Category: GMG Tech Talk

Thanks Chief!

Posted on by Kimsmithdesigns

Ed Joey John Mayor KirkEd, Joey, John, and Mayor Kirk at the last GMG party at Fred Bodin’s Gallery

Yesterday I was experiencing much frustration with wordpress, which has changed the manner in which photos are uploaded. My images were no longer “clickable,” meaning you click on the image to view a larger version of the file. I tried to figure out how to solve the problem through various blogging and wordpress forums, to no avail. After Much Time Wasted, I emailed our brilliant Editor-in-Chief this morning. Within five minutes Joey had responded with directions on how to upload with a new and improved method. I am self-admittedly not very techno savvy but Joey is ridiculous adept at all things techno and blogging.

Joey Bodin Gallery GMGWe are so fortunate he is our Chief. In addition to posting his half dozen plus daily posts about community events, his humorous writings and rants, and gorgeous photos, behind the scenes he keeps the blog running smoothly and efficiently at all times, making it super easy for we contributors. Thanks for everything you do Chief!

Joey yogaJoey with Funny Bday Gift from Johnny Mac

Joe Ciaramitaro, Eloise MadelineBest Dad to Madeline and Eloise

The New Cell Phone- Samsung Galaxy S3

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

Just picked up the relatively new flagship Android phone The Samsung Galaxy S3.  Had the original HTC EVO 4G for 2.5 years and it was a little long in the tooth.

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If anyone would have asked me before I had this phone what kind of cell phone one should buy I would have told you an iPhone for anyone that does what 95% of cell phone users will ask a cell phone to do and do well.

This was based on more than a few hiccups I had with the original EVO.  This Galaxy absolutely SCREAMS it is so fast, the screen is so beautiful.  There is zero lag.  It has a removable back for which you can buy a larger extended battery which will last you several days under constant heavy duty use as opposed to being stuck with a solid case which doesn’t allow you to snap on an extended battery.

The stock Samsung Galaxy s3 is so lightweight that I actually prefer a little extra size and heft with the extended battery.  It comes with 16gb of on board memory for your music and movies and to save podcasts with a slot for a micro SD card which can handle up to another 64 GB of on board storage space for photos. music, files.

So far I have no reservations about recommending this phone.  The top online tech sites routinely compare it to the iPhone and other top end phones.

It gets my highly recommended nod.

Business and Twitter (and Facebook)

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

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There are a couple of business owners that God Bless them are embracing Facebook and Twitter to promote their companies.

This is a good thing.

What many don’t realize though is that if your Twitter feed or Facebook page is nothing but a bunch of ads and you retweet and repost them every hour that you are doing damage to your brand. 

Once people realize that all you do is feed them ads for your product or service all day they will either unfollow you or breeze right over your tweets without ever clicking through because they know ultimately they’re really not going to get a payback in the form of something interesting but what they will be getting is yet another one of your advertisements about you.  Yes I understand that YOU are the most important person in YOUR life but to the reader on twitter or Facebook try to engage the reader with something that will be a payoff for THEM.

Retweet other interesting things that are happening in your area, things that speak to you or you agree with and let your personality shine through your Twitter or Facebook presence.  People don’t want to get hammered over the head with ads all day long.  Be judicious with your self promoting.  I’m not saying it’s not important.  What I’m saying is to be more effective, maybe make every 5th tweet about your goods or services instead of 100%.

I guarantee you will be more successful in your marketing efforts.  Be natural, be you and let it shine on through.  Don’t be afraid to promote others you find interesting and they will be more likely to help you in your efforts to show the world how truly awesome YOU are.

Thank you.

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A couple examples of people who are really interesting tweeters and marketers are my friends @JMcElhenny an @DscvrGlstr  If you look at their twitter feed it’s not just straight up advertisements marketing themselves.  They tweet and retweet intersting things around them and their personality shines through.

If you’re wondering if it’s you I’m talking about, step back, pull up your twitter feed and ask yourself if you are just hammering the shit out of people with advertisement about yourself after advertisement about yourself.

Check Out The @Joey_C Cape Ann Retailer List For Local Black Friday Deals

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

Check Out The @Joey_C Cape Ann Retailer List For Local Black Friday
Deals-

@Joey_C Cape Ann Twitter List

There are some crazy good deals to be had without even having to go over the bridge.

Toodles toy store for example is having 30% off from 6AM-8AM

You don’t need to have a twitter account to benefit, anyone can view it.  Below is a snapshot of what the list looked like this morning at 4:30AM while I type this but it gets updated as the people that are on the list update their twitter feed.  So if you are a retailer, update your feed and be seen.  You can also check out my Gloucester and Cape Ann Restaurant twitter list here

Check the @Joey_C Cape Ann Retailer twitter list for more crazy local Black Friday Deals!

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Twitter Faceoff @PaulinesGifts vs @Weathervane153

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

Another epic battle of the Gloucester Gift Shops.

This Twitter Battle Pitting Paulines Gifts against The Weathervane

Click to Follow @PaulinesGifts and @Weathervane153

Let’s See how they stack up on www.visual.ly

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Twitter Faceoff @GDTnews vs @Joey_C

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

www.visual.ly is a fun site which lets you create infographics based on twitter statistics.  You can have fun plugging in your favorite twitteratti, just go to the site and click on Twitter Faceoff and then enter two twitter usernames and it will create your infographic.

Fun!

You can and should follow the Gloucester Daily Times Twitter Feed here

My Twitter feed can be found here

I plugged in The Gloucester Daily Times Twitter feed and Mine- here are the results they came up with (I based the GDT Character off of my buddy Andrea Holbrook)

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Investigating Tripods

Posted on by Kimsmithdesigns

This morning while filming at Good Harbor I was reminded once again that I need to upgrade my tripod (for myriad reasons). The first problem is that wildlife, especially ducks and geese, are fearful of my tripod’s shiny black metal because it so closely resembles the barrel of a gun. When I got back to my office I randomly googled camouflage tripod in hopes that there is such a thing. There are many options but the tripods that seem most appealing to me are the Berlebach models. Read the following from the B & H Photo Berlebach description about the superiority of wood over metal and carbon: “…despite wood’s impervious nature to temperature and its general asthetic appeal, the best reason to choose wood over any other material for a tripod is its incredible ability to absorb vibrations. Wood simply does not resonate vibrations such as other materials, instead it gobbles them up. A wooden tripod placed in a shallow stream may be vibrating quite a bit where the legs meet the water, but up at the column it is dead as a doornail.” WOW! Okay, I am sold!

The next thing to figure out is the difference between a leveling center column and a ball leveling system. I often struggle to get a smooth shot with my current tripod when filming, especially in sand and other unstable surfaces, and have to spend many precious minutes adjusting the legs to create a level platform, whereas a ball leveling system sounds ideal.  I am reading a great article from Videomaker,  “The Best Type of Lightweight Tripods for Cameras,” and am looking at lots of panning and tilting heads online, but would love to know of anyone’s positive experience with their tripods and tripod heads.

The Holidays Are Coming- You’re Gonna Need a Camera Let Us Help You Decide Which One Best Fits Your Needs

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

I’m going to give my recommendations based on several categories, but invite you our readers to ask questions and hope our other contributors who have other opinions than mine can chime in with their suggestions as well.  Please feel free to ask a question in the comment section if you would like more information about which camera is best for you.  Add your comments if you have other recommendations as well. We’re here to help!

Best Point and Shoot Sub $200-

Olympus XZ-1 Digital Camera

It has a super fast 1.8 lens and will allow you to capture great photos in low light.  This camera for this price is an excellent value.  It is limited by a not huge zoom but the picture quality is going to be better than anything else in its class for this price.  There are larger zoom cameras out there for this price but these cameras are usually used indoors for birthday parties and such and that fast 1.8 lens is going to capture those moments about 100 times better than a slow point and shoot with a long zoom. 

You can get it on Amazon No Tax Here

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Best Point and Shoot Super Zoom-

Marty’s Canon SX40 HS 12.1MP Digital Camera with 35x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom

What you get here is a very versatile camera that when you have decent amount of light will get you across the Harbor and into someone’s bedroom.  In low light the picture quality will fall apart but for those vacationers who want to zoom in on the action this is a great camera for the price-

Get the Canon SX40  for $349  here

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Best All Around Value Sub $500-

Sony NEX-5N

Here is a Gallery of Photos I’ve Taken With Mine

The Camera I use is currently being offered for $478 with the kit lens.  I bought one for the Mrs I like mine so much.  It has a large sensor and a ton of cool features in a relatively small footprint.  You can fit it in a jacket pocket but not a jeans pocket.  I like it’s light weight compared to a full sized DSLR.  The lenses for it can be slightly more expensive compared to the full sized DSLR’s like father Matthew’s Sony A65 (an awesome camera in it’s own right).  More lenses are being announced for the NEX series it seems monthly and the prices have been coming down on them.

I would buy the Sony NEX-5N with the kit lens and if I had a little extra pocket change the Sony 35mm 1.8 lens for incredible low light performance in a light weight package.

I paid $689 for mine just a year ago and at the price it is being offered right now, I wouldn’t hesitate a second recommending it.

Buy it here no tax and no questions asked return policy from Amazon-Sony NEX-5N

 

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Best Value DSLR-

Father Matthew’s Sony A65

Here is a Gallery of Photos Father Matthew Has taken With His

The Camera Fr Matthew uses takes pictures that speak for themselves.   It’s a beast and coupled with the 18-135mm lens you‘ll have an incredibly versatile piece of kit to take incredible photos or video.  If I didn’t care so much about keeping things lightweight I’d buy the camera he uses. 

You can buy this combo for $1198 at Amazon here or with the kit 18-55 for $998 (I’d suggest the 18-1356 for that much more versatility with that longer zoom.

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There are a TON of lens options for this camera and as a second lens I’d buy the Sony 35mm 1.8 (Sony Alpha SAL35F18 A-mount Wide Angle Lens)  these small wide primes are soooo much fun to shoot with.  You don’t need it right away because the Sony A65 is so capable in low light to begin with, but once you shoot with a fast wide prime you’ll understand what I mean about fun.

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My New Favorite Twitter Feed- @Be_Determined_

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

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Here are a couple gems-

I realize this is a sports related motivational tool but I want each and every one of our contributors to read it and follow it in our effort to be the best blog you’ll ever read.

Here are some tweets that got me fired up this morning-

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Follow @Be_Determined_ Here

Poll- Is it time to short Microsoft in light of what is bound to be a colossal failure with Windows 8?

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

I’m rooting for Microsoft I really am.  I’m an unabashed fan of Windows 7.  I don’t like Windows 7 OS, I LOVE it.  But the more I read or can’t read about Windows 8 the more it makes me think it’s going to be an abysmal failure.

Before Windows 7 came out there was a bunch of videos showing what it could do in slow real time usage explaining the features of the Windows Live essentials suite of apps it came with.  With Windows 8 there are a couple of videos out but it’s all super fast animations without explanations as if they are hiding things.  Why? if you are so proud of it why not plaster what makes it so great in easy to understand demo videos rather than videos of people dancing around with the newly released Surface?

I want it to be great, I really do but my gut tells me it’s going to be horribly accepted.

The Latest Review of What Microsoft CEO said was going to be the best laptop ever- the Surface from Gizmodo-

Microsoft Surface RT Review: This Is Technological Heartbreak

It doesn’t look good.  Is it time to short MSFT?

Here is the stock quote from the minute I composed this post-

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It’s been as low as 24 and as high as 32.95 but it is relatively cheap selling for only 15 times earnings.

So here we go, Microsoft Over/Under Poll-

On April 24, 2013 will Microsoft stock be over or under $28.01 per share?

I want to be wrong.  I want Windows 8 to blow me away with how awesome it will be for the next desktop or laptop I’ll be buying.  Maybe I’m just frustrated that I haven’t been able to see a laptop unit operate using it.  Please Microsoft, prove me wrong, I’m rooting for you.  My gut tells me you’re putting way too much stock into a touch interface much like the TV industry put too much stock into creating 3D TVs that no one cares about.

With Microsoft’s Windows 8 looking Like Such A Disaster

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

They Can Be Thankful That Apple Prices Their Macbook’s So Stupid Expensive For Maybe Saving Microsoft From Completely Sinking Down The Toilet With Windows 8.

I don’t know anyone who has touted Microsoft’s huge victory with Windows 7 more than I have.  I’m a HUGE HUGE FAN of Windows 7.  But Windows 8 and it’s touch interface and Metro UI looks like a complete disaster.

So Apple comes out with an announcement today for its 13 inch Macbook Pro priced at $1,699 and $1,999.   The $1,699 model includes a 2.5GHz dual-core Intel Ivy Bridge Core i5 processor, 8GB of memory, and a 128GB SSD drive. And the $1,999 step-up boosts the processor speed with a dual-core Intel Core i7 processor and the option to increase the SSD drive’s capacity to 768GB source Gizmodo

Instead of putting its foot on the throat of Microsoft and crushing its larynx Apple leaves the door open for people to continue on with lesser priced Windows based computers.

I contend that if the iPad mini is priced at less that $275 it will be a knock out punch for Amazon’s Kindle and Barnes and Noble’s Nook.  Every kid is going to want one and parents that don’t want to spend $500 on a full sized iPad will put one in the hands of their kids for the holidays.

If they price the iPad mini over $350 to start they will leave breathing room for the android devices of the world to survive.  There’s no doubt after using both android and Apple devices that the operating system for Apple tablets is far more user friendly and should command a slight premium.

Follow along on the Gizmodo live blog of the Apple Event now here

Update:

They just announced the pricing of the iPad mini base model starts at $329 which IMO leaves the door open for the lesser Nook and Kindle Fire to survive.  This is not to say that the Fire or Nook are  nearly as good as the ipad Mini but they are able to be priced considerably less.  There is a sweet spot of price that most people would be willing to spend for a child’s holiday present and $329 is higher than magic number IMO.

Sort of like the $9.99 lunch, price it over that and you lose a lot of working folks.  looks like Apple let up on squashing its competitors on this one as well.

If money were no option you go full sized iPad obvi.

Windows 8 Survival Guide- What Do You Think?

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

I’m completely on the fence.

It seems to me they designed the whole OS to work as a touch interface like a giant tablet.  As a fan of Windows 7 I’m pretty bummed out to think that they are chasing their tail and instead of building off of Windows 7 success going completely in a different direction.

Do you anticipate wanting to use your fingers in a touch interface on your PC screen?

It seems Microsoft assumes that everyone just wants to use tablets and they are putting a huge amount of stock into the belief that people want their PC’s to act like tablets.

I dont think that at all.  I think people want tablets to be mobile and lightweight and less expensive.  to make them light and portable that is why they forgo the physical keyboard.  But people that want serious computers for writing and photo editing and video editing aren’t using a touch interface.  I feel like they are dumbing  the PC down.

Maybe I’m all wrong.  Guess I’ll have to wait til it comes out./  I wish there was a Microsoft store where I could bang around on a Windows 8 PC to see if my fears are justified.

Poll- GMG Tech Talk: Ultrabook/Mac Air vs Android Tablet/ iPad

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

As a tech geek and content creator I feel there are limitations to how efficiently I can create when traveling solely with my iPad but I appreciate how light and easy it is to bring along on trips compared to the behemoth laptop our family currently uses- a 17 inch Toshiba Satellite.  The Toshiba Satellite has served us well as a living room couch internet device/editing tool but by todays lighter laptop standards it is like lugging around an elephant.

With a ridiculous number of tablets coming out and an equally ridiculous number of powerful lightweight laptops coming out on a weekly basis I question what the majority number of today’s users will buy.

My guess is that for 85% of computer users a lightweight tablet is adequate for 99% of their daily computing needs.   The vast majority of computer users simply consume content and bang around on their social media websites but only a small percentage of computer users need more than what they can get out of a lightweight tablet like the iPad.  Sure there are many computer geeks like me and content creators that are far better served by a laptop but it seems that those people are becoming the minority.

The iPad really really is a marvel for consuming content and taking along with you on a daily basis.  With the latest technology super lightweight ultrabooks and macbook airs are  just a tab bit heavier but they have FAR greater storage capacity and computing power. But because so few people need that power and storage capacity they’ll opt for the more convenient to carry and cheaper tablet (iPad, android tablet).

This rush by the majority of the population to purchase tablets instead of laptops or PC’s has made these fantastically powerful and lightweight laptops very affordable.

To me as a power user who pushes my computer daily with video editing, photo editing and blogging the ultrabook is a no-brainer.  For a couple hundred dollars more than a tablet I can create about 3-4 times more efficiently than I can on an iPad.  That’s not a knock on the iPad.  It’s super light and thin and portable and slick.  It just lacks a physical keyboard and mouse and the processing power to create content like you can on a machine with more RAM and processing power. Yes there are bluetooth keyboards and mice you can use with a tablet but at hat point you could have just bought yourself a macbook air or a windows based ultrabook and have a far more powerful machine.

As fantastic as these ultrabook and macbook airs are the number of tablets that are selling is blowing them out of the water.  The reason/s?  They are cheaper and most people just don’t demand that much from their computing devices.

Exciting times for laptop buyers, exciting times for tablet users.

The iPad mini is coming out which will be a smaller version of the iPad.  Some pundits have come out and said there won’t be much demand for it.  I wholeheartedly disagree.  This mini isn’t going to be aimed at adults who already own an iPad.  They are aiming straight for the people who bought much less expensive Kindles and Nooks.   Last year when I endorsed the Kindle Fire at $200 I believed it was a tremendous value, but if Apple comes out with a similar product but running the Apple ecosystem as opposed to Amazon’s android system it’s gonna be lights out Amazon.

If Apple prices their iPad mini at $250 or less they are going to absolutely own Christmas presents for young adults.  It will come at the expense of Kindle sales, Android tablets, Nook sales and their own iPod Touch.  It’s gonna be the Christmas present for young adults to receive and that is the price point that will make it happen.

Free can be creepy

Posted on by Vickie & Peter

So you’re not confused, this is Peter writing today.  Remember when I told you that Vickie took some of Gloucester’s best music to Iowa on the cloud?  (See that post here, if you missed it.)  I pointed out that we love having our music in the cloud because we can play it anywhere, any time and on lots of devices — PC, Kindle, phone, etc.

Now, all the music in our cloud is music we own — that is, we bought the CD or downloads, or someone gave it to us.

As you may know there are other cloud services that allow you to play music you don’t own.  No, I’m not talking about Pandora.  I don’t like Pandora.  It’s radio without a DJ.  Pandora’s algorithm selects music it thinks you’ll like and streams it.  If I’m going to listen to music chosen by somebody else, I want that somebody to be a person who has chosen the music because he/she likes it.  That’s why I don’t listen to top 40 radio.  Those DJs just play what they’re told.

I’m talking about Spotify (click here if you don’t know what Spotify is).  Spotify let’s you play any song in its massive library for free any time you like, plus it has a social angle, which can be very exciting, but with a rub.  Here’s an example:

Yesterday, one of my favorite local musicians,  Carlos Menezes (of Runaround, Cape Ann Big Band and other tremendously creative projects) created a Spotify playlist featuring Fitz and The Tantrums and, when he did that, Spotify sent me an email.  Why, you ask, did Spotify send me an email when Carlos created a playlist?  In a word: Facebook.  Like most Spotify users, I log in using my Facebook account.  So does Carlos.  Whenever Carlos creates a public playlist, Spotify sends an email to all of his Facebook friends who are also Spotify users — automatically — and I got one, since Carlos and I are friends on Facebook (I like to think we’re friends in the real world too).  I have a lot of respect for Carlos’ taste in music, so I clicked on the link in the email, which launched Spotify and showed me his playlist.  Then I clicked on the first song (Breakin’ the Chains of Love) to play it.  As soon as I played that song, a new post appeared at the top of the Activity section of my Facebook Page announcing to the world, “Peter is listening to Breakin’ the Chains of Love by Fitz and The Tantrums.”

That’s the rub.

Call me old-fashioned, but I really don’t want the world to know what I’m listening to and when I’m listening.  So I “removed” the Spotify activity from my Facebook page.  And when I did, I selected the option to “remove Spotify” and guess what?  Having done that, I could no longer play any songs on Spotify.  In order to play songs on Spotify again, I had to allow Spotify to post on my timeline.

Is it just me, or does this seem creepy to anybody else?

Well, I like Fitz and The Tantrums, so I might just buy their CD and put it in my cloud.

Owning the music has its advantages, not the least of which is that the artist gets paid a whole lot more if I buy a song than if I stream it on Spotify.  According to published reports, I’d have to play Breakin’ The Chains of Love about 100 times on Spotify before Fitz and the Tantrums got as much as if I downloaded it from their website.

And then there’s the privacy bit.  Once I buy the songs and put them in my cloud, my family and I can play them anytime we like without anyone else knowing what we’re playing and when.

Don’t get me wrong, I really don’t mind telling people what music I like and what I listen to, but I want to choose whom to tell and when.  I don’t want Spotify and Facebook deciding that for me.  I’ve been misquoted in the press and had things I’ve said taken out of context often enough to know that it wouldn’t be a stretch to assume that somebody will draw an unintended inference from seeing all my listening published on Facebook.

If I’m going to take grief from people, at least I want it to be because I recommend something specific with intent, like tonight you might want to go to the Rhumb Line and see my friends Allen Estes and Orville Giddings.  Or if that’s not your cup of tea, check out the other live music in Gloucester.

So to all you artists out there whose music I have in my cloud, don’t expect to see any Spotify posts in my Facebook Activity saying that I’m playing your music.

My Camera- The Sony NEX-5N Severely Reduced To Insanely Cheap Price On Amazon $478 with the Kit Lens

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

I bought one for the Mrs a couple of weeks ago without the Kit lens but for this deal it is ridiculous.  Listen to me- If you have ANY interest in photography this camera has the best of all worlds and I can’t think of a better camera for the price than this one.  Small size,  awesome low light capabilities,  huge sensor $478.  For just a little more than a good point and shoot you get DSLR performance in a small package.  COMPLETE TOTAL NO-BRAINER THE CAMERA TO BUY!

Here’s the link to it on Amazon where you don’t have to pay any tax on it and it ships within days.

 

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Over A Year Later We Revisit Google+ Google Circles

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

Back on August 23, 2011 I wrote that I thought Google Circles and Google plus were probably not going to take off the way some folks were predicting-

GMG Tech Talk- Google Plus, Google Circles

Posted on August 23, 2011 by Joey C

How many of you are actually using these services?

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When they first appeared around what seems like a couple of weeks ago lots of people were signing up and tech media were predicting that it was going to turn Facebook on it’s ear. ahem (Paul Morrison).

The numbers of people were signing up for the services were enormous as there are already a ton of people who use and trust Google products to begin with.   So the growth was probably from people saying sure, what the hell, I’ll give it a try and with the sheer number of Google users to begin with those numbers of new accounts when reported in the media are staggering.

Well Google products have a long history of success and I use many of them daily. Gmail, Google Calendar, Documents, Google Music and Google Listen among a few I use most every day.  There have been a few misses with products that may have been a little ahead of it’s time or too smart to catch on universally.  Among one that comes to mind was the collaborative tool Google Wave which promised real time online collaborations.  I used it once or twice and it was interesting but not enough folks caught on.  Kenny and I edit our podcast shownotes in Google docs sometimes simultaneously and Google Docs seems like it took a lot of things from Google wave and integrated them.

As tech savvy as I consider myself I still can’t get the hang of circles.  It may be just a little too slick and I just don’t have the energy to figure it all out right now.  So my intuition tells me that if I can’t figure it out in a snap that most grandmothers will say fuck it and not bother.  This is a huge difference between Facebook and Google Circles.  Facebook seems just super easy peasy lemon squeazy whereas Google Circles seems like people really need to sort a whole bunch of stuff out to make it manageable.

Google +?  I’ve clicked on that +1 button on a bunch of different sites including this one when there are things that I find interesting and I figure it will share that somewhere but I’ve yet to figure out where that +1 button is visible or who gets to see the post or page that I find interesting enough to click the +1 button for.  Again, I consider myself pretty much a 9.5 on the scale from 1-10 on the tech geek scale so for me not to understand it gives me a strong sense that a good majority of people don’t understand it either.

Maybe once my season slows down and once the winter doldrums set in I’ll have time to get more into it but I’m just not sure the masses will and isn’t that what Google wants to capture with it’s products-  the masses?

Now over a year later I see a few hard core geeks (and I say that in the most complimentary way) ahem Paul Morrison, are using these services and it hasn’t made a tiny nick in the armor that is Facebook from what I can tell. 

It’s rare that I use either of the two, how bout you?  Do you still use Google Circles or Google+?  Do you think it will stay as part of the Google ecosystem?  I imagine they are still adding users but my guess is that the rate at which they are adding subscribers compared to the first couple of months when they were rolling out the service has dropped to a teeny tiny fraction of what it was.  Back a month into the roll out I found it preposterous that analysts were extrapolating the numbers of people signing up in the first month for Google Circles far into the future as if that growth wasn’t simply the shear number of Gmail users that were trying it out for the first time.

When I hear social media pundits like my boy Ryan Pinkham talking about relevant services I never hear them talking about Google+ or Google Circles the way they talk about Facebook, Twitter or Instagram and I find that telling.  Maybe he will chime in here and give his take.

Your thoughts on the service?  Your thought on how you use it compared to the way you use Facebook?  Comment below- 

Social Media Guru Ryan Pinkham adds-

There’s been a lot of talk of Google+ being a ghost town. The way that Google reports on how many people use it is really out of whack, so while they may say they have 100 million+, the level of activity doesn’t match up.

When I have a blog post or find an article I like, I never think “Hey let me share this on Google+” It doesn’t come close to matching the reach of FB, Twitter, or even LinkedIn. Also it doesn’t offer enough of a unique experience to make me put in the effort. I’m a lot less interested in learning about a site that’s trying to be the new Facebook than a site like Pinterest which is offering a unique experience.

I also have never met a business owner who says Google+ has helped their business, would love to hear from anyone who has seen success.

Truthfully I would love to see Google+ takeoff because I think people are getting kinda Facebooked out, but they’re still a long way away.

That all being said, if your a business owner it’s worth it to hop on Google+ and claim your business name now, before someone else takes it. That way, if Google+ takes off in the future, you’ll be ready to go.

GMG Tech Talk: For those of you who own an iPad, were you aware of a chrome browser?

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

My nephew BJ had Chrome installed on his iPad.  I had no idea there were different browsers available for the iPad.  Do any of you use it and what are your thoughts about it compared to the stock iPad browser?

Taking some of Gloucester’s best music to Iowa on a cloud ~ and a prediction for 2020

Posted on by Vickie & Peter

We may be somewhat old-fashioned, but we still listen to CDs for 3 major reasons:

  1. We prefer the superior sound quality
  2. We have a lot of them that we bought before MP3s were available
  3. The only iPod in our house belongs to John (I can’t stand putting anything in my ear!)

But when Vickie had to jump on a plane to Iowa suddenly last Saturday to deal with a family emergency, she felt the need to bring a taste of Gloucester with her.  So she ripped our copy of Chelsea Berry‘s CD Live in the Moment (one of Vickie’s favorites) and put it in our cloud (the Amazon cloud, that is) so she could listen to it on the plane and while in Iowa — along with lots of other music from Gloucester (see list below) and elsewhere that is already stored there.

Although we’re fans of the Joey Approved Product series, those of you who read our posts regularly know that we’ve never even mentioned a product or service that we use — until now.  This is different.  Why?  Because the cloud is changing the way we buy, store and listen to our music more than any other technology since Edison invented the phonograph.

Here’s why we like the Amazon Cloud Service:

  1. We can access our music using devices we already own, including our desktop PCs, laptop, droid phones and John’s Kindle Fire.
  2. It’s free.  Amazon has a free cloud player for the phone and a free interface for the PC.  There is a a limit to the amount of music you can store for free, but we haven’t hit that limit (remember, we still listen to CDs a lot) and music we buy from Amazon (mostly for John) doesn’t count toward that limit.
  3. All music we buy from Amazon automatically shows up in the cloud and is IMMEDIATELY accessible on all of our devices.  Here’s an example.  John and I are big Bruce Springsteen fans — and Vickie knows that.  On the day Wrecking Ball came out, she was sitting on the couch with John’s Kindle fire and said, “I just got it.” (Wrecking Ball, that is) at which point, I plugged my phone into the stereo (because I don’t put anything in my ear) and began playing it!
  4. All of us in the family can play all of the music at any time without restriction.  For example, while Vickie’s in Iowa, she can play Chelsea’s I Wonder on her phone or her mother’s computer while John plays the same song on his Kindle Fire and I play that same song on my phone hooked up to the stereo (because I don’t put anything in my ear) — all at the same time.
  5. It’s easy to rip our CDs and add them to the cloud (it took Vickie only a couple of minutes to add Chelsea’s CD to our cloud before we took her to the airport).

Some of you may know that I’ve made a number of predictions that have come to pass relative to the Internet, music, etc.  (for example, in 1998 I predicted that by 2003 every business will either have a website or wish they did).  Here’s another one: By 2020, the most common way to listen to recorded music will be to access it from a cloud server.

And here’s a partial list of local artists, whose music Vickie is playing for her family in Iowa from our cloud (in alpha order by artist last name or band name):

Fly Amero, Bandit Kings, Inge Berge, Chelsea Berry, Dennis Brennan, Cape Ann Big Band, Allen Estes, Marina Evans, Elle Gallo, Orville Giddings, Tom Hauck, Will Hunt, KBMG, Satch Kerans, Pete Lindberg, Michael O’Leary, T Max, Dennis Monagle, Ned and the Big Babies, Gary Shane, Henri Smith

Go Daddy is down

Posted on by Donna Ardizzoni

If anyone uses Go Daddy for their Website and email, Go Daddy is down everywhere so it is not just your site.

GoDaddy Outage Takes Down Millions Of Sites, Anonymous Member Claims Responsibility

Are You Backing Up Your Digital Life? I Just Bought This 2TB External Drive For a Steal.

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

Here’s the link to this crazy good deal

My last 500GB external drive filled up about a year ago and I was searching for a larger external hard drive to save all those photos, videos and music that you see on the blog but the prices were insane.  The reason was because of the Earthquakes in Japan had knocked all these manufacturing plants offline.  now that they are back operational the costs for safeguarding your data against failure has never been cheaper.

And when you think about those precious photos of your children or grandchildren or those vacations to special places that you took and have saved on your computer how can you not get on it and back up your digital life.  I was naked for the past year without having the past year’s data backed up.  Not any more.

I highly suggest you get one of these external hard drives and set up your computer to automatically back up your essential files.  Think about your baby or grandbaby’s first steps in video.  Can you honestly say that $120.33 is too much to pay to insure that?

Anyway, prices have come down.  Your computer WILL fail eventually. They all do.  Back it up or lose life most precious moments, the choice is up to you.

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Compatibility
Formatted NTFS
Windows® XP, Windows Vista®, Windows 7
Mac OS® X Leopard®, Snow Leopard™