My New (FAD) Social Network…

Who here remembers the good ole GIF?

If you don’t know what I am talking about please reference [Just Some GIFs For Fun]

These fun low quality animations were all the rage back in the days of GeoCites, and again for a while during the MySpace era. Well its looks like they are coming back again, and this time gaining steam with the youngsters and their smart phone.

If you haven’t noticed them replacing peoples profile pictures on twitter yet you soon will. How to make your twitter avatar a GIF.

Twitter GIF

That is where this new social network comes in. GIFBOOM, makes creating, sharing and networking with GIF loving fools everywhere simple and easy and completely functional on any decent smart phone.

Link to PlayStore GIFBOOM

Google+ Opens Its Doors To The Public & Does Video Hangouts In App [PRESS RELEASE]

This new updated Google+ is even better than it was before.  With the additions listed below as well as being opened up to the public G+ has truly reached new heights and is back on track for being the best social media site. The over the air hangouts are super cool. its kinda like posting a live feed of yourself onto someones new feed. They can log in and you will show up live right there in from of them.

 Google+: 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99… 100.

9/20/2011 09:00:00 AM

For our international readers, this post is also available in Chinese, French, German, Italian,Portuguese, Russian and Spanish (Latin America, Spain). – Ed.

The Google+ project has been in field trial for just under 90 days, and in that time we’ve made 91 different improvements (many of which are posted here). Google+ is still in its infancy, of course, but we’re more excited than ever to bring the nuance and richness of real-life sharing to software. Today we’re releasing nine more features that get us that much closer.

+Hangouts: more places, more people, more to do

Hangouts uses live video to bring people together, face-to-face-to-face. And from day one, the community has shaped and stretched the feature in amazing ways—from cooking classes togame shows to music concerts. We’re determined to keep this momentum going, and to keep providing new ways to communicate in-person, so we hope you enjoy this week’s round of Hangouts improvements.

92. Hangouts on your phone
In life we connect with others in all sorts of places, at all different times. And the connections you make unexpectedly are often the ones you remember the most. We think Hangouts should keep pace with how you socialize in the real-world, so today we’re launching it on the one device that’s always by your side: your mobile phone. To get started, simply find an active hangout in the Stream, and tap “Join”:

Hangouts currently supports Android 2.3+ devices with front-facing cameras (and iOS support is coming soon). The new mobile app is rolling out to Android Market today, so you can start hanging out at any time, from just about anywhere.

93. Hangouts On Air
Google+ users already use Hangouts to create intimate onscreen experiences—with family members, prayer groups, even people with certain medical conditions. But sometimes you want to speak to a large audience, or alternatively, view as a spectator. In these cases a public broadcast is what’s needed, so today we’re introducing Hangouts On Air.

Hangouts On Air: Stream View (left), Full-screen Mode (right)

The setup is simple enough: just start a normal hangout, and you’ll have the option to broadcast and record your session. Once you’re “On Air,” up to nine others can join your hangout (as usual), and anyone can watch your live broadcast:

We’re starting with a limited number of broadcasters, but any member of the Google+ community can tune in. In fact: we’ll be hosting our very first On Air hangout with will.i.am on Wednesday night, September 21. For more information visit will.i.am’s or my profile on Google+.

94, 95, 96, 97. Hangouts with extras
Spending time together goes hand in hand with actually doing things together. Dinner with family can easily turn into movie night at the local theater, for instance. And running into old friends can inspire anything from photo sharing to vacation planning. Hangouts has always included a basic set of in-room actions (like group chat and co-viewing of YouTube videos), but we want to make it easier to do a lot more. That’s why we’re previewing some extras, including:

• Screensharing: for when you want to show off your vacation photos, your high score, your lesson plan or whatever else is on your screen
• Sketchpad: for when you want to draw, doodle, or just scribble together
• Google Docs: for when you want to write, plan or present something with others
• Named Hangouts: for when you want to join or create a public hangout about a certain topic (like fashion or music or sports…)

Hangouts with extras: Screensharing (left), Sketchpad (right)

Hangouts with extras: Docs (left), Named Hangouts (right)

The extras are still under construction, but we wanted to preview these features and get your feedback sooner versus later. So start a hangout, click “Try Hangouts with extras” in the green room, and let us know what you think.

98. Hangouts APIs
If field trial has taught us anything about Hangouts, it’s that the community is overflowing with creative individuals. So in the wake of last week’s Google+ API launch, we’re also releasing a basic set of Hangouts APIs. If you’re a developer who wants to build new kinds of apps and games (and who-knows-what-else), then you can find more details on the Google+ platform blog.

+Search: find the people and posts you care about

99. Search in Google+
You’ve been asking for it, and we’ve been busy building it, so today we’re bringing Google’s search expertise to Google+. Just type what you’re looking for into the Google+ search box, and we’ll return relevant people and posts, as well as popular content from around the web.

If you’re into photography, for example, then you’ll see other enthusiasts and lots of great pictures. If you care more about cooking, then you’ll see other chefs and food from around the globe. In all cases, Google+ search results include items that only you can see, so family updates are just as easy to find as international news.

With more than 1 billion items shared and received every day, we’re excited to see how search will connect people through their posts on Google+.

+Everyone

100. Anyone can sign up for Google+—no invitation required.
For the past 12 weeks we’ve been in field trial, and during that time we’ve listened and learned a great deal. We’re nowhere near done, but with the improvements we’ve made so far we’re ready to move from field trial to beta, and introduce our 100th feature: open signups. This way anyone can visit google.com/+, join the project and connect with the people they care about.

Over the next day we’ll be rolling out all of these features globally. In the meantime, you can check out what’s next in Google+.

Posted by Vic Gundotra, Senior Vice President of Engineering

10 Things Google+ Does Well.

1. “Circles”

Overwhelmingly, Google+ users say they prefer Google+’s model for organizing your contacts. While Twitter allows you to “follow” others, and Facebook is all about mutual “friendship,” Google+ instead introduces the concept of “Circles.”

Circles are groups of friends with different labels such as “co-workers” or “family.” Users can choose to share each update with a different group, and also view their incoming streams by group, rather than all at once. “I’m finding the circles help with keeping my life and work separate,” explains Google+ fan Richard Walden.

2. Privacy

Google+ users say they find the service’s privacy settings easier to use. This might be surprising given that Google+ profiles themselves cannot be private. However, thanks to Circles, it’s easy to control which users can see each of your updates. “I want fine grained control of how my posts are shared,” says Jen Delisle.

3. Longer, more thoughtful posts

Twitter might be king when it comes to brevity, but Ward Anderson says he reads more insightful postings on Google+. This thoughtfulness is enabled by Google+’s higher character limit — users can post multiple paragraphs of text, versus one or two sentences on Twitter.

4. No ads

Google+ users, including Dave Francis Rotaquio, say they love that Google+ is currently ad-free. With Facebook having run ads for years, and Twitter now ramping up its use of advertising, Google+ is now one of the few successful social networks that lacks commercial interruption.

However, the free lunch is unlikely to last forever: Google runs the largest ad network on the Web and may eventually have to face the economic realities of operating a large social site.

5. Group video chat

Want to video chat with up to 10 friends? With Google+, switching from a text chat to a group video conversation takes a click — and it’s one feature that Google’s rivals lack. Facebook now supports video calls thanks to a deal with Skype, but group chatting isn’t possible there.

What’s more, Google just integrated this “Hangouts” feature into YouTube, letting you and your friends chat about videos while you watch.

6. Farmville-free

Google+ recently added games to its lineup — a feature that’s often cited as an annoyance on rival social networks. (Do you have a Facebook friend who can’t help but post Farmville updates all day?)

Google+ makes its games less irritating, says Inniya Kim, by relegating all gaming updates to a dedicated tab — this keeps your stream free from noisy distractions. So if Farmville were ever to come to Google+, few would consider it a pest.

7. Better photos

Some Google+ users say the network is becoming a leader in photo-sharing: Full-screen photo galleries and a highly active community consisting of some the Web’s most popular photographers must surely have helped here.

8. Friendly staff

Who said social networks don’t need great customer service? The creators of Google+ are active on the service themselves and use it to respond to questions and criticisms. Rob Michael feels this has made Google+ feel more collaborative.

9. Less clutter

Perhaps it’s simply the lack of advertising, but many Google+ users say they like Google’s clean, white aesthetic. On Google+, there’s nothing to distract you from the content.

10. Integrated with Google products

Fans of Google’s other services, such as Gmail and Google Calendar, say they like the way Google+ works across many of Google’s existing products.

“They had everything else, for the most part, already working so all they needed was to add the social networking aspect to things,” says Josiah Stone.

Perhaps the greatest selling point of Google+ is the most obvious, however: It’s new. The opportunity to start afresh with an up-to-date list of friends, no spam, no ads and an uncluttered interface is a novel experience for those of us who have spent years maintaining profiles on other websites.

Whether that “new car feel” lasts — especially for neophiles like me — remains to be seen.

Sick Off The All White Theme Of Google+? [G+ THEMES][UPDATED]

MIDNIGHT THEME

Tired of all that white? The Midnight Theme extension applies a clean, dark theme to Google+. Even your girlfriend will like

I love Google+. Really, I do. But sometimes I feel like there's just too much white, and it all 
gets lumped together. So, I designed this theme to separate out the elements a little bit and 
give it a darker feel. Try it out. You might just like it.
Updates Planned:
     1. Settings page!
     2. Allow users to upload their own backgrounds.
Changes:
     1.2
     -Fixed an issue where the theme would break the site's secure authentication.
     -Localized all images to the theme.
     -Slightly smaller, and faster load times.
     1.1
     -Added styling to the options page (Now readable! Yeah!)
     -Minor design changes.

MIDNIGHT THEME FOR G+

Google+ Ultimate for Google Plus –> HERE

 
This is an extension for Google Plus (plus.google.com, G+, Google+) to add functionatility and themeing for the 
site.
I have big plans for added features, but I'm taking them slow so I can get them all working properly before 
moving to the next.
************************************
    SPECIAL MENTION:
************************************
Notifications is powered mostly by source code by Surplus with some heavy tweaks: 
https://github.com/antimatter15/surplus Once this code is clean, it will be open sourced.
************************************
            FEATURES:
************************************
-Adds stylized theme to Google Plus to add to the experience and make it easier to read.
-Adds notifications to the extension icon (beta)
-Enables floating top and left navigation along with an ultra compact navigation to help minimalize the 
navigation
-Enables an option side-by-side status viewing  and/or scrollable statuses(off by default)
-Allows option to move Chatbox to the top navigation as a drop down button. 
(on by default, but can be turned off)
-Thin scrollbars option (on by default)
-Resize images and embeds to a smaller thumbnail (for those who prefer Facebook's style of 
image sharing)
-Many many more!
-ALL BUG REPORTS CAN BE SENT TO ME AT CORYLULU@GMAIL.COM (that includes G+)
************************************
   MOST RECENT UPDATE:
************************************
Release notes for 1.2.5
-Added a compatibility mode option for other extensions. Injects extra scripts for specific extension 
compatibility.
-Adds donate button for those nice people who asked for it :D
************************************
       KNOWN BUGS:
************************************
-Ultra compact view does not support low resolutions as of now, need to do more crunching of the top 
nav to make that
 possible. (requires 1475px width min) Please stop reporting it as a bug! :D
-Notifications seems to have issues on some machines. Working on a redoing how it works to make it have 
less bugs. Sorry.
-When using "j" and "k" to navigate in the stream, it will pull the post up a little to high when 
using floating left
and top panel.
-Experimental side by side view has problems with Sparks and Landing page.

Auto-Colorizer for Google Plus™ 

Color Google+ & Facebook w/ Auto-Colorizer. Adds an awesome color scheme to Google+

and Facebook based on your photo. Your picture determines your page's colors. 
Bored of the plain colors of Google Plus and Facebook?  Each of your friends gets

their own great custom color scheme! Visit any profile or photo album on Google+ or Facebook, and

the page will change color schemes to perfectly match their photo. Works on all pages of Google

Plus and Facebook.If you want your profile to be a certain color, use a profile picture with more

of that color.  For instance, if you want a green profile, use a photo of you on grass or if you

want a pink profile, wear a pink shirt.Add me to a circle on G+: https://plus.google.com/102219475968800204884
Follow me on twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/@AutoColorizer
Removing: 
Try it out.  If the extra color isn't your style, click the wrench icon on the far top right =>

tools => extensions => disable/uninstall. Quotes & User Reviews:
"This is fricking incredible!!!" -Jody http://goo.gl/T2lfj
Revision History:
2011-08-27 v3.1 Fixed Facebook coloring, added support for Facebook's new photo viewer.
2011-08-24 v3.0 Initial release for Google Plus

Still Looking For A Google+ Invite I Got You Covered

First, I am officially a member of Google+ and I am completely willing to share the wealth.  If you are looking for an invite leave your Gmail email address in the comments below and i will shoot you one over asap.

After a short time of playing around with Google+ I have realized two things that will change communication forever.

1.) This is by far the best social media network I have ever used.  This means that in the near future as more and more people jump ship from Facebook to Google+, I will be deleting my Facebook accounting. There is no way Facebook can compete with the integration of all the other Google apps I use the same way that Google+ can.

2.)  Android devices are going to exploded in the near future and data usage is going to go through the roof.  With everything you can do on Google+ and its integration of Google voice and video chat I feel sorry for those cell phone patrons who did not elect to get the unlimited data plan when they had the chance.  That or I hope they have access to tons of free wifi near by because group video chat on a phone is going to eat up your 2 gig of data in not time flat.

Below are some more great reviews and helpful hints for using Google+ to its full potential. Enjoy!

5 ways Google+ could steal music fans from Facebook

Google’s social network, Google+, is late. Facebook has a big lead, having ousted MySpace, which in turn deposed Friendster, the site that started us all on this path towards recreating our social fabric as a network of connected personal nodes.

Facebook is an excellent tool for sharing music — usually in the form of Google’s YouTube videos — but even the developer of the top music app on Facebook says it doesn’t do enough, musicwise.

And when we canvassed the top 20 Facebook music apps, we were shocked by what we found.

What they found after the jump–> 5 ways Google+ could steal music fans from Facebook

Apple to decide on Google+ app

This is going to be a big decision from Apple.  If they decide to block the app watch out for people bailing from iPhone to Droid, Google+ is worth the jump.

Google has asked Apple to approve a mobile version of its social networking site + (Plus) for iPhones and iPads.

The news that it had submitted an iOS app was revealed by a Google employee, writing on her personal page.

For + to succeed alongside Facebook and Twitter, it will need to reach as many mobile devices as possible, according to industry watchers.

However, Apple exercises strict control over what can run on its platform and has blocked Google apps in the past.

If the search giant fails to get a “native” app approved, it may find itself restricted to a browser-based web application, as it has been for other Google services on iOS.

“There are two good reasons for getting a native app,” said Torsten Stauch, chief technology officer at AppShed.

“The first is the exposure you get from being on the App Store.

“The other is the push alerts. You really need that to make the user start the app and engage with it,” he said.

 Full Article After The Jump –> Apple to decide on Google+ app

Looking for a Google+ invite? Either get comfortable – or get crafty.

OR ASK ME FOR ONE AS I STATED ABOVE I HAVE INVITES TO SEND OUT TO ANYONE WHO WANTS ONE.

Google+ invites – plenty of bloggers and tech writers already have them, and plenty of regular Web users really want them. And so, for a brief period of time on Wednesday night, Googleopened the floodgates, allowing current Google+ members to invite their pals. But according to Google exec Vic Gundotra, invites flew so fast and furious that the invite mechanism was quickly shut down again.

“Insane demand,” Gundotra wrote on his Google+ account. “We need to do this carefully, and in a controlled way. Thank you all for your interest!”

Full Article Here –> Looking for a Google+ invite? Either get comfortable – or get crafty.

Psst…Check Out this Google+ Cheat Sheet

Google Apps Users Won’t Be Left Out of Google+ Fun, Says Google’s President of Enterprise 

One of the more numerous complaints since Google+ launched has been its lack of Google Apps support. Google Apps is a platform used mainly by small and some large businesses. With the platform, employees can enjoy many of Google’s services in a secure, easy and affordable way. Unfortunately, things aren’t always rosy for Apps users. All of that will soon turn around, though, as Google’s president of enterprise, Dave Girouard, has confirmed via Google+ that they are indeed working on bringing Plus to Apps users. They wanted to make sure it was done right, says Google’s Christian Oestlian:

Please tell your friends using Google Apps that we’re working to make Google+ available to them. Sorry for the delay – we need to do it right!

That’s noble. Unfortunately, no timeframe was given as to when we’d be seeing Google+ support for Apps users, but we’re sure it won’t be too long of a wait now. Let’s be patient, folks. [Pocket-Lint]