TechLifeWeb

Recently I posted an article about a great extension for Google Chrome to share to Google+ from Google Reader.  Of course the downside here is not everyone uses Chrome.  I’ve figured out a way to work around that and let people share from any browser using the Chrome send to feature and a hack of the Google+ Mobile interface. It is easy to implement with just a minute or two of your time. Here is how to do it:

Log into Google Reader.

Click the gear icon in upper right corner
Click the send to tab
Click Create Custom Link
Fill in the fields like this:
Name: Google+
URL: https://m.google.com/app/plus/x/?content=${title}%20-%20${url}&v=compose&hideloc=1
Icon URL: http://ssl.gstatic.com/s2/oz/images/favicon.ico
Click Save

Now when you are reading an article in Google Reader and wish to send it to Google+, click the Send To link at the bottom of your article. A drop down will open showing Google+. Clicking that will open up a new tab showing the title and url of your article. You can edit the text and change who you are sharing with. By default, the sharing is public. Then click post.

Is it perfect? Well, like my share from anywhere bookmarklet, the good part is that it should work just fine whether you use Chrome, Firefox or even IE. Probably others too but I haven’t tested it. The caveat is that it uses the mobile version of Google+ which if you want to post publicly is easy but takes an extra step if you want to just post to some of your Circles. The mobile interface doesn’t post links as pretty as the native method but at least this saves you some time.

Edit 11OCT11: A site called HowToNew figured out a method to do this an instead use the native Google+ +1 interface.

If you use the following in your URL field, clicking on the link will +1 the article and give you the chance to share it with your circles. This is similar to +1 on a page on the web. It does open another window or tab.

https://plusone.google.com/_/+1/confirm?hl=en&url=${url}

So, now you have 2 choices!

I’ve started reading RSS feeds again.  Recently, most links and news I’ve been finding has been through social services like Twitter and Google+.  I decided to declare ‘RSS bankruptcy’. By this I mean I went to Google Reader,  deleted all the feeds I never read and marked everything as read. Blindly. Face it, life is too short to go in there and get all worried that you missed some scoop or something fascinating. If the news is that big, you’ll hear about it elsewhere.

I’m not sure what prompted my return to RSS but I can tell you what has helped a lot. It is no secret that I am a huge fan of Google+ and recently I started using an extension for Google Chrome that makes sharing within Google Reader a breeze. It is called RSS Share for Google Plus™ and Google Reader™.  It is great, but but I’m not a fan of the defaults.

Be default, the extension creates entries on the left side of your Google+ to your various Google Reader Feeds and shows the ones that have unread entries.  This lets you stay in Google+ and read new Google Reader entries as they come in.  Sounds great on the surface but I happen to like keeping all my feeds over in Reader and I think actually slows down and messes with the Google+ experience. Thankfully, this is an option you can  easily turn off.  To do that, click the wrench in the upper right of Chrome. Then go to Tools, then Extensions and find the RSS Share for Google Plus and Google Reader extension and click options. Deselect ‘Add Google Reader to Google+’ and ‘Show Read Items on Google+’.  After that, all the integration is over on the Google Reader side and nothing is messed with in your Google+ experience.

Now, when you go to your Google Reader, you’ll have a new option under each article called ‘Share on Google+’

Clicking that link with give you the standard sharing box you are used to if you use Google+.  The box appears in the upper right of your browser, lets you choose who you are sharing with and gives you to opportunity to add some text of your own.

Read more. Share more.

When you are brand new to a service it is nice to have someone guide you along. Here are a few great resources to get you started with Google+.

First, if you haven’t seen it, Google’s own video that gives an intro to Circles is worth a watch.

Next, have a look at their video about Hangouts

Now if you are ready to jump in, you need these excellent cheat sheets developed by Simon Laustsen

• I’m gathering tips in Evernote here: http://bit.ly/googleplustips
• Here is a good post on configuring your Circles for privacy: Five Steps to Configuring Privacy on Google+
• If you use the Google Chrome browser I highly recommend the Replies and More extension. It adds some subtle changes to the page that make it more functional like being able to reply right to someone without having to type their name.
• Another Chrome must have is the Surplus extension.  It gives you notifications but the main thing is that it lets you share very easily from any site. Note 10MAR2012: I no longer use the Surplus Extension. I recommend Share on Google Plus Page that lets you share to your profile or any of the pages you manage.
• New 10Mar2012: I’ve also been using Golden View for Google+ for a long time. I has some nice features like User Mute and Default Circle.
• If you want an easy way to search Google+, you can try this search engine for Google+:  http://bit.ly/searchgplus
• Andrew Shotland has a HUGE list of tips here: http://www.localseoguide.com/google-plus-shortcuts-tips/

Twitter users:

If you want to make your Google+ profile show up if someone searches for your Twitter name:

• On the Google+ home page, click on your name (left side next to your picture)
• Click Edit Profile
• Scroll way down until you see Other Names
• Click Other Names to bring up the edit box and enter your Twitter handle there.
• Optionally set who can see this. I’d set it to Anyone on the Web because anyone could find out anyway but you may have different ideas.
• If you are done editing your profile, click Done Editing at the top of the screen
• Tip: While you are on the profile screen you can go to ‘View Profile As’ which is really handy to be sure you are sharing what you think you are sharing.

Right now, if you are out and about there really isn’t a good way to post photos to Google+ . If you have an Android phone you are in luck as the native app works well.
My fiend Enrique has an Android device and told me it works like this:

The android app has a dedicated camera app that launches into a process, you snap a photo > say “done” > it shows you an input filed > which circle it’s going to & done.
If you don’t put it in a circle; it is still in your online gallery, just without viewing permissions outside your eyeballs. This is also true for all photos taken with your phone outside the app. The integration is seamless.

I’m sure there will be an iOS app soon enough but, what about other smart phone users? Or even those with regular old camera phones?  Well, you could wait until you got home and attach your phone to your computer and then upload that way (assuming you have the right cables, can be a pain on older phones).
There is an easier method which takes a bit of initial set up but will make it easier for you to share.  You may even share more using this method than the ‘attach to computer’ method I just mentioned.
The magic? Email to Picasa Web.
First you should know that using this method photos get uploaded to an album and then you manage them when you get back to your computer. By ‘manage’ mean you move the photos into albums you create and shared with just your family or with everyone or what ever. Basically this takes out the uploading hassle. This is similar in concept to Facebook and is not the same experience as twitpic, yfrog, etc. that you get on Twitter.
Ok, here we go… This is detailed to write out (print it if you like) but not hard to do:
First we’ll assume you connected Picasa Web Albums when you set up your Google+ account.

• Go into your Google+ and click on Photos at the top of the screen.
• Click on the ‘Options’ gear at the upper right and the click ‘Photos settings’
• In the center of the General tab you should see a section called ‘Upload photos by email’. Select the box next to ‘Allow me to upload photos by email.
• Enter text in the ‘Enter a secret work’ box. I used a random letter generator. It doesn’t have to be memorable.
• After you enter the secret word you’ll see your new address to email photos to. Copy that down. It is your secret address so keep it safe.

Now, go to your phone or how ever you manage the addresses in your phone and enter that address under an entry that makes sense like ‘Google Share’ or ‘Picasa’, something that makes sense to you.  Be careful, that address is long so hopefully you don’t have to type it.

When you are out with your phone, take a picture and use your phone’s email feature.  Choose your secret Picasa address from your address book and send it.
Later, when you get get back to your computer, go to Google+ and click the Photos tab a the top. You’ll see an album called Drop Box. Click on Drop Box to open that album and see the pictures.

Click the Organize link just above the photos. You can the select the photos you want (hold the ctrl key down to select more than one) and click the Move button.

You’ll have to option to name your Album so name it something that makes sense. You can leave Visibility alone or make it public if you want. Sharing happens in the next step. Click Continue.
Your new album is created and you should see your pictures in it. Next, click the Share button on the right.

You’ll be presented with the familiar Google+ sharing dialog where you can adjust who the pictures are shared with. Add any text you want to include in the post and click Share.
That’s it. Once you get all the Picasa stuff set up and get the address into your phone, sharing really isn’t that hard.

I could do a post on all the tips and things I am learning about Google Plus but, especially since this is a brand new service, they are coming in way too fast.  For now you can see my ever expanding list via my shared Evernote Notebook at the link below:

Sharing my Google+ tips as I collect them here:
http://www.evernote.com/pub/skingery/googleplusnotesandtips

If you have any of your own tips, add them in the comments and I’ll update the notebook.

Here is a video from Google demoing their new +1 button. Will you be putting it on your sites? Learn more at http://google.com/+1button

For a long time I have had my 5 Point Twitter Fail plan as the background on my Twitter profile. I used to have it in my bio but I decided to put it there because I wanted to be sure it was visible even if you just linked to one of my tweets.

Today I decided to print them here because it is time more people paid attention to them.

5-Point Twitter Fail Plan

1. Be all about you

2. Auto-post crap

3. Talk only about SEO, social media, etc.

4. Be non-human

5. Care less

Yes, number 5 is 2 words.

Last month, at Gnomedex 9, Chris Brogan and Julien Smith gave the keynote speech: Attention Wars and the Rise of the Trust Agent.  The theme was pulled from their recent book: Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust

Unfortunately I had to break it up to get it onto YouTube but it should flow fairly well. The audience is a bit distracting at first so try to focus on the content.

This was shot with my Kodak Zi6 from the audience.

Video:

There are so many articles around about how to find people to follow on Twitter. It is never clear to me why people are searching for some kind of instant friends list. You didn’t show up at school and get a Xeroxed list of people titled “Your New Friends.” It is the same on Twitter. There really is only one good way and it is mind numbingly easy. Go into your Twitter notifications settings and check it from the default (Show me @ from the people I am following) to Show me all @ replies. Save. Done.

I hear you scratching your head. How could this help? Because you will start to see people you follow talking to other people. Granted, until you follow that other person you will only see one side of the conversation but things start to look interesting and you’ll click through to find out more about that new person and then start following and being part of the conversation. Then those new people follow a slightly different circle of friends and you see them talking and add another. And so on and so on. Get it? It is all about finding people naturally.

One simple change. No need to learn anything new. Start following people you are actually interested in following. Make it your own micro community.

Twitter Replies Summary

• A reply in Twitter is any Tweet that you start with @username.
  You can reply to anyone even if they don’t follow you.
• Anytime you create a Reply in the proper way (see #1), the reply will always show up in the Replies tab of the person you are replying to.
• This is true if the person follows you or not and regardless of their reply settings.
• Putting @usernamein other places in your Tweet is common courtesy when you are referring to someone else on Twitter but is NOT considered a reply in any way.

Tips on reply settings

• To keep your recent time line clutter free, set your reply settings to “no @ replies”. Replies to you will always show up in your Replies tab.
• To keep up with conversations with mutual friends, set your reply settings to “@ replies only to those I am following” (default setting)
• To follow all conversations and have more potential to find more Twitter friends, set your reply settings to “all @ replies.” (This is the setting I recommend in this post)

One of the things I hate about twitter is the lame email you get from Twitter when someone starts following you. This is where Twimailer comes in. Go to Twimailer.com, enter your email address and get a special email address for twitter to send all your follower notifications through. Twimailer then pulls lots more info about that user then Twitter gave you and sends it along to you. Helps you make better decisions on who to follow.

Below is a video to explain it in more detail:

UPDATE 05MAR09: Some people have worried about the security aspect of Twimailer and changing your email address in Twitter. @chrismessina posted a nice how to on using Gmail (you could use other email clients) to use Twimailer more securely and without making any modifications to Twitter. Nice!

Twimailer demo from jon on Vimeo.