Lacking the ability to fund my happiness

So they say, "Money can't buy happiness". First off, who exactly are "they"... The mysterious source that seemingly everyone sites for the standard issue cliches? That being here nor there, again "Money can't buy happiness". I contend this is wrong. Well, at least partially wrong. Money can't directly buy happiness, as if happiness was a commodity. It can, however, buy... stuff. I'll be the first to say that as a whole, society has too much "stuff". Conversely, having stuff can be a good thing. Yes, I am a study in contradictions... It's part of my charm, appeal, curse... I have the ability to see the whole picture... the good, the bad and myself... I mean the ugly. So, with this ever elusive, at least in my case, money... I can buy happiness! That's right, I can. I can buy iPads, My Little Pony©s, fast pitch softball equipment and lessons, emerald encrusted jewelry, tools(!!!!) and all the little things in life that make my family and friends... wait for it... HAPPY! That being said, the single most important thing that money can buy... Time! I know, I know... it appears as if I have lost it (hard to lose what was never there to begin with!). Just keep reading... it'll come together... maybe... Anyway, yes, money can buy time. Having money would allow me to be more selective about my employment options. This would allow me to find something that would keep me from having to constantly be out on the road, away from my friends and family, just to make a living. See... money would buy me some time and happiness by way of allowing me to take care of all those annoying bills that are required to function in today's society while being able to spend time with family and friends which makes me and at least some others, happy. So there it is... money CAN buy time and happiness!

Now that y'all have been infused with some of my twisted logic, on to my rant about college degrees and the fact that more merit is put in a piece of paper than the actual person that is bearing it...wait... no... not today.

So, yeah... Not go off on a tangent, today... Instead, I'm going to spread my dream a little. So... I want to do THIS !! Not go to one... well yeah... go to all of them, but I want to build one... run one... enjoy one... right here where I live. Without getting too in depth in all the particulars, I can see in the "normal" part of my twisted little mind, how things could pan out and allow me to not have to travel, by embedding knowledge, experience and happiness in the local educational infrastructure and the community as a whole. Just imagine... a class field trip... 20 or so 3D printers and an instructor... the result would be a classroom's worth of customized Mother's Day gifts and interest in all the things that could by laying down heated plastic in a programmed order. See what has happened there? Not only have a bunch of children designed and created a physical object for their maternal guardians, but they have been shown that the things in their head CAN become a reality. They have been exposed to computers as the tools that they were designed to be, to programming, to science by way of how a 3D printer extrudes the plastic, to design... to technology! So, here is where money would have bought some more happiness. Happiness outside my little (and I do mean LITTLE!) social group, as well as for me. There's nothing greater, in my opinion, that seeing that breakthrough moment in a child, when they realize that the sky is the limit. This is what I want to bring to my community, my friends, my family and myself! Being closely tied to the educational community, it saddens me to see the lack of support for technology. Albeit, it's necessarily the fault of the educators, but more so of a society that is increasingly supporting the religion of sports and neglecting those that do not excel at them. I want to bring that spark, that hope, the realization that just because you can't catch a football or hit a baseball or shoot a basketball, doesn't mean that you can't do awesome things in life. I want to help, not only my, but all the children I can, to see how technology and creativity can enrich their lives. THIS is the tool that I want to use to launch careers in engineering, design, art, computer science, education! Here's where money can again buy time and happiness. Now, if I could just find the funding for my happiness...

Piece

Don't bitch at me... Tell Google!

So I did a post on how I felt that there was room for both Google+ AND facebook in the enterprise realm. Later in the day I was chatting ( me through Google+ and he through what I'm assuming was Gmail) with a good friend of mine who also happens to be a highly certified information security specialist for one of, if not THE largest bank in the US, and he expressed concerns over Google's Privacy Policy. He seemed to think that it some how infringed on our First Amendment rights. So I read it again (yes, I do tend to read most privacy policies! ). I didn't really see where he was coming from with it, but we agreed to disagree. I mean if you want to boil it down to it's base elements, simple having an ISP or an Internet connection for that mater, opens you up to censorship by a government or corporation. It's one of those things we all live with to enable us to be connected and informed. Bear in mind that I'm not condoning this, just stating the reality of the situation. So to bring it back to what I was saying in my previous post, Google+ is in it's infancy! While it is absorbing membership like one of those compressed sponges thrown in a swimming pool, the sheer quantity of the membership does not incite change, but it's the force of that membership pushing forward that does. What I'm saying, basically, is as early adopters of a new product, the vendor tends to rely on feedback from us to make the product better, more streamline or just plain not suck! My friend had suggestions as how to make Google+ more adaptive and secure for the enterprise environment. What good did it do to tell me (beyond inspiring this blog entry!) when I can do nothing to change it?! In the top right hand corner (Windows version... Haven't made it up stairs to set it up on my Mac, yet) of the Google+ (let's go with G+ from here on out as I'm tiring of typing Google, aight?) there is the little gear shaped icon generally recognized as the tools menu. Upon clicking said icon you get a drop down that contains the link to Send Feedback. I told him that since I knew he had a Gmail acct AND an invite to G+, to do so... as in send feedback! His response was his usual "Grrrr", which indicates that he knows I'm right, but will never own up to it. Am I not right, though? You want to filter your stream better... Tell Google! You want to prevent cross-contamination of your circles... Tell Google! You want to be able to play Farmville... Tell Google! (I guess at this point the whole G+ thing is kinda irrelevant!) One side note, I sincerely hope that they don't allow G+'s pristine waters to be muddied by all the annoying games and apps that have made facebook intolerable at times! So to crank the handle on the reel once again... If you use G+ and see changes that you feel need to be made... Tell Google! Utilize the very convenient Send Feedback button and let them know. Bitching about it in your blog or on facebook to your friends does nothing to improve the product! If nothing else, delete you membership to it. If they see declining user numbers they will look in to it. For all the crap that Apple Fan Folk get looking at and adapting to feedback is one thing Apple does well. While they may not completely repeal or redesign an update, if enough folks are yelling "y'all fucked up with this one!" at them they will find a middle ground to at least soothe the majority of the masses.
   So to wind this Mother on down so I can get some sleep... Realize that G+ is in it's early stages, no product is "perfect" upon initial release and the only way that it's going to to be honed to meet the needs of whoever the target audience is, is for people to give feedback.
   One final note... I like what I see so far with G+. I see the potential for it to not only be a powerful tool for businesses, but also a kick ass social network (provided they keep all those damn games off it!)! So don't rant at me for security loop holes and if it isn't a clone of facebook... Tell Google!

   UPDATE: found this little article on Mashable this morning that goes along with the opening statements of this blog. Do We Need an Internet Freedom Movement?

Google+, a laymen's first impression

I think it's interesting that in a lot of the stuff I am reading, comments included, that people are trying to cram Google+ into a preconcieved "box" as a facebook rival/killer. I don't think it's that at all. Not being a tech professional in any way, shape or form, this feels more like an enterprise productiviy suite with a social aspect thrown in. Standing firmly outside the enterprise environment, I see Google+ as a deeply integrated, though still in it's infancy, collaborative tool for business. The ability to compartmentalize/departmentalize your contacts into specific groups and push out updates to just those groups is powerful, not only as social tool,  but as a business tool. The ability to video conference with multiple people is a useful and cost effective way for small to medium sized businesses to play in the same league with the big boys without the overhead involved with buying and maintaining application specific equipment. Many companies and educational institutions already utilize and enjoy the horsepower and cost savings provided by Gmail, Google calendars, and Google Docs. Throw in Picasa, YouTube and Google Reader and the educational and business applications become seemingly endless. Although it is, basically, a social network and even the mighty Mashable, is touting it's merits (and flaws) as a social network, I think it goes deeper (or broader, depending on how you look at it) than that. I feel there's a place for both facebook and Google+ in any company's arsenal, once it gets fleshed out, by Google, as to which direction they want + to go. facebook is an excellent tool for promotion and advertising of your brand or products and a way to keep the technologically enabled masses informed and coming back. On the flipside, Google+ is more of an in-house toolbox for keeping employees (vendors, customers) abreast of what is happening and/or will happen while allowing for ease of integration, easy collaboration and lower overhead. Once Google makes the call, we'll then see whether or not we need to bitch about being able to play Farmville or "poke" our "friends" on Google+. Again, Let me reiterate that I am NOT an enterprise/technology professional. I'm just a dude putting his opinion out there for scrutiny and waiting for Apple to approve the Google+ app. This fact in and of itself (waiting for the iPhone app), just goes to show that this  product suite of products, is still young in it's lifespan and as a "field trial" has a lot of room to grow as well as directionality to work out.