Peter G McDermott

Blog

  • Safecast Sensors Track Radiation Levels Around the World

    Safecast

    Wondering whether or not it’s a good idea to move into that house next to the old nuclear power facility? Well, believe it or not, there’s an app for that.

    Fellow +Google Glass Explorer +Chris Sewell tipped me off on a new open-source project called +Safecast which is centered around collecting information on radiation levels in communities around the world to increase citizen awareness.

    The project took off in April of 2011, just one month and one day after the chain reaction resulting from a 9.0 earthquake hit Japan, completely crippling the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

    According to the information on the website about the various devices available to collect and share the data, only 117 have been deployed in the field so far. You can learn more here.

  • My First Week with Google Glass

    This is the second post in a series of three posts. Please click here for the first post.

    I have officially had +Google Glass for over a week now and I am totally impressed. It has been an incredible effective tool for going about my daily life and staying in touch with the people I love the most. Through text messaging, hangouts and Google+, I have been able to use Glass to keep in touch without touching a thing.

    Apart from the ease of use and constant communication, Glass has offered me the opportunity to be very social in almost any situation. Since wearable technology isn’t quite commonplace, I get a lot of interesting reactions from people in the real world. Those that are tech savvy immediately identify it, but the majority of people have no idea what it is. Some people are even afraid of it.

    Trying it on for the first time:

    One of the greatest opportunities of being a glass explorer is having opportunity to showcase the new technology to other people. My favorite part of demonstrating Google Glass is to see the look on the faces of each person as they try it on for their first time. Once they are instructed to tap their temple to activate it, they are immediately amazed by the display (I was too). After that, I usually ask them to read what is under the time (“OK Glass”). As soon as the voice recognition is activated, the person is usually amazed and even sometimes startled.

    After they get the hang of the gesture controls, voice commands and how to navigate through the user interface, they take off trying to search for different things and test various features. So far, through all of my demos I have noticed that “take a picture” and “get directions to” are the two most common commands used by demo participants. I would imagine those to be two of the most popular applications for the product and also two features that I use quite often. However, there is a lot that Glass can do beyond just snapping photos and giving directions.

    What you need, when you need it:

    One of the coolest things about Glass is how intuitive it is. If you are familiar with using Google Now on your phone, you already have most of the commands and features down. For the most part, anything you can do on Google Now on your phone, you can do through Glass. This makes setting reminders and being reminded a total cinch.

    In addition to reminders, Google Now gives you updates on the things you always do, like following your favorite sports teams, to knowing when you need to leave to get to work on time. You can customize your Google Now experience by using Google search. As you look up addresses, follow sports teams and frequent businesses, Google suggests information based on your preferences. This keeps you from having to search for the same things, instead they are always at your fingertips.

    Get Directions To…

    There is some controversy of whether or not Google Glass should be used while driving. Already, states are adopting laws to prevent motorists from wearing Glass while they drive. Unfortunately, this is more a lack of understanding than a true prevention of accidents. To prove my point, the photos below show me using turn-by-turn navigation with Google Glass and without. If you notice, when using my cellphone, the directions are on a small screen which interferes with my field of view across the windshield. With, Google Glass, the instructions are in my field of vision and don’t distract me from my primary task, driving.

    Unlike a traditional GPS or using your phone for directions, Glass gives you constant reminders and only illuminates the display when you’re about to make a change in direction. This curbs the distraction of having a constantly illuminated display in your vehicle which can inhibit your line of sight. (Also notice that Glass is transparent, so although I can see the heads up display, I can still see through it.)

    Somethings you just don’t want to know:


    One thing that Google Glass will help me with is curbing calories. Every decision we make when we go to eat has caloric consequences. Sure, we could hunker down on our smartphone, type in our unlock code, find the app with the calorie counter and then search for what we’re looking for, or we could simply tilt our head and say, “OK Glass, Google how many calories are in a Little Caesars pizza.”

    With search at your fingertips, and right in the corner of your eye, it’s almost impossible to find an excuse not to look something up that could help you or your health.

    What it means to be an Explorer:

    The greatest reward of being an early adopter and part of the +Google Glass Explorer program, is the opportunity to meet so many new and interesting people. Below are just a few snaps of people trying G
    lass on for the first time. Having the opportunity to share such a unique and incredible technology with them for the first time is something that I truly love about being an Explorer.

    Instant Photography:

    It almost goes without saying, but Google Glass is a great tool for “capturing the moment.” The camera is always ready, you don’t need to fumble around, and with a press of a button or quick voice command you can have images and videos that will automatically upload to the cloud that you can instantly share with your friends and family.

    Taking pictures with Glass is impossibly simple. Take a look at the first snaps below from people that were trying Glass on for their first time:

    How to get Google Glass:

    Okay, if you really like the potential you see from Google Glass and you’d like to get an invitation to order, you’re in luck. I currently have 3 invitations available to send to those of you interested. In order to receive the invitation, you must have funds available to cover the full purchase price plus any applicable sales tax. The current cost is $1,500.00, which includes free overnight shipping.

    If you are interested in getting Glass and would like one of my three invitations, please share this post through social media and contact me with the form at the bottom of my blog and tell me why you want Glass. I will chose the three most compelling reasons by 11:59 PM CT tonight (Sunday, December 15, 2013).

    Be sure to stay tuned for the next post to learn more about my first month with Google Glass.


  • My First Days with Google Glass

    This is part 1 of a 3 part series.


    A couple of months ago, you could have called me a skeptic. I didn’t really see the value in paying $1,500 and a trip to New York or San Francisco for something that was still in beta. If anything, I thought Google should be paying us to wear it. I watched some of the first explorers and noticed the issues they were dealing with (poor battery life, equipment failure, etc.). I wondered why anyone would want to spend so much money on something that had such limited functionality.


    When the #ifihadglass campaign initially rolled out, I thought it was a really great idea, but felt I would need some groundbreaking idea in order to get an initial invite. As it turned out, you just had to have a somewhat good idea, $1,500 in your pocket and the ability to travel to NYC or SFO to pick them up. I watched a lot of my connections from Google+ score the initial invitations and watched with envy as they traveled to the closest coast to get fitted for their Glass.

    As the Explorer program with +Google Glass continued to grow, I watched more and more people taking the device out in public, testing the sociological response form wearing Glass and attempting new and different applications. On the surface though, it just looked like a bunch of geeks (sorry, +Robert Warren) posting pictures of their driveway with the current temperature superimposed over it—something that could be easily accomplished with a smartphone five years ago.

    As time rolled by, I convinced myself that getting Glass wouldn’t be worth it for it. I made myself think that I really didn’t need it and wouldn’t be able to do anything worthwhile with it. Then, out of nowhere, my good friend+Derek Ross gave me the opportunity to get in. No longer would I need to have to fly to one of Google’s offices to get fitted. All I needed to do was provide my payment information and wait by the mailbox.

    I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t force myself to pay $1,500 for something that seemed so useless to me.

    Then one day everything changed. An acquaintance I met online, +Robert Warren, scored a pair of glass and we joked for months about me trying it out. Finally, we met for dinner with +Shaker Cherukuri and afterwards he let me try it on. I was absolutely amazed. I could not believe the clarity of the display, the clarity of the sound, the speed of the device and the many purposes that he was able to demonstrate in my short demo. In just a few minutes he turned a skeptic into a believer.

    That night I got online and tried to turn over every rock I could find on the Internet to get myself an invitation code. Finally, after “begging” to the Glass Gods, +Chris Pick and +Kelvin Williams came along and threw me the invitation that got me into the Explorers program. I immediately jumped online and consulted with my family on which pair to buy. We decided Shale would be the best fit with my wardrobe and to “blend” in perhaps more than Sky or Tangerine.

    So, now after a few days I’m starting to formulate some opinions on this new tool (not a toy) and how it is going to be beneficial for my life and my career…

    This is the first of three posts which will tell you more about my experience. I wanted to start out with the backstory. Stay tuned tomorrow for the next part of the series and photos from today’s Glass Meetup.

  • G+ The Other Red Button

    I had the great pleasure of presenting at the Type A Parent conference in Atlanta, Georgia yesterday. There was a room packed with bloggers excited to learn about Google+ and how they can use it to their advantage. Unfortunately, because of my failure to check my laptop for a VGA port before hitting the road, I wasn’t able to interface with the projector and therefore had to work with a very limited amount of my visual aides during the session. I was totally embarrassed! Luckily, Ellen Gerstein graciously saved the day and let me borrow her laptop for the presentation. Thanks, Ellen!

    Because I had planned to do a mixture of the slide deck and demonstrations on Google+, I had to wing it and go without the tabs that I intended to show and explain. So, appropriately enough, a lot of you may have been confused by what I was trying to explain because of the lack of visual representation. In order to make it right, I wanted to give you a very thorough rundown of what I intended to share yesterday along with some helpful links to get you pointed in the right direction.

    If you still have questions after reading this guide, please reach out to me. I promise I won’t bite! For some of those more technical questions that were asked yesterday, I am more than happy to point you in a laser-precise direction. Simply e-mail, tweet or share your question with me and I will do my best to point you in the right direction. So, without further ado, I present G+ The Other Red Button:

    What is Google+?

    Google+ is not just another social network. Unlike standalone networks such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, Google+ is a fabric that is intertwined through many of Google’s popular cloud based products. Google+ allows authors to better identify their content through search, share new and interesting things, keep contact with the same people across multiple products and most importantly, build and engage with an audience of people that share similar interests. The thing that makes Google+ truly unique, is that is based upon sharing and interacting with people that have similar interests, not just people you already know.

    Google+ for Beginners

    If you are really new to Google+ and need help setting up an account and creating a profile, here is a video I created last year that will help you get your feet wet. Please understand that the graphical user interface (GUI) has changed quite a bit since I created the demo, so things might not look exactly the same.

    Google+ Calendar Integration

    One awesome thing about Google+ is that it is integrated with Google Calendar. I know this is a hot button with a lot of people, because they don’t like having unsolicited appointments on their calendar. Rest assured, there is a way to control how and which appointments appear on your calendar here, courtesy of Veronica Belmont.

    With Google+ Events, you can invite individuals, specific circles or even those that don’t use Google+ by simply adding their e-mail address. Once you create the event, invitees will be able to RSVP and comment on the event. Once the event starts, attendees will have the opportunity to join “party mode” to share pictures from their mobile phone to the event while they are attending. This is a great way to collect photos from conferences, meet-ups and parties.

    Google+ Events can be used to advertise special events for your business or brand page and to remind your follows of the cool things you are doing.

    Google+ Authorship

    Quite possibly the most important feature of Google+, authorship allows you to link your profile with all of the content that you create throughout the web. Once you connect the websites that you contribute to with your profile, you will start to see your headshot, follower count and a link to your profile appear in search results. This has been shown to dramatically increase your click through rate on search results, especially for posts that do not rank as the number one result.

    googleplusauthorship

    Here is the full skinny on Google Authorship straight from the mother ship. Getting setup for authorship is simple and you don’t even need to add any code to your website. If you have an e-mail address that matches the domain of the website you write for, just follow these directions and you will be on your way! If you contribute to multiple websites, follow these instructions (Option 2).

    Why Not Facebook

    Creating a profile, page, community and audience on Google+ is completely free. The public content that you create is continuously crawled and indexed by the biggest search engine in the world. Communicating with your business or brand becomes easier through other products like GMail, YouTube, Calendar and Blogger. You don’t have to pay a dime to have a successful presence on Google+, you just need to spend some time and effort finding the people that are interested in what you have to say.

    Hangouts

    My absolute favorite feature of Google+ is hands down, no questions ask, Hangouts. Hangouts allow you to connect visually face-to-face with your friends, co-workers, customers and audience members. You can see their facial expressions as you talk, share smiles, eye rolling and all of the other nonverbal communication that social media isn’t traditionally capable of translating. All of a sudden your message comes to life when people don’t have to decipher your tone.

    Hangouts allow you and up to 9 other people to communicate via webcam and audio with the ability to share webpages, documents, presentations and YouTube videos. There are some big brands doing some awesome things with hangouts, and also some people that were discovered after putting themselves out there through Hangouts.

    With Hangouts on Air, you are able to take your hangouts to the next level by broadcasting them LIVE for the world to see. As an added bonus, your recorded Hangouts on Air will automatically save to your linked YouTube account where you can share them with your friends, embed them on your blog or monetize through Google Adsense.

    BONUS: Google+ Strategy

    Gaining traction on Google+ is just like any other social frontier in a few regards: you won’t get a million followers overnight, not everyone is going to be interested in what you share and–most importantly–like anything else, you have to keep working hard to see positive results.

    The way in which Google+ is different is that it isn’t about pre-existing connections. Sure, you can import your address book and find people that you are already connected with in “meat space,” but Google+ is all about discovering new and interesting people that share similar interests. The best way to find those people is through what Google does best, search.

    What are you interested in? What do you write about? Search for it. Find people that are also interested in what you are talking about. Add them to your circles. Follow them closely. Interact with them.

    If you come to Google+ thinking you can just drop your links and magically attract visitors to your blog, you will be severely disappointed.

    The best way to encourage interaction and sharing of posts isn’t to embed a link, but to instead share a high resolution photo (that you have rights to, of course), a brief summary of what you are posting or call to action (2-3 lines), a link to your content (use a link-shortening service like goo.gl to keep it trim and track your clickthroughs) and, lastly, two or three hashtags that are relevant to your content.

    My recommendation is that you comment on or re-share at least 10 other posts for every post you create. Everyone likes to be heard, so if you want to join the conversation, I always find it best to listen to what others are saying and let them know you’re listening.

    As you start to grow your understanding of how Google+ works, you might want to start investing in Communities. Communities are a great feature of Google+ that allow you to connect with people around different topics. You can create public communities or private communities about whatever you would like. I have a community for my family that I use to share photo albums and information that I would like to keep private.

    Creating a successful strategy on Google+ requires some work. You can’t “set it and forget it” unless you already have a sizeable following across the web. In order to grow an audience on Google+, you need to create consistent, quality content.

    The greatest payoff of Google+ are all the people you will meet along the way. I have made some amazing connections through this network that have resulted in my traveling to different cities, learning about different parts of the world and making bonds that will last a lifetime.

    Need More Help

    If you need more help with Google+ simply fill out the form below and I will do by best to get you on the right track.

  • Embedding a Post from Google+

    Here is what it looks like when you embed a post from Google+:


  • Finding Work-Life Balance

    Photo Courtesy Fabio Bruna
    Photo Courtesy Fabio Bruna

    It’s a Sunday morning and I sitting in our home office. Earlier this morning I found an article on LinkedIn talking about the things you should do on Sunday to get ahead at work. The article made me think: why do we work so much and why would we work when we don’t need to?

    I shared the article on Google+ and got some interesting feedback from people there. Some of them were remarking that work gives you purpose and you should do whatever it takes to be more productive so you can live a more meaningful life. Others recalled stories of workaholics that saved away for lavish retirements only to be stricken with cancer before they could enjoy the fruits of their labor.

    Just like everything else, I think people need to seek balance with their work and life. Often times we talk about the “work life balance” but how many of us actually try to practice such a thing? We speak of it from a tangent as a way to justify an extra day off or with spite when talking about our mobile phones that alert us even during our times away from the office. How many of us actually work towards achieving a work-life balance though?

    In my workplace I see people that leave consistently at 5 PM every day while others toil until the wee hours of the night, sometimes not leaving the office until midnight. Generally, these people share the same workload, so why does it take some so much longer than others?

    Not everyone has the same proficiency with computers. Not everyone has stellar time management skills. Not everyone double or triple checks their work when they get done. We all have different ways of approaching our workload, regardless of how much work we have. Some of us are gifted with shortcuts while others have the take the long way to getting certain things done.

    Because most of our work involves technology, those of us from the millennial generation have the upper hand. From a young age we were given a better understanding of the ins and outs of personal computing. A lot of us took computer programming before we even left high school which gave us the concepts of computing more efficiently. From just that grasp of a concept we can quickly create complicated spreadsheets, e-mail filters, rules and macros to help us streamline our workflow and spend less time doing redundant or menial tasks.

    Older generations, or less technically-inclined co-workers don’t have those advantages and are usually left to take the “long way” to getting things done. Sure, we could share these tools, concepts and shortcuts, but without the core concepts that we were taught at such a young age, others won’t be able to formulate their own solutions to time-consuming tasks.

    Instead of working harder, we should all focus on working smarter. Some of us have advantages that others don’t, but we should recognize those advantages and share what we can with others to improve their efficiency. The smarter we work, the more we can move forward.

    For all of those things that take so much time, there is probably an easier way to do them. Perhaps if we all worked together we could find, implement and share solutions to make all of our work a little more easier. Then, with that extra time, we could do what we were put here to do: live.

    Now that’s what I call work-life balance.

     

     

  • How often do you unplug?

    Chromebook in my kitchen

    This morning I was sitting at the kitchen counter and enjoying a cup of coffee. For the first time in almost two weeks I was catching up on social media notifications and some of the people that I enjoy following on the web.

    During the time that I was in Hamilton, Massachusetts, Brittani and I didn’t have much access to the Internet. Cellphone service was fine, but we were so busy and engaged with my family and each other that we didn’t have the time (or urge) to whip out our smartphones and keep up with the other going-ons of the world.

    In a sense, it was kind of liberating. We live in a world right now where we are addicted to the satisfaction of “Likes” retweets and comments. Our brains are hooked on the positive emotion of seeing interaction on the content that we share, as trivial as some of it might be. For one long weekend, Brittani and I put all of that to the wayside and just enjoyed our time with the family.

    After coming back home I was so tied up with work that I didn’t really do much social media. In fact, it’s been a couple of weeks since I have sat down at a computer outside of work to do anything other than pay bills.

    What I have found in my abstinence of social media is that it really doesn’t help me enjoy life. Sure, it’s an easy way to see who is up to what, who is having a baby and who won the big game, but some of that news is delivered so impersonally.

    As technology improves and we start to better appreciate focused and curated information I think we will see mainstream social media playing a much different part in our lives. Posting “status updates” and photos of culinary adventures will still have its place in the world, but I think in a much different context.

    Yesterday while I was enjoying a Labor Day celebration with friends and family I was speaking to a local web developer that limits his “online” activity to his workplace. He’s deleted his Facebook account after spending years as a social media marketing manager. He said it was one of the most liberating feelings in his life. To top it off, he doesn’t even carry a smartphone.

    Listening to him tell me that he was a web developer that was totally unplugged from the grid outside of his 9-5 was totally foreign to me. I didn’t even think it made sense, but then it struck me. Our vocations have been so centered around computers that “personal computing” is a lost idea. We spend so much time in our jobs focusing on a 20″ screen that we are losing the urge to do anything (even creative) once we leave the office.

    The last two weeks have been great for me. I feel refreshed, accomplished, relaxed and ready for my next adventure. Maybe I should unplug more often?

    What is the longest you have ever been unplugged? Have you stopped using social media recently? Do you think the way we use social media is starting to change?

  • Nexus 7 Hands-On Review

    I’ve had my Asus Nexus 7 for almost a day now. I–amazingly–resisted the urge to unpackage it yesterday as I wanted to see how long I could make the excitement last. After opening it up and playing around with it for a few hours I am simply amazed.

    Now, if you are looking for some crazy new innovative technology, look elsewhere. If you are looking for the perfection of technology already available today, look no further. This thing is just a gem.

    Before you go off thinking I’m a Google fan boy and worship all things Google, I need to let you in a little secret: I love technology. That means I love Apple, Samsung, Sony, Asus, Logitech, Audio-Technica, Behringer…well you get the idea. Our house is full of all sorts of fun gadgets, computers tablets and phones and we love them all–some more than others.

    If you read my last post on how I ended up buying a Nexus 7 (http://goo.gl/vRXZ8B), then you probably know that I wasn’t really keen on getting one until I had an opportunity to save even more money. After playing around with it, I have realized that the price point of $229 was extremely gracious. There is no reason this thing shouldn’t be selling for more than Apple’s iPad. It’s a better product, no doubt, but the value is what makes me really love it. Google is trying to tell consumers that they don’t need to pay an arm and a leg to have the latest and greatest and I’m glad they were able to pull it off (with the help of Asus, of course).

    After the quick setup (no need for a user guide here) I had my device connected to my Wifi, synced to my Google account and before I knew it all of the apps from my Android phone magically appeared on my tablet. The first thing I went to try was Google Play Magazines. I know what you’re thinking, “of all things, he wanted to read a magazine?” Where the Nexus 7 comes out on top is with its super sharp display. I launched the magazine app and took a look at the latest issue of Real Simple and was simply amazed at the clarity. There is absolutely no pixelation visible to the naked eye. None.

    Figuring that it couldn’t get better from there, I decided to launch the xfinity app to watch the next episode of Newsroom in my queue. The video was crystal clear and the immersive stereo speakers did a better job than the speakers embedded in my Sony TV could ever do. Because the sound is so close to your ears, it truly feels like you are enveloped in whatever you are watching. (Imagine wearing stereo headphones without wearing headphones.)

    The bezel on the display is done just right: very narrow on the sides and tall on the top and bottom. This makes it easy to hold in portrait and incredibly comfortable in landscape. In fact, if the thin edge of the bezel were any thinner, I imagine people would have difficulty holding the tablet without accidentally touching the display.

    I noticed that a few “design” bloggers were off put by the off center front facing camera. It really doesn’t take a genius to realize that when you hold the tablet in landscape format your thumb rests comfortably right below the camera meaning you can have widescreen face-to-face interaction without having to awkwardly hold the device. That, to someone that uses hangouts a ton, is a brilliant design feature.

    The device came with about a 40% charge on the battery. I have been heavily using it all morning and then watched a one hour HD television program on it before needing to recharge. I suspect that I should be able to get a good solid day’s use out of the device with a convenient overnight charge.

    The form factor of this device is just swell. It fits easily in the hand (or hands). Video viewed from my lap is about the same relative size as a 40″ television six feet away. Text appears beautifully but not so small that you need a pair of reading glasses. I can fill the home screen with widgets and not have to thumb through to find what I’m looking for. I can simply turn it on, take a peek and put it back to sleep.

    I’m excited to see where, when and how I start using this device. My iPad was too big/heavy to tote around casually. I felt like if I took my iPad somewhere I was taking it with purpose. At 7″, I think I see myself toting my Nexus around more often to do the things I enjoy.

    The only negative things I have to say about this is that it doesn’t have truly separate user profiles and the glare is the same that you would find with other glass displays. Although I would love an Android device with full functioning multiple user capabilities, I guess it defies the whole point of “personal” computing, which is exactly what these devices are for.

    That’s my take on the Nexus 7. If you’re thinking about buying one then just go and get it. It’s a nice and affordable treat for the tech-savvy user that likes to keep up with the latest and greatest.

    If you’re on the fence about getting on, definitely add it to your Christmas list and let someone else bear the expense. That way this year you will get something that I guarantee you will love.

    If you have any questions about the device or want me to try something out, demonstrate a feature or see if something works, please let me know in the comments below. If you’ve purchased one yourself and would like to argue any of my points above, chime in below. Let me know what you think!

  • What's in a blog?

    “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose
    By any other name would smell as sweet.” – Romeo and Juliet

    Late last night I got into a discussion with +Mike Elgan about his “Google+ Diet” and the #blogsofaugust  challenge. Mike has been evangelizing the adoption of Google+ as a primary means of social media engagement for some time now. Because of his focused efforts (and inclusion in the SUL) Mike has grown a very large and interactive audience. As part of the challenge, Mike asked us to only post original content to Google+ and not our blogs or other social media channels. To ensure distribution across those channels, Mike allows everyone to syndicate content through tools like ManageFilter (http://goo.gl/whvLY).

    This discussion got me thinking as to what really constitutes a blog. Initially a “weblog” was a self-hosted or otherwise hosted platform that allowed Internet users to share their deepest thoughts, experiences and whatever they felt compelled to write about. Blogs were popping up so fast that content management systems like WordPress, Blogger and others began to pop up.

    As blogging culture grew, social media started to take front stage on the web. People were no longer intimidated by having to write long-form posts on their blog when they could now “micro blog” using services like Twitter and Tumblr. Pretty soon the whole notion of text was laughable and sites like Pinterest became popular.

    I believe Google tried its best to marry those different communication vehicles (short text posts, images, video) into a network that a large number of us have grown to love and used to spread ideas and meet others with similar interests. The reason I believe Google+ has been so successful is that it allows you the content creator or curator to decide what and how you want to share. There aren’t huge limitations, there isn’t a “certain way” to do things, you can just share whatever goodness you have of your own or that you dig up elsewhere on the web and very easily. I think that’s the most important thing.

    Maintaining a self-hosted blog with a content management system like WordPress is a lot more work than you ever think it will be. Sure the installation only takes three minutes, but the selection of themes, installation of plugins and tinkering with CSS will take the life out of you. With so much energy invested in trying to make things “look good” you lose a lot of the energy that you need to focus on the whole reason you’re creating a blog: to share something.

    Now, of course you could completely abandon your blog, board it up and point your URL to your Google+ page like +Mike Elgan has, but then you stand a great chance of alienating people that don’t like the Google+ platform or are using an older hardware that can’t handle rich responsively designed sites like Google+. Furthermore, by limiting your sharing to Google+ you’re limiting yourself from the ability to categorize, sort, highlight, feature and better customize your content.

    If you’ve ever seen a search result for one of your Google+ posts appear, you may have been disappointed with the long-string URL. Personally, I think when I search for my posts on Google and see the mess of alphanumeric numbers in the URL for Google+ posts, I get turned off. When I create a post on my blog I have a nice clean and easy-to-understand URL. While that might not be important for the search algorithm anymore, I think it is something people consider before clicking a link. The only way Google can fix that is to seriously change the way it shows URL’s for G+ posts or to change the way it generates them to begin with. Either way, something we probably can’t change.

    While Mike encourages everyone to blog on Google+ and not elsewhere, he leaves out the fact that he is a paid writer and actually writes all over the web. Some of his Google+ posts (quite a few) are summaries of his posts across the web. Mike gets paid to write by companies that get paid by advertisers and that’s something you cannot yet do on Google+: monetize text content with ads.

    So, if you’re afraid to leave your blog because of the money you’re making from AdSense or other revenue streams, I don’t blame you. You can, of course, always copy your content from Google+ to your blog, but if it gets consumed primarily here, you can’t count on making too much money.

    Regardless of money though, if a “blog” is truly just a log of your thoughts and ideas, it doesn’t matter whether you post it on a privately hosted website or an update on a social media platform. The important part is that you are sharing your passion and interacting with those that are interested.

    With that said, I have made a huge overhaul of my blog, PeterGMcDermott.com and I would love for you to check out its simplicity. Because not everything I post on Google+ is my best or most well thought out ideas, I don’t think they all deserve their place on a website dedicated to those ideas. Therefore, I only post the things that I feel are very important to my audience and that distinction, for me, is what makes the difference between a blog and a social media stream.

    What do you think? Would you want everything you post on social media to end up on your blog? Is abandoning your website for a social media platform a good idea? Is RSS dead?

    I will be copying this post over the my blog–as I will with the rest of this months posts–but afterwards I think I’ll get back to pushing you over there to read and interact. Would you be willing to visit?

    https://www.petergmcdermott.com/

  • How I Ended Up Buying a Nexus 7

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    I said I wouldn’t do it…but here’s what happened.

    It all started last week when I was reading all of the hype about the Nexus 7 and how it was simply the best Android experience to date. As someone with way too many computing devices already littering the house, I was skeptical but I waned to go to Best Buy to check them out.

    So, last week, Brittani and I ventured over to my favorite store to look at all of the shiny new things. Right as we walked in the door I was perplexed by an Apple Macbook Air on display with a clearance price of $539. Surely that couldn’t be right…

    I whisked Brittani to the Apple display where–much to my amazement–we confirmed that last year’s module of the 11″ Macbook Air was selling for a rock bottom price. I insisted she buy one to replace her aging Macbook that has served her so well over the last 7 years.

    We were in such a hurry trying to make sure we got the Macbook Air deal that we forgot to inquire about the Nexus. Admittedly, I left the store defeated for Brittani (the non-geek of the house) had gotten the deal of the century and I walked away, once again empty handed.

    After buying the laptop I thought about making a return trip during the tax holiday to return and repurchase the laptop without the burden of sales tax (9.25%) and save ourselves an easy $45.

    So today we returned to Best Buy and went to the register to make the transaction. As the clerk was ringing us up Brittani pointed out a large crowd gathered around the tablet computer display and said to me that they must be stupid because the tax holiday only covers laptops. The clerk stopped what he was doing and interrupted, “No, actually it covers tablets, too.”

    What?! I could save an extra 9.25% if I made a completely unplanned impulse purchase today? My heart started pounding. I knew the chances of a Nexus 7 being in stock were slim, but I had to ask, “You don’t have any… Nexus 7’s…do you?”

    “Good choice,” he said.” Let me see if we have any in the cage.”

    My eyes filled with wonderment and my smile grew ear to ear as we stood outside of the storage room and I saw a glorious tower of blue boxes. “Is a 16GB okay?” he asked.

    Shut up and take my money, I said… well not really. But that’s the story of how I ended up with my new Nexus 7.

    Do you have one?