The RSS Feed, Feedly

Feedly is a place where you can dump all of you favorite online news sources into one place. The closing of Google Reader put Feedly where it is today. They report 500,000 new users in two days after the closure. Threre are extensions available in Chrome and Mozilla. 

I have been using Feedly in the past few weeks for my weekly article summaries, and it really does help. Instead of look through a bunch of websites for something to write about, I can put them all in one spot until I find something I feel like reading. 

There is also an iOS app and Android app. I haven't used either of them, but below is an example of what both look like. The left is iOS and the right is Android. They both look nearly the same and probably have similar interface, if I were guessing.

 

Feedly is the most popular RSS feed available. It would be my number one choice.

The Pro's and Con's of Facebook, Myspace, and Google+

Facebook, Myspace, and Google+, what is the difference? Essentially, I think all social media sites suck just because no one can use them without acting like fools. They want to argue back and forth and post everything from their shit, shower, and shave. However, if it were a perfect world, all of these sites have some good and bad features. I plan to pick those apart.

Everyone knows Facebook, and the love/hate relationship associated with it. It does have it's ups and downs. Eh, against my better judgement, we will look at a few of them.

Pro's:

Facebook allows people to communicate freely in which one may not feel comfortable speaking in a face-to-face conversation. It makes it easier to express how you feel even if you are hiding behind a computer screen. I guess in a sense it gives you a confidence you wouldn't have otherwise. It also allows you to connect with people you wouldn't be able to communicate with on a daily bases otherwise. I have family that lives in Florida and in Arizona. It is nice to see what they are up to, and pictures of them and their children. Facebook also isn't very hard. Anyone can use it.

Con's:

When one gets on Facebook do they simply just check their messages and then leave? I know anytime that I do that is typically not all I do. I end up looking through my news feed for the things that idiots have posted. Next thing I know I have wasted an hour of my life that I will never get back. That I should be using writing my blogs that I am so far behind on. Another thing that isn't very appealing is all the information Facebook asks for. If you have read my last blog about social media then you will get a gist of what I mean. One more thing that bothers me is that, if the only way you can express yourself is behind a computer screen, you are going to have some issues later on in life. One has to be able to speak openly at some point in their lifetime. That public speaking class might be the only time you have to be able to speak, but you still have to do it. For the love god and all things holy please do not get me started on the game requests.

Mywhat? Oh ok! I remember now, the has been who has made a said comeback. Sorry, I almost forgot what that was for a minute. It certainly isn't what it once was. The music social network. Why?

Pro's

Fantastic the local band can get it's name out. There are 53 million songs and videos, making it the biggest digital music library. Other than listening to some good music, I don't have much of a use for it though. So that is about the only pro's I can come up with. Sorry!

Con's

I miss the old Myspace. The one where I was introduced to HTML. I miss having that freedom. How do you even edit this? Anyone remember the bulletin board? The most annoying part is the scrolling. Sure lets take everything good and the world, and the way the internet has always been and change it. That won't confuse anyone. How often do you search for someone or something on social media sites? What were is the search bar? Oh ok, you just start typing, because that's how everything else works. I did manage to find my old profile. Not how I left it. It is disappointing, at best. Maybe I just hate change. It's me not you. 

I remember when Google+ first came out, I loved it! However, no one jumped on the bandwagon,  and what good is social networking with no one to socialize with? Since I have been on it again, it just looks confusing. I am not an active user and probably missed some good and bad. Bare with me though.

Pro's:

Google Hangouts is probably my favorite part of Google+. It would be so convenient if some of my classes were through Hangouts. Another thing that I liked about Google+ is that it looks like a google search and other Google products. It makes it somewhat easier to us. I have also found that the one of the most annoying things about Facebook is the game requests. That isn't on Google+ feed and notifications. I also like the circles. It makes it easier to pick and choose what I would want to share with who. Something that Facebook provides, but doesn't do it very well. 

Con's

Ahhh, the confusion! it is near to impossible to get from place to place. What happened to the simplicity? I may not just get the ways and the trade of it. My whole thing is why would the link to your profile be in a drop down labeled home? Another thing is, the new feed sucks! I am just going to say that Twitter does it best. The newest content first the the oldest. I can not for the life of me understand why one needs two columns of feed. I don't know what to start with. 

Google Changes Lives

Fifteen years, one month, and some odd days since Google's "official birthday." How many days do you go without Google-ing something? How often do you check your Gmail account? Do you ever use YouTube? Are Google Maps essential to your travels? If it weren't for Google you wouldn't be utilizing any of these helpful tools and many more not mentioned, including reading this blog. Google has a mass impact on our lives daily. I can't think of a day I do not use at least one product powered by Google. How did Google manage to change our lives, the internet, and the way we think?

The other day I was talking to a friend about writing this blog for class, and she told me about the quote above from Boy Meets World. It made me really think about how Google really has changed the was we live. If you hand me a dictionary or an encyclopedia, I can use it. Anyone with some common sense should be able to. However, why should I look up what a word means in a dictionary when I can type it into a search bar? I can cut the time taken to find the word in half the time. A book is more than less a waste of time if we utilize the technologies in front of use in the right way. You don't even know how to spell it properly and Google can still find it!

This also leads me to another thought. Many of us take for granted the technologies and conveniences Google has laid in front of us. Imagine it taking six months thirsty for just ONE book. It took Google 0.28 seconds to find that quote above for me. To me that is completely mind blowing. I wonder how long it takes the average person to sit down and look something up in an encyclopedia or dictionary. More than likely more time than someone would be willing to give. I think it is amazing.

I have heard many older people use the phrase, "It's a small world." In all reality, the world isn't so small with over 7 billion people. What makes the world so small? One thing I know that has made the world smaller is YoutTube. There is an limitless amount of videos on YouTube which will teach you about and how to do nearly anything. At one point you could read for days about how someone lived, or maybe go to lessons and learn how to play an instrument. What would be better than hearing about a culture and all involved than coming directly from that person experiencing it everyday. With YouTube you can also get that guitar lesson for free. YouTube is good for recreational purposes. There is also so much knowledge to be gained through many of the resources offered to you from Google!

There isn't a thing in the world that is better than a family vacation where you almost make it there but not quite. You can't quite make it there because you have the navigator in the passenger seat who can't read the over-sized map, or the driver who is refusing to stop and ask for directions. Imagine a world where there are written directions provided including any planned stops. Also including traffic and weather. Tell me how Google Maps haven't changed the was we travel. I never leave the house when I do not know where I am going without Google Maps.

Google to me is essential to everyday life. There is so much offered on the web and Google helps you utilize it all. You need Google for nearly everything you do. Searching, communicating, learning, watching, entertaining, and many more features. It is unlimited. Think about it every time you search on Google, and be thankful for what all is offered to you, so quickly and free of use. Google is amazing it what it has given us, utilize it every way possible.

Is Skydrive or Google Drive the Better Cloud Storage?

As far as cloud storage goes, I use Google Drive. This is simply because it is convenient. I already have an account with Google. However, which one should I be using? Which one has the better features?

Google Drive

Pros:

• Media streams without having to download it.
• Drive has better compatibility than Office
• Google Docs user interface is very clean.
• Google Docs can be saved in various formats.
• You can decide which items you want synced, and on what devices they go on.
• When you upgrade to any paid account within Google you get an addition 25GB of Gmail storage.

Cons:

• You start out with only 5GB of free storage.
• It is $60 for an additional 100GB of storage per year.
• You can't earn free space by referring friends

Skydrive

Pros:

• You start out with 7GB of free storage.
  
• It is $50 a year to get 100GB of additional storage.
• The office web application looks VERY similar to that on the desktop version.
• You can use Office for free online, and it allows you to move back and forth between online and offline editing if you have Office installed

Cons:

• Putting the entire ribbon from Office online is clutter and chaos.
• Office documents are just that, no other formats can be used.
• Skydrive prefers to stick with Office formats.
• Must download media to view.
• You can't select, drag, and drop items.

Guest Blog: Four More Cool Extensions

This blog was written by Keith Bell, check out some other things written by him by clicking on his name.

In class, we have begun looking into certain extensions provided from the Google Chrome app store. These are the one's to pique my interest: 

1. Pandora: I like to use Pandora for when I have writing to be done and I need something nice to listen to. This app provides me the ability to instant start listening to tracks from my Pandora. Saves me the effort of searching for the site. It's a minor app; namely one the someone could live without, but even the most minor of efforts are great strides for someone as horribly lazy as I. 

2. Evernote Web Clipper: I use this to get articles, pictures, or just reminders on what to look at often. With Evernote Web Clipper with a press of a button you can instantly save a page, article or picture to your Evernote for future reference. This is really only useful for those people who often save Word documents, or something like it, just to remember various pages, pictures or articles they had come across over their Internet searches. It's more useful than it sounds, as it is useful more by each different person and perspective.

3. Ad Block: Ad Block is probably the most pivotal app for generally everyone. No one likes ads and no one cares what they have to say. With Ad Block you can block all the ads off of the pages and precede in your Internet shenanigans with no problems. This is especially useful for slower Internet connections where it takes more time to load a page due to the ads, but with Ad Block, even the slowest of Internet connections can become manageable with Ad Block. Not to mention how much faster an already fast Internet connections could become. 

4. Weather Channel: This is the app I use the least often, as weather is usually my last concern, but it is still useful, especially for days where you plan on being outside. It shows you the forecast for the current day and a few days afterward, so it becomes much easier to plan out your days or what days you should be concerned on when driving. It's situation and I don't believe you would need it everyday, but it is still useful when you decide to take a look, even though, just like news weather, it is possible that the forecast could very well be incorrect, so take everything with a grain of salt.

Four Cool Google Chrome Extensions

Recently in class we have been taking a look into Google's PlayStore and what type of extensions they have to offer. The assignment this week was to find four extensions that we really liked. I have downloaded many in attempt to pick my favorites. It seems I have been successful.

Netflix Rate

I have found Netflix Rate to be useful because I am frequently using Netflix to find something new to watch. So, if you are like me and find cable near to useless, this is a good tool to utilize. I have found on more than one occasions than not Netflix's ratings do not really work all that well for me. When you download the Netflix Rate extension, Netflix not only displays it's ratings but also those of IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes. I think it is awesome, when I am looking for something new to watch, I get not only one but three sources of what people thought of it in one convenient location.

YouTube Auto Wide

Almost every time I get on YouTube I find myself annoyed with the videos. The first thing I always do is choose the wide setting on whichever video I have chosen to watch. The YouTube Auto Wide extension has made it to where all of the videos that I click to watch are already preset to be wide. While it is not all that big of a deal for me to change the setting myself. It is nice for it to already be there. Convenience is something I enjoy. Why not take the easiest way possible?

Black Menu For Google

Have you ever been on Facebook or some other website and think, hey, I need to check G-Mail, need to Google something, or want to know where something is located on the map? Well if that is the case Black Menu is awesome. It provides you with a list of various Google services without having to waste the time going to Google's website. After seeing various things, I typically want to search for them to learn more about them. If I see a location or venue I also always want to know how far away it is or where it exactly it is. For those reasons, I do not see how I survived without it before discovering this extension.

Sexy Undo Close Tab

I do not know about anyone else but I am always closing the wrong damn tabs. I find it pretty annoying, but I have always been a klutz like that. At one point the only thing I could do is move and and get pissed off because I have no idea what I just closed. That has all came to an end recently since I can now restore previously closed tabs with this extension. It is another one of those that I am just like how did I survive without you type of deals. At least I no longer have to mess up nearly everything I work on. 

Gmail: Best or Worse Email Service

Google has more resources than a lot of people know about or use. Gmail I would thing would be one of the more popular ones. I have used Gmail for more years than not. I find that is is much more efficient than using Hotmail or Yahoo mail for the reasoning of not seeing a spam email once in the time I have used it and the massive amount of storage I am aloud to keep. I really enjoy the fact that with my gmail account I have access to YouTube and Google Drive. There isn't really much that I do not like about gmail. It is very simple to use. Google has really hit the nail on the head by this program.Its ease of use and options that is offered is unbeatable.