Google Voice MMS needs. After catching up with a friend on Monday at a baseball game, only to learn that I was missing all the pictures he sent via text that I decided the novelty of having one number that can reach me anywhere, and free text messaging, was not worth missing what people had to share. While it may seem trivial, the lack of support for MMS started to become a drag.
Again, my decision was not quite a knee-jerk reaction on Monday. For a couple of months, I was experiencing some connectivity issues with Google Voice. Far too often, I would bang out a text message in a hurry only to find that the message did not go through. That’s not all. I also noticed an increase of missed calls. My phone would sit silent, and then I would get an email notifying me that I missed a call. Wait! What? My phone was sitting right next to me. Why didn’t it ring? Now, if this happened every once and a while, I would not be phased. Unfortunately, the frequency of missed calls had risen to an unacceptable level. Oh…the voicemail transcription is terrible, I mean really bad. However, I do like the visual voicemail display, allowing you to skip to specific messages quickly.
I don’t want to paint the picture that everything with Google Voice was bad. I loved that I can sit at my computer, and the phone rings on my desktop. Or, conversely, I can make calls from my computer, or anywhere else I am, and the person I’m calling sees my Google Voice number on his/her Caller ID. That’s pretty cool. My wife has found Google Voice particularly useful for her business. She has two lines. For her, having a Google Voice number means that she can have the main number answered no matter where her staff is sitting. Following that example, I think that I will retain my Google Voice number for my photography business.
If you’ve been sitting on the fence about getting a Google Voice number, please don’t let my rant disuade you. Google Voice can be a great tool. Just ask yourself whether sending and receiving pictures and video in text messages is important.
Sidebar: I am really surprised that Sprint paired up with Google Voice, when it’s widely known that there is no support for MMS. From what I’ve been reading, a number of Sprint customers are not happy about this missing feature.
If you move around a lot, or have a bunch of different phone numbers, Google Voice can really be great. The draw for me was only having to give people one number and they can reach me anywhere (at my discretion, of course). Funnily enough, though, most of us have our mobile phones with us all the time. It’s a question of convenience. Sometimes, it’s more convenient to have the mobile phone tucked in a bag, and have calls ring in my office. It’s a little more discrete to have the office phone to your ear than your mobile phone. I would be remiss if I didn’t share a benefit that a number of my single friends enjoy with Google Voice, particularly women. I’ve heard a number of people say that they give out their Google Voice numbers when the meet people. It serves as a screening device. If they become interested, or more connected, the person gets “the real” number. It’s actually makes a lot of sense to me.
So, hopefully I didn’t turn you around if you had your heart set on picking up a Google Voice number. I’ve nudged several friends to get GV numbers over the years, and wouldn’t ask them to join me on reverting to their wireless carrier-assigned numbers. If you have questions about Google Voice, I am more than happy to answer them.
Thanks to all of you that chimed in with advice. I really appreciate. I took my iMac to the Apple store yesterday. Here is the culprit…
I have 8GBs of RAM installed on my iMac, and both of the Centon 2GB RAM cards are bad. It was as simple as that. I’m put off that both of the Centon RAM cards that I purchased the day I got the iMac are bad. They didn’t have a 2GB RAM card in the store. I could have taken my iMac home, but I left it there because I didn’t want to lug it back-and-forth for installation of a RAM card. It should be installed and ready to come home on Monday. My momentary “What the Hell Apple??!!” feeling quickly subsided. I should have known better.
Update: I finally got in touch with Centon, and they are going to replace both cards. Hopefully the new ones will work. If not, I’ll press for a refund and go with Crucial RAM