Beefing Up Your Google+ Profile's Privacy

Here are some tips on beefing up your Google+ profile's privacy.

The coolest thing about Google+ is that it offers much more in terms of privacy than Facebook does. In fact, the "Circles" which the entire service revolves around exist because Google knows that you may not want to share everything you post with all 1,000 of your friends. Privacy is essentially the number one priority of G+.

That doesn't mean much if you don't know how to utilize it, so let's run through a few key items.

Creating your circles

This is the key to the social network that will destroy FB. Or at least, the social network that is really making FB sweat.

From your Google+ home screen, you will see four tabs at the top (to the left of the "Find People" search bar). These are Stream, Photos, Profile, and Circles. Click on the fourth one, "Circles."

This will take you to a list of all of your friends with several pre-defined circles at the bottom. You can keep the default circles or create new ones that better reflect your preferences.

Just go through your friends and drag them into different circles, based on how much you think you will be sharing with them. Close friends and family will likely be receiving more regular and more personal updates than your coworkers. You can also have one person in multiple circles. Be as meticulous as you want, because having good, accurate circles is important for beefing up your profile in the next step.

Editing your profile

Now, from the four tabs next to the search bar, click the third one, "Profile."

This is your hub. This is what everyone else sees when they click on your name. From your profile, they can see all of the information you have chosen to let them see, all of your G+ posts which you have allowed them to see, any photos you have made visible to them, among a few other things.

On this screen, there is a blue button that says "Edit Profile." Click that and you will be able to select every individual section of your profile and edit who can see that section. By everything, I mean everything. Well, except for your gender. And your name. And your profile picture. So, yeah, everything but those things.

Go ahead and click around your profile and select which circles can see them. For example, everyone in my "Family" circle can see my phone number and home address. However, this information is very personal, so other circles cannot see this info. This same level of micromanaging can be done with all other fields such as "Bragging rights" and "Employment."

You may choose that only your "Family" and "Church Family" can see all of your information. Everyone else may only be able to see your name and gender. Or, you may be comfortable with the whole world seeing your job title and work history. You may want everyone in all of your circles to see who your friends are, but you don't want a complete stranger to see. You get the point. It's all up to you.

While you are still in "edit" mode on your profile, go ahead and click around to the different pages of your profile, such as "photos". You can also control whether these pages even show up when other people view your profile.

When you are done with all of this, click "Done Editing" to submit your changes. Then click "View profile as..." This allows you to view your profile as it would look to someone who is outside of your circles. Make sure it reflects the settings you just submitted.

Google+ settings

One of the things I hate about Facebook is that when someone tags me in a photo, it links the photo to my profile and places the photos in my albums. There may be a way to change it, but that means I have to do the other thing I hate about Facebook - crawling through the dark labyrinth of their settings. So I haven't done it.

Anywho, click on the image of the gear in the upper right-hand corner of the screen and then "Google+ settings" toward the bottom, you can choose which circles are allowed to link to your profile if they tag you in a photo. Awesome!

Well, there you have it. You have now tweaked your profile and Google+ is now ready and able to completely replace FB as soon as you convince your friends to make the switch. What are you waiting for?

Netflix Instant Additions July

July 1st begins an exciting month for Netflix Instant Watch users. Here are the additions I have deemed noteworthy.

Star Trek
Star Trek TNG
Star Trek Voyager
Star Trek DS9
Xmen (1992 cartoon)
Modern Marvels
Momento

Planting My Own Tobacco: The Transplant

The hundreds of ground-black-pepper-sized seeds grew into hundreds of tiny tobacco sprouts. Eventually, when they were all about a centimeter tall, Amy moved them over into individual trays. Since there were so many in a small space and since they were so small, it was a fairly tedious process. She used a plastic fork to help break up the dirt around the roots and to scoop each plant out without damaging it.

The plants did not require much sun to sprout - only soil that is always moist - however, once placed in individual trays they need a nice sunny window sill to grow. I placed all of the plants on a tray and would pour water into the bottom of the tray each day.

They are tough plants and don't need the amount of attention and care that I have given them. You can pretty much water them and forget about them. Once they are about 4 inches tall, they are ready to move outside. I made sure to dig a pretty deep hole. I filled it back in with dirt to make sure the roots would be able to spread out more easily.  It is recommended that you leave about 2 feet of space between the plants. Once they are in the ground, just make sure they get sufficient water and give them some plant food. They should take off.

I believe field mice have been nibbling on my plants during the night, but they haven't caused any major damage. Only the leaves that are laying on the ground get messed with. Other than that, bright leaf Virginia is a darn tough plant and thrives in harsh soil, so I'm sure it will do quite well the rich soil around my house.

Last Exile

It's not often that an anime will have me hooked in the first couple episodes. Even my favorite anime took up to five episodes before they really had me intrigued. Last Exile is unusual in that the fantasy world portrayed in the story had me wanting to learn more about it from episode one. The two main characters, Claus and Lavie, are very likable. Immediately, I was interested in their fate and how the story would unfold. The animation is top notch and the supporting cast is fantastic. Toward the end, I was actually more interested in Lord Dio's story than the main characters'. The series has all of the components necessary for an excellent anime.

However, Last Exile is also unusual in that, as hooked as I was, I almost completely lost interest in the show halfway through the story. True, the characters were all likable, including the supporting cast. The story was grand and intriguing. It's odd that a series having so much going for it would be such a flop for me. The chief reason for this is that Last Exile should have been at least a 36 episode anime. With such a large, excellent cast and a deep, epic story Last Exile tried to do way too much in 26 episodes. Thus, I was left feeling like I was robbed of a show that could have been one of my favorites.

Google TV in family worship

A great use I have found for Google TV is practicing singing psalms in parts in the living room. I have an elder email me a recording of each part for the psalms that will be sung on the upcoming Sunday and just check my email on Google TV. From there I play the mp3 over the surround sound. If no hymnal is available, I could easily display the lyrics on the TV screen.

What a cool way to use the TV to do something constructive.

Coming Soon to Instant Watch

Here are what I think to be the most notable additions to instant watch coming in the next 30 days.

March 15

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood Seasons 1 & 2

Shin Chan

Trigun

Three Kingdoms

Eden of the East

April 1

Jericho 

MacGyver

Planting My Own Tobacco: The Beginning

My seeds have arrived from Victory Seeds and its time to start growing my tobacco. If all goes well I will harvest some yellow Virginia tobacco for pipe and cigar smoking this fall.

The seeds arrived in a little bag with what looks like hundreds of tiny seeds inside. I sprinkled the entire batch onto damp soil and will keep the soil damp and warm on my sunny back porch for two weeks until, hopefully, I will see some sprouts pop up. I will thin them out and continue to grow them until about 4 inches tall. I'll report from that point if all goes well!

Symbolism in Tron Legacy

I saw Tron Legacy tonight and here are some thoughts on the symbolism that I noticed in no particular order.

Flynn is creator of the grid and is also the spiritual hero/christ figure. He is creator, yet sacrifices himself to save both the real world and his creation.

The creation of the grid was done by a three people, Flynn, Clue and Tron - a trinity.

Clue was created in Flynn's own image, but fell into corruption.

Clue picked up an apple in Flynn's headquarter's. The apple reminded him of his fall.

The apple also represents knowledge of good and evil - the ability to make correct and just judgments. Flynn, after all this time, now realizes that he did not aspire true perfection. He realizes now that true perfection would have been to sacrifice his own interests for his loved ones - namely his son.

Flynn sacrificed himself to preserve a new and improved humanity - he ensured the last remaining ISO, Quorra, would live. 

Finally, Sam, the action hero, was a true super user (I'm sure this Linux joke has already been made).

Unlimited Storage on Picasa, Kinda

Google Operating System reports that Picasa Web Albums has received an update. Pictures that are 800 x 600 pixels or less no longer count toward the storage limit. Great news for Picasa users who lament having to carefully choose which pictures to upload due to the old storage limit.

Google's Social Initiative Part 1

Earlier I posted on Google Search being an important and exciting part of their new social strategy. Well, Social Search is officially leaving beta and rolling out to everyone.

With social search, what your friends say about the topic you search for shows up on the first page of results. If you search for IT Crowd, you may see a tweet from your friend raving about how hilarious he thinks the show is. Facebook, Twitter, Buzz, etc now will now appear in your results. And why not? My friends carry more weight in my opinions than a blogger whom I've never met.

This also confirms that Facebook is not a threat to Google, but makes its social strategy even more robust.

I'll share more when I see Social Search integrated into my search results.

Why I Don't See Chrome OS and Android Converging

Android - I install Wordfeud on my Android phone and leave my phone at work. I cannot play Wordfeud until I get my phone back the next day.

Chrome OS - If Wordfeud existed as a Chrome web app, I could access it from any of my computers with Chrome browser installed and/or a Chrome OS computer. Whether from work, home, netbook, or mobile device, Wordfeud would be completely cloud based and the machine it's installed on would be irrelevant.

Halo Reach Mythbusters

I made a playlist for the Halo Reach Mythbusters. There are five episodes right now. It's very entertaining and  you can actually pick up some nice tactics from watching it.

Mute Certain Types of Updates on Buzz

Do you have someone you follow on Google Buzz who is generally interesting but they feed some sources that you do not want to hear about? My Buzz feed posts from seven sources. It posts my shared items on Google Reader, my Twitter feed, and my feed from this blog just to name a few. 

My friends who follow me on Twitter may not want to also see my tweets on Buzz. Some of my friends may not care about what I post on this blog (except this post of course). In such cases, Buzz has an option to mute certain feeds, while still subscribing to the ones you do want to see.

To do so, click on the friends name in Google Buzz. Once you click on their name it will take you to a list of all of their Buzz posts. At the top it will tell you all about that person's Buzz profile such as who they follow and what accounts they have linked to Buzz. Beside each account there is an option to mute posts from that feed. Select "mute" and you will no longer see any posts from that source. Now you can enjoy following the interesting things that person has to share while leaving out the boring stuff.

A Touch of HTML5

Today the Google homepage is a collage of Christmas cards from different countries. It is a nice example of how a little bit of HTML5 can bring even a simple webpage to life.

Kinect Hacks

Since the Kinect was hacked and the driver was open sourced, there have been some pretty amazing hacks. I created a playlist of some of the hacks that show pretty amazing things the Kinect is capable of. Here's hoping that Xbox developers are as innovative in their use of the hardware.

Samurai Champloo Chrome Theme

At this blog we like samurai. We also like anime. We also love Samurai Champloo, one of the greatest of all anime. So I created a Samurai Champloo Google Chrome theme. We also love Google Chrome and each of us has installed the theme and you should too if you use Chrome and like anime, samurai or Samurai Champloo.

Now and Then, Here and There

I just finished Now and Then, Here and There. I knew absolutely nothing about this 13 episode anime beforehand but I am very glad I added it to my queue. It is dark and, at some points, downright depressing in tone for the first 6 episodes, yet it definitely pays off in the end. It takes place in a futuristic dystopia - a fairly common setting to be sure - but the story is unique and distances itself from other movies in the genre. I am particularly satisfied that Now and Then, Here and There offers such a strong commentary on the issues of war and abortion.

This anime is a real gem and I would recommend it to anyone who has the stomach to watch a fairly dark show that touches on some very weighty issues. It is available on Netflix Instant Watch.

Makeshift TV-Top Kinect Brace

The $30 stand for sitting your Kinect on top of your TV has a pretty steep price tag. It may be a fitting Christmas present, but I doubt if most people will be too excited about purchasing it right away. Having a Kinect a full two months before release, here is the cheap, sub $10 solution I came up with.

What you'll need:

3" corner brackets: You can buy these at Lowe's for $2 to $4 total.

3M picture hanging strips: Also available at Lowe's for a one stop shop.

Position both braces parallel to each other about an inch apart. Place a 3M strip perpendicularly across both braces, one strip at each end. Position the braces on the TV and adhere the other adhesive strips to the TV where the brace will be sitting. Now you have a Kinect stand to make do until you get the real, overpriced version.

Note: Since the braces are metal, be careful if you have your TV and Kinect running for too long. I'm not sure if the braces could get hot enough to damage the Kinect, but you can't be too sure. For this reason, I intend to get the official stand instead of sticking with my corner braces.

Netflix Streaming Additions: Anime Edition

Here are the anime titles being added to Netflix streaming after the first of October. As always, these are the ones I think are noteworthy from the insanely long list. Keep the anime coming Netflix. I love you for this.

Fullmetal Alchemist
Soul Eater
Basilisk
Trinity Blood
Gunslinger Girl
Darker Than Black
Samurai 7
Fullmetal Panic
Witchblade
Last Exile
Xenosaga

Google Me: I Think It Will Rock

Google Operating System reports that Google's social network will not be a new service but will be a social upgrade to existing services.

The idea appears to be to revamp Google Buzz to be the central hub of all Google applications with more Google products integrated into the Buzz stream. Based on Google's criticisms of other social networks, the new social structure will likely have customizable social circles. You don't necessarily want to share the same information with college friends as you would your family, and this structure will reflect this. The network should have the ability to have certain things that always appear to only these friends, and other things appear only to those friends.

Say you have a social circle of close relatives and you all are working on several Google docs for a family reunion. You have a drawing to sketch out ideas for setup, a spreadsheet for attendees and a word doc for invitations. When you make a change to the attendee spreadsheet, a notice would appear on their Buzz feeds. They would then be able to comment on that Buzz post. "I'm not so sure we should invite Bob, he really caused a ruckus last year."

Using Buzz as a common social strand to all Google products could make a great social network. However there is another thing I expect from the new social structure which could make it worlds better than other social networks - integration with Google search. Social search has been in beta for a while now, but it hasn't really been anything special. I do think that Google wants its social structure to stretch beyond its own products, which could involve getting real with social search.

Google's CEO, Eric Schmidt recently said, "The best thing that would happen is for Facebook to open up its data. Failing that, there are other ways to get that information." This leads me to believe that Google wants to vamp up its social search. Right now Google users can link their social networks to their Google profile. You can link your Twitter, Facebook, Blogger, etc. With social built into search, when you searched for something there would be a section of your search results that would show what your friends have said about the topic you searched for. You would see any Blogger posts they have posted concerning the topic, Twitter posts, Facebook wall posts, etc.

If Google will capitalize on all of this, it could be pretty amazing. If I'm searching for something, I am certainly interested in what my friends have to say about the subject. Adding such a social dynamic to Google search would take social networking to a whole new level.

Now we just have to wait and see if Google lives up to its full potential.