Hello world.

How the Casey Anthony verdict can help us view our sin more clearly.

Just had Indian food for the first time in a decade. Not as good as the shuttle launch, but way better than I remembered. #misjudgedatfirst

Just three quick links today, My Google+, Flying Car gets Green Light, and 46 AWESOME Bookshelves

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Not sure how this compares to the first two weeks of Twitter or Facebook, but I have a feeling it's significantly higher.

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Google+ is Growing Like Crazy. Report Coming Monday. Probably More than 4.5 Million Users Already

On Monday morning I plan to publish my latest research on how many Google+ users there are so far. My model is based on US Census Bureau data about how many people there are in the U.S. with each surname. I've described before the shortfalls of this model for calculating non-US users. But I haven't seen a better methodology from anyone else yet about estimating Google+ growth, so I'll continue to work on this one.

I updated about 1/4 of my surname counts tonight, and am very surprised at how fast the userbase is growing. Here are some sample user counts by surname:

Surname..................Monday .................... Saturday
Maring ....................... 3 ................................ 9
Tomczyk ................... 5 .............................. 20
Lagana ..................... 7 ............................... 13
Shireman .................. 2 ................................ 12
Tat ............................ 12 .............................. 51
Tozzi .......................... 15 ............................. 31
Trudel ......................... 9 ............................... 25
Yasin .......................... 25 ............................. 52
Greb ........................... 3 .............................. 11
Toepfer ....................... 3 .............................. 13
Cullinane .................... 7 ............................... 18

On Monday there were a large number of uncommon US surnames with no Google+ users by those names. Today, I'm finding very few US surnames with no Google+ users. For example, all of these surnames had 0 users by that name on Monday, but they all have multiple users with that name now:

Fredenburg ......... 3
Louderback ......... 4
Santillanes .......... 3
Murrey ................ 4
Wilcoxen ............. 8
Revelle ............... 5
Parten ................ 3
Lewter ................ 6
McTigue ............. 9

As I said, I'm only 1/4 through the updates, but preliminary calculations suggest that since Monday, Google+ users have grown by 2.8x, that is from 1.7 million to 4.7 million. Again, this is preliminary but by Monday morning I should have 4x as much data to improve the estimate.

Short 5 minute AR game. Will you get your deepest desire or can you kill?

I'm sore and about to fall asleep. You won this round, Elliptical.

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Google+ Tip for the day: Stop treating Google+ like Facebook.

When I got my Google+ invitation, I was already itching to shed my Facebook profile. I still feel that way, but I’m starting to realize something really surprising (at least for me): I don’t think Google is my Facebook stand-in. I think Google is far more than a measly “social network,” and that’s why some of my Facebook friends who are migrating over right now seem to be, as they say on the Internet, “doing it wrong.”

I've been a devoted Googlephile for many years, so if Google wanted me to use G+ instead of Facebook, it was gonna happen -- unless they really goofed it up, of course (I'm still not entirely over my breakup with Wave, Google -- but at least I've stopped leaving those creepy voicemails, right?). The push and pull factors were there. They were obvious: Facebook is for “moms” and spam robots -- Google was going to be my new social network.

But something didn't feel quite right about treating my Google+ profile like my Facebook profile, nor treating my Circles like the Facebook social groups I wished I'd always had. There was content everywhere, written by people I’d heard of -- and many I hadn’t. Something about this space was very different than anything Facebook has ever allowed me to experience. It felt like something else, something... bigger, maybe more important. Something collaborative, perhaps. How very Google!

My friends, however, don’t seem to be having the same Google+ experience I am. My tendency so far has been to add as many people with as many interesting views as possible to my Circles, and then to read voraciously and respond all over the place. Meanwhile, my real-life friends are complaining that there’s not enough content to appease them, and I’m the only one dominating their Streams. Why is this happening for them? I think it comes from a fundamental set of expectations about moving from Facebook to Google+. People are treating their Google+ accounts just like Facebook accounts. And I think that’s a doomed approach.

Here is how I think Google+ can be most fully enjoyed and utilized, at this early stage:

Think about what you use Facebook for. If it’s for keeping up with old friends and for keeping up with current, local friends, great. You can use Google+ for that, and it’s definitely got a leg up on Facebook for filtering content.

Interact with content created by users you don’t know personally. If you don’t follow people you don’t already know, you’re going to get bored, and not just because your friends aren’t all here yet. You’ll get bored even after they’ve all arrived. Why do you think Facebook started implementing games and applications? Well, to make money, obviously, but what was the draw for the userbase? I’m willing to bet Facebook figured out that simply reading your friends’ thoughts all day long gets old, and let’s be honest: very few of us have enough friends with enough interesting posts to keep us engaged.

If you like the social games on Facebook, well...you’re not really my target audience. Sorry. For the rest of you -- if you don’t like how Facebook allowed third party junk to start bombarding you with game requests and access to your information, embrace its absence here so far!

I realize that at some point, developers may come up with cool ways to implement games on Google+, but I expect that Google will have learned from the clunky, disorganized, and downright invasive way developers approached this in Facebook. And the best way to keep Google+ rich in content and devoid of lame, invasive apps is to let go of your old ideas about what it means to be on a social network.

My 9 & 8 yr olds are playing chess while I work. :) So proud!

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It's a repository for graphically organized info on the web, and a marketplace and community for publishers, designers, researchers and everyday web users.

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How Facebook is screwing up its response to the Google+ "problem."

So, some of you may know I'm an aspiring writer. I've been kicking around the idea to do a Kickstarter campaign soon and wanted some feedback if anyone is willing. Positive or negative. Feel free to ask questions here or on my blog. I haven't thought through this all the way, but was hoping to get feedback from anyone and everyone.

I still have a few people over on Facebook (like most of my friends and family), so I use the Start G+ extension to post over there. Well, it logged out so I had to manually re-post my previous post (about Kickstarter). I now feel a little sick to my stomach.
I haven't been consciously trying to do +Mike Elgan 's Google+ diet, but I guess it's coming naturally and just like any diet, when I went off it, it made me sick.

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This is awesome! Too bad Facebook pulled it.

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A guy switching from Facebook to Google+ took out an ad on Facebook to invite his friends to join him on the new network -- and Facebook pulled his ad!

I know I saw a plugin with this ability, but this walks you through, step-by-step, enabling your search bar to search G+ posts and profiles with simple keywords. Until G+ itself enables post searches, this may be the most powerful tool to find interesting people to follow on here.

I've been thinking a lot about my family and have decided to take a pledge to be a better Father and Husband.

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Great comic about losing a million dollars... only question, is it true?

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Here’s a comic of mine that hasn’t been posted anywhere for a looooong time, about the time I threw away one million dollars.

This game has been around a while and I shared it on F@$3book, but you know how they are over there... ;) It's short. The game takes between a few seconds and 3-4 minutes. It's worth it, though. The payoff... play it twice or a couple times and do something different, then post back here and let me know what you did.

I'll post what I did after a while. Don't read the comments until you play!

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This is awesome! Don't mess with a bunch of college students.

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Nice Dartmouth lore: once the town tried to tax students, so students flooded the town meeting and voted to build a giant wall around hanover and a subway to Smith.

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Sorry for all the updates, but this popped up, shared by +Ana Ulin and I had to reshare it. Google, are you listening???

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Some easy, intuitive filtering methods that would make the Stream much more user friendly.

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I have to try this!

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5 Minute Mug Brownie

Hey, Google+, I just had an idea. What about a Twitter-view for our stream? Maybe it could be called a "Trickle". The idea would be that we would see a small view of the post and none of the comments. Any posts under 144 characters (or therebouts) would show entirely, but you could click to expand, show photos, or even see comments.

This would allow for a quick view, great for circles with thousands of people, great for quick glances, and awesome for not having to scroll down five screens for the comments inevitably made on any posts from +Mike Elgan, +Wil Wheaton, or +Christina Trapolino.

I'm looking forward to writing tonight. I have this complete image of my characters doing to break through a wall and be fully realized. Kinda like Freddy Krueger in the first Nightmare On Elm Street.
For now it's to the yard!

Yard is done! Now to the elliptical... Though I'll probably annoy my wife with my workout song choice. Evanescence is just fuel for my novel, nothing more! I promise. :)

So, I'm editing tonight. I love writing, but I'm ready to be done with this section. I hate when I figure out that a major rewrite of a section is necessary and will make the story far better. I need to convince myself that I'm wrong; sometimes being right sucks.

My new post is up! It's a little about Revenant. It includes where to get my short story for free. hint:Smashwords. https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/39005 Come on, it's only 4,000 words and it's free. Leave me feedback here or on my blog if you read it!

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This is awesome. +Ryan Estrada always has some interesting, funny story, and he seems to love putting them in comic format. I highly recommend circling him for some entertainment.

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Here is the story of the time I slept on a bench in a typhoon.

Anyone else use Google Voice for voicemail? If not, it's worth it for the transcripts alone. Sample from recent message from +Crystal Guadagno :
"And for please give me a shout the coffee. Yamaha depressed Yankee bye." I promise this is not what she said, but these messages are entertainment all day long.

Something really odd going on, these were all over the parking garage at work.

Star Wars and MMO geeks!
I just pre ordered two copies (one for myself and one for my wife) if you're a fan of either of the above, I recommend pre ordering. EA is sold out of the Collector's Edition already.

Sorry to any of you not a fan, but I have no clue who is. Also, I've been geeking out and looking forward to this game for about 2.7 years, since they first announced it. Hopefully they'll announce the release date at Comic-con.

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Hilarious! If you like funny stuff, check this out.

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Here is the tale of Luigi, the homeless guy who offered to kill for me. A little taste of adventure in college, before I started traveling.

(Please comment on the album instead of individual pages... there’s a weird glitch.)

This was shared with me via +Glenn Rogers - Writer :

1. Go to http://maps.google.com
2. Set your starting point as China
3. Set your destination as Taiwan
4. Begin reading at Step 45, and picture yourself following this route

When you stop laughing try starting in the United States and going to China. Check out step 31 on this one.

I'm loving listening to the "Music Inspired by Fallout 3 & New Vegas" playlist on Spotify, but it has me more in the mood to write than code, so now I'm at war with my brain. I'm going to have to bombard it with Deadmau5 if it won't behave.

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I like the Superman one... :)

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KIDS SEE THINGS DIFFERENTLY FROM ADULTS

Quick G+ question. Has anyone else noticed that when they leave G+ running for a while it starts hogging a TON of memory? I just checked and this tab alone was using over 1.2 gb. I'm curious if it's G+ or G+ & my plugins together. I'm running Chrome, with Start G+ and Google Plus Helper as the only G+ specific plugins, and it said in the Task Manager (built into Chrome) that my G+ tab was using that much memory alone.

Open question to the G+verse: Has anyone noticed that the Google+ app for iPhone won't actually sign you out?

I have an Atrix myself, but I signed in on an iPhone 4 I'm programming on, just to see what the app was like. I signed out because it will be used for testing later. When I go to the app, it asks me to sign back in.

However, I just got a pop-up notification on it about someone adding me to their circle. I checked and it still shows that I need to sign in, but there are two notifications on the icon and it still shares some info through pop-ups.

I'll just uninstall it from the iPhone, it doesn't need to be on there anyway, but I wasn't sure if others had seen this issue.

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Please let this happen!

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I just need to write. Tonight I have a few hours set aside for it and I'm craving that time. Here's why my blog schedule may be more erratic over the coming month.

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I'm sure this will be all over soon, but I, for one, am happy about it. :)

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WOOT! You can now reorder your Google+ Circles.

It's a little tweak that makes a big difference -- my most read circles are now at the top of my sidebar, instead of hidden under the "more" link.

'“We’ve been hearing that you want a way to reorder your circles — so when you add people, view your stream, or share, that list of circles is in the order that works for you,” van Zuiden writes on Google’s thriving social network. “We thought it was a great idea, and today, we’re launching this on Google+.”'

I'm impressed by how responsive Google has been to feature requests! What should be next?

http://mashable.com/2011/07/29/google-plus-circle-reordering/

Pushing through my WIP! Almost done rewriting a large portion. Thanks to my beautiful wife +Crystal Guadagno for keeping me focused and not on G+ all night. :)

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For any of you new to G+ or unsure of what to do when you get here. This guide is excellent! Also beautifully done. I'm also sharing this to Facebook so those of you intimidated by something new have a guide to help you when, inevitably, your family is here.

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Introducing the Google+ Start-Up Guide

I have been having the same conversation with many of the friends I invite over from Facebook. They are having a hard time figuring out how everything here works. Google+, I realize, is a concept that is a bit hard to grasp. It's a blend between Twitter and Facebook, private and public. There are no friend requests or even friends. Just people. People you circle and who circle you, and depending on what they think about you they share more or less with you. The end result, is a post that is more meaningful and relevant. You can scale a post based on what the appropriate audience is. You can share messages with a circle, multiple circles, or even people directly (or even emails). All this is new, and new things always scare people.

Naturally we are people who are against change. We resist change because change requires energy, whether it be physical or mental. But as history can attest to, we need change. I have seen many guides out there that attempt to lower the learning curve but no one wanted to go read a multi-page article about how to use a social network.

And so I decided to give it a try, with a short presentation instead, almost like an intro video.

I have been spending the whole summer freelancing as a full time job and wanted to use my design and user experience skills toward a fun side project that would let me go crazy. I wanted to create something that tells you only the bare minimum of what you need to know to get started and something that is easy to digest. Over the past week, what started as a small side project became my main project.

This presentation is my attempt at lowering the energy required for change. (Hope all the work pays off)

I would love this guide to become "The Guide" all the new folks see. Let's make this this spread like wildfire! If you got improvements please send them my way and I will credit you in version 2.

Cheers.

+Cy

:)

P.S.
I got the idea of using G+ as a slideshow from +Vincent Wong's awesome presentation.If +Guy Kawasaki or +Robert Scoble is listening, you guys would be rockstars for sharing this!

I am proud and embarrassed that I just lost to my 8 year old daughter. I will never live this down.

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FYI, just thought you may care about who was trying to get ahold of your Facebook information... Don't worry, though, the Chinese government only has eyes for censorship. :)

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The government of China is trying to buy enough of a stake in Facebook so the social network might be more likely to censor information that the Chinese government wants suppressed -- and also because they want to stick it to Google, which is the only major company that stood up to the Chinese government's hacking and bullying, according to the Global Post's Michael Moran.

Anyone with the means: My birthday is coming up... ;)

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As if I'm not already dying for the release of SWTOR, now I have +Brian Rose posting this stuff. :) Awesome photos.

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2011-08-01

I've been pushing through a pretty heavy rewrite of a section in the middle of my book, kind of a pre-climax. I finally finished it this weekend so now I'm 2/3 of the way through my 5th and (hopefully) final edit.

I'm looking forward to finishing up and preparing a query letter and getting rejection slips (I can't wait to frame my first one). Any of you who haven't heard of a Revenant, the main antagonists in the novel are Revenant. They're pretty awesome creatures.

Also, I'm not sure how many people I'm going to have be beta readers, but if anyone is interested in reading either part or all of it and providing feedback, let me know.

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I totally agree!

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Which are you? Android for me. :)

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I couldn't say it any better...

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"For the first time in a year, consumer prices fell in June, according to a new report from the Commerce Department released Tuesday."


Well, how many times in a year do we have a June?


Seriously, NY Times? You used to be worth reading

My wife, +Crystal Guadagno, just discovered "Coffee and TV" and shared it with me. I love the video. If you haven't seen it, YouTube is your friend: Blur - Coffee And TV

It's about a milk carton that goes looking for a guitarist and it's from the 90's. My wife found these papercraft milk cartons of Milky and his Strawberry crush. She built her last night. Milky will join her next to the TV tonight.

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And people make fun of me for leaning back like that... :)

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Did you know? Sitting is killing you. (not kidding)
Full and shocking infographic:
http://www.medicalbillingandcoding.org/sitting-kills/

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This is awesome, and totally applies to programming, writing, basically any creative act. And yes, programming is creative when done right.

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How would you like your graphic design?

via Clients from Hell

Off to bed. I'm curious if I'll dream of racist Norse God's, lynching, or a zombie apocalypse. Editing before bed is fun.

Goodnight G+.

Woot! I'm almost 3/4 of the way through my novel. I'm working on the final piece of what may become Episode 3 of I break it apart. It just doesn't sound ominous enough yet. This leads up to the first big conflict of the series, THE climax of the complete novel, so I have to get it right.

Anyone know any good, ominous lines an antagonist can say about the protagonist? I'm trying to not be cliche, but feel free to share those with me as well.

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These are awesome, in case you weren't sure. Also, he has zombie ones... Great for use as your profile pic on other social networks... ;)

+Aaron Wood has done some awesome posters too, that he has on Etsy... I may have to redecorate my cube soon.

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Saw a bunch of people making G+ icons, so I decided to try my hand at it. I really like steampunk type imagery, so I designed mine in a similar vein. :)

You can download the set of png-24 icons here:
https://rapidshare.com/files/1534037404/spgplusicons.zip

Enjoy!

Only getting about 3 hours of editing in tonight, but I finished my fifth pass on Episode 3. One more to go for the full novel, then I'm reading through it on paper with notes from beta readers!

The Revenant haunt these Dark Lands and Terrance and Paxton are about to experience that first hand. During their journey they'll face loss, racism, mortal enemies, and much more. Episodes 1 - 4 coming soon!

Saw this on the way home to work. I could have swore it said "Gored Sx". I only saw the "Go Red Sox" sticker after a few minutes of following. Also, we were stopped at a light, I did not take this while my vehicle was moving.

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This is awesome and hilarious all in one package! Thanks to +Ryan Estrada; I may have to add a character based on you in my next novel...

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Another travel guide just for you!

Is there anything more inspiring for writing than rain on the beach?

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Wow! I'm no fan of the "news media" in America (basically it's just propaganda with little real news), but this evidence brings it down several notches in my eyes. Agree or disagree with Ron Paul, but grow some balls, "journalists" and deal with him.

Also, the video is hilarious, if sad, but it's worth getting to the end, just for the bit at 3:30... :)

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At first I laughed, but now I'm just pissed

Has anyone posted on FBook with a link to a G+ post? I just did and it wouldn't show up in the stream. I saw the video yesterday about them blocking invite links, but it seems now that anything G+ related (link-wise) is being blocked.

What I did: I shared a post about Ron Paul here on G+. Then I clicked "Link to Post" and grabbed that link. I've successfully shared this way on FBook before, but this time it wouldn't show up, so I posted it again. It wouldn't update the stream so I went to my wall and had several posts of it. After deleting all but one, I asked my wife to check her stream. We interact on FBook often enough that it should show, but it didn't. It was on my wall, but not on her stream.

Has anyone else run into this issue? I was keeping my FBook account for family, but if they're going to do this, I think I'll pick up shop and move.

If they decide to censor, fine, it's their business, but let me know and don't put it on my wall either. It's pretty shady of them to let me post it, but then hide it from anyone who doesn't visit my wall. Also, I don't want to use a site that's so scared it blocks posts from G+. Twitter doesn't do that. G+ doesn't do that. Tumblr doesn't do that.

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Follow the directions... :)

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1.) press ctrl+f
2.) then type 9
3.) click Highlight all.... :)

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This is AWESOME! I recognized so many of them, but still haven't found Wall-E...

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LOVE. I could stare at this all day.

Where's WALL-E. lol

Hey +Robert Llewellyn you're in there.

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That's awesome. I want that set! :)

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LEGO Arrested Development Collection

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pepa_quin/collections/72157626836593091/

[via +Raymond Fyfe, +Mark Maclean]

Did anyone else hear about this? Two presidents, politicians galore, and many others are invited, but not the ones who risked their lives to save people...

I guess it's time for bed. I didn't get to go through as much as I hoped of my WIP, but I did get through a piece that had me stumped... now I'll just have to read it again tomorrow this afternoon and make sure it still makes sense.

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Another one! Yay! Make sure you keep track of the post for the whole story... and don't forget to vote!

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CHOOSE PLUS YOUR OWN ADVENTURE

PART 1 (of 7) You gaze down from the castle tower pondering what may very well be the last hour of your mortality. The invading kingdom from the West swept in like a storm only days ago, imprisoning you in your own keep. And now, notified that you are only hours from execution, you look over the castle that was once your home. Having been raised within its stone walls, you know the castle better than anyone. There must be a way to escape your fate. The tower chamber is mostly empty. There is nothing but a bale of hay for you to sit upon and the remnants of your last meal congealed on a silver platter. Whatever you do, you must decide quickly.

HOW TO PLAY: +1 your choice below. Resist making any further comment (unless you can't help yourself). Do share and +. The first choice with +15 wins, prompting my continuation of the story. By the way: After part 3 of the story, not only will you decide the direction of the narrative but YOU will get to create the choices as well. Let's do this!


Thanks to +Logan Cate for contributing the photograph that accompanies our story!

Plus counts aren't showing on my stream, anyone else notice that? I had +John Herman 's Plus Your Own Adventure post open so I could see what was getting the most plus 1s and it seemed that I was the only one who plussed. Then I opened its own link and there they were.

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This is AWESOME! I love how the planes are so perfectly representative of the birds. Makes me actually want to go play...

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Done. :)

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This guy is awesome! I love the surreal images... now I need to see if he does book covers... :)

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Not sure what to make of Google+, still learning. Uploading a bunch of images seems like a good place to start =)

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This is what it means to be a Nerd. I proudly declare that I am one.

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Spotted on Tumblr. I love this so much, it's going on the Wall of Inspiration by my desk, next to my Cult of Done Manifesto and Ira Glass' Crossing The Gap thing.

Me: Weekend time is upon me! Friday update at swtor.com tomorrow, PAX Prime starts this weekend, and I get three days of freedom. Hmm, I wonder if I can convince-

Realistic Me: No.

Me: What?

Realistic Me: You can't go to Seattle, that's across the country, besides, it's probably sold out.

Me: Please? +Wil Wheaton will be there.

Realistic Me: You have yard work and editing to do. You want to be published, right?

Me: :( Yeah.

Realistic Me: Don't give me that sad face. I'll make you a deal. You can go to the science museum AND some awesome waterfalls with your family this weekend.

Me: :D Yay!

Enjoy your weekend, everyone.

So I saw this at the museum today and thought, "WTF! Is that some kind of monster with its claws up running after a little kid? Is this thing real? What is that?" Then I flipped it over and realized it was a bird.

I saw this guy there too. He had a green friend who wouldn't stay still enough to take a picture. It's ok, though, he looks so much like a baby dragon, but he's an Axoloti.

This was at the restaurant when we had lunch. My wife and I couldn't figure out what it was. Any ideas?

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This is awesome, and short. I love the passive aggressive responses...

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Cornell's Creative Machines Lab decided to see what would happen if they put two chatbots face to virtual face and got them started talking to one another. Things didn't go quite as crazy as might have been expected, but a fair amount of pointless argument, passive aggression, and random hilarity did ensue:

I'm cleaning out my inbox and rescheduling my week. Lots of testing and programming and writing to do this week. :)

So, what are you doing this morning?

It's Tuesday editing night for me. Anyone want an excerpt from The Dark Lands? If not, too bad. :)

An introduction to New Orleans from Episode 2:

Well kept buildings crowded the port here, but windows were few. Hurricanes on the Gulf of Mexico were often devastating, but the buildings were well designed to protect their occupants with port holes and sealed doors.

The evening rain blew in sheets against the hotels lining the port. It wouldn't get into any of them, but it left the streets quiet and deserted. While most cities in America shut down for the night, due to Revenant hunting, there was little threat of Revenant in New Orleans, so many enjoyed the night life.

Rumors spread about why the Revenant left the City That Care Forgot alone, but despite what they believed, people were still cautious in such a large city. People were forgotten in such a large city. People went missing in such a large city.
Often it was just a pirate passing through or a local who liked to party. Almost always, it was a shady character that didn't play well with others.
Jim was someone like this.

The old man crouched below one of the few windows to the Hurricane Hideaway, a popular, sturdy, beautiful hotel near the port.

Mmm, I hope it's a young one in there. Gloria's getting old and I miss that tight skin.

He pulled himself up to look in the window and heard his joints popping.

I'm not as quiet as I used to be.

He laughed to himself.

Haha, yes! That old hag would never forgive me if she knew I still liked this kind of adventurous stuff.

He could see a door to a bathroom and caught that it had just closed. There was a little girl standing next to the bed getting dressed; Jim's heart began beating really fast.

"I can't believe it. This could be the jackpot," he said.

"What kind of jackpot, pervert?" a sing-song, high-pitch voice asked from over his shoulder.

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For those of you who missed it last night, an excerpt from Episode 2 of The Dark Lands. Episode 1 is due out the first week of October, with 2 following a few weeks later.

Let me know what you think...

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It's Tuesday editing night for me. Anyone want an excerpt from The Dark Lands? If not, too bad. :)

An introduction to New Orleans from Episode 2:

Well kept buildings crowded the port here, but windows were few. Hurricanes on the Gulf of Mexico were often devastating, but the buildings were well designed to protect their occupants with port holes and sealed doors.

The evening rain blew in sheets against the hotels lining the port. It wouldn't get into any of them, but it left the streets quiet and deserted. While most cities in America shut down for the night, due to Revenant hunting, there was little threat of Revenant in New Orleans, so many enjoyed the night life.

Rumors spread about why the Revenant left the City That Care Forgot alone, but despite what they believed, people were still cautious in such a large city. People were forgotten in such a large city. People went missing in such a large city.
Often it was just a pirate passing through or a local who liked to party. Almost always, it was a shady character that didn't play well with others.
Jim was someone like this.

The old man crouched below one of the few windows to the Hurricane Hideaway, a popular, sturdy, beautiful hotel near the port.

Mmm, I hope it's a young one in there. Gloria's getting old and I miss that tight skin.

He pulled himself up to look in the window and heard his joints popping.

I'm not as quiet as I used to be.

He laughed to himself.

Haha, yes! That old hag would never forgive me if she knew I still liked this kind of adventurous stuff.

He could see a door to a bathroom and caught that it had just closed. There was a little girl standing next to the bed getting dressed; Jim's heart began beating really fast.

"I can't believe it. This could be the jackpot," he said.

"What kind of jackpot, pervert?" a sing-song, high-pitch voice asked from over his shoulder.

SWTOR Release Date Tied to Beta Reaction

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I need to print this out...

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#geekhumor

I gave a keynote this morning at a Silicon Valley tech company. It tells you everything you ever wanted to know about the valley culture.

And you'll smile. :)

Goooood mornin' Google Plus! Anyone else have their coffee just kick in?

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This is awesome! Look at the pic before you read it... I so thought it said what Mike suggested...

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Why it's important in America to read English

I took this picture while hiking yesterday on a trail frequented by mountain lions.

If you couldn't read English, and had to rely on the picture, you might think it was trying to say: "If you encounter a mountain lion, try appeasing it with a small child. (They love the tender meat.)"

In fact, the sign says: "Keep children close. Pick up children without bending." (Apparently bending down makes you look smaller, which encourages the lions to attack.)

So, I edited a whole scene during lunch, and refreshed the www.swtor.com site a ton of times looking for the Friday update. Nothing yet. Oh, and I had pasta and a brownie. Anyone else excited for the weekend? :) I'm counting the hours down...

There's a theme to this playlist... For me it's perfect editing music. I'm 20 pages from the end! I can see a light at the end of the tunnel and only one major scene overhaul between here and there!

Just watched A New Hope with my kids and my oldest said he liked The Phantom Menace more... where have I gone wrong?

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Awesome! Can you solve it in under 30 seconds?

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Sorry for all the Dr. Who... but awesome!

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+Antonio Guadagno

So, I promise to post more often now, but the subject matter will be more on a whim. Today, it's about webcomics.

Saw this, can't stop laughing... back to work now...

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Didn't know this existed... maybe I can squeeze it in for the little one who's learning to read now. :)

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"A" is for Android!

Probably the cutest book I've seen in a while. So happy the authors sent one to me. Find the reference to +Veronica Belmont :)

http://www.mylittlegeek.com/

Two posts in two days? Yeah, this one is about the book I just finished. Also, for those of you who read yesterday's, I downloaded an app to try my hand at the webcomic thing, so after I solder my USB ports, I'll maybe try a page. :)

If these are real then I may actually want shoes for Christmas... Star Wars Blu-Ray for birthday, though... priorities.

My youngest picked out a book. I suspect his motives...

My birthday present came a day early! (The shoes, not the feet) I have a wonderful wife. She also gave me a Kindle. (not pictured)

Sorry, I haven't been on much today (been under the weather) but I had to share this. I'll probably blog about it this week, but +Crystal Guadagno, the kids, and I tried the demo and it was fun. I'll definitely be buying it before it goes live, along with Minecraft.

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Join now! I'm disabling comments on here, go offer an option and/or vote on the original. Don't forget to come back to follow the adventure.

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Choose PLUS YOUR OWN ADVENTURE:

I began seeing things in duplicate about two weeks ago. My doctor said it was an acute reaction to the stress I felt from moving to a new city. Within days, my double vision turned to triple vision. I saw three suns, three moons, and when I looked down at my six hands I knew that something even stranger was happening. I could move each hand independently. As I stood in my apartment looking over the city, I moved my arms like the serpents on the head of Medusa. I knew I needed help, but when I called my doctor I was told to relax. Go for walk. Maybe even a drink. This morning I embarked on a walk through the crowded streets that I avoided since my arrival. I took deep breaths. I bathed in the noise of city life. That's when I saw them: twelve women dressed in purple. One turned to me as if I was familiar. She coaxed me to follow.

Follow the story as it is written: http://goo.gl/acRRD

HOW TO PLAY: Remember Choose Your Own Adventure stories? Imagine if you could create the choices. Now you can. The first 7 people to compose a five sentence or less continuation of the story will have an opportunity to push the narrative forward. If it happens that you post something similar to another submission, then feel free to edit your choice to something more original. Be sure to label your submission so it fits the following format (Choice #1: I decide to... ). Once we have seven choices, the fun begins. The choice with the most +’s after 7 hours wins, prompting a continuation of the story and new choices. So if you see choices below, +1 your favorite. Resist making any further comment (unless you can't help yourself). Share with circles!

Cards from my birthday. My grandparents sent the one on the left, but the other four were from my children, my youngest made 2. Also, prominent themes include: that I am old, balloons with a 33 on them, and Dr. Who.