Story 2/Chapter 3 – Back In "The Cave"

Whew, made it back to “The Cave!” That’s the little nickname my friend Lyn came up with for the apartment I live in; because it’s where I’m the most comfortable and feel safest. If you were to study me, like an animal, my behavior might remind you of a bear in hibernation. As long as the kitchen and refrigerator were well stocked, I could go days without venturing into the outside world. It’s a very calm place to be! My cat Destiny also lives here with me.

Anyway, while still lost in thought and confusion about this supposed double of mine and just the freakiness of the whole thing, a beeping noise brought me back to reality. It was an iPhone notification saying I had an un-read email message waiting.

The message was from my friend Markus: a reminder about his daughter’s high school graduation and the fact that he wanted me to shoot video at the ceremony, to then edit it down to something he can post on You Tube. For the love of Pete, can’t people do these things for themselves? I mean, it’s not that hard! Between you and me I’m thinking about making up some excuse that I can’t be there. You see, there’s a science fiction convention happening the same night and would much rather check that out!

I still can’t believe my friend from high school has a kid graduating from the same place we came out of! So, what the hell happened to me? Divorce, that’s what: and wasting the best years of my life on…nothing!! It’s moments like these that I always go back to what could’ve been, and Son Hui, my first love, and the woman I almost married. That’s when I did it again; put her name into Google to see what would come up. This was a regular exercise with me; that seemed to be happening more and more these days.

As yet one more fruitless search continued, another email notification popped on the screen. Oh man, he doesn’t give up does he; thinking it was Markus messaging me again. It wasn’t, but instead something from an address that wasn’t in my contacts or didn’t look familiar in the least.

Here's the screen capture.

Story 2/Chapter 1 – First Trip

I hate waking up hungry, because it usually means there’s absolutely no food in my kitchen and I’m going to have to go to the store right away, which I did on this particular morning. First thing; clothes. Damn; got to remind myself to get to the Laundromat, soon!

Stepping out of the door the light seemed more intense, and kind of fuzzy, like it used to look on hangover mornings back in my drinking days. I got in the car and let my instincts take over. It’s kind of like turning on the auto pilot now, with how many times I’ve been that same Kwik Trip 15 blocks away. My 2005 Hyundai Accent just takes me there and before I knew it we were pulling into the parking lot and struggling to find an empty space, like is always the case.

Knowing exactly what I wanted my body walked right to the cake droughts and chocolate milk. I scanned the shelves anyway, just in case there was something else there that peaked my interest. There wasn’t so I proceeded directly to the checkout line. Thank God there was no one else waiting so the food was paid for in record time and was quickly out the door and on my way home again.

I cracked open the 4 for a dollar pastries and sipped on the milk which made me a little more aware of my surroundings during the return trip. It was a Sunday morning so there weren’t a lot of people out on the streets or sidewalks which made it easy for me to spot him.

The G in Google Stands For Getting To Know Your Neighbors

By now I'm sure you've heard about Google Plus; in fact you have have signed up and are enjoying the world's newest social network, but did you know it's also a great way to get to know your neighbor too?  No, really!

Above is a screen grab of the Safari version of G+ from my iPhone.  As of when this is being written the iOs app is still awaiting Apple's approval but the mobile web version is pretty damned good and as you can see I circled the word "Nearby." When you click on that it takes you to status updates and things people have shared publicly from YOUR AREA.  (If you want to be part of that though make sure to grant Google permission to use your location data.)

To bring this discussion back around again to my original point; say you're new to a city and don't know any of your neighbors.  You go to the "nearby" stream on Google + read a post from someone that's perhaps in your neighborhood, you add them to one of your circles, the two of you become friends and voilà, the social network becomes even more social!

I don't know if the Google folks were thinking of that use case when they thought up the "nearby" feature but if sure seems like a great way to get to know some people you may have never had the chance to meet.

You can find me on Google + at THIS link or on Twitter HERE

Google Plus Twitter Divided By Facebook Equals Better

So, who's using Google Plus by now?  If you answered me, then you're among the 10 Million people who have signed up since the service launched just a mere two weeks ago.  At the rate it's going, and if those numbers stay consistent G+ could be a "Facebook Killer" after all.

But hold on, why should the world's newest social network kill anything?  In the mortal words of Rodney King, "Can't we all just get along?"  And there's no reason why Twitter, Google Plus and Facebook can't.  I know it would be convenient to have one social network to rule them all but there isn't a one that's perfect.

I've found different use cases for each.  Facebook is where my family and friends are.  Twitter is more of a news feed and G+ is really good for conversation.  Social Media and Tech star Robert Scoble did an experiment tonight and found the maximum number of comments per-post on Google Plus is 500.  

Talk about dialog! 

We also can't forget competition breeds innovation.  With the launch of Google + came the introduction of the "hang out," where up to you and 9 friends can video conference all at the same time.  What did Facebook roll out a week later?  Their own video chat service, which is the result of a partnership with Skype.  Granted it's something FB had already been working on but it's a good guess that Mark Zuckerberg and company put the project on the fast track and got it out earlier than they wanted to once they found out what Google was doing.  

Just watch and you'll be able to see the cat and mouse game heat up in the months and years to come.

I'm hoping none of the 3 social networks get killed because with each comes more choice and more innovation.  

Let me know what you think by leaving a comment.

Wausau City Summer Scenes

Here's some pictures I took over the July 4th Weekend in Wausau, WI.

Bench and Fountain at City Hall

Fountain at City Hall

Below are photos of the 400 Block City Square