Sunday, December 11, 2011

What is Google+? (micro, blogging, social, network, twitter, facebook, friends, chat)



Search engine giant Google has just announced its Google+ social networking platform that's set to rival Facebook. Well, that's the plan anyway. Google doesn't have a particularly strong history when it comes to social networking services with both Google Wave and Google Buzz failing to catch on, but if the demo is anything to go by, it's investing a lot of time and money into making its latest venture a potential Facebook killer. Should Mark Zuckerberg and Co be worried? We took an in-depth look at Google+ to see what it brings to the table.

What is it?

Developed under the codename Emerald Sea, Google+ is basically Google's latest attempt at creating a social network. Google is cannily calling it a "project", rather than a "product" - perhaps to avoid comparison with its less successful social products. Google reckons that current online networks (no names mentioned) simply don't cut the mustard and that's why it's launching its own version. According to Google's official blog:
"Today, the connections between people increasingly happen online. Yet the subtlety and substance of real-world interactions are lost in the rigidness of our online tools.

"In this basic, human way, online sharing is awkward. Even broken. And we aim to fix it."
The idea is to topple Facebook from its throne by making every existing Google product socially compatible. The company certainly has a lot to work with, including Picasa, Gmail and Google Maps and information and functions from all of these will be integrated into the Google+ experience so that you don't have to sign into different services to share your photos and let your mates know what you're up to.


Each Google+ profile will centre around the Stream, which is essentially the same thing as Facebook's news feed - where all of your info and updates from your chums are rounded up and constantly updated. The Stream will be joined by four core elements - Circles, Hangouts, Huddle and Sparks - with Google hinting that these are the starting block for future developments.

Circles

Google wants to make sharing online more like sharing in real life - different things with different people. For example, you might want to catch up with your pals about your drunken Saturday night out, but you don't necessarily want your parents in your chat. You can keep your conversations separate by putting your contacts into 'circles' such as 'Work crew', 'Uni mates' and 'Parents'.


To put your nearest and dearest in neat little online compartments all you have to do is click and drag them into the relevant circle and then they'll only get the information that is meant for them. If only real life were that simple.

Hangouts

As the name suggests, this feature is all about hanging out with your buddies, virtually, or couse. You can choose specific friends, or circles, to invite for a face-to-face video chat and anyone in the Hangout can invite others to join as well. According to Google's demo: "Until teleportation arrives, it's the next best thing". We're not sure about that - it's basically just video calling.


The difference, it seems, is that you can include more than two people in each chat - something that not all video calling services currently offer.

Huddle

You know when you're trying to arrange a night out by having several different text conversations with a number of friends? If so, you'll know how long-winded and confusing it can become. The idea behind Huddle is that you can turn all these exchanges into one big group chat to save you time.


This certainly has the potential to be a very useful addition to the Google+ mobile offering - we just hope that your friends are slightly more decisive about their plans than the tedious bunch of individuals on the demo page.

Sparks

Tell Sparks what sort of stuff you're into and it'll send you things that you might be interested in that you can then watch, read or share. For example, you could type 'Films' into the seach box and see what comes up. If you like the results, then you can click the 'Add Interest' button to add Films to your list of important subjects.


If it works well, then it could be a invaluable service that means you've always got something cool to check out - if not, there's a danger that it could become a very annoying form of spam. You can delete interests from your list if they begin to bore you and we would expect that they'll be a few other ways of tweaking the settings, too.

Privacy

Most social networks, Facebook included, have run into trouble over privacy concerns at some point or another, so what is Google+ doing to address it? You'll be able to alter your visibility settings so that only your name and photo will appear online to people that aren't in your network. However, if you're in a circle on a friend's public profile, then your picture will appear on there (but clicking on it wouldn't go anyway if your privacy settings are on). You'll be able to assign different levels of visibility to different aspects of your profile. You can also choose whether your profile is indexed by search engines and, as with Facebook, you'll be able to block people.

Google+ won't ever disclose the names of your circles (apparently, even to the people that are in them), although people in circles may be able to see some of the others members of the the circle that they're in - presumably depending on who posts any kind of feedback.

If you decide you don't like it, then you'll be able to downgrade your account, which will delete your
profile and remove any posts, circles and other Google+ content while still enabling access to Gmail and other Google services.

Backing up data

One of the biggest worries with uploading photos to Facebook is that one day the site will retire from public life, taking our cherished memories with it. Obviously canny computer users already make sure that anything they upload is backed up at home and likewise, Google+ has recognised that we don't all want to live exclusively in the clouds.


You can use Google Takeout (google.com/takeout) to download data from your Google+ products to your home computer - that includes PicasaWeb albums and photos, your Google profile, Google Contacts, Stream and er, Google Buzz.

Mobile

Supported by the Chrome, IE, Firefox and Safari browsers, Google+ will also be available on mobile devices - a vital element for any social networking platform. As well as sharing your thoughts and location from your mobile, you'll be able to check into places and make use of the group messaging feature, Huddle.

Making photo-sharing as simple as possible, images and videos taken on your phone will upload themselves automatically to Google+. That might sound a tad scary - what if you don't want everyone to see your snaps or footage? Don't panic - they'll be uploaded directly to a private album and you can then specify who (if anyone) you choose to share them with.


You can already download the Android app and there's an iOS 4+ app due to hit iTunes soon. You can also access the basic Google+ mobile site (m.google.com/app/plus) on Android handsets (1.5+) and Apple devices (iOS 3+) as well as on  BlackBerry (6.0+), Nokia/Symbian and Windows Mobile. The Android app currently offers a wider range of functions than you'll see on the mobile sites.

There are no tablet specific versions of the project at present, but this is something that Google plans to work on in the future.

APP OF THE DAY - Google+ (Android)

When can I get it?

Google+ can currently only be accessed with a special Field Trial invitation, which Google has been sending out at random to Gmail users. There's no set date for a full launch, but we would guess that it won't be too long before Google+ goes live to everyone. In the meantime, you can check out the demo, as long as you have a Google ID.

Do I need it?

Overall, Google+ looks good and the new features, especially circles, could just make the difference between it being a Facebook killer or another Google social failure. But do we really need another social network and do we really need as much control of who we share what with as Google thinks? It may sound good on the surface but there might well be a certain amount of faff involved and degree of sharing awareness to be tightened up. It also raises concerns that if Google+ takes over as the social online hub of choice then we'll all be tied into using all of Google's products for evermore.

The web has already questioned why Google has chosen to soft launch a product that isn't entirely ready yet. With most online services launched in beta form prior to a full rollout, the answer seems blindingly obvious - so that it can fix bugs and iron out any kinks before the project goes global.

Getting people to shift over from Facebook is going to be a tough one. Early adoptors and tech fans may well want to try out the new project asap, but getting reluctant Facebook newbies to make the switch isn't going to be easy. The inevitably length transition period while users wait for their entire social groups to migrate from one service to another could be a step that the public just aren't willing to make; not when that already have a social platform that already works. We'll find out more when Google+ goes global.

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Famous Preacher Scandals (us, usa, news, religion, preachers, child, abuse, Auckland)

Famous Preacher Scandals SS
Famous Preacher Scandals SS. America's most famous Preacher Scandals evangelist across a career that lasted some six decades, the prospect of old age and death was for a long time something he tried not to think about, despite his convictions about the eternity that awaits human beings.
Bishop Eddie Long
When accusations surfaced: September 2010
The latest: The wife of Eddie Long, the pastor of an Atlanta megachurch, on Friday announced and later retracted her plans to divorce her husband, who in May settled with four men who accused him of sexual misconduct. We take a look back at a televangelist, a priest and others whose improprieties or crimes prove that members of the clergy are human, too.
George Alan Rekers


When accusations surfaced: July 2010

The scandal: George Alan Rekes, a Baptist minister and anti-gay activist who opposes certain adoptions in Florida, was caught in the summer of 2010 returning from a trip to Europe with a male escort he allegedly "rented" from a website. How did the married preacher explain his vacation on Facebook?
Tony Alamo
When accusations surfaced: 2008
The scandal: The cult leader of an eponymous ministry group in Arkansas received a stiff punishment in 2010 after being convicted of several crimes against minor girls, including violating this law.
Father Alberto R. Cutié
When the scandal surfaced: 2009
The scandal: The Roman Catholic priest, author and TV host made headlines when photos of him with a woman were published in 2009 by a tabloid. The beach snapshots cost the Miami Beach cleric his parish, but he gained the real love he wrote about.
Jamal Bryant
When the scandal surfaced: 2007
The scandal: This megachurch pastor was an empowering force in Baltimore, but his marital status and allegations of having a sexual relationship with an underage church member in 2007 has tarnished his image. The high school dropout, who says he ascended to academic heights, garnered praise from a magazine and made TV appearances.
Juanita Bynum & Thomas Weeks III
When the scandal surfaced: 2007
The scandal: Known for her gospel singing and her sermons and books about renouncing premarital sex, the prophetess had a fairy-tale wedding to an acclaimed preacher that turned into a nightmare when she accused him of this violent act in 2007. He pleaded guilty and was convicted. Now divorced, the evangelist is an advocate for this group and is married to another woman
Coy Privette
When the scandal surfaced: 2007
The scandal: Charges of soliciting the services of a "lady of the evening" led to the downfall of the retired Baptist minister and former North Carolina lawmaker. A vocal opponent of these issues, he quit his leadership post at a Christian group and later faced his day in court and after entering a guilty plea. What has his sentence?
Ted Haggard
When the scandal surfaced: 2006
The scandal: The former senior pastor lost his 14,000-member megachurch in 2006 after rumors of a relationship with a male prostitute. He later partially admitted guilt with a quasi-confession. A male church volunteer made an accusation against the preacher in 2009.
Gerald Patrick Thomas Jr.
When the scandal surfaced: 2003
The scandal: The former Lutheran minister of a church in Marshall, Texas, was sent to prison in 2003 after being convicted of charges of sexually assaulting boys. In 2004, abuse victims who filed lawsuits reached multi-million dollar settlements. How much total?
Father John J. Geoghan
When the scandal surfaced: 2003
The scandal: During his 30-year career in six parishes, the Massachusetts priest was accused of sexual abuse involving more than 100 children. With each accusation, he was moved to a new parish. While serving a prison sentence for molesting a boy, he was killed in 2003.
Paul Crouch
When the scandal surfaced: 1998
The scandal: The founder of this network was embroiled in scandal after reports that he paid a former male employee to end a certain type of lawsuit in 1998. Did Crouch admit to the alleged sexual encounter?
Jimmy Swaggart
When the scandal surfaced: 1988
The scandal: After this Assemblies of God televangelist exposed the sexual misdeeds of two fellow televangelists, the finger of accusation turned back onto him. When light was shed on his adulterous liaison with a prostitute, Swaggart made a public confession and stepped down from his pulpit in 1988. The preacher was caught in a compromising position three years later by California police.
Jim Bakker
When the scandal surfaced: 1987
The scandal: With his then-wife Tammy Faye Bakker, the former Assemblies of God minister hosted "The PTL Club" Christian TV program. A sex scandal with a church employee led to his resignation from the ministry in 1987 and the demise of his empire. But various financial crimes led to a long-term prison sentence, which was later voided and reduced.
Peter Popoff
When the scandal surfaced: 1986
The scandal: The self-proclaimed faith healer laid hands on believers at his worldwide revivals, saying that he had divine knowledge about the illnesses of his audience members. But two skeptics exposed how his wife fed him information about the attendees. Since filing for bankruptcy in the late 1980s, he has made several comebacks.
Bob Moorehead
When the scandal surfaced: 1970s
The scandal: Though denying allegations of sexual molestation of boys during the 1970s, the pastor stepped down from his non-denominational church in 1998 after 29 years of leadership.  The pastor, who vocally opposed homosexuality, was initially exonerated in the church probe, but the church later found evidence of guilt. Moorehead later was charged with a public sexual act in Florida but was exonerated.
Aimee Semple McPherson
When the scandal surfaced: 1926
The scandal: This early-20th-century itinerate evangelist began as a Pentecostal preacher's wife before going into the ministry herself after her husband died. She founded an evangelical Christian denomination and settled in Los Angeles, where she built a temple in 1923. Three years later, the dynamic preacher disappeared while swimming but reappeared in another state. Her story left police in doubt.
This post is sponsored by:Dr Mobiles Limited
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Tel: (09) 551-5344 and Mob: (021) 264-0000
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