There are many mysteries - such as why are we here and what lies beyond the edge of the universe.?More mundanely - why do Ant and Dec have a place in popular television, how do chickens make eggs, who is RJ and are happenings in the mythical village of Trelawnyd simply imaginary? For me another mystery is something called "Google+" or "Google Plus".
How I was ensnared by this cyber beast I have no idea. I noticed that it was capturing many - though not all - of my online pictures and storing them in an album. I noticed that it had made a homepage for me and that it had started to send me occasional emails. I was allocated "friends" and "contacts". At no time was I invited to join "Google+" and no one has sent me a manual or welcome pack.
Just before Christmas and without asking if this was permitted, it cobbled together a slideshow of my year in photos and sent it to me. The pictures flow together quite randomly and if I am honest I rather like it. I even sent "Google+" a thank you card with a lily of the valley posy on the front.
Recently "Google+" keeps picking out random photos and then re-editing them before sending them back to me. This morning for example I have received a reprocessed picture of Creswell Pond with some of the crags that fringe it. This was the original:-
"Google+" seems to make certain broad assumptions about what people want from their online experience but not everybody is the same. Some of us shun all this endless social media "Facebook" type chattering that appears to have been partly absorbed by "Google+". I wonder if they did their research properly. Clearly - just like the odious Ant and Dec - "Google+" is becoming a phenomenon that it is almost impossible to dodge. I guess I am going to have to learn to live with it.
I'm on it
ReplyDeleteI have no idea about it
But I'm still on it
So make sure you wash your hands afterwards.
DeleteI got a slide show and enjoyed it. Last year they did a little GIF file with falling snow. It is a mystery. I was for ever being invited to go round in circles but I seem to manage that quite well without Googles help.
ReplyDeleteWho are Ant and Dec? Are they in Eastenders or presenters of Songs of Praise? Many questions but no answers life is a mystery.
No Adrian - Ant and Dec are your "love" children - following that wild night you once spent in Newcastle upon Tyne. Do you remember? No - I didn't think you would. When interviewed on Radio 2 they said, "All we want from life is to find our Daddy".
DeleteI definitely prefer the original photograph, rather than google's "enhanced" one.
ReplyDeleteGiven the number of Google Plussers, I think the enhancements are probably created by a machine. It might be called Hal. Remember him Mary?
DeleteI definitely remember Hal, YP. A machine with a mind of his own. Re the photos, I store photos on my laptop using Picasa. It's a free google product, and does not store things online. It does allow you to do that, but I've chosen not to. There are a lot of things you can do to your photos with Picasa, although not like Photoshop or another of those paid-for programs. Mostly I use their programs for cropping and straightening, or for sending photos via email.
DeleteSeveral times in the past, I received invitations to join Google+. But I am already here on blogger, which of course belongs to google as well, and that's enough data they already have about me.
ReplyDeleteI don't need yet another platform where to show my pictures and share my earth-shattering news with the rest of the world. The water in the second one looks poisonous. Wonder why they have not added a mermaid for good measure.
As for the mysterious RJ, let it suffice to say that he is a VERY good dancer, reasonably good cook, has a degree in Theoretical Physics, is nearly 6'5'' tall, has brown hair and blue eyes and is 8 years my junior.
But everybody has to take their own decision in that matter, of course.
I like the un-enhanced photo much better.
Huh? What happened here? Paragraphs got mixed up! The one about RJ was supposed to be at the end. The two sentences after "But everybody..." were supposed to be at the end fo the first paragraph.
DeleteYes that ending to your first comment was kind of spooky! I was thinking - where is the unenhanced photo of RJ and why would a guy like that need enhancing?
DeleteI prefer your original version.
ReplyDeleteThat is because you are a nice lady.
DeleteI'm sorry but the second picture is not really yours. Swans and ducks and geese would know better than to swim in water filled with that much green algae. I hate that they have ruined your beautiful nature study.
ReplyDeleteI think the idea behind that change would be to age the photo - put it in a different era of more primitive colour printing - a touch of nostalgia.
DeleteDo you recall that spoof blog I started because of JG's Ukrainian Village, 'I Vladimir from Kiev'? This has evidently confused Google because I receive unsolicited emails with the salutation, 'Dear Vladimir'.
ReplyDeleteHow dare they address you as Vladimir! Even MI5 know that your military Russian spy name was Boris!
DeleteI blundered into the google plus stuff too. I'm surprised that they have so much stuff yet make it almost impossible to operate on the site. I decided to quit and never look at them again. Good post
ReplyDeleteRed - It is nice to know that I am not the only one who has found the Google+ experience rather odd.
DeleteYou are not alone YP. Google+ is a complete mystery and I'm determined to keep it that way.
ReplyDelete