Disturbing day today.

Facebook is building what I've been waiting 15 years on. I don't want them to know all that stuff about my life and I certainly don't want to share it real-time with all my 'friends'. But I do want to have organized data. My memory sucks hard.

Oh right, and apparently the speed of light can be exceeded.

Hello there stranger IV: A New Beginning

Let’s play!

So the first 3 months of Google+ are about talking to strangers?
Facebook remains the place to talk to people we already know?
Zynga’s profits are down 95%?

Hold on a second: Google has invested in Zynga, Zynga just launched CityVille+.

I have to play CityVille. You know, doing research for my job. No really.

So far, some of you strangers have been helping me out, sending me zoning permits, energy and what not. As I’m returning the favors, I’m starting to wonder: my neighbors in CV on Facebook used to be ‘friends’; people I know in real life. Here you’re pretty much all strangers to me and I to you. Could I be tempted to start adding some of you as neighbors in CV+? I sure don’t have the patience nor time to level up to 60 all over again, so I could use the help. If we become neighbors and we keep helping each other out, we’ll visit our respective cities. That will in a way allow me to get to know you a bit better. I can easily miss your posts and comments here, as keeping up with my streams is like drinking from a fire hose. But if I have to play seriously some game for some time, I’ll see more of you.

So by catering to this platform that allows for interactions between strangers, could Zynga be on a road to new profitability? Only if they don’t traumatise the majority of us again with game spam notifications. Because the second time around, we won’t be so tolerant.

The current integration and settings isn’t all that clear. I don’t know who can send me what. I don’t like it that I have to manually remove dozens of ‘strangers’ in a list whenever I have to send a request. Strangers I have had no interaction with are sending me notifications. I start to see people complaining. As more features are activated and more people are starting to pour in, it looks as if there’s more customizing of settings required already. And it’s not looking so intuitive to do. Not all that user friendly.

Google+/Zynga: don’t mess this one up please.

Strangers: let’s play!

ps: strangers that don’t want anything to do with game notifications won’t have anything to fear from me. Should it somehow still happen by mistake or due to some wrong setting, please notify me.

I strife not to judge in life. Sometimes that's really hard.

September 2001: I saw NYPD heroes
September 2011: ...

Hey Nikon,

when business pages finally arrive here, don't pull any crap like you did on Facebook. Actually, don't do it anywhere, period.

https://www.facebook.com/nikon/posts/10150316773294620

I most urgently need to put down thousands of locust, so I'm going to cut back on Google+ for a few weeks. I won't post much (if at all) and will comment a lot less.

My CityVille city will hardly evolve and I won't help you out for a while sorry. My severe ass-kicking of Sergey's & Christa's highscores in Angry Birds will also have to wait.

I already tried to limit my Google+ addiction (with success) resulting in me letting go of the hashtag debate. This last minute attempt to get me hooked again, by kickstarting the discussions with some power users this time, won't work. I see right through you guys, nice try.

I have only one thing left to say:

I'M GAY!! ENGAGE!!

Ok, I'm gonna come out and say it: I had more fun playing the co-op campaign with my girlfriend of Resident Evil 5 than Gears Of War 3. THERE! I said it.

I'm somewhat of a Gearhead, so this was a difficult thing for me to say. But if I'm truly honest to myself, I cannot reach another conclusion.

So after playing through Gears 3 in a dozen or so hours (was this one actually even shorter than Halo Reach?) I experienced the following:

- more of the same with regards to Gears 2, no real innovation in campaign (which is like extending the fun for a fan)
- RE5 cinematics into gameplay were much better
- RE5 boss & big monster fights were more 'fun'
- RE5 actually looks better (for a game that's 2,5 years older)
- I got more 'scared' by some enemies in RE5
- I never thought I would like it in an action shooter, but the ability to exchange weapons & items with my partner was a real plus in RE5
- so were the combo attacks in RE5

Edit: I actually figured out weapon & ammo swapping in GOW3 now. Since GOW's campaign isn't played with an inventory, all the levelling & upgrading comes in Horde/Beast mode, so I'll call it a tie.

Of course I'm going to enjoy the hell out of multiplayer, Horde & Beast in Gears, and that's what it's all about. But still, I have a new found respect for what Capcom did with Resident Evil 5.

RESHARE:
#thankyougoogle

Thank you for listening to the people. For bringing community to this social network. For running the feature race. For communicating in the various ways Google+ allows us to.

I do not want to imagine my life without Google+ anymore. That's in just under 3 months. It took a little over 4 years and the power of Google to get your hashtags to play an active role in my life +Chris Messina. Now your work can continue to touch the lives of hundreds of million of people all over the world. Thank you!

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Real-time search and improved hashtag support

Today we're rolling out two new features: 1) real-time search results; and 2) improved hashtag support. Together, we're trying to make it easier to follow and contribute to live events on Google+, including breaking news, sporting events, and many others.

Real-time search
Now when you search in Google+, you'll see a message about new posts the instant they're available. If you click on this message, or select "Most recent", then relevant posts will start appearing in real-time.

Improved hashtag support
People have long used hashtags to mark their posts with certain topics -- just ask our very own +Chris Messina, hashtag inventor. You don't have to use hashtags on Google+ (search works fine without them), but when you do, we'll automatically link to search results.

Check out the video to see both features in action, and let us know what you think in the comments! #googleplusupdate

#zomtober

Zombies, captioning, something secret... what's not to like?
My contribution to +Ryan Estrada's contest:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/100623276740673202144/posts/eQSWnme1kAA

RESHARE:
#EndDST

I don't always hate things,
but when I do it's DST.

In a globalized world this should be a thing of the past. Can we move on please?
I'm all for space colonization. Given mankind's proven track of stupidity, I expect someone to suggest implementing DST out there too.

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This "freakonomics"-style video on Daylight Savings Time gets better and better as it builds. As a Hawaii resident, I can tell you things are just fine when a state does not participate in daylight savings time, and I can attest to misbooking international flights (and even a few conference calls) due to timezone confusion. After experiencing several nights of bad sleep this week, I was intrigued to hear what this video says about the effects of daylight savings time on sleep. Best quote from the video: "Yo dawg, I heard you like timezones so we put some more timezones in your timezone!" Thanks +Colin Grey

Hello there +Google+ Your Business!

Ok, so I wanted to test tagging a page :)

The 'Read our getting started guide' download link is returning me an error :(
The questions I have are about co-ownership/admin management. I'll take another look tomorrow. Can't wait to see what this will bring...

Goofing around

How is it possible for a veteran community manager (one I consider to be well above my own level of expertise) to tweet this complete and utter nonsense???

"I'd advise cmgrs to ignore Google+ and focus on the fundamentals. Stimulate interactions, build relationships, develop a sense of community."

I guess it's possible I didn't catch the correct meaning of his tweet. You know, trying to express something complex with so few characters is a challenge, leaving a lot of room for misinterpretation. I guess I could try to have a back and forth 'conversation', discussing things with bits of a hundred characters at a time.

Or I could just wait for all those community managers out there to catch up with reality and discuss things over here. I think I'll do that.

We all knew Google+ suggestions still needed improvement, but I can't say this is moving in the right way:

- I got a suggestion to a profile that no longer exists. It was named CityVille Game and didn't have a profile picture. Probably suggested to me because I'm a CityVille player.
- I got a suggestion to a guy with a name I find suspicious, nothing shared with me, empty profile, no people who've circled him visible.

How's this for suggestions Google?

- don't suggest me people without profile images
- don't suggest me people without public posts
- don't suggest me people with empty profiles
- don't suggest me people you've deleted
- You can do better than feeding me blindly the first person that comes with a name /content that matches any keywords/tags you have placed on my activity

Spock is not impressed by casually sprayed orange mace.

RESHARE:
I'm making the commitment: this will be my first purchase on Google music (when it finally rolls out all the way over here on the other side of the internet...).

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MY FIRST HANGOUT CONCERT LIVE ALBUM IS... LIVE! I'm a +Google Music Artists!
Aaaahh!!! It's up!! Wow wow wow!! I'm bouncing around the room!!

CHECK OUT THE FREE FULL LISTEN HERE + SHARE IT
If you attended any of my Hangout Concerts you might just hear your self laughing or chatting with me in the tracks!! Psst. This means you +Amine Benaichouche +Ali Alhasani +Joltrast . +João Goulão +Bettina Grießbach and more!!!

There's a few freebie tracks too like...
TRACK 8! You can HEAR ME WRITE "+1 ME" live in my first Hangout Concert!!

It's an honor to release these moments we shared that are forever cherished in my heart...
I am so crazy excited to share this with you because it's US! YOU + ME baby!! We're crashing the party and changinG+ the game!

LET THE GRATITUDE FEST BEGIN!
Speaking of gratitude... for all your GLOBAL G+NIUSES who I am SO grateful for... check out www.dariamusk.bandcamp.com ! It's got all the same music for yoU!!!

Your G+rl,
D

Ps. HUGE Thanks to +Lynette Young for naminG+ this album!! It's called L+VE - Global Hangout Concerts 1-3!!

RESHARE:
Experimenting at past 2AM with things Google+? I'm in!
If not for anything else, for the meta lulz of it right?

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CELEBRATORY SONIC EXPERIMENT - THE RIPPLE EFFECT
+1, Re-share and comment to have your notification sound become part of a new sonG+ called "THE RIPPLE EFFECT"! We've got a mic on my phone and laptop! LET'S GO.... NOW! MAKE SOME NOISE!!

Just setting the record straight...

The speed at which these Pepper Spray Cop memes are popping up is impressive. By now I've seen already 8 ideas I wanted to realize made by others first (and most better than I ever could). This only strengthens my conviction that when popular culture is involved, several people come up with similar ideas around the same time without stealing them from others.

With some of the poorly executed creations out there that are massively shared on the merit of the idea/concept alone, even I am tempted sometimes to improve on them. So should anyone care to improve anything I ever made, be my guest. I don't have the time to improve my skills.

Pepper Spray Cop just doing his job.

Pepper Spray Cop knows them by heart.

RESHARE:
#thankyougoogle

I'm coming close to 1.000 of you 'strangers' out there following me. WOW! +Greg Christopher is also a stranger to me. Yet here we are sharing things on Google+. By now I feel I don't even have to give an advance warning anymore that the post will be a long read. You're following me, so chances are we have some interests in common. What I post or share might therefore be worth the read for you. If it turns out not to be the case too often, you can simply uncircle me. No hassle, no stress.

What Greg says in his post looks very possible to me. I'm already proof of this on an individual level, living my life this way. If my life so far is anything to go on, I can say that I see many of my desires come into being years later. This one will be the same: I'm living like this already. People I know in 'real life', due to physical location, think I'm crazy. Give it a few years, and they catch on. But by then they think I'm crazy because of the next thing. Needless to say I prefer interaction based on interests with strangers.

I know many of those strangers won't stay strangers anyway.

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THANKFUL FOR GOOGLE+

This has been a very successful year for me in terms of branding and influence. I owe that sea change to Google+.

So for my Thanksgiving post this year, I am going to talk about my personal experience in social media and what I think it says about how internet interaction is going be based in the future.

Before Google+, I was a part of a small blogosphere and had about 100 people that regularly followed my work. I was posting what I felt was high value content, but not receiving the traffic that I felt that content deserved. I didn't realize it at the time, but I was still trapped in what I am going to call the OLD SOCIETY of human civilization. So bear with me on a little digression into this and I will return to Google+.

I believe the Internet is going to be rewriting the most basic aspects of human organization over the next 25-50 years. The organization methods from before that time I will be referring to as the OLD SOCIETY and therefore the new modes of organization being the NEW SOCIETY.

In the old society, human interaction is mostly based on the arbitrary variable of physical location. You spend most of your time as a child and young adult in a physical location (school), thus your choices in human relationships are in that limited pool. The majority of the major decisions in your life are made in that small pool. As you go back in time, that pool gets smaller and smaller. Until you see people not really knowing anything beyond their own little tribe in the jungle. That's us, that's humanity for all of it's existence thus far.

Now even in that old society, we can see that some people break out of it; the powerful, wealthy, or those with extreme wanderlust. There are stories of ancient elites bouncing around the Mediterranean engaging in politics or war. Travel is a luxury that some enjoyed, albiet only a shadow of what is possible now, and they were able to see new places and meet new people that way. We called these people "well-traveled" and considered them wise. They had seen the broader world and brought it's lessons home.

Thus the people who are able to rise to the top in the old society are also arbitrary. They happen to live in Silicon Valley, or New York, or Chicago, or wherever. Or born to wealthy parents with the power to travel. And every small town kid that wants to get out of there and go to the "big city" knows this principle very well. Where you are is very important.

Luck becomes the dominant factor in someone's success. Now they have to seize the moment, sure. But to be given the moment in the first place requires a lot of luck.

Not anymore.

The NEW SOCIETY is different. In the new society, human interaction is organized based on interest. I like physics, you like physics, we become friends. We don't have to be picked on any jocks that don't understand our interest. We never get stuck with the jocks because we no longer have to be stuck with them based on pure physical location alone. The internet makes it possible. It allows us to organize ourselves in different ways. And right now we are doing so only at the middle of the journey of life. We are not allowing our young children to benefit from this. They are still stuck in their schools and still forced down that path. But the tide is turning and we are headed for that world. We just need some innovations to keep kids safe and we are on our way.

Now back to Google+

Before Google+, I saw no need for a social network (read Facebook). Because I just viewed the social network as better organizing the OLD SOCIETY. The people with the highest volume Twitter feeds or Facebook pages were already famous. These are the Ashton Kutchers of the old society, elevated to their position by arbitrary variable of location and luck. They command huge followings because of their positions in old media, old politics, old society. Facebook or Twitter becomes their megaphone.

Now at that point, I didn't think in terms of old/new society. But what I did know is that I had no interest in talking to my high school classmates or hanging on the words of celebrities.

Along came Google+. And because I was invited by a friend, I joined.

What emerged was that I realized Google+ offers a different path and a new way forward. A way towards the new society. A new way of making friends and forming connections to people that is not based on geography or luck.

In just a few months, I have gone from a small presence on a minor blog to a powerful presence within the interest group I care about. And I have done that by being able to reach out to people and say "hey, this is what I am doing". They can see the projects I am working on and they can choose to stick with me or not. I spend my time talking to the people that I want to talk to. Not struggling to find them. They are coming to me now. Life is good.

Now why is this possible on Google+, but not on Facebook or Twitter?

On Facebook, you are supposed to be talking to people that you already know. The system is designed to create friction for people that don't know you. The more people that you send a friend request to that don't friend you back, the more the Facebook algorithms think you are a spammer. They start creating friction for you, error messages asking if you "really know this person?". They sort your messages out of people's pages. Facebook delivers what it thinks people want to see based on what they have seen. Don't take my word for it. Just watch this: http://www.ted.com/talks/eli_pariser_beware_online_filter_bubbles.html

On Twitter, you are operationally limited. You are choked for content. There is a tiny character window that limits the volume of material that you can transmit. You have to use links for anything with heft. When you have conversations with people, they are not combined together, they are dispersed in all these different directions. People on the outside cannot follow what the hell is happening without a lot of work on their part, by switching back and forth between people following the flow of the conversation.

In contrast, on Google+ you are supposed to be talking to people you don't really know. Maybe you have heard of them, but you probably haven't talked in person. And that is the point. Google+ is an engine for connecting with people based on INTEREST. When you find someone you are interested in talking to, you add them to a circle. They get a notification, they can look at your stuff, and maybe decide to share back to you. There are no friction errors asking if you "really know the person". There are no limitations on your content.

Furthermore, you can search for people on the basis of their content and add them. You can share circles of people that you have found so that other people can connect with them. Can you imagine Facebook allowing you to instantly add 500 people to your friends list? Hell no. The Google+ system comes with tools to help you locate these new people that you don't know yet, but want to, and provides seamless tracking of their exploits.

Even further, Google+ has propagation patterns that make collaboration possible between people that aren't even connected, as demonstrated by +Dan Soto earlier today. Because you are connected to people based on interest, it is more likely that ideas or concepts will combine, that people will connect, than when based on geography or luck. Your friends on Facebook don't really share your interests 100%, they are unlikely to trigger rippling reshares.

Now Facebook is trying to fight back. They are trying to copy Google+ in many ways. But they ultimately can't because they are an interface with the OLD SOCIETY and Google+ is the best tool we have for moving towards the NEW SOCIETY. The best tool for organizing your interactions with other people based on interest, not who you already know and not through a tiny little structure. The best tool for moving forward into a digital future where luck is not the primary determinant in who gets heard.

And Facebook is fighting dirty. As +Mike Elgan pointed out today on Google+, Facebook looks like they are trying to plant information to discredit Google+ using it's content controls. Despite enormous gains in marketshare in a tiny timeframe, there are stories propagating about Google+ dying? How is that possible? Furthermore, +Anil Dash also posted on Google+ earlier this week (and on his blog as well: http://dashes.com/anil/2011/11/facebook-is-gaslighting-the-web.html) that Facebook is screwing people that are even cooperating with them, trying to take absolute control over the process.

So this year, I thank Google+ and all the great people that I have met through it. For making the Internet... better. For helping us move away from the old society and into the new.

The big task now is to not be evil and start copying Facebook!

I'm so conditioned by Google+ that this happens to me a few times a day now.

When Harry Met Pepper Spray Cop

Dear CityVille ex-neighbors,

I missed one day in November when I was not able to log in and help you out. I know I do not share every possible single thing the game asks me to. There are even times I ignore a notification that cries yet again for energy.

You all collectively deleting me as a neighbor today does seem a tad harsh though :(



ps: I sure could use another Manilla folder

(or the friends list is bugging again still...)

Ok, I went ahead and activated my Timeline on Facebook.

I've been wanting a timeline to document my life for the past 15 years or so. That is: one where I can decide what to add and how to add it. Not all my 'social' activity, but the things I want to log, whatever those may be. To display to me and to those who I granted access (full, limited, temporary...). A way to recall what movies I have seen, what games I have played, what restaurant dinner was great... To be able to add my own notes. To be able to add links. To be able to search based on that content.

If Facebook's Timeline is a step to bring me closer to a timeline like that, I welcome it. Just don't expect my Timeline on Facebook to be a great read ;)

#firstworldproblems

I liked +Els Mercken's creation so much I wanted to add a little twist of my own :)

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GooglePoly 4 months later: still don’t see what all the fuzz is about?

Now that I have more experience here on Google+ and am no longer a lurker, I revisit my GooglePoly and the people I tagged in it (word of warning: I’m still no blogger). I shared my original post. It’s ok I know, I’ve seen some of the big names do it too. Sharing still doesn’t link to the post itself (Google srsly), so I included the url at the bottom.

I’ll do a second follow up post later to avoid making this one a bit long to read :p
In that one I’ll go more in detail on my experiences with G+. I’ll visit everyone who gave me feedback on my original post. Thanks to that feedback I already knew in August that this was a global place, and that a lot of activity existed in Limited exchanges. It allowed me not to be fooled by those claiming this place was dead. But on to the matter at hand: what has become of those listed on the board?

First up, +Jesse Stay. Not because he’s worth the least according to the board value, but because he literally wrote the book on G+ for dummies. He has consistently proven to be a great starting place for your experience on G+. He’s a great read for non-dummies too of course, especially if you’re into tech. I’ve appreciated his stance against SOPA as of late and I’ll keep following him for as long as he stays active here. Which I hope will be as long as possible.

Aah +Steve Rubel. Did I make poor judgement there? Were I to make an updated version of the board now, he would no longer be on it, true. But I made my call back in the days after only 3 weeks of activity when G+ was still a closed field-test. I like to follow people who have different views from mine too. It can only enrich my own. I appreciate thoughtful criticism on G+, even the occasional naysayer. I can understand how people struggle to find the time to remain active on several platforms, spreading things too thin. I can also respect people who decide to invest their efforts elsewhere. I’ll just say I’m curious to see when Steve will be back. Moving him to my They don’t get it circle...

+Toby Stein is the first of the Google Community Managers on the board. He is no doubt doing a great job creating this place for us, but his personal profile page would not be the most appropriate place for newcomers. +Google+ Your Business is where you can find his contributions now that we have ‘business’ pages. I do find it a missed opportunity whenever someone from ‘the inside’ does not share a more personal take on things. Even if it is only occasionally. Social media should not magically turn us all into bloggers, and I find myself struggling with this when seeing so many people following me. But a community manager of social media should be a bit more social right? Moving you to my Googlers not plussing.

+Paul mojica is the first on the board of the ‘creative’ types. I have a weak spot for those, but they tend not to be for everyone. He is a great curator of visual work that will jump out of your stream and is hard to ignore. In August it sure did crush with ease all the noise I got when trying to find my way here. Now it gets buried in the flood more often, but still catches me off guard from time to time. G+ helped me appreciate such curators more thanks to circles and streams. Paul’s comments add tons of sugar to the place :)

G+ has already build a very strong community of photographers. +Elena Kalis is one of them. Her work speaks for itself, her number of followers has skyrocketed in the past months. I haven’t found the time to keep an interaction on her posts, but I’m happy to keep following her ‘from a distance’.

+Natsumi Hayashi’s photos are nothing short of magic. An original style with flawless execution. It is a fine example of a way to promote your work here without having to be ‘too social’ in the process.

While I do believe it’s possible he’s the coolest +Andy Signore alive, I can’t shake the feeling that he’s an example of how YouTube is still a better environment for people like him. Business pages are also not good enough yet. There still is Facebook, Twitter and his own site. So I guess that explains his lack of activity here. Moving him to my Hmmm circle while waiting for the day G+ is stronger.

+byron rempel draws zombies. Lots of them. A great artist who also truly interacts with his followers here. Make sure to check him out and fall victim to the carnage.

+Alexis Ohanian is a creator of things that help the world suck less. I am impressed by the efforts he makes to post here and engage. Let me put it this way: when I grow up, I want to become Alexis Ohanian.

+Katherine Gramann is the person to follow for everything Hangouts-related. Or is she? I’m not sure. This is another example of the choice to make when it comes down to products: do you follow a dedicated page now that they’re here or the person behind the product? Do I really want to be ‘social’ with her? Not really. Nothing personal. There are sooo many great people to interact with here, so little time. I do want to hear about hangouts, even with the occasional personal touch. I’m gonna see how this evolves.

+Sean Bonner is the type I won’t even try to categorize. If there is one plusketeer I’m glad I found on here, it’s him.

Picture this (comic style if you want): someone who lives somewhere on the other side of the world, is actually a total stranger to you but feels so interesting, thrust-worthy and true, you can’t help but to want to buy him a coffee should he ever adventure in your direction. +Ryan Estrada, drop me a line if you ever make it to Belgium. It doesn’t have to be coffee. And congrats on the number of followers you’ve amassed. Not sure how you pulled that off exactly, but you deserve it. I see it as further proof of the strength of G+.

+Aaron Wood has displayed great creativity. Add to that great interaction and a great personality and you know why I’d circle that. I’ve struggled with conflicting ‘shameless self-promotion’ feelings when I wanted to move the discussion forward around integrated hashtags here on G+. I can’t help but to feel sympathy pain when I see Aaron’s struggle. He deserves more followers in my humble opinion. Come to think of it, I just found a New Year’s resolution: buy my first work from the man.

There are celebs now on G+ and it is open to the public. Back in August I circled +Jeri Ryan. She was already active here in a way I hoped other celebs might become too. She deservingly passed 500K followers now. Other celebs: take notes.

+Felicia Day doesn’t need to take notes. Princess of the geeks, Queen of the internet. Everybody: take notes.

If Felicia is the Princess of the geeks and has social networking down to an art, what to say then about +Wil Wheaton? He can single handedly restore my faith in humanity. That’s what! Don’t be a dick and circle him.

There is such a strong community of photographers here on G+, and they have the community manager to match. +Brian Rose is doing a great job. There were those saying G+ was dead, that nobody was here. That made me smile whenever I was looking at Brian’s page. There were already so many great sites for photography, yet here we are.

+Jason Calacanis is probably an acquired taste. Whether you agree with his view and tactics or not, he’s food for thought. G+ is a great place to challenge your views, to find meaningful discussions. Jason knows his business, so it was a safe bet for me to put him on this list.

Like I said in my original post, +Jeremiah Owyang was a first clear indicator of the potential of G+ for me. It was a great starting point for my journey here, and remains every bit as worthwile. Over 40K plussers find that same value in his posts, but he should have that tenfold. Though he posts a little less food snapshots these days, he still excels at fast conversation. Thank you Jeremiah for showing me the way.

I think Enchantment is a pretty cool guy.
Eh writes numbered posts and doesn’t afraid of anything.

Ok, so +Guy Kawasaki might not be into memes the way I am, but man, no one else comes close to the way he grasped the potential of this place for ‘social marketing’. My second New Year’s resolution: finally buy Enchantment.

I should make an entirely separate post just for +Robert Scoble. He’s like Owyang + Stay on steroids, as hard as Calacanis, a one-man-team that can match that of Kawasaki, every bit as geek as Wheaton, not afraid to go toe-to-toe with +Mike Elgan or anybody else for that matter. I’m happy he doesn’t have the creativity or entrepreneurship of some of the others on this board or there would be just no stopping him. Sometimes it feels as if G+ was invented just for him. Follow and learn from a master.

+Tom Anderson was my only friend on Myspace, but I didn’t know him at all. I got to know him better here on G+. As much as I mocked Myspace in the past, as much have I grown to appreciate Tom’s contributions here. So much insight, expressed so well, in such a human way. When I grow up, I want to be Tom Anderson. If I wasn’t turning into such a Google fanboy now, I’d say: build something with +Alexis Ohanian already!

+Louis Gray was on my board before he joined Google. Since he did, his posts are obviously a bit more Google oriented, but you can still read the person behind the position. Google made a great choice in hiring him and you would too in following him.

+Natalie Villalobos really pulled me into G+. She provided the proof I was looking for in the early days of engagement. A staff member getting involved in discussions, listening to feedback, engaging users like she did. That is what a community manager should be all about. Since those early days it got way more crowded here of course and that approach has its limitations in scalability. Google: I’m waiting for the international Natalie’s in other countries/languages to see this place become the truly global platform it should be.

+Bradley Horowitz did as much to convince me as Natalie in those early days (I didn’t know +Vic Gundotra back then, so that explains why he’s not on the board.). I can personally testify that someone as high up on the corporate ladder as Bradley can still be reached by a user thanks to this platform. He is what +Mark Zuckerberg is not. In itself reason enough why Facebook cannot win me over. On with the features war yes, but all while keeping the respect and earning the trust.

I admit it: I added +Sergey Brin not based on his contributions here in those early days, but based on my respect for his work. I had but one spot left on the board I made essentially for newcomers. Adding +Larry Page as the obvious highest value choice as CEO seemed redundant. Sergey’s posts on the other hand seemed more evidence of the human and social potential of this place. Larry has proven me wrong there, he deserves a place on this list.

In other posts I expressed the fact I don’t intend to create other versions of this board. Since then we are now also able to share Circles. There are Google Docs circulating with lists, there are dedicated fan sites, integrated search and even hashtags allow you to find pretty much everything. Newcomers are better guided after signing up. But still, my original post keeps getting some shares, +1’s & comments. If anything I believe it’s proof of the immediate impact an image can have. My GooglePoly still can beat a shared circle, so I’d suggest to Google to keep finding innovative ways (like Ripples) to allow anyone to easily share things in a very visual manner.

In my second follow up post I’ll dig into the feedback I received and my own experiences of the past months. Looking back on 2011 and looking forward to 2012 if you will to provide more examples of the greatness of this place. Until then:

Merry Xmas!

https://plus.google.com/u/0/109907447383307087458/posts/YHK8MpXcToC

Reshared text:
For those of you who finally made it here to Google+ but don't see what all the fuzz is about, I made you a thing. I'm no blogger, so feel free to skip my blabla and jump right to the end of my post.

Oh so you actually want to read this? Well then, if for some reason you are not convinced of the potential here, you're doing it wrong!
Just kidding, never let anyone tell you how you should use Google+. So then why did I bother making you this thing?

Well you see, I've had the strangest couple of weeks here. My online social life was limited to lurking, because no platform had convinced me to engage with its' members. And for various reasons I have been active online using pseudonyms instead of my real name. I came here to check it out and used my real name thinking it would just end up in lurking anyway.

But I saw a beta that is incredibly well advanced IMO with very few bugs. I loved the features and was eager to test them. That's when I hit a wall. I had no online social life, so I had not a single friend here. Lurking didn't bring me much. It would have been easy to think this place was pretty dead compared to other social networks. But I don't work for Forbes, so I figured I should just find a way to understand what was going on here.

I looked up +Jeremiah Owyang and sure enough, there was activity. He did his thing like I expected, but it seemed different somehow. His engagement here didn't seem to be simple testing. Genuine engagement in a beta product of just a few weeks old? I decided to look for others, to see if I could be tempted in engaging with them. For the first time under my real name. But where to look? How to know who to find?

Checking out the people following those you find interesting is a good start (if that info is shared). Reading the posts and especially the comments, checking who +1'ed or shared content you find interesting, clicking through to their profiles.

Ok, so you find a bunch of interesting people to follow. You organize them into circles and your streams start filling up. You hand out some +1's. You notice that the interaction is different here. Refreshing, energetic, promising... Maybe it's just early adopter's enthusiasm? Nope. I have seen high level interaction at a burning pace between members here. There's involvement by the Google staff and progress in the roll out of enhancements, fine tuning and new features.

This is not just another beta, some latest attempt. These are not just a bunch of curious lurking early adopters. I am confident in stating that this platform is a game changer, and that there is a real community building around it.

I'd say I'm all the proof one could ask for, as I am seriously considering leaving my lurking days behind me. But why take my word for it? Well don't. Just check it out for yourself.

So the end of my post and that thing I made: it's an image featuring many of the fascinating people you can get to know here. They are a very good starting point and will rocket launch you into this community. I'm already following over a hundred people in a mere 3 weeks, so I had to make a tough selection. Those that I had to leave out can be found easily by checking 'in my circles' or even better yet, by reading the posts and comments of the people I'm listing.

Welcome to this community. You're in for a hell of a ride. Who knows, maybe you could even convince me to leave my lurking days behind me.

In the image in order of appearance:
+Jesse Stay +Steve Rubel +Toby Stein +Paul mojica +Elena Kalis +Natsumi Hayashi +Andy Signore +byron rempel +Alexis Ohanian +Katherine Gramann +Sean Bonner +Ryan Estrada +Aaron Wood +Jeri Ryan +Felicia Day +Wil Wheaton +Brian Rose +Jason Calacanis +Jeremiah Owyang +Guy Kawasaki +Robert Scoble +Tom Anderson +Louis Gray +Natalie Villalobos +Bradley Horowitz +Sergey Brin

RESHARE:
THERE! In yo faces!

Reshared text:
Breaking news - Google+ may be bigger than a bread box.

Using sophisticated research techniques, some random person and a team of "experts" calculated that Google+ may in fact be larger than a bread box.

"We've determined, after extensive modeling and speculation that Google+ may in fact be bigger than a breadbox," says a social media "expert" and his team of number crunchers.

Obviously, this bodes well for the social media site, which, since it launched in mid-2011 has faced a bitter struggle trying to win people over from such sites as MySpace, Quora and Fark. Critics have been quick to dismiss the upstart Google+ product, stating that it "Is boring" and "No one talks to me on there" and "I saw an animated gif on there. There is no place for that amongst serious discussion."

News of this possible triumph has sent the Google+ fan base into a frenzy. Sharing and resharing posts that link to this astounding "fact." One user said, "I'm not even going to wait for an official announcement from Google. Obviously Google+ is growing! I just got my grandmother to join up last week. Granted, I shunned her once she asked me where Farmville was, but bless her heart for helping to grow G+!"

Further speculation by the "expert" concludes that Google+ being bigger than a Mini Cooper by mid 2013.

I thought I'd submit this little quiz at the next mandatory family dinner. I bet they'll get maybe 2 out of 10. And I know these tips won't make much of a difference:

- shoots deadly beams
- is futile to resist
- will cease to exist
- could probably get me in trouble with SOPA
- holds vast knowledge
- makes you wish you forgot all about it
- takes more than a multipass to stop

Of course You know that those tips apply to multiple answers.

I'm feeling the fact that Google+ is open to the public alright. What's Hot now has about one old overshared 'Funny Picture & Video' a day. With thousands of +1's & thought-provoking comments to go along of course. I even get messages from total strangers like the one in the image.

It's all good. Google+ is growing up :)

I was not aware the minimum age had been dropped to 13 here. A quick check actually doesn't show me any age requirement. If so, I can't automatically assume I'm engaging with adults here anymore. A bit strange to have missed any communication on this no? Why aren't there more discussions on this topic, on the impact it will have?

I never had any problem engaging with strangers here. In fact, I found this to be a plus (pun intended). This might change when minors get involved...

#funwithphotos #googleplusupdate

I love all the SOPA / PIPA protests online today. Especially the irony of it: if they were capable of fully understanding the impact online, there would be no need for these online protests in the first place :)

theoatmeal.com/sopa deserves a special mention. I'm not sure I was able to pirate enough shit out of it, so let me just recommend circling +Matthew Inman.

#sopablackout2012 #SOPA #sopablackout #stopsopa

Imagine a world where I'm guilty of criminal behavior (while exposing Google to liability) by creating and sharing this here. Please provide me a red pill when it comes to that.

#sopablackout2012 #SOPA #sopablackout #stopsopa

Hello there stranger V: The #OnePost To Rule Them All

+The OnePost Project: #OnePost asks to “decide what one thing you want the whole world to see. Whatever is most important to you.”

The most important thing to me and therefore the thing I would like you most to see?

me

I am the only thing in my life I am certain of. The only thing I can and want to control. The only thing I can ever truly own.

I am the center of my universe.

Go ahead, prove me wrong. From where I’m standing, you can’t.

I think the same is true for you, whether you see it that way or not. I’ll therefore respect you the best way I know how to: by not judging you. By not making any claim on you whatsoever.

Why bother with someone who is clearly self-centered/egotistical/arrogant/delusional/infidel/... (<= insert negative judgment of your preference there)?

You might risk getting to know me a bit better. It would cost some of your time, which might be too precious. Your call. As for me, I’m open to pretty much anything. I want to learn as much as I can, but I realise I know little and understand even less of what this life is.

Given I’m an ex-lurker amidst a sea of strangers, given I have fully adopted Google+, given so many of you keep circling me, I’m writing this post to get to know you a bit better. Have a public Q&A of sorts for those of you who could be bothered.

I’ve made 5 other posts in this series. You can find them in my About page. They already paint a first picture of me. One thing that is easily noticeable, is the fact that I suck at writing in a concise, clear way. Blame my lurker years for that. I’m working on it, practicing here on Google+.

Some more info on me that I hadn’t shared yet:

- as the center of my own universe, I consider everything gravitating around me. The closer, the stronger the pull, the more important in my life. Closest is my partner. I hope I’m the closest to the center of her universe too.

- I started my professional life as an independent retailer in a franchise. The franchise went under, dragging me down in the process. It took me 10 years to recover from that.

- I question everything. I’m an autodidact. The beaten path of higher education was lost on me. I’ve tried it twice, at different times in my life and different universities. It’s too slow. It too generic. It’s not creative enough. It doesn’t provide enough hands-on experience. At least to me it was. I don’t want to diminish its value. I'm not the one to judge it.

- I can wear many hats, often at the same time. I have too many interests and skills. I’m creative. I’m rational. That makes me very hard to label. Because our nature demands it, the best way to label me professionally would be as an intrapreneur. Currently I’m working in online entertainment, more specifically video games. I therefore play some of the games on here too.

- I’m not very social. I’m afraid of a quid pro quo effect. The whole ‘You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours’ thing. I’ll contribute and give because I feel like it. I don’t expect anything back. As you can read here, I lean more towards thinking there are no selfless actions: http://goo.gl/OxXpP

- I enjoy commenting more than posting. There are reasons I never was a blogger. +Think Tank is a good example of how I like to interact. Having so many people circling me sure feels great, but in the end, it’s almost a burden. It’s as if I need to keep adding value through posting, to keep ‘earning’ you. I’ve not been doing enough commenting lately. I’ve lost track of many people I’ve enjoyed following in the first months here. So I’ll spend more time managing my circles, following those I find of most value, commenting on their posts. I’ll do less posting than in those first months. I’m done with my GooglePoly and milking it until the last drop helping to find our way in this new playground. That is in the capable hands of so many now.

So to wrap this up dear stranger:

Who are you? Why are you circling me? What would you like from me? What gravitates closest around you? What makes you tick? What can I do for you (I won’t expect anything back)? What would you like to know more about me?

As this is public, you might get to know some of the others circling me a bit better. There are a lot of very interesting people among them. I never dreamt of interacting with so many of them before Google+. #thankyougoogle

So I have this ex-colleague who is looking for a new job in IT. I started receiving LinkedIn notifications of his new contacts and decided to check out the skills they’re looking for. I clicked on one of the other viewed profiles when a pattern emerged...
Do you see it?

Have Youssef in circles (1889)

It has been stuck on that number for quite a while now. Either for each new person that has circled me in these past days, one other has uncircled me, either there's a bug.
Or maybe it's intentional, given I didn't post anything anymore lately. Then this post should fix that right :)
Right?

Getting my act together

I lost my job. Through no fault of my own. This obviously changes some things in my life. It does not change who I am I want to be.

So who am I do I want to be?

When I interact for the first time with people in real life, it does not take long before I am asked what it is “I do”. When I’m on here, people can hover my name and will see it accompanied by my ‘occupation’. It seems to be pretty defining.

Another thing that seems to define my value is my appearance. The more beautiful one is and the more accomplished one looks, the higher the value it seems.

If I answer truthfully, namely jobless, I seem to somehow have less value as a person. If I leave my field in my profile blank, or would write jobless or nothing, same thing. If I do not post photos of myself that establish my beauty, health and accomplishment... lower value.

Do I feel my value has decreased now that I’m jobless?

No. I feel the opposite:
- now that I no longer work 60-70 hour weeks, I can find time again to learn what I actually am interested in, increasing my skills and knowledge of things I want to do.
- I have time to get back into shape, getting healthier, looking better
- the experience of losing the job has increased my overall experience again. Staying on the job would not have increased it that much (having mastered that job).
- I can spend more time on the people I want to interact with

So what’s the problem?

What people think of me? My perceived value by their standards? I do not care for that. No, the problem is that we are not living in a post-scarcity society yet. That I have to work for a living. That if I am to be a member of the society I live in, I have to work. Now I love working, I’m actually somewhat of a workaholic. But unless I do have a job, I am not complying with what is required of me in this society. My value as a member has dropped. I’m worth less than I was in the previous months. Even though I am at the end of a 9 year non-stop working streak in which I didn’t even went on a holiday for so much as one straight week.

I need to change that again, being worthless jobless now. I will comply, because bills will pile up and I’m not rich. But this time around, I’ll do it my way. I’m done doing what is expected of me. What is ‘normal’. I’ll be myself in my job search and will ‘get my act together’ in the meantime. Experience tells me that such an approach will close a lot of doors. So it will probably take me longer than before. The more time it will take me, the more my perceived value will drop. So be it.

This post marks another step in getting my act together. As an ex-lurker, I am not skilled enough in sharing my thoughts online. By posting here, I’m practicing. So I’m not doing this for you, but for me (my thoughts on selflessness being a entire debate on its own). I’ll post more and you’re welcome to react in any way you want. It can only enrich me us.

Think I got it all wrong? Do tell me why. Got a job for me? Let’s find out if we’re a match. Experiencing something similar? I’ll circle you.
______________________________________________________
The image included contains my ‘default’ motivation letter & resume. If you don’t like it, you can blame +Carter Gibson for inspiring me here:
goo.gl/Y6wSk
goo.gl/M16o2
______________________________________________________
#gettingmyacttogether

I felt Apple didn't get enough attention from us here today, so I decided to watch their keynote and chip in with my salt-free opinion (<- I guess that's a poor literal translation there). The best way I can say it is:

Amazing

Kidding aside, the iPad3 new iPad does look like an incredible device (ok ok, I'll stop now).

So let me get this: it's a mobile device with better resolution than my new Smart TV, a portable HD video camera and it's more powerful for games than my Xbox?

Man that Epic demo looked really Epic.

One advantage of having lost my job is that I have no choice but to resist the temptation to be turned. I'll hang in there till some Android device comes along to match those specs. Wish me strength.

So there's a new look for the +1 Button. I'll grow used to it no doubt, as I've grown used to the red and white Google+ icon (even though I've read almost only negative feedback on that change). I could even shake the feeling that the 'Before you’ve +1’d ' looks pink to me. I have trouble with my reds, so must be me.

Anywho... I do feel like nitpicking about this change a bit. Now is it just me, or when scaling the G+ icon next to the +1 button, the + is thinner on the +1 button?

Especially in the Before version it looks really too thin doesn't it?

Putting down some masks

Now that I’m at home being unemployed, I have to wear at least one less social mask. It feels so liberating, that I’m getting a real taste for it. So I was asking myself what other masks I might care to put down. After all I claim not to care for what other people think of me. I claim none can hurt nor offend me verbally.

So why even bother wearing masks? Why not be ‘myself’ all the time?

These social masks exist to allow social interaction. Without them, interaction would become very difficult, if not impossible.

Being active on Google+ has had quite the effect on me. I’m an ex-lurker now posting publicly in my own real name. As I’m still pretty new at this and inexperienced, I found I was using unconsciously masks & techniques I knew to work for online interactions. After all I have a background as a Community Manager. I was still not being truly myself, the real me. I was holding back.

When working for a company, I take on responsibilities. I have to put on the required masks to meet the goals of the company, to help it succeed. It would even be held against me if I were to be truly myself. A form of socially accepted/required hypocrisy to allow us to function.

But what about my online life? Because it is now public, it could reflect on the company I work for. Other than that, what is holding me back? The fear of closing doors? I’m past that too now, because working/living in incompatible environments isn’t doing anyone any service. It could be very possible that it turns out G+ is not a suitable environment for me either. I might not be compatible with what lives here. Could be, I’ll have to find out.

So a bit more about the ‘real’ me. It could help you decide if I’m worth your attention:

- my self-confidence in unshakable. Many people therefore think I’m arrogant.
- I do not believe there is such a thing as a selfless act. I do not believe in selfishness either.
- I want to learn. Forever. I do not care for the status-quo. I’ll go through great lengths to keep learning. A status quo does not allow me to learn, so sooner or later I’ll shake things up. I’ll put myself consciously outside of my comfort zone. I experiment a lot. I take calculated risks.
- I think I only truly ever learn by experience. As long as something is theoretic, an idea I can understand, I still don’t truly know what it is until I’ve experienced it. Experience is everything to me. As a consequence, I care very little for people’s opinions when they are inexperienced in the matter. Many people therefore think I’m arrogant.
- given I keep accumulating experience all the time, I think I improve myself all the time. I think the ‘me’ of 6 months ago knew less. That ‘me’ knew more than the one of 6 months before that and so on. So I do not care much for who I used to be, what I used to think.
- that is helped by the fact that I want to live in the present. The past is gone and has no hold on me. The future does not exist yet and can’t be predicted.
- I live without regrets. I learn from my mistakes and every mistake has helped me become the person I am now.
- I suck at expressing my thoughts in a clear manner. Language falls short. I’ll grab every occasion I can to improve my communication skills, but either my thoughts are too ‘weird’ for most people (usually the ones that think I’m arrogant), either I’m really so bad I still have a very very long road to go. I usually also bore the hell out of people when I try to explain myself.
- because it takes me so long to express a thought, and people don’t have enough patience with me (and I can’t blame them), I resort to ‘shortcuts’ too often. With negative results, making my communication even worse. I can be very blunt, very insensitive. Also without added/hidden meaning, to be taken just literally. That confuses many, making them think I’m arrogant.

I could go on a long time like this, but I’ve probably already lost you due to boredom. If you want to read up some more on my thoughts, I can advise you to take a look at the discussions at +Think Tank where I like to express myself regularly.

That’s all nice, but what about my social masks? I’m dropping as many as I can here and am curious to see where it will take me. If my real life interactions are anything to go by, chances are you won’t like me so much. Because what it all comes down to is the fact that I’m not a ‘social’ person.

So many like to judge me for that. Actually pretty much everyone likes to judge me for that. It seems to me though that being ‘normal’ and ‘social’ would require me to wear so many masks that I can no longer be truly myself.

And guess what? I like myself. Arrogant right?

_________
#gettingmyacttogether

R.I.P. Moebius

I think I'll play some Panzer Dragoon.

I said I live without regrets just a few hours ago, but am doubting that now that I realize I did away with my Japanese copy a long time ago.

RESHARE:
I know the feeling +M Sinclair Stevens. I for one am not seeing you differently. I have often enjoyed your contributions here and I count on seeing more of you.

Reshared text:
How to Find Your Purpose: A Body of Work and Affection
My life is fairly purposeless now. I did not think I would succumb to the American habit of defining myself by my job until I lost it. I have not changed--but the world sees me differently. More precisely, it doesn't see me. I still do the same things. In fact, I probably write more and engage more and help more people than I ever did when I wrote for a living. The only difference now is that I don't get paid. The currency of my life has been devalued.

+Maria Popova has summarized seven pieces of advice on how to find your calling and love what you do. They all boil down to living your life for yourself rather than to impress someone else. What would you be if you could be free? Free from preconceptions. Free from a desire for prestige. The assumptions seem to be that we are already free from duty, obligation, and the need to eat and a place to sleep.

I don't disagree with anything that is said. It's a well-done, thoughtful, inspiring article (not one of those thoughtless, teasing lists). This is one of the quotes that I really liked, "You will build a body of work, but you will also build a body of affection, with the people you’ve helped who’ve helped you back. This is the era of Friends in Low Places." -- Robert Kulrich

I feel that my experience on Google+ is just that...a body of work and a body of affection.
------------
HT +Mark Traphagen

RESHARE:
I might have been a tad too self-absorbed lately

When I deal with adversity, I get into this self-absorbed state until I’ve dealt with the issue. The reason for that is because I know I can always count on myself. So far I’ve always had the luck of not suffering any physical, incapacitating issues.

But what would I do if my luck ran out?

L’enfer, c’est les autres? You people can be a very judgmental bunch sometimes all the time. Idiocy is the real currency of this world we’ve build for ourselves. Feelings clutter rational thinking. Crying is for sissies. Love won’t pay the bills...

Yeah yeah yeah. What excuse could I come up with that could possibly justify the fact that I’ve missed what happened to +Daniela Huguet Taylor? One of those persons kind enough to take the effort to interact with me here, a total stranger, making me feel at home. How can I watch this video, hear +Daria Musk sing & talk yet again about love, and think my self-absorbed approach is the best one I can have?

Rational me will try to, well... rationalize myself through this one:
- it’s Google’s fault. This product has so much noise that even checking in daily doesn’t keep me from missing important stuff
- my way has always kept me going and I’ve always came through stronger than before
- I could say some clever inspiring rational stuff that would do more good than expressing my feelings

Nice. And then one day you suffer a brain aneurysm. My most powerful tool/weapon/possession to tackle everything and anything life throws at me could be the very thing that brings me down. How would I rationalize my way out of that one?

Every birthday I do something I’ve never done before in my life. What if my 40th birthday would be spent in a hospital bed?

I am sorry I was not there for you Daniela these past days. This whole situation has inspired me to try to deal with adversity in different ways. I need to be less self-absorbed and more aware of the people in my life.

Google+ is helping me every day. I’m following +Community Support - Friends That Listen now. I’m cleaning up my circles and will consciously check in on selected people (the real Dunbar’s number this time).

So that scary stuff I see on House all the time when family is present in the room does actually happen in real life? I even learned there can be such a thing as an Irish that doesn’t drink. Who knew? :p

Right, masking feelings using humor... I have my work cut out for me.
______________________________________________________
#gettingmyacttogether
______________________________________________________
ps: given a share of a share displays only the original posts and given context is really important here, I’ve copy/pasted Daniela’s post here:

Daniela Huguet Taylor

I am resharing this post once again! Finally home from hospital, after a very smooth operation that went great on Monday morning. I had a big scare on Tuesday night, the intervention was done through my femoral artery, and the wound came open again suddenly, which was extremely scary (in front of my 3 kids, who'd come for their first visit!! gah!), but it was promptly seen to, thank goodness, and now I'm sore and dizzy but doing great.

Home now, I can finally see the video properly, because: when I disconnected suddenly almost at the end of the hangout, that was due to me having used up my whole mobile data plan (500Mb/month) on this first night/hangout, hehehehe, and at 128Kbps which is what my operator allows past the limit, Youtube has been too hard to handle from hospital. I have finally managed to enjoy the concert and +Daria Musk 's voice in its full glory, and feel entirely grateful and teary-eyed all over again, for the lovely vibes and support and fantasticness of all of you. Due to my slower connection at the time, I didn't enjoy it with as much quality as I would've liked at the time, and I also couldn't see names, chat, or other stuff... and even so, I loved it.

Thank you +M Monica for putting it into action, thank you +Bryson Shane Hunter for your technical help and your willingness to miss out partly on the hangout to let me participate (and also to +Brad Proctor Jr ), thank you +Marga Pedrosa , my IRL friend, for being even there as well as here, thank you +pio dal cin for your fantastic get-up which cheered me up so much, and also to the great Irish+Del Schlosser with all his lovely hats (and dancing ducky). MANY thanks to +Daria Musk for the music... and for the love. Thanks to everybody else as well, all of you, also the ones that posted comments wishing me well, to +Chloe Cohen and +Álvaro Prieto and +Linda Dee and +Nathan Pieplow and +Yvonne R and +Ugo Cei

On a tangential note, I see myself in this video, and -- as usual -- I see things I don't like about myself, but surprisingly, quite a few that I do!! It's so difficult to love oneself and also to trust in oneself, I'm feeling really grateful to whatever has brought this (small) measure of self-acceptance and confidence in myself that I've come to have as the years have gone by. 40 will probably be kinder to me than 20 was, despite the not-as-smooth-and-tight everything that is my body now. It probably has to do with the immense love I have at home, from my very darling husband +Tomas J. Luis Alemany and my three lovely children, who light up my life every day. So, thank you, loves-of-my-life, lastly but most of all. ;)

Reshared text:
Daniela's Birthday Party and Support Hangout

Please watch this and send healing thoughts and virtual hugs to Daniela who has undergone her brain surgery in Spain. Yesterday was her birthday, and we celebrated it with a multinational hangout. We had such good music provided by +Daria Musk and all our thoughts and love go out to Daniela.

We had a lot of technical issues with connecting Daniela via mobile tablet from her hospital bed in Spain to our mobile On Air hangout. (Apparently Mobile can't join On Air hangouts, even when directly invited, which was an unfortunate technical error.) Eventually we were able to skype her in with the help of +Brad Proctor Jr.

We edited a lot of the video, but left a bit of "connection space" at the start of the video so you could understand what we went through for over a full hour before it started. We kept going because Daniela wanted to, and because this is what anyone goes through when dealing with access issues. It's a part of the differently abled experience, and an important one to understand. I'd love Google to work on resolving these sort of issues though so that we can better connect via mobile to hospitalized people.

In the end... we succeeded. There was a lot of echo, but Daniela's smile lit up the entire room, Daria played wonderful music, and we felt like a great time was had by all. Thank you so much to +Daria Musk and +Chloe Cohen and +Del Schlosser and +pio dal cin and +Álvaro Prieto and +Linda Dee and +Nathan Pieplow and +Yvonne R and +Ugo Cei

+Daniela Huguet Taylor we wish you so much the best, please heal, and know you are supported by a global community that wishes you the best.


http://youtu.be/q1EOJnqca3k

MOAR!

because MOAR! (*)

(*) see comments

Today was that first beautiful, warm sunny day of the year in Belgium. I figured it was time to dust off my camera and take the dog for a long walk.

We encountered other people walking their dog. They found a young squirrel on the ground. It seemed orphaned, as two of its siblings lay dead next to it. They were taking pictures, saw us coming, said they felt sorry for that poor squirrel and moved on.

It was laying in the sun, felt relatively warm and had some strength in its grip. We decided to take the squirrel home with us. We drove carefully, given it grabbed tighter with every speed bump we passed.

Some idiot almost drove right into our flank, entering the main road we were on from a blind angle. Luckily my partner reacted very well and was able to dodge that madman. The squirrel clinged on for its life. People can really be such... argh!

Once home, we placed the squirrel in an improvised nest and Googled for info on what to do. We found a wildlife animal care center nearby that had already 6 other orphaned squirrels. When we handed it over, they assured us the squirrel would come through just fine under their care.

I'm an INTP. What is your excuse?

I've been looking up my psychological preferences based on Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and found that I'm an INTP. I make no claims as to the validity of the method (which is of course in line with me being an INTP). I just wanted to share with you this fact: what I have read on the sites I have linked in my About page on INTP, is entirely accurate in my case. So if you care to know what you're dealing with, those pages will explain it better than I can.

There are supposed to be 16 types in all. If true, this makes it easier to understand why it is so hard to all just get along and see things eye-to-eye.

I guess world peace will not be for tomorrow either. Yes, I can be pessimistic like that (it's my type).

I'm working on improving my weaknesses, and I can say you are helping me tremendously well with that right here on G+.
See what I just did there? I do not really care how you feel about that, but at least I already made the effort of expressing my gratitude :)

I'd be happy to debate what drives the Joker another time. Those damn birds are going to keep up again with their morning chanting...

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#gettingmyacttogether

RESHARE:
I got labeled and I like it

Just recently I was again all don't you label me and I'm tired of meeting expectations and look what happened...

Not only did I finally label myself (as an INTP), but I got added to a Compassionate Circle!
Compassionate? Me?? Somebody must have gotten stuck too long in the snow or something.

Before dismissing things again as touchy-feely irrational whatever negative label I so readily used to place on such things myself (yes, I see the irony), I opened up to it. There is indeed that side of me, even though I dislike expressing feelings. When someone is trying to place this label on me, that person is not trying to weaken me nor control me. My defenses don't have to go up. I'm not forced into expressing more feelings. Our time is not wasted on irrelevant noise.

It is positive feedback. Another thing I suck at, but will work on.

I was already following a lot of people in this circle. I can tell you it is very much worth your attention. Check out how +Summer Holmquist's post blew up when she asked to list these people and try to tell me this is a ghost town.
A second circle is already in the making, so spread the Love(*)!

(*) yep, I still get that bad taste in my mouth using the L word...
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#gettingmyacttogether

Reshared text:
Compassionate Circle!

Thank you for the overwhelming response to my search for compassionate people! ♥♥♥ This is going to be the first of two circles. A special thanks to +JC Sors and +Anthony Fox for inspiring me!

(If you are not in the circle, there will be another one soon.)

No animals were saved in the making of this

We went for another walk today. Luckily we didn't encounter any animals in need this time around, so I got to take some pictures. First time that I'm posting any here. I took them myself (except the one featuring me and my dog). I know they're not masterpieces, as I'm but an out-of-practice-amateur. I just wanted to show part of Belgium in early Spring.

WARNING!

If I do not offend you in any way here, chances are you are not normal.

The goal of this post is to have a location to point to whenever I have offended you in some way. It will save me the trouble of explaining myself over and over again. I will cost you the trouble of reading through the longest post I’ll ever make.

proceed at your own risk
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Confessions of a self proclaimed INTPer

I keep offending people. Right here on G+ I have even succeeded in offending people I genuinely appreciate. This is my attempt at expressing some of my thoughts in such a way as to allow anyone to gauge my intentions better.

It is not my goal to challenge you. It is not my goal to convince you. It is not my goal to apologize.

What are my intentions?

+Sharon Strandskov asked what I would choose as the three words that define me. (she was possibly the first person that I appreciate here that I have managed to offend)

Human. Ignorant. Growing.

I am human: therefore I am flawed. So are you.
I am ignorant: as a human, I cannot know Truth. Our limitations make us incapable of understanding real Truth, understanding Life, understanding the Universe. So are you.
I am growing: I did not choose to be alive. But since I am, I came to understand that by living, I am learning and growing. There is no finish line, as Truth is not within our reach. I’ll grow as long as possible. So are you.

In my ignorance and my growth, I found only recently a label that fits me: INTP. I’ll try to explain my intentions quoting points I have found on sites on INTP that I have linked in my About page. I’ll illustrate these points with my life’s experiences. After that I’ll add some more points of my own with regards to my interactions here on G+. Those are possibly the points that might offend the most.

Here goes (you have been warned):

”As an INTP, your primary mode of living is focused internally, where you deal with things rationally and logically. Your secondary mode is external, where you take things in primarily via your intuition.”
I have been this way for as long as I can remember. Some claim people can never truly change. This is something I might not be able to change, nor do I have any intention in trying.

”Introverted Thinking strives to extract the essence of the Idea from various externals that express it. In the extreme, this conceptual essence wants no form or substance to verify its reality. Knowing the Truth is enough for INTPs; the knowledge that this truth can (or could) be demonstrated is sufficient to satisfy the knower. "Cogito, ergo sum" expresses this prime directive quite succinctly.”
I do not want to demonstrate my knowledge to anyone. It is enough for me when I know that I know it. This is the principal reason that I intensely dislike the interview process where I’m asked to demonstrate my claims. If I was not able, I would not claim it. When I am asked to demonstrate, I feel that I am considered to be a liar. Lying will not bring me closer to knowledge there. It could be useful in manipulation. Manipulation could be useful to test certain hypotheses. But when I do an interview, it is to establish a long term collaboration. Manipulation and experimentation using lies will always do more damage in the long run. I am past the age that I needed to lie in order to find out things. I should be skilled enough now to find better ways.

”They seek clarity in everything, and are therefore driven to build knowledge.”
”People with the INTP personality type are global thinkers. They see everything as one giant Entity that is connected, and seek knowledge about that Entity. They constantly seek the Truth, and have ultimate respect for the Truth. It is not easy for the INTP to reach a conclusion about the Truth.”
”A major concern for INTPs is the haunting sense of impending failure. They spend considerable time second-guessing themselves. The open-endedness conjoined with the need for competence is expressed in a sense that one's conclusion may well be met by an equally plausible alternative solution, and that, after all, one may very well have overlooked some critical bit of data. An INTP arguing a point may very well be trying to convince himself as much as his opposition.”
I crave knowledge as it allows me to see things more clearly. I care not about convincing anyone of anything. My arguing will only serve to convince myself. For me it is simply impossible to arrive at conclusions. I arrive at best at theories or hunches that require to be challenged. I will act upon what I believe is the ‘least imperfect’ theory, challenging it every chance I get. That is why it is possible for me to change my opinion, to drop what I believed up to that point. That is also what makes me capable of saying sorry.

“INTPs live in the world of theoretical possibilities. They see everything in terms of how it could be improved, or what it could be turned into.”
EVERYTHING. There is nothing I know of that I would not like to see improved. Perfection is unachievable, so improvement is limitless. I cannot help but to look for aspects to improve about anything I come into contact with.

”...they live much of their lives within their own heads, and may not place as much importance or value on the external world. Their natural drive to turn theories into concrete understanding may turn into a feeling of personal responsibility to solve theoretical problems, and help society move towards a higher understanding.”
What is in my head is all that truly matters to me. Because I have a physical presence, I cannot deny the external world. I value anything in it that helps me understand theories better, but it always comes second to what exists in my head. I could dedicate my entire life to helping society move towards a higher understanding. I have yet to find the career that would allow me to do so.

”Their minds are constantly working to generate new theories, or to prove or disprove existing theories. They approach problems and theories with enthusiasm and skepticism, ignoring existing rules and opinions and defining their own approach to the resolution.”
Every single time. Over and over again. I cannot approach theories without skepticism.

”INTPs do not like to lead or control people.”
I can lead and control very well, but I cannot like it. I will try to find another way to get the results. You can also forget about keeping an INTPer in the spotlights.

”They're very tolerant and flexible in most situations, unless one of their firmly held beliefs has been violated or challenged, in which case they may take a very rigid stance.”
Rigid is an understatement. If it violates a firmly held belief (which is still not a Truth), unprovoked, the gloves come off.

”The INTP has no understanding or value for decisions made on the basis of personal subjectivity or feelings. They strive constantly to achieve logical conclusions to problems, and don't understand the importance or relevance of applying subjective emotional considerations to decisions.”
I really don’t understand it. I have learned to accept it as a reality, imposed by those that are different to me. The fact that I am already 35 and still don’t understand it, tells me it is a very hard one to crack. I want at least to understand it once on a theoretical level, but it eludes me. To make matters worse, I do come to some decisions based on feelings. I know ‘the feeling’, I recognize that I work this way too. But I do not understand it. The best way for me to describe it is with music as an example: I love to listen to music, it brings feeling and emotions, yet I am clueless as to why. I also suspect that no matter my level of control and understanding, I could not switch it off.

”If the INTP is not able to find a place for themself which supports the use of their strongest abilities, they may become generally negative and cynical.”
If the situation I am in is not allowing me to pursue my interests and effectively stops the growth I want, the negativity and cynicism will grow to the point of blowing up the situation so that I am free again.

”The INTP may be prone to abandoning a project once they have figured it out, moving on to the next thing.”
Figuring it out is everything. Once that is achieved, the interest is lost. That’s why I’m best as an intrapreneur: always looking to challenge myself = always looking for new possibilities within an organization that benefit the organization. Because with success & growth of the organization come new challenges.

“The INTP is usually very independent, unconventional, and original. They are not likely to place much value on traditional goals such as popularity and security.”
”INTPs live rich worlds inside their minds, which are full of imagination and excitement. Consequently, they sometimes find the external world pales in comparison. This may result in a lack of motivation to form and maintain relationships. INTPs are not likely to have a very large circle of significant relationships in their lives. They're much more likely to have a few very close relationships, which they hold in great esteem and with great affection.”
”They tend to be difficult to get to know well, and hold back parts of themselves until the other person has proven themselves "worthy" of hearing the INTPs thoughts.”
I am looking for those special few that seem worth leaving my own head for a while. But only because they could inspire and challenge my views in such a way that they bring me closer to understanding theories. All others bring as much different input as possible, but cannot drag me out of my head. I won’t go ‘deep’ with them.

”The INTP has no interest or understanding of game-playing with regards to relationships. However, if something happens which the INTP considers irreconcilable, they will leave the relationship and not look back.”
I’ve been through my fair share of relationships to know this to be true for me. But I would extend it even to any kind of relationships, including the kind I have here with you. I can walk away from anything in an instant if I perceive it as irreconcilable and not given it a second thought. It’s case closed, figured it out, on to the next thing to analyze and learn from.

”Once the INTP has committed themself to a relationship, they tend to be very faithful and loyal, and form affectionate attachments which are pure and *straight-forward.*”
I know I do, even if there is a physical separation over an extended period of time. The straight-forward part can be hard on anyone, especially at first when trust has to be established.

”Do not feel personally threatened by conflict or criticism”
I enjoy criticism. At worst it is entertaining, at best it helps me grow. I have often made the mistake of dispensing it myself thinking the other person would appreciate it too. I still haven’t figured out how to know when or how to provide criticism ‘correctly’. Even when people ask for it, I have found that it does not necessarily mean they can handle it well.

”Not naturally in tune with others' feelings; slow to respond to emotional needs. Not naturally good at expressing their own feelings and emotions.”
”Feeling tends to be all or none. When present, the INTPs concern for others is intense, albeit naive. In a crisis, this feeling judgement is often silenced by the emergence of Thinking, who rushes in to avert chaos and destruction. In the absence of a clear principle, however, INTPs have been known to defer judgement and to allow decisions about interpersonal matters to be left hanging lest someone be offended or somehow injured.”
I can be very slow to respond, I can miss it altogether, I can even decide not to respond at all. The higher your value in my life (the closer to my center of my universe), the more I’ll make an effort. But an effort it always is. Expressing my own feelings and emotions took me a very long time to learn. I just couldn’t see the value in it. Then there was also the machismo culture, expecting me to behave in a certain way. I adopted that when I was young, not because of peer pressure, but because it was easier to combine with my own desire not to show anything.

”INTPs are relatively easy-going and amenable to almost anything until their principles are violated, about which they may become outspoken and inflexible. They prefer to return, however, to a reserved albeit benign ambiance, not wishing to make *spectacles of themselves.*”
”Tend to "blow off" conflict situations by ignoring them, or else they "blow up" in heated anger.”
When I detect a desire for conflict, I’ll evaluate your worth, the stakes, the context, the potential to learn from it... and then decide to get involved or not. You cannot drag me into a conflict against my will verbally. I’ll ignore the conflict and will leave you alone with your miserable desire for it. You’ll need to push me physically in order to get me involved against my will. Which is a very bad idea. Heated anger provoked verbally alone, is only possible over a very long period of interaction. I’d estimate it to be at least 3 years of tension. Also a very bad idea.

”While the INTPs internal life is highly theoretical and complex, their external life in comparison is usually quite simple. They like to keep the complexities of their external world to a minimum, so that they can focus their brain power on working through their theories internally.”
Spending time on physical things will learn me little, so I care little for them. I could live pretty much anywhere in the world in pretty much any setting.

”They have a natural ability to focus and get "into the zone" when working on a problem. They can absorb their minds completely with an issue, and work it through with amazing speed and accuracy.”
I can do so up to the point of ignoring my bodily needs. It was not uncommon for me to stay active regularly 2 days in a row without sleep when I was younger. That is part of the reason why I have difficulties working just 9-5: if my interest is peaked and I’m focussed, why would I drop what I’m working on? To do what instead?

”They tend to see distinctions and inconsistencies instantaneously, and can detect contradictions no matter when or where they were made. It is difficult for an INTP to listen to nonsense, even in a casual conversation, without pointing out the speaker's error. INTPs regard all discussions as a search for understanding, and believe their function is to eliminate inconsistencies, which can make communication with them an uncomfortable experience for many.”
I could not care less about who’s ‘winning’. When I point out inconsistencies, it is not to challenge whoever is on the other end. It serves only to come to better understanding. Yet, this is rarely taken objectively. I have to invest a lot of effort in ‘sugar-coating’ everything in order to skip the step where the receiver gets personally offended. To get to the best possible understanding of a problem, I seem to piss people off. I often got mistaken for a perfectionist too. Or for someone very competitive, always wanting to win. It drains me. So much so that I even want to drop the whole thing and prefer to move on. I’m at a real risk of alienating everyone around me and giving up on social interactions entirely. The Internet has saved me in this regard: there is a safe physical distance between me and others. I can control when to end the interaction before things get out of hand. I am comforted in the knowledge that the others can do the same.

”Ruthless pragmatists about ideas, and insatiably curious, INTPs are driven to find the most efficient means to their ends, and they will learn in any manner and degree they can. They will listen to amateurs if their ideas are useful, and will ignore the experts if theirs are not. Authority derived from office, credential, or celebrity does not impress them. INTPs are interested only in what make sense, and thus only statements that are consistent and coherent carry any weight with them.”
To me this seems so ‘logical’ that I do not understand how it can be otherwise. I am very creative, yet I cannot even imagine how the above could not be. I have learned to accept the fact that so many do not apply it. This saddens me to no end and is one of the things I put off as long as I can to try to understand. One of the rare occasions that I feel pain. It goes against every fiber of my being.

So then for the more juicy/potentially offensive stuff applied to my G+ experience:

I try not to judge anyone
If there is anything to take from all of the above, it is that I know no Truths and will always challenge my own views any way I can. This makes it no longer possible for me to judge anyone else. It is within our nature to judge. It is within our nature to try to influence the world around us. If I judge, which could very well be inevitable, I try not to express it. I will question my own views first before expressing them to the person I 'judged'. My ‘judgment’ is to be seen as an open question, reaching out for input and feedback to further fine tune my views.

I have an open mind about everything
I know no taboos. I welcome as much diversity as possible. Because each new thing that comes to exist challenges further any possible understanding of Truth. There is nothing that is off limits to my mind. But in my interaction with the physical world, I live by The Golden Rule and The Platinum Rule mostly. I will probably never act out on most of the existing taboos.

I live here by the rules of this place
I might not fully understand them, but regardless of my own moral compass I subject to the rules of this place. Even if I won’t judge you by my standards, I will judge your behavior here by the rules that are in place here. You should do the same towards me.

Hate speech much?
Because this is a global platform, I’m bound to offend some people somewhere. Yet you should never be able to accuse me of Hate speech. Not if you consider my intentions. I do not hate. Everything is part of Nature. I think that is even true for anything we might create. Nothing exists outside of Nature. I see no point in hating it. My intention is always to learn and grow, never to spread hate speech to harm others. If you think otherwise, please contact me and ask for more details on my point of view.

I don’t believe in selflessness
There is nothing so far that has convinced me that we are not acting in our own interest every time. I’m not saying it is always consciously. Quite the opposite: I’m afraid we understand little of the unconscious processes of the brain. The entire debate of free will is also still very much open.

I don’t believe in selfishness
Selfishness might be ok (not judging and all) unless you take it to the extreme. It would go against The Golden Rule and should we all apply it, everything would be destroyed.

I don’t get jealous
It’s ugly. It does not help me grow. Whatever you have, whatever you can do, you are on your own path of growth. It cannot touch my own growth.

I don’t get offended
I alone am in control of my head. There is nothing you can do verbally that can have any effect on my self-esteem. Either you are right and I won’t be offended, either you are wrong and that would just be your problem. I actually have lost the understanding of how something can be offensive. I remember vaguely an unpleasant feeling when one of my illusions got pierced. It is all just a matter of perspective, one point of view against another. It is all in the eye of the beholder. To get offended by someone is to give that person power over you, over the universe in your head. Why would you do that? Or would it be that you think yourself to be superior over someone else and that in offending you, that inferior person has dared to oppose your superiority? Nevermind, understanding this one is so low on my list of priorities that I doubt that I’ll ever get to it.

Don’t read between the lines
Good communication is not easy. It happens when the receiver has understood the message as intended by the sender. It happens rarely that someone fully got my message as I intended it. Please do not hesitate to ask me what I meant when in doubt. But one thing is already easy to understand when dealing with me: I tend to say things as I mean them. No hidden agendas, no hinted meanings, not a lot of subtle feelings woven into the words. It is meant to be read as I have said it. It always helps to re-read what I said a second time.

Don’t bother with absolute Truths
I cannot know them, I cannot understand them. If you believe to know any, good for you. Please don’t waste our time on trying to convince me of them. Dogmas are wasted on me. Yes, I can appreciate the irony of my point here, but I reserve myself the right to believe in my own dogmas. I don’t want to impose them on anyone else.

I will always try to find pro’s & con’s of everything
Say there were only pro’s to something, that would come frighteningly close to a Truth no? So far I have always managed to find pro’s & con’s to everything.

Don’t sell me anything
Just don’t. I am really capable of forming my own opinions whether or not I want something.

Please give it to me straight
I do not really care for the form of your message. I care for its value. I also cannot be offended anyway. So save yourself some time and drop the sugar-coating. No need to greet me, no need to thank me out of politeness, no need to soften your words...

Want to ‘win’ against me?
Just turn the discussion into one of semantics and I’ll be lost. The exact meaning of a word, the intention of a sentence, definitions... It is very hard for INTPs to discuss anything if there is doubt about the exact meaning of the words. Throw in a bit of in general, on principal, on the whole, in most cases, as a general rule … and demand simplicity to kill me off.

INTPers seem to be rare among the population.
I am starting to think that the problems I encounter in my interactions are caused by the fact that not many of you have a lot of experience in dealing with INTPers. Because they are rare, because they are not the most social people, because they can be dislikable in discussions. I can’t say if I’m worse or better than average, but in interacting with me you could build up more experience. That should in turn allow you to help others like me.

If you were not offended by anything in this post, I must congratulate you: you are not normal in my book! Please comment here so I can get to know you better.
Everyone else: please comment to challenge me. I can only learn from it (or be entertained in failing to).
My post was far from complete, but it should already give you some idea of my intentions. I might add some comments later myself here should I have evolved in my views.
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#gettingmyacttogether

I felt like photoshopping some pictures I took this week. For some reason. I can be like that sometimes. I'll throw possible future photo-mutilation experiments in this album too.

H4C2S2FO2U2YEA User Manual

I’m adding yet another project to my ever growing list of projects I’ll start and never finish. All together they are part of the one project that is my life.

One of my fantasies: pointing to a page of a user manual that would explain how to interact with me. Allowing that person to work out alone, using the manual, what was going on. What could be expected, what approach would yield the best results, what to avoid...
To be able to read other people’s manuals. Be able to help others in sharing mine and be helped by reading theirs.

I already explained on G+ how I’m not arrogant. How I don’t want to be in the spotlights. How I think I’m the center of my universe...
Then I posted a warning to those that can be offended. In the resulting discussion I realized that my fantasy was actually gradually becoming reality, right here on G+. Every time I explain something about myself publicly, one can understand the interaction one can have with me a bit better. I just need to take it a step further (or two or three).

Like I said earlier, I will never finish this project. To me (as an INTP) the process is more important than the final result. It will help me explore and check ideas. It will help me come closer to the Truth. It will never be able to stay up to date with the changes as I grow. My learning and thinking is insatiable.

Bad communication and poor interactions are wasting too much of my time. They can even do damage. Sharing is caring taking the interactions to a kind of crowd-sourcing approach in learning the Truth. I would just have to find a way to remove as much of the noise as possible. To communicate in such a clear way as to allow receivers to understand a message the way I intended it. To add diversity. To get the input needed to challenge theories. To catch me off guard and drag me out of my comfort zone.

So I decided to write a user manual in bits and pieces, sharing it online here. It should probably be ready about the same time world peace breaks out. Such a manual would explain why it’s useless to foster expectations about the timing or form. It will also compete with some of these other fantasies I long for:

- the H4C2S2FO2U2YEA Autobiography
- the H4C2S2FO2U2YEA Compatibility Test
- the H4C2S2FO2U2YEA Dictionary
- the H4C2S2FO2U2YEA FAQ
- the H4C2S2FO2U2YEA Tutorials
- the H4C2S2FO2U2YEA Walkthrough
- the H4C2S2FO2U2YEA Wiki

Together they would become The H4C2S2FO2U2YEA Bible.

Very useful stuff for those gravitating closest to the center of my universe. Don’t worry, plenty of space in my universe far far away from me.

To start somewhere, I’ll be concentrating on subtitles/taglines in the comments here (HT +Greg Cunningham). New bits will become new posts. You are most welcome to make suggestions and to provide any feedback you feel like. You can even go as far as to write a blurb that would come with my manual.

If you are writing similar things and think I need to check them out, list them here. Your own stuff, no need to point me to any guru’s. I don’t buy into absolute truths anyway.

The manual would explain as well why I have added this video to this post. Read all about it in 2013 2014 201x your own imagination for the time being.

Thank you for inspiring me fellow Plussers. I hope you’ll take all the blame.
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#gettingmyacttogether
#h4c2s2fo2u2yeamanual

no such thing as too meta

1) someone sees a meme about +Philosoraptor
2) that someone decides to follow +Philosoraptor
3) +Philosoraptor follows that someone back
4) that someone makes a meme about +Philosoraptor
5) +Philosoraptor shares that someone's meme
6) someone sees a meme about +Philosoraptor
...

When I hear a song for the first time and I really like it, I'll play it in a loop.
It's as if I need to put it to the test. Will it start annoying me after 20 plays? Does it annoy me when I browse the web, when I read...? Do the lyrics stick and grow in appeal? Some details in the melody that I didn't notice before?

If I hear a good song that has passed my initial test later, playing in a loop, I can keep listening to it. Somehow that rarely happens if the loop was not initiated by me. I seem to annoy the hell out of others when I do this in their presence. Is it that they don't like the song enough or am I just too crazy, being able to listen in a loop anytime when the song is good?

Blue Jeans has passed 20 plays so far. I think I'll keep listening to it for the next hour or so.

You won't be able to accuse me of being a nationalist.

Not now, not ever.

But...
Belgium has the best French Fries in the world (with mayonnaise)
Belgium has the best beers in the world (>1K unique ones)
Belgium has the best music in the world (*)

I know you won't understand the fries with mayonnaise until you've had some. I can't hand you over beer here. I can share some music though.

In retrospect I actually feel bad that my first share of music on G+ was not something Belgian. Not terribly bad, but still, bad enough to follow it up with this post :)

Jacques Brel's Ne Me Quitte Pas is possibly the best song ever, but I won't share it. Because you dear followers of exquisite taste no doubt already know that one. Instead I give you two for the price of one with Triggerfinger and Selah Sue.

(*) per capita: quality over quantity

Boy oh boy oh boy!

I just can't wait to get my hands on Google Maps 8-bit for NES!

Sorry my dear ROBs, I know I've been neglecting you. I promise I'll play with you again too.
____________
#8bitmaps bug: Belgium seems to be missing dragons.

RESHARE:
Why don't you play along?

Netiquette. I thought for a while that it went extinct.
Until I saw the interactions here on G+. So I dare to ask (instead of ranting like +Mark Traphagen did, so you wouldn't mistake this for a joke):

Can't you just play along? At least give the joke a few minutes. Couldn't we agree that it would be proper netiquette? At least on G+?

I saw +Guy Kawasaki's post in my stream and even before I was able to read it, someone had already commented April Fool's. Not that I would have fallen for it. Curling...? Common, dead giveaway.

The same thing has happened over and over again today. While I'm on the topic of proper netiquette for G+, I ask you even this:

Can't you wait to sum up in an elaborate post all the jokes you've spotted until the day has passed?

Granted, online that would make for a very long day, given April Fools would only end in that place that comes last in the timezones thing where the day starts last on the planet, making it what... a 48 hour day in that place where the day starts first on the planet? In my case at GMT+1 that would make it a ... you know what? How about we say good netiquette would mean you wait till you are sure it no longer is April Fools anywhere?

I mean, most sane people hate spoilers right? You're not some kind of troll aren't you? Netiquette matters doesn't it? On G+ at least?

It doesn't come natural to me, taking the lead on something this important. But with your help I think I must see this one through. We can make it a better April Fools next year if we all stick together!

So say we all?

Reshared text:
Rant: April Fools Joke Spoilers

Why is it I can't post an April Fool's joke here or on Facebook without someone within about 10 seconds posting a comment to it "April Fools LOL!!!"?

Is it that these commenters want to prove to the world that they are so smart they weren't taken in by the joke? Why ruin the fun?

I really don't get it.

#rant #aprilfools #aprilfoolsday2012

Don’t play nice to me

Did I get that wrong? Is it play nice with me?

Let me know. It will help me grow. Playing nice is nice. But here’s the thing: I don’t care much for nice. Sure, it’s nice. But too often it comes in the way of healthy criticism. If you can provide me criticism aimed at improving me, I don’t want to lose it over some concern about my feelings. If you want to provide criticism aimed at harming me, good luck with that :) If you just want to show off, may I suggest another place with more visibility?

I’m not some kind of masochist. I just want to learn as much as I can and I try to be as objective as I can. Hearing your criticism is hearing your point of view. Wrong or right, it will allow me to get to know you a bit better. It might help me get to know myself a bit better. If we interact over it, we can get to know each other better. When it’s public, others might learn from it too.

So why lose that? Over some concern about my feelings? Don’t worry about them. Really. I’m giving you carte blanche here to provide feedback as you see fit. And don’t worry about some possible retaliation, drama or fall out. I play nice. Unless you no longer want me to. I’ll wait for your explicit request and even then, I might still stay nice. Mind you, my way of being nice might be not the average. Hey, you can’t have it all. Trolls and idiots aside, most people’s version of nice almost guarantees me I’ll receive some nice feedback. So don’t fret over it, say what you have to say. Let others be nice to me.

Ok, there might be the risk of busting that niceness bubble you want to have wrapped around you at all times. Others might see your comment and suddenly realize there’s this other side to you. That you have your own thoughts, tastes, preferences and ideas.
It’s your call.
No expectations at all when interacting with me. Ever. If there is one thing I dislike, it’s making claims on people. In the first place because I dislike it when people make them on me.

This is true for everything I post here on G+. Just keep it aimed at me though. In my threads I will not like you going at someone else in a disrespectful manner. They might benefit from harsh criticism too, but sort that out in their threads. Maybe you could use a place on G+ where you don’t have to sugar-coat your every word. Let me create such a corner.

So to sum it up: there’s no useless feedback for me. Nice is nice, harsh is nice, stupid is just stupid (at least we’ll know you’re stupid). I don’t want to feed trolls, so I’ll keep one finger on the block button.
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#gettingmyacttogether
#h4c2s2fo2u2yeamanual

A bit more abstract this time. Just yell when I'm going too far.

RESHARE:
I know, it seems redundant for me to share this with you my dear followers (that just keeps feeling weird, followers).

You were after all able to see part of it grow right here in some of my latest posts. You have no doubt read some of +M Sinclair Stevens posts and comments elsewhere on G+ too (you having great taste).

What you were able to read here was in fact proof of what he claims in this post.

I'd like to do 2 things now:

- ask you to go and comment in his post and share it for those that you think can use such insight.
- build a page to help spread some of the insights we've gathered in order to help others.

Actually I would not like to build a page. But I have been helped so much by you here that I feel I need to give something back. Because as introverts we don't like to be in the center of attention, I feel a page would be better suited than posts under our own names. What is holding me back even more is the need to promote such efforts. I'm just not the type to promote things.

So I'm going to struggle with this some more. Going back and forth in my head figuring out if I'm going to take that next step too. I've come far in just a few months, but this is really going fast. Should I call upon INTJ's to help me out, I would probably scare them to death with all the things I know that will have to be dealt with. There's enough planning for at least a month.

I'm pushing myself far out of my comfort zone here. But I do not fear failure as it is just more data to learn from. I actually fear success more because it could drain me.

Reshared text:
Google+: Designed for Introverts?
Recently I discovered my niche -- my group of INTx-types here on Google+. Boy, have we given lie to the myth that introverts are shy. The stories we've shared! These last couple of weeks have been exhilarating but exhausting. No matter how much introverts enjoy people, we need time alone to recharge.

Emotional Investment
We agreed that Google+ is a great platform for introverts. Why? As +Alex Schleber explained it, for introverts to participate they have to believe "that the other people constitute an actual cause/energy worthy of investing more energy into." So how does Google+ encourage introverts to make that emotional investment?

If someone is a stranger to me (emotional currency bank balance at zero), then the effort to interact, the mechanism for expression has to be simple and yet flexible. On this point, I think Google+ scores big.
* Commenting is quick and easy. I don't have to sign in to each different person's thread like on blogs.
* Once I'm in a discussion the back-and-forth can be as quick as chat -- but allows for long remarks. Introverts like in-depth discussion.
* Because I'm writing, I have time to think before I speak.
* I can edit my remarks; so I'm less self-conscious about making mistakes.
* I can @ mention someone and spin off a private conversation.

Yes there are many improvements that can be made (especially in making it easier to find each other in the first place) but in this post, I'm focusing on the positives -- especially on the mechanism that make it possible for us to write quickly and encourages us to follow through and leave a comment. I can't even remember the last time I left a comment on a blog.

Slow Intimacy
Introverts are not big fans of "instant intimacy". We want to get to know you slowly, over time. And if things don't work out, we'd like to be able to slip out gracefully.

I think that Google+ provides a very nurturing environment for introverts. We can stop to answer someone's question or comment on a post and we are not required to reveal too much about ourself initially(1). We can just pat them on the back with a +1 and disappear into the crowd.

As we become more brazen, we leave comments. Eventually we're in passionate discussions.

If someone turns out to be a dick, we can disappear without fanfare. (No public "unfriending". No drama.) Because we have an easy escape hatch, we feel freer to explore intimacy over a long time -- and step back when we feel uncomfortable without hurting anyone's feelings.

I guess the next question is how can we make the extroverts on Google+ equally happy?
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Footnote: (1) Except our names. Google+ lost a lot of introverts in the nym wars.

----
HT +Alex Schleber , +Marianne Tamminen and +Youssef Hachhouch for encouraging me to take this post public.
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link via +M Monica

RESHARE:
I've donated 20$, sparing food out of my mouth to do so. What is your excuse not to donate even 1$?

Maybe +Aaron Wood's presentation was not the best ever on Kickstarter. Maybe he relied a bit too much on what he accomplished outside of Kickstarter (like right here on G+) and hasn't put enough in the description itself. Maybe it comes at the wrong time for you. Maybe...

Then at least help spread the word. +Aaron Wood has enriched my experience here on G+ since the beginning. I have a deep sense of injustice when I see his followers count still stuck under 20K. Even more should such a large number of followers fail to provide that budget. If this happened but a few months ago, I would have been able to chip in at the end to fill the gap, but I'm not fortunate enough right now.

The day my fortune returns, I'll spare a monthly budget to support the people that make this place so great for me/for us all.

I dislike promotional blabla. I know I could help bring more attention to some people that deserve it, but I dread a cycle of reciprocity. Going out of my comfort zone for this one, in the knowledge that it removes a small bit of the burden of having to promote one's own work.

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#gettingmyacttogether

Reshared text:
56 HOURS TO GO!

$480 away from my goal of $2700!

If I can get 480 people to donate $1, this will happen! That's all I need! :D

RESHARE:
I have nooo idea what she's talking about.

NONE

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Looks familiar ?

Google glasses

Resistance is futile

Resharing this old one to test the changes a bit and give a first impression.

White clearly still dominates. It's really exaggerated on 2 widescreen monitors with extended screen. But there's probably a good reason for all that #whitespace so I'll wait and see.

True, there's more grey too now. It's ok at the sides, but I'm not so convinced for the comments. Bold doesn't stand out so much anymore in comments.

With so much white space everywhere, I can't help but wonder why there is no white space between my 5th image in my About profile and my larger profile image...

It feels weird to see my profile image in the 'hovercard' on the right now, staring at all the white space.

I liked seeing the tagline when coming on someone's posts page. Now it requires an extra click to check out their About page.

The larger images in the posts are cool, but the effect of having the image also in the back & zoomed at the same time can be disturbing. When there are images with text for example, you read the text as intended but continue to read beyond the border of the 'normal' image and read bits of text in 'zoomed' as well. At least I do at the moment. It's not all that bad in the image included, but still I get "ON ON GOOGLE+ WHITE DOMINATES TES"

There are moments that I get a really bad vibe when browsing this new UI. Almost as if I was browsing on Facebook or something. I hope it will pass...
#newgoogleplus

With the new UI, it seems plain text posts are going to struggle even more for attention. The design gives me the impression that posts should have an image or video to draw attention. I like visuals, but there's a reason I'm not pinteresting. This just gives more weight to the cries for better text formatting options. How about those Google? Or do you prefer me as some kind of lame meme generating machine (*) just to battle for attention?

* yes, that's another example of my peculiar INTP type of humor that will crack myself up and is probably wasted on you. That's ok, as long as I'm entertained. (**)

** yes, I would have preferred placing the * points in much smaller font for better effect.
#newgoogleplus

Ok, I could not for the life of me let this puzzle go. I had to figure out what Google's #whitespace in the new UI was all about. When I was playing with a screenshot, I stumbled upon the answer:

#trolling ! It's as simple as that!

Just drop the brightness of your monitor to the absolute lowest value and you'll see it for yourself!

I just can't believe this!

Hmmm, make up your mind Google...

#whitespace

I hope Google Glasses are not getting the #whitespace treatment...

#newgoogleplus

Learning to read & write mirrored.

#usesforwhitespace

Now that I had a few hours of sleep, I wanted to make a suggestion for #usesforwhitespace that is a little more serious. I know that it's not really a solution for screens with low resolution, but in my case I would love to be able to configure the settings to get such a result.

This is not a serious UI design, just throwing some thoughts around with a quick mock-up.

I would like to be able to read the comments while keeping an eye on the actual post at the same time. Even though I'm still not convinced about comments on that grey background, this way discussions can get the attention they deserve.

RESHARE:
G+ is my tool to change Life.

Read +Ted Ewen’s post first. Then read the discussion. Then add to the discussion there.
If that’s too much words for you, feel free to look at some of my images instead. Or simply move on. There’s plenty enough for you on G+ elsewhere.

For those still reading and sensing another one of my TL;DR’s coming on, I’m gonna try something different: I’m gonna chop everything up into bite-size bits this time.

I’m going to analyze +Ted Ewen’s post and the discussion thread and use it to explain my statement in the title.

”I have had some of my faith in humanity restored.”
My faith in humanity had been steadily declining for years. TED Talks was the turning point. Kickstarter helped. Solve for X confirmed the trend. G+ brought the potential for mass adoption.

”The number of kindnesses I see displayed here daily is truly astounding.”
Humans are capable of kindness, we all know that. The volume we are witnessing here feels astounding because we are not used to seeing it at such a scale, in one place, online. I’m confident we’ll get used to it, for it should become ‘normal’ too.

”I am a hermit”
I am a hermit in a relation with another hermit. We’ve felt it was us vs the world where we live. So much so that we’re considering moving abroad (looking into Vancouver area at the moment). G+ allows us to interact with others and still retreat to our private life when we want.

”I've started writing again after decades away from it.”
I’m actually finally learning to write.

”I'm taking photographs again. Once more, something I'd put aside decades ago.”
I never went far with it, and ultimately dropped it. Picking it up again thanks to G+.

”Others inspire me to resist: to resist inhumanity, cynicism, sarcasm, doubt, and fear of my fellow man.”
Thank you all for that.

”It's reminded me that I really do want a better world and to help to build it, one silly reshare after another.”
I did not really forget about it, but I gave up on it.

+Damian Trasler ”And the cool thing about G+ is that you could make a circle and have a COMMUNITY of hermits....”
+Ted Ewen ”Yup, I've got one :D If you are a hermit, let me know!”
Anyone up for building a page for Hermits?

+elaine ossipov ”never in my life have I felt so comfortable to just be me.”
I have been strong enough to be myself in physical life to some extend, spreading awkwardness around. G+ is bringing me the strength to put it online, under my real name, to have it visible for the entire world.

+Ted Ewen ”I am no longer the smartest person in the room. How incredibly liberating! I am being challenged, for the first time in my life in many ways. Even more, I know there are people that can help me dispel my ignorance of and confusion over practically any subject and that all I have to do is ask. Sure wish my school years had been like that ;)”
I do not regret my school years. They were hell for me, but taught me how others were. They were the contrast I needed to find myself, to figure out what didn’t work. Thanks to G+ I can keep growing, better than ever.

+Catherine Maguire ”I think we're saying there's a huge variety of people from all over the globe, of all sorts of persuasions, beliefs, abilities, IQ's, emotional IQ's etc. etc. but the one thing we seem to have in common is an ability to discuss, debate, listen and learn from each other in an open minded way. Without it diving headlong into chaos and my way or the highway. The sheer volume of interaction is way above that of FB or Twitter, more discussing less broadcasting if you will.”
+Dean Mosher "Great minds discuss ideas (sounds a lot like G+)
Average minds discuss events (sounds a lot like news)
Small Minds talk about people (sounds a lot like FB)”
There’s a time and place for everything. G+ is finally providing a place for social discussions about ideas. At the same time there’s place for everything else too.

+Ted Ewen "I don't care how smart you are if you cause pain and misery. I don't care if you have the IQ of broccoli if you are kind and trying the ways you can to make the world a better place - and not just for those who share your opinions or views."

"I've been mulling over ideas for what I've been calling The Best Part Forward Foundation (crap name, suggestions welcomed) for a number of years now."

"It would be a place for all of the fringies to finally be able to contribute, where the hermits can help, where the aged and the infirm can accomplish and share a community, where anyone can come forward with their strengths forward, not worrying about their weaknesses because others have their strengths forward too. Each provides and receives the support they need from the people who can, and will help. I reckon we could pull ourselves to the Moon by our bootstraps that way."

"Problem is, I don't think small and I know where my strengths lie; most of them are not in the areas which would allow me to take that idea from "just another dream" to a reality. I've got a lot of ideas like that."

"And so, we come back to G+. This community has me dusting off some of the largest and the grandest of those ideas and to consider that it might just be possible...to accomplish them."

"I'm tired of opposing idiots and bigots, I want to build with people who want to build a better world.”
I am an idea machine. There is no end to it, no limits. But I too know my limits. I am still looking for the place where I can contribute all that I am and where there are skilled people that can build upon it.

G+ has got me networking, not for profit, but for a better world.

+Paulissa Kipp ”I am excited about the idea for your foundation. I would love to share that part of this thread with my circles, with your permission of course and tag in people like Colby Brown and others with experience in setting up charitable organizations who might be able to help you achieve this vision. Jason Kowing Alan Shapiro miriam dunn Olav Folland Gord Birch this idea sounds like something that might be dear your hearts as well.”
Consider me at your service.

+Niamh Brown ”G+ is a social revolution that has the potential to seriously rock this world. Suddenly dreams are possible again.”
There are moments where I’m wondering if Google realises what it has set in motion. Big as they are, this thing will be bigger and more than even they can handle. I hope they’ll manage to find their place.

+Ted Ewen ”they are big burly manly tears.”
I wrote about me crying in another thread, but now I have words to describe such tears :)

+Steve Hall ”I want to touch on the bit about plussers being smarter. I know you backtracked on that, +Ted Ewen, and did so very eloquently. In my view here, the folks I interact with regularly, or those I follow but don't interact with directly, are, generally speaking, wiser than the average."

"Of course there are thousands of mental midgets, social misfits, and others here—after all, G+ is a broad cross-section of society from many, many countries. But in general, those types are relatively easy to avoid, while folks like those posting in this thread are pretty easy to find.”
I don’t panic. So when Google changed the UI, and I read the concerns about a possible move to “dumb this place down” to reach the masses, I looked at the pro’s and cons (I always do that)*. The new UI has changed little to nothing of the potential to find, connect and interact with those of you that are interested enough to reach the end of this post.

and THAT is why G+ is my tool to change Life!



* I regret what happened to +Mohamed Mansour and I can understand his rant. I did see it coming though. The single largest con I have with Google is in the way they manage the relations with this community the communities here. But I see it as room for growth. If they can get that right too, G+ will change the entire world (including the physical one).
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#gettingmyacttogether
#thankyougoogle

Reshared text:
G+ Has Changed My LIfe (For the Better)
+Rainer Rohde reasonably asked: How?

Here is my reply:

I have had some of my faith in humanity restored. The number of kindnesses I see displayed here daily is truly astounding. I'm giving and helping more too.

I am a hermit, and have been for over 13 years. I can count the number of people I interacted with regularly on the fingers of one hand, and have a couple to spare. I thought I preferred it that way, but the people I have met here have shown me that it isn't so - and that I can interact with them and still be a hermit ;)

Other social networks provided none of the interesting, intelligent, engaging topics I find and enjoy here - or the interesting, intelligent, and engaging people either for that matter.

G+ showed me that I am not alone in my world view or oddness. That there are people out there interested in what I have to say and how I say it. I've started writing again after decades away from it.

G+ has not only shown me things about the things I want to learn about, but has introduced me to topics and ideas I didn't know I wanted to learn about but do.

I'm taking photographs again. Once more, something I'd put aside decades ago.

I take strength, and inspiration, and hope from many of the people and things I read in my stream. Others inspire me to resist: to resist inhumanity, cynicism, sarcasm, doubt, and fear of my fellow man.

I am inspired, once more, to be more rather than simply maintaining. It's reminded me that I really do want a better world and to help to build it, one silly reshare after another.

There is so much more, but words are failing me.
Hope that gives you a sense of why and how.

(Image credit: http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lvsymkZ9Rt1qd82q3o1_500.jpg)

The way you guys are trending #Bacon, we'll be playing Six Degrees of Bacon soon.

Tag +Jesse Stay, you're it!

RESHARE:
Remove my fallacy from your slippery slope

I am flawed. So are you. Together however we could be a little less flawed.

I love thinking. I somewhat like discussing, to further my thinking and possibly help others. I love to be proven wrong.

So please knock down any fallacy you see me utter. Anywhere. Anytime.
When I commit a logical fallacy, I did not do it intentionally. I have not studied logical fallacies (yet) and I am not skilled at detecting them. It would help me (and possibly others) when you can explain my mistake.

You could easily troll me on this. Especially if you mix it up with a discussion on semantics. Because I discuss things publicly, I hope others will step in to unmask the trolling and help me know good advice from attacks. However, this is not an invitation to go off-topic. If you cannot pierce my fallacy while staying on-topic, please send me a private message. If you spot a trolling attempt, please unmask the attempt with arguments while at the same time, if possible, avoid feeding the troll.

ps: accusations of intentional innuendo to compensate for the lack of an attention-grabbing image might have some merit. The burden of proof lies with the accuser. Did I get that right? Oh... so much to learn, so little time.
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#h4c2s2fo2u2yeamanual

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Your Logical Fallacy Is...

A logical fallacy happens when someone's argument is wrong due to flawed reasoning. A site created by Jesse Richardson, Andy Smith and Som Meaden warns, "They're like tricks or illusions of thought, and they're often very sneakily used... Don't be fooled!"

The site helps you identify and call out "dodgy logic wherever it may raise its ugly, incoherent head." When someone commits a logical fallacy, link them to the relevant fallacy to "school them in thinky awesomeness and win the intellectual affections of those who happen across your comment."

Check it out at: yourlogicalfallacyis.com

#criticalthinking #reason #logic #fallacies

Content Curation Creation

Ok, so you guys won’t shut up about curation. Fine. If you can’t beat’em, join’em? I’ll play.

But I play my way. I have to add my own twist to things. That’s how I roll.

Google still hasn’t purchased Pearltrees. I’m on the verge of spending a lot of time on it, curating /sharing/bookmarking socially. I said before that I want to stick with 1 account, to do my internetting in one place as much as possible. So I’m going to experiment here first. If things turn out well, I’ll resist pearltreeing.

I’m disabling comments on this post. Every comment I’ll add here will be a link to another curation post by me. Every curation post will have 1 theme. It will have 1 image*. Every comment there will hold links to content that falls under the theme. Anyone will be allowed to add comments as long as they contain links to content that falls under the theme. My curation will remove content that I deem unworthy.
Muwhahaha.

#curation #listlovers

* I’m doing my own twist on +Jonathan Langdale’s social experiment:
https://plus.google.com/109667384864782087641/posts/YifwTgaRPrS
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Service message

To tag yourself in an image:
- click on the image
- click on Add a new tag
- move your arrow on the image until a circle appears and click
- drag the circle to where you want
- enter your name
- click on Done tagging (which was previously Add a new tag)

To check your notification settings:
https://www.google.com/settings/plus
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#gettingmyacttogether

Curate ALL the things: frak perfection

Welcome to my first curation effort collaborative social experiment last chance before I run off to Pearltrees bookmarking like an obsessive compulsive maniac post*.

The theme is anything that contributes to understanding why I do not want to live in a perfect world. Perfection is for things like a perfect score in bowling, perfect white or the perfect roundness of a circle. It’s not for human behavior. I’m still human. I am flawed.

If you want to receive updates, you can tag yourself in the image. Doesn’t matter where. This should allow you to receive notifications of comments that are added to this post, without having to comment yourself. You can comment yourself, which should also give you notifications. But there are conditions to respect:
- your comment has to be on topic
- your comment has to include at least one link to content that is on topic or it will be deleted when the 500 comments limit is reached
- your comment and linked content has to meet my very subjective standards of quality
Comments that fail these conditions will be deleted (nothing personal though).

#curation #listlovers

* I announced it here: http://goo.gl/8NFb4
Check your notification settings here:
https://www.google.com/settings/plus

Curate ALL the things: mash it up

The theme is mashups that combine two or more different things to create something new with unique value. I’m a sucker for mixing up the most unlikely elements, contrasting the heck out of things, combining the best strengths. Ideas are but mashups. Creativity lies in combining what has come before in new ways.

If you want to receive updates, you can tag yourself in the image. Doesn’t matter where. This should allow you to receive notifications of comments that are added to this post, without having to comment yourself. You can comment yourself, which should also give you notifications. But there are conditions to respect:
- your comment has to be on topic
- your comment has to include at least one link to content that is on topic or it will be deleted when the 500 comments limit is reached
- your comment and linked content has to meet my very subjective standards of quality
Comments that fail these conditions will be deleted (nothing personal though).

#curation #listlovers

* I announced it here: http://goo.gl/8NFb4
Check your notification settings here:
https://www.google.com/settings/plus

Curate ALL the things: covered!

The theme is covers that are of such quality that they do not dishonor the original. Sometimes I like the artist that covers the song so much, that I do not care for differences in the arrangement. I just want to hear his/her take on the song. Some covers are vastly different from the original without doing it injustice. Some even surpass the original. Some covers are not particularly good, but they have the merit of introducing the original to a new generation. Some covers are just plain stupid fun.

If you want to receive updates, you can tag yourself in the image. Doesn’t matter where. This should allow you to receive notifications of comments that are added to this post, without having to comment yourself. You can comment yourself, which should also give you notifications. But there are conditions to respect:
- your comment has to be on topic
- your comment has to include at least one link to content that is on topic or it will be deleted when the 500 comments limit is reached
- your comment and linked content has to meet my very subjective standards of quality
Comments that fail these conditions will be deleted (nothing personal though).

#curation #listlovers

* I announced it here: http://goo.gl/8NFb4
Check your notification settings here:
https://www.google.com/settings/plus

RESHARE:
I'm sharing this imageless post, so I'll completely understand you ignoring it.

Yeah, I felt like doing something twitterish for a change.

Reshared text:
#Ithinkweshouldgetareallylonghashtagtrendingthatisnotreallyaboutanythingspecialandthenseehowmuchofitfitsinthetrendingongoogleplussidebaralsowecouldincludesomethingaboutbacon

The weather has been depressing this month in Belgium, so I went for some quick shots during a few hours of sunshine today, despite the heavy winds.

Discuss *

* Oh I just soo wanted to do that once.

Here's my contribution to #TheRippleEffect for +Daria Musk.

Being me, I just had to do things a bit differently:
- I selected just one post (my Warning post) instead of all my G+ posts.
- I used http://www.wordle.net/create instead of http://timc.idv.tw/wordcloud/en/#
- I just had to go with the Kenyan Coffee font
- I removed INTPs & understand because they made for large words too close to INTP & understanding

All in all I'm pleased with the result, as I think it represents me well. I might not have understood the goal Daria has correctly, so this entry can be discarded if unfit, no hard feelings. At least I'm glad I tried this once.