Social Networking….It’s Nothing New

There is certainly nothing new about social networking. It’s being going on since the beginning of man. It would take many forms, sitting around a fire, gathering at a feast, it could be families getting together or members of other villages.

As societies developed, social organizations came into being, with various clubs, church groups, and civic organizations. My own personal networking would be my membership in a veteran’s organization, meeting friends and coworkers at a café for breakfast, coffee shops or occasionally at the local bar.

So social networking has always been around in some form. Now with technology as advanced as it is, social networking has taken on a whole new structure. The computer and internet has brought people together like never before. We can connect with others with our smart phones, tablets and computers from anywhere we might be.

My first introduction to social networking through technology was MySpace (does that even still exist?). It was something my niece would get on after school each day. I never really paid any attention to it, just that she’d be on it for hours with her friends each day. This apparently was just something for the young teenagers. I would just continue working with the CAD program on the other computer while she did her MySpace thing.

I later heard about Facebook when some family members started hounding me to get an account so we could stay in touch. Well, I finally caved after a lot of resisting. So what did I first see? Everyone was playing games! That’s all there was and now they were after me to play games with them. Now, don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with games, it’s just not my cup of tea. Slowly there started to be some interaction with some real posts…but the games still plagued the news feed. I learned to stop them for awhile, but now they’re coming back again, if only they could be stopped for good. My experience with Facebook has been limited, with a few pages that I’ve subscribed to and posting and poking. All this interaction is only between existing friends and family. And of course the occasional tirade by some (family members) who just can’t agree with anything some of us have to say. So the Facebook networking still continues although it is very limited to just a few friends and family members. I’ve tried in vain to get my own children involved so we could interact, but that will never happen so I don’t push for that anymore.

There is also Twitter, one that I never got into. Some I know tweet about every little thing that goes on throughout the day. There are many who do use it productively in their every day business. Since I don’t use it and am not familiar with all the in’s and out’s of Twitter, I won’t comment on it any further. We’ll leave that up to those who use it and know it well.

Now there’s a new one, Google+. You might say it’s still in it’s infancy (being around less than a year) but growing up fast! I joined Google+ once it went public, thinking it was maybe a Facebook clone, but with out all the clutter. Oh, but I was wrong! Google+ has broken down all the barriers of social networking through the internet! Since joining Google+, here’s what I’ve found.

The obvious was that lack of all the clutter. I really liked the idea of the circles. You can organize all your people you have in your circles in a way that is meaningful to you. Create a new circle, give it a name and put the people you want in that circle. Each person you have in your circles can even be in more than one. It’s a great idea for complete control of where your people are and who you share things with. And as far as sharing goes, it’s easy to share with just who you want.

And there are the Hangouts. I only recently joined a Hangout and it was an awesome experience! You can hangout with up to 10 people at a time. Then what Google did was to give us the ability to share a document during the hangout. Now you can do even more! You’ll really need to check this feature out.

And now you might say, but all my friends are on Facebook and there not going there so I won’t either. Well, when I started on Google+ my friends wouldn’t join either. Some did and never used it, but others just refused. So if they don’t go, and you want people in your circles to interact with, there is an answer.

Public Circles. Yes there is such a thing. There are thousands of public circles that you can add, and many of these people will add you back. Now you have a start to make new friends with Google+. Now here’s the really neat part, you’ll meet people from all around the world! Oh, but now you say, “I don’t know their language”. Well, there’s an answer to that too, Google Translate.

A simple right click on the page and choose Translate to English and viola! you have it in English.

I could go on with much more, but I’ll let you explore for yourself.

The bottom line…if you wish to socialize on the internet, there are many options available to you. I only talked about a few here, but there are many more. So choose one or two or maybe even three. They are all different and all serve a different purpose. Get active and go out there and make some new friends or just stay in touch with the ones you have. One more thing I’d like to note. This is particularly helpful to those who may be physically or emotionally disabled to where they can’t get out every day to be with people. I personally am glad for it myself. Since I’ve been dependent on a wheelchair I can’t get around like I used to but I can still stay in touch people and make new friends everyday!

-Ed

Android OS is Seriously Fragmented….Really?

I just read another article about the seriously fragmented Android OS. Really? When is this insane rhetoric going to stop? Sure, there are many versions running on many different devices out there. Many of the older devices are not capable of running the new ICS and will never be upgraded.

So wouldn’t it be nice if we could all have the latest and greatest of everything? Sure it would, but that’s not even practical (unless we’re millionaires).

Here’s my point. How many of us are still running Windows XP, or maybe even an older version? I still have an XP machine, I only recently bought a laptop running Windows 7 (I missed Vista) and now Windows 8 is just around the corner. And then there are the suite of Office programs. My older machine still has Office 2003 installed, I then used 2007 and now I’m using 2010. Where are all the articles claiming that Microsoft is “fragmented”? Or Apple? Might there not be older Apple iOS machines still running out there?

I’m also the owner of a 1994 Chevy van. My budget doesn’t allow me to buy a 2012 model, especially since I also need one with a wheelchair lift. My TV’s are still the older tube type. A new LCD one is on my wish list and when I can budget a new one I will have it. The same with my cell phone. When I can I will move from my Rumor Touch to a new smart phone (hopefully running ICS) I will buy that also. Are all my things I need and use everyday “fragmented”?

I’m a NASCAR fan too, and I have never seen everyone cross the finish line at the same time….only one! Everyone else is behind the winner. Some are way behind….maybe 70 laps or more….and some never finish.

Isn’t it that way with technology too? All of technology is moving at such a rapid pace, how can everyone keep up the pace? Whenever there is a new release there is another one right on it’s heels! Should all the manufacturers stop and let everyone catch up?

I hope I’ve made my point here. There are going to be devices still running the older OS no matter who’s they are. Technology is advancing at breakneck speed. So let’s not even expect that everyone is going to be using the latest and greatest of everything. Let’s stop the BS already!

Android is not “fragmented” in my mind. There are just many older versions still running out there. I know what your probably going to say. It’s fragmented because some devise manufacturers are making changes to the OS to run on their devices, like Amazon’s Kindle Fire for example. There will we find some variations, sure. But when these people argue about all the versions that are still running, (and call it fragmentation) just consider the race. It’s fast moving and impossible for us all to keep up.

Just saying……..

Feel free to comment.

-Ed

All My Journals: Review

I’ve been looking for a journaling software program for quite some time now. To me it seemed awkward to use some of the office software I have installed on my computer. These programs did not quite fit right as a journaling software. I just wanted  to be able to open and start writing my thoughts and notes for the day without going through any formatting or anything.

Then I came across All My Journals by Bad Wolf Software. I downloaded and installed the free trial version of the program and started using it. This is the one I needed. It’s simple,clean and is not overloaded with features I will never use anyway.

The free trial version is just as it says…a trial. It doesn’t include all the features available in the licensed version and just one journal is available. The licensed version is the full version with all the features unlocked and you can have an unlimited number of journals.

Some may think, well, I never keep a diary so what would I need something like this for anyway? There was a time I thought this way too. Then I became disabled and had to start making regular visits to my doctors. They would ask questions and I didn’t have all the answers I should have. I would not think about asking the questions I should be asking…until I’d get home again. That’s when I realized that I needed something I could keep a journal with.

Let’s think for a moment what you might use All My Journals for. As I mentioned earlier, I use mine for notes to my doctor that I write right away when there is something she or he should be aware of. I’ve also been using it to keep a diary. I don’t write in it every day, but when there is something significant to write about. Perhaps you might want to use it to keep agenda notes for an upcoming meeting. Or keep minutes for your meetings. Maybe keep a diary of your golf games, fishing or hunting trips. Ladies can write about their ladies groups, knitting, book clubs or whatever. The ideas are endless, I could keep going on with more ideas, but I think you get my point. It’s for everyone, men, women, children, students and businessmen and businesswomen. You will find many uses that will be unique to your needs.

When you open All My Journals, it will open to today’s date and the last used journal. Just start writing, or chose the journal you want and start writing. You can choose from a list of fonts in preferences and you have all the basic formatting tools available to you. To make it easy to read your journal there is a reader built into it. You can print your journal and specify the range you want printed. It includes a search feature making searching for a particular entry easy. The Save As and Export allow you to export your journal that can be read by any word processing software. Backup does just as it says by backing up your journal for data recovery should you journal become corrupted or lost.

The program will always give you the choice to choose the current year or the next couple of years. But that does not mean future years are not available. As the years pass, future years will always be shown. It is a perpetual calendar so you’ll be able to use this for many years to come.

Do you have a need to take it with you to use on another computer? All My Journals can be installed on a thumb drive with the data saved there also so you can take it with you to use wherever you are.

One more thing I’d like to mention about Bad Wolf Software is their tech support. I’ve rarely had to use tech support with any software I use. I read their blog and they said they were working on a new feature and an update would be soon released. I thought I’d take a chance and contact them to find out if indeed it was on track to be released as planned. I received an immediate reply that it was expected to be released the following month. To my surprise, shortly after, I received an e-mail that the new version had been released that day and they included a link to go to their site to download the updated version! I was impressed! All to often I read of complaints about tech support. In this case I’m happy to report that their tech support is responsive to their customers. I put a lot of value in that.

In conclusion, All My Journals is a simple program that will do what you want, no more, no less. I highly recommend it and encourage all my readers to check it out for yourself.

Happy Journaling,

-Ed