How to make good use of Google+'s Circles

I was going to write more about the nuts and bolts ofGoogle+, but that's changing so fast that I've decided to hold off on that for now. Instead, I want to share with you what I've found out so far about how to make the most from Google+'s circles.

Let me start with the basics. Google circles are a way of organizing the people you choose to follow on Google+. People can add you to their circles, but they'll only see your posts that you choose to make public, unless you add them to one or more of your circles.

So, for example, if you post "I really like Spotify [the new online music service]" to the public, everyone who has you in one of their circles can see it. If you post it to your "Friends" circle only the people you've placed in your Friends circle will be able to read it.

The reverse is also true. Let's say you really don't want to see all of great aunt Tillie's pictures of her prize winning Siamese cats. You just read your Friends circle' stream of messages instead of your Family circle's stream.

You're also in charge of how much other information other people can see about you based on your circle. So, for example, you can set your circles so that only "Friends" and "Family" can see your phone number.

In any case, no one but you knows who's in your circles or which circles you've placed them in. So, you'll know that your annoying uncle Joe has been placed in the circle "Ugly Relatives," but no else will.

What all this adds up to is control. Unlike Facebook, where pretty much anyone your friends with can see everything you post, Google+ gives you fine control of who sees what and what you see.

My friend and fellow journalist Mike Elgan, has proposed what I think is a really useful overall way of looking at circles. Elgan's taxonomy of Google+ circles goes like this:

Instead of saying, "I'm going to write a blog post now," or "I'm going to send an e-mail" or "I think I'll tweet something" you simply say what you have to say, then decide who you're going to say it to.

If you address it to "Public," it's a blog post.

If you address it to "Your Circles" it's a tweet.

If you address it to your "My Customers" Circle it's a business newsletter.

If you address it to a single person, it can be a letter to your mother.

That's a darn good start. Now let's refine it.

If you're addressing something to the public, it doesn't have to be a blog post. It can be anything that you think is interesting and you want to share with the world.

Just keep in mind that if you want to keep people reading your words show some sense about what you post. For example, I can already tell you that a lot of Google+ users are already sick and tired of animated GIF graphics-no matter how cute they are.

You can divide up "Your Circles" in several ways. The basics, as I see it are: personal; work; and interests. A personal circle is just what it sounds like: Friends, Close Friends, and Family. You get the idea.

Work circles get more interesting. You could have everyone in your company in a circle; your workgroup in another, the guys you're plotting to take over the company with another... oh did I say that?

Or, you can have work circles of business partners, press who cover your company, or customers. That's what the CEO of Seesmic, a social media company, did for Salesforce. This Google+ Salesforce experiment appears to have worked very well indeed.

I can see this working in other ways. Perhaps a customer support circle in addition to your other customer support forums? Or, you could also try Google+'s Hangouts, Google Plus' built-in video-conferencing, for business meetings or technical support. The last isn't my idea by the way, It's Michael Dell's, CEO of Dell, notion.

Dell, I might add, has floated this idea in his public circle. So, it seems to both myself and Mr. Dell that you can also use business circles for basic marketing research.

Last, but not least, you can set up circles by interests. Want to hang out with your colleagues? Listen to other people who like Shih-Tzu dogs, like yours truly and Bill Gates? Suffer with fellow Chicago Cub fans? Just find like-minded people and set up a circle.

At the moment, Google+ circles aren't ideal for interest circles. For example, if you were to follow me in a dog-lovers circle, I might only mention pups once every other day or two. It's my understanding though that Google intends on making it easier to post by topics. I certainly hope they do.

I'm only touching the surface of what can be done with Google Circles here. In part, I'm doing this because I'm still getting the hang of this myself. The other part is that Google is far from done with circles yet. You can expect big changes in circles in the next few weeks.

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How to make good use of Google+'s Circles

I was going to write more about the nuts and bolts ofGoogle+, but that's changing so fast that I've decided to hold off on that for now. Instead, I want to share with you what I've found out so far about how to make the most from Google+'s circles.

Let me start with the basics. Google circles are a way of organizing the people you choose to follow on Google+. People can add you to their circles, but they'll only see your posts that you choose to make public, unless you add them to one or more of your circles.

So, for example, if you post "I really like Spotify [the new online music service]" to the public, everyone who has you in one of their circles can see it. If you post it to your "Friends" circle only the people you've placed in your Friends circle will be able to read it.

The reverse is also true. Let's say you really don't want to see all of great aunt Tillie's pictures of her prize winning Siamese cats. You just read your Friends circle' stream of messages instead of your Family circle's stream.

You're also in charge of how much other information other people can see about you based on your circle. So, for example, you can set your circles so that only "Friends" and "Family" can see your phone number.

In any case, no one but you knows who's in your circles or which circles you've placed them in. So, you'll know that your annoying uncle Joe has been placed in the circle "Ugly Relatives," but no else will.

What all this adds up to is control. Unlike Facebook, where pretty much anyone your friends with can see everything you post, Google+ gives you fine control of who sees what and what you see.

My friend and fellow journalist Mike Elgan, has proposed what I think is a really useful overall way of looking at circles. Elgan's taxonomy of Google+ circles goes like this:

Instead of saying, "I'm going to write a blog post now," or "I'm going to send an e-mail" or "I think I'll tweet something" you simply say what you have to say, then decide who you're going to say it to.

If you address it to "Public," it's a blog post.

If you address it to "Your Circles" it's a tweet.

If you address it to your "My Customers" Circle it's a business newsletter.

If you address it to a single person, it can be a letter to your mother.

That's a darn good start. Now let's refine it.

If you're addressing something to the public, it doesn't have to be a blog post. It can be anything that you think is interesting and you want to share with the world.

Just keep in mind that if you want to keep people reading your words show some sense about what you post. For example, I can already tell you that a lot of Google+ users are already sick and tired of animated GIF graphics-no matter how cute they are.

You can divide up "Your Circles" in several ways. The basics, as I see it are: personal; work; and interests. A personal circle is just what it sounds like: Friends, Close Friends, and Family. You get the idea.

Work circles get more interesting. You could have everyone in your company in a circle; your workgroup in another, the guys you're plotting to take over the company with another... oh did I say that?

Or, you can have work circles of business partners, press who cover your company, or customers. That's what the CEO of Seesmic, a social media company, did for Salesforce. This Google+ Salesforce experiment appears to have worked very well indeed.

I can see this working in other ways. Perhaps a customer support circle in addition to your other customer support forums? Or, you could also try Google+'s Hangouts, Google Plus' built-in video-conferencing, for business meetings or technical support. The last isn't my idea by the way, It's Michael Dell's, CEO of Dell, notion.

Dell, I might add, has floated this idea in his public circle. So, it seems to both myself and Mr. Dell that you can also use business circles for basic marketing research.

Last, but not least, you can set up circles by interests. Want to hang out with your colleagues? Listen to other people who like Shih-Tzu dogs, like yours truly and Bill Gates? Suffer with fellow Chicago Cub fans? Just find like-minded people and set up a circle.

At the moment, Google+ circles aren't ideal for interest circles. For example, if you were to follow me in a dog-lovers circle, I might only mention pups once every other day or two. It's my understanding though that Google intends on making it easier to post by topics. I certainly hope they do.

I'm only touching the surface of what can be done with Google Circles here. In part, I'm doing this because I'm still getting the hang of this myself. The other part is that Google is far from done with circles yet. You can expect big changes in circles in the next few weeks.

Read More

How to make good use of Google+'s Circles

I was going to write more about the nuts and bolts ofGoogle+, but that's changing so fast that I've decided to hold off on that for now. Instead, I want to share with you what I've found out so far about how to make the most from Google+'s circles.

Let me start with the basics. Google circles are a way of organizing the people you choose to follow on Google+. People can add you to their circles, but they'll only see your posts that you choose to make public, unless you add them to one or more of your circles.

So, for example, if you post "I really like Spotify [the new online music service]" to the public, everyone who has you in one of their circles can see it. If you post it to your "Friends" circle only the people you've placed in your Friends circle will be able to read it.

The reverse is also true. Let's say you really don't want to see all of great aunt Tillie's pictures of her prize winning Siamese cats. You just read your Friends circle' stream of messages instead of your Family circle's stream.

You're also in charge of how much other information other people can see about you based on your circle. So, for example, you can set your circles so that only "Friends" and "Family" can see your phone number.

In any case, no one but you knows who's in your circles or which circles you've placed them in. So, you'll know that your annoying uncle Joe has been placed in the circle "Ugly Relatives," but no else will.

What all this adds up to is control. Unlike Facebook, where pretty much anyone your friends with can see everything you post, Google+ gives you fine control of who sees what and what you see.

My friend and fellow journalist Mike Elgan, has proposed what I think is a really useful overall way of looking at circles. Elgan's taxonomy of Google+ circles goes like this:

Instead of saying, "I'm going to write a blog post now," or "I'm going to send an e-mail" or "I think I'll tweet something" you simply say what you have to say, then decide who you're going to say it to.

If you address it to "Public," it's a blog post.

If you address it to "Your Circles" it's a tweet.

If you address it to your "My Customers" Circle it's a business newsletter.

If you address it to a single person, it can be a letter to your mother.

That's a darn good start. Now let's refine it.

If you're addressing something to the public, it doesn't have to be a blog post. It can be anything that you think is interesting and you want to share with the world.

Just keep in mind that if you want to keep people reading your words show some sense about what you post. For example, I can already tell you that a lot of Google+ users are already sick and tired of animated GIF graphics-no matter how cute they are.

You can divide up "Your Circles" in several ways. The basics, as I see it are: personal; work; and interests. A personal circle is just what it sounds like: Friends, Close Friends, and Family. You get the idea.

Work circles get more interesting. You could have everyone in your company in a circle; your workgroup in another, the guys you're plotting to take over the company with another... oh did I say that?

Or, you can have work circles of business partners, press who cover your company, or customers. That's what the CEO of Seesmic, a social media company, did for Salesforce. This Google+ Salesforce experiment appears to have worked very well indeed.

I can see this working in other ways. Perhaps a customer support circle in addition to your other customer support forums? Or, you could also try Google+'s Hangouts, Google Plus' built-in video-conferencing, for business meetings or technical support. The last isn't my idea by the way, It's Michael Dell's, CEO of Dell, notion.

Dell, I might add, has floated this idea in his public circle. So, it seems to both myself and Mr. Dell that you can also use business circles for basic marketing research.

Last, but not least, you can set up circles by interests. Want to hang out with your colleagues? Listen to other people who like Shih-Tzu dogs, like yours truly and Bill Gates? Suffer with fellow Chicago Cub fans? Just find like-minded people and set up a circle.

At the moment, Google+ circles aren't ideal for interest circles. For example, if you were to follow me in a dog-lovers circle, I might only mention pups once every other day or two. It's my understanding though that Google intends on making it easier to post by topics. I certainly hope they do.

I'm only touching the surface of what can be done with Google Circles here. In part, I'm doing this because I'm still getting the hang of this myself. The other part is that Google is far from done with circles yet. You can expect big changes in circles in the next few weeks.

Read More

Bram Stoker books: Google doodles 'Dracula' author's 165th birthday

 November 8, 2012 is the 165th birth anniversary of Bram Stoker (Abraham Stoker) and Google has posted a doodle inspired by the Irish author's most famous work - 'Dracula'. The lettering of the word Google on the Bram Stoker books doodle is inspired by the cover of the first edition of 'Dracula' published in 1897.

In tune with the plot of the novel, the doodle has an eerie feel about it. A cloaked Count Dracula menacingly bares his fangs as a crescent moon appears behind the castle on the Carpathian Mountains. One of Dracula's favoured shapeshift forms, a bat, flies in the night sky. Other Bram Stoker characters also appear on the black and white doodle with only the Google letters appearing in blood red.

Bram Stoker was born on November 8, 1847 in Clontarf, Ireland. He could not stand on his feet till he was seven but later went on the excel in the sports field. Stoker turned to fiction much later in life, his first book published in 1879 was a legal administration handbook.

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The lettering of the word Google on the Bram Stoker books doodle is inspired by the cover of the 1897 first edition of 'Dracula'.

It was in 1890 that his first novel 'The Snake's Pass' was published and his masterpiece 'Dracula' appeared seven years later. Stoker authored a few other novels, but he is best remembered for 'Dracula'. He died on April 20, 1912 in London.

Read Bram Stoker's 'Dracula'

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Howard Carter celebrated by Google

The birthday of Howard Carter is celebrated by Google today.
Carter was already a distinguished archaeologist and Egyptologist, when he became famous for his discovery of the Tomb of Tutankhamun, the most intact Pharaonic tomb ever found.
At age 17 he began recording tomb decorations of the Middle Kingdom period, and then a year later, in 1892, he began work in Armana, documenting what remained of the capital city of Akhenaten – the father of Tutankhamun.
On 4 November 1922, Carter discovered the entrance of what was then designated as KV62. Noting that the tomb seals were intact, he contacted Lord Carnavon, who had funded Carter’s work for nearly 15 years, to come and enter the tomb as it was opened directly.
On 26th November, Carter breached the seals, revealing the massive horde of ancient treasure still intact.
The discovery caused a sensation and resulted in a massive cultural interest in Ancient Eygpt. The treasures from the tomb were exhibited around the world in the years after, before mostly being put on permanent display in the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities in Cairo.
The clearance of the tomb with its thousands of objects continued until 1932. Following his sensational discovery, Howard Carter retired from archaeology and became a part-time agent for collectors and museums.
Howard Carter died of lymphoma, a type of cancer, in Kensington, London, on 2 March 1939 at the age of 64. On his gravestone is written: “May your spirit live, May you spend millions of years, You who love Thebes, Sitting with your face to the north wind, Your eyes beholding happiness”.

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Howard Carter celebrated in Google doodle

Google homepage graphic pays tribute to archaeologist who discovered Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922

Howard Carter celebrated in a Google doodle. Photograph: Screengrab

The birthday of Howard Carter, who discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun in 1922, is celebrated in the latest Google doodle, a colourful graphic depicting the British archaeologist admiring an array of ancient Egyptian treasures.
The unearthing of the tomb, which had been undisturbed for more than 3,000 years, was the first time that the final resting place of a pharaoh and all his treasures had been found by modern-day archaeologists.
Carter, who was born on 9 May 1874 in London, originally trained as an artist and was sent to Egypt at the age of 17 to assist in the excavation and recording of ancient Egyptian tombs. He was appointed as the first chief inspector of the Egyptian Antiquities Service (EAS) in 1899 and supervised a number of excavations at Thebes, now known as Luxor, before he was transferred in 1904 to the Inspectorate of Lower Egypt.
He was employed from 1907 by Lord Carnarvon to supervise his Egyptian excavations but came under pressure to make a major breakthrough after what the aristocrat regarded as a series of disappointing results.
It came in November 1922, when Carter wrote in his pocket diary: "Discovered tomb under tomb of Ramsses VI investigated same & found seals intact."
He is said recorded as having made the breach into the tomb with a chisel his grandmother had given him for his 17th birthday.
Asked by Carnarvon: "Can you see anything?", archaeologist replied with the now-famous words: "Yes, wonderful things."
Carter then became the first human in 33 centuries to enter the tomb, and spent years documenting the thousands of artefacts from the tomb.
A total of 5,398 objects were found, covering every aspect of ancient Egyptian life, from weapons and chariots to musical instruments, clothes, cosmetics and a treasured lock of the royal grandmother's hair.
He died from Lymphoma in 1939 at the age of 64, just seven years after his excavation ended, and before he could fully publish his findings.
Carter's complete records of the excavation were deposited in the Griffith Institute Archive at the University of Oxford, which has been building an online database.

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The History of the Zipper

Today, 24^th of April 2012, Google is celebrating the legacy of Gideon Sundback.  From the  Google ‘zipper’ Doodle it is easy to determine that the logo has something to do with clothing or with the zipper itself.

This is indeed the case and today the Google Doodle is commemorating Gideon Sundback’s achievement.

Photos: Inventors Whitcomb Judson Gideon Sundback
Illustration: drawing of a modern zipper More of This Feature • View the original 1917 Sundback patent for the "Separable Fastener" Related Innovations • Clothing • Clothing Fasteners It was a long way up for the humble zipper, the mechanical wonder that has kept so much in our lives 'together.' On its way up the zipper has passed through the hands of several dedicated inventors, none convinced the general public to accept the zipper as part of everyday costume. The magazine and fashion industry made the novel zipper the popular item it is today, but it happened nearly eighty years after the zipper's first appearance. Elias Howe, who invented the sewing machine received a patent in 1851 for an 'Automatic, Continuous Clothing Closure.' Perhaps it was the success of the sewing machine, which caused Elias not to pursue marketing his clothing closure. As a result, Howe missed his chance to become the recognized 'Father of the Zip.' Forty-four years later, Mr. Whitcomb Judson (who also invented the 'Pneumatic Street Railway') marketed a 'Clasp Locker' a device similar to the 1851 Howe patent. Being first to market gave Whitcomb the credit of being the 'Inventor of the Zipper', However, his 1893 patent did not use the word zipper. The Chicago inventor's 'Clasp Locker' was a complicated hook-and-eye shoe fastener. Together with businessman Colonel Lewis Walker, Whitcomb launched the Universal Fastener Company to manufacture the new device. The clasp locker had its public debut at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair and met with little commercial success. Illustration: Whitcomb Judson's clasp locker Swedish-born (who later immigrated to Canada), Gideon Sundback, an electrical engineer, was hired to work for the Universal Fastener Company. Good design skills and a marriage to the plant-manager's daughter Elvira Aronson led Sundback to the position of head designer at Universal. He was responsible for improving the far from perfect 'Judson C-curity Fastener.' Unfortunately, Sundback's wife died in 1911. The grieving husband busied himself at the design table and by December of 1913, he had designed the modern zipper. Gideon Sundback increased the number of fastening elements from four per inch to ten or eleven, had two facing-rows of teeth that pulled into a single piece by the slider, and increased the opening for the teeth guided by the slider. The patent for the 'Separable Fastener' was issued in 1917. Sundback also created the manufacturing machine for the new zipper. The 'S-L' or scrapless machine took a special Y-shaped wire and cut scoops from it, then punched the scoop dimple and nib, and clamped each scoop on a cloth tape to produce a continuous zipper chain. Within the first year of operation, Sundback's zipper-making machinery was producing a few hundred feet of fastener per day. View the original 1917 Sundback patent for the "Separable Fastener" The popular 'zipper' name came from the B. F. Goodrich Company, when they decided to use Gideon's fastener on a new type of rubber boots or galoshes and renamed the device the zipper, the name that lasted. Boots and tobacco pouches with a zippered closure were the two chief uses of the zipper during its early years. It took twenty more years to convince the fashion industry to seriously promote the novel closure on garments. In the 1930's, a sales campaign began for children's clothing featuring zippers. The campaign praised zippers for promoting self-reliance in young children by making it possible for them to dress in self-help clothing. The zipper beat the button in the 1937 in the "Battle of the Fly," when French fashion designers raved over zippers in men's trousers. Esquire magazine declared the zipper the "Newest Tailoring Idea for Men" and among the zippered fly's many virtues was that it would exclude "The Possibility of Unintentional and Embarrassing Disarray." Obviously, the new zippered trouser owners had not yet discovered the experience of forgetting to zip-up. The next big boost for the zipper came when zippers could open on both ends, as on jackets. Today the zipper is everywhere, in clothing, luggage and leather goods and countless other objects. Thousands of zipper miles produced daily, meet the needs of consumers, thanks to the early efforts of the many famous zipper inventors.

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Gideon Sundback Tribute By Google Through ‘Zipper Doodle’

Have you seen the latest, coolest, awesomest Google ‘Zipper’ Doodle? If not, head over to www.Google.com and unzip the page! Google’s engineers have put up an awesome doodle to celebrate the birthday of Er. Gideon Sundback – an electrical engineer who developed the zipper! Yep, Sundback was a Swedish-American electrical engineer! Between 1906 and 1914, Sundback made lot of advances in the development of the zipper. His main aim was to improve the “Judson C-curity Fastener”. Plako was the first improvement of the C-curity, but it had its own set of problems. Sundback found his final solution to the problem in 1913. He increased the number of fastening elements from 4 per inch to about 10 or 11 per inch. The improved version of the zipper was finally released in 1914.Interestingly, the word ‘Zipper’ wasn’t coined by Sundback. It came from B.F. Goodrich who decided to use it in their new boots.

Gideon Sundback

Check out more information about Er. Sundback on Wikipedia or Invent Hall Of Fame. We thank Google for the lovely doodle and remembering yet another engineer who changed the world, forever. Proud to be an engineer!
Image Credit: Concordia

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Gideon Sundback celebrated in a Google doodle

Latest doodle is a giant zipper running down the search engine's homepage marking the birthday of the zip's inventor.

Gideon Sundback celebrated with an interactive zipper Google doodle on the search engine's homepage. Photograph: Screengrab

Google's latest doodle, a giant zipper running down the centre of the search engine's homepage, marks the birthday of Gideon Sundback, the Swedish-American electrical engineer most commonly associated with the development of the fastening device that revolutionised the clothing industry.
Before Sundback's intervention, the idea for a fastener based on interlocking teeth had circulated among engineers for more than 20 years but no one had perfected it.
His innovation was to place a dimple on the underside of each tooth and a nib on the top that would sit securely within the dimple of the tooth above it.
As a result, the join between two rows of teeth was then strong because no single tooth has enough room to move up or down and come apart. He also created the manufacturing machine for the new zipper.
Born on April 24, 1880, in Småland, Sweden, he moved to Germany following his studies and emigrated in 1905 to the US, where he started to work at Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
A year later, he was hired to work for the Universal Fastener Company in Hoboken, New Jersey, and became its head designer in 1909.
Sundback initially proposed the new zipper as a replacement for hook-and-eye fasteners on women's boots but it had become a regular feature for the flies of trousers and on dresses by the 1930s.
Sundback died of a heart condition in 1954 and was interred at Greendale cemetery in Meadville, Pennsylvania.

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Robert Doisneau - four images celebrated in the Google doodle

On popular request, here are the four images featured in today's Google doodle celebrating French photographer Robert Doisneau's birth centenary, reproduced in full on one handy page.

From our earlier story:
Robert Doisneau was one of France's best known photographers, most famous for his photograph The Kiss, a photo of a couple kissing in the busy streets of Paris. His photographs, taken over the course of several decades, provide a great record of French life

Le Remorqueur du Champ de Mars (Tug on the Champ de Mars), 1943

Trois petits enfants blancs (Three little white children), 1971

Le baiser de l'hotel de ville (Kiss by the Hotel de Ville), 1950

Le Chien a Roulettes (Dog on Wheels), 1977

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