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"(On the writing F&SF workshop) Wanted to crow and say thanks: the first story I wrote after taking your class was my very first sale. Coincidence? nah….thanks so much."
As I said in class, no one knows yet what will happen with Google+, but it’s off to a very strong start, and the responsiveness of the Google team to feedback and suggestions has been remarkable. For those of us already using Google products like Gmail, Google docs, and Google Analytics, it’s looking pretty promising. Here’s links mentioned in class along with some other links to useful Google+ information.
Mentioned in class:
Google+ Cheat Sheet: http://mashable.com/2011/07/12/the-google-cheat-sheet-pic/
Mashable’s Complete Guide to Google+: http://mashable.com/2011/07/16/google-plus-guide/
Google+ Privacy Settings: http://www.christianpost.com/news/google-plus-privacy-settings-how-do-i-change-them-52623/
Useful Information:
5 Chrome Extensions for Google+: http://mashable.com/2011/07/14/google-plus-chrome-extension/
5 Ways Journalists Are Using Google+: http://mashable.com/2011/07/17/journalists-using-google-plus/
Google+ as a Professional Communications Tool: http://idratherbewriting.com/2011/07/18/google-plus-as-a-professional-communications-tool/
Google+…minus Women, Kids, and Businesses: http://www.digitaltrends.com/social-media/google-minus-women-kids-and-businesses/
How to Integrate Google+ into Your WordPress Site: http://mashable.com/2011/07/22/wordpress-google-plus/
Make Google+ look like Facebook: http://mashable.com/2011/07/01/googleplus-facebook-userscript/
How to Make a Google+ Desktop App: http://mashable.com/2011/07/12/create-google-plus-desktop-app/
How to Add Profile/Post Search for Google+ in Chrome:
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/how_to_add_google_plus_search_for_profiles_and_posts_to_chrome.php
How Google+ Ends Social Networking Fatigue: http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9218283/Elgan_How_Google_ends_social_networking_fatigue
Is Google+ a Bigger Threat to Twitter than Facebook?: http://gigaom.com/2011/07/11/is-google-a-bigger-threat-to-twitter-than-it-is-to-facebook/
Interesting reading:
Controversy over Google+’s insistence on using real names:
http://point7.wordpress.com/2011/07/24/google-the-pseudonym-banstick-and-the-netizen-cultural-schism/
Who is Using Google+ and How Often: http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2095877/Who-is-Using-Google-and-How-Often-Stats
Long-running Google Hangout: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/23/longest-google-plus-hangout_n_907570.html?1311404458
Why Google+ Kicked Out William Shatner: http://www.digitaltrends.com/social-media/why-google-kicked-out-william-shatner/
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Up The Chimney
I should have known better. There we were dozing by the fireside, old Tom and me, and there’s a stranger telling some story of funerals and cats. Old Tom, he leaps up, whiskers abristle. Shouting “Then I’m the King of Cats” and disappearing up the chimney!
I’ve always been a skinny lad, and quickwitted to boot, so I leaps over the embers, which were dying then anyhow, and scramble after Tom. It’s my chance to get to Fairyland, I figure, and old dad, he’d always said, grab opportunities as they presents themselves.
If I’d known then what I know now, I’d have kept sitting there and waved Tom on his journey. It’s Fairyland, sure enough, but it’s a cat’s notion of Fairyland. Maybe there’s one for all the creatures, horses and rats and huntin’ dogs. But their notion here of entertainment is chasing mice, the whole kit and court does it for hours on a time, and then they drink cream and eat sardines. I’d give my soul for an honest pint of beer.
The women, aye, they’re pretty enough, but they’ll claw you to death sure as eagles fly, and they stink, more to the point. They reek of musk and blood, and in the evenings they all sit around grooming each other and purring, an unsettling sound that unmans me whenever I hear it.
King of Cats be-damned. I’d search for some other Fairyland, but where might I end up? A fish’s land, where it’s never warm nor dry, or a beetle’s, perhaps. At least I have my fireside here, with old Tom cleaning my ears while I wait for some new story to set me free.
(It’s not too late to sign up for the 2012 Clarion West write-a-thon and get snippets in your mailbox throughout the next six weeks! Even a $1 donation will count.)
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