The Universe Winked at Me

We all have different beliefs about coincidences, divine messages, friendly spirits, simulation theory, and other ways to rationalize the coincidences that happen in our lives. But, despite the rationalizations, sometimes you’re forced to smile when they continue to pile on.

In my last blog post, I wrote about a sample that appeared in a song from one of my favorite albums, Kids by The Midnight. A sample from a an interview young computer enthusiast is featured in the opening song, and the source video of that sample recently appeared in my YouTube queue. Pretty cool, right?

Well, it went a step further yesterday. For some reason, I had delayed watching Street Light Stories: Chapter II, based on characters from the “Pittsburgh Dad” show written and produced by Chris Preksta & Curt Wootton. In the Pittsburgh Dad series, Curt plays an all-too-familiar and relatable blue collar father from Pittsburgh.

Street Light Stories, which was originally released in July of 2019 pulled at my heart strings. It was set in a suburban Pittsburgh neighborhood in the summer of 1987. The film included a stunning soundtrack, opening with Yester-Me, Yester-You, Yesterday by Stevie Wonder whilst neighborhood kids were playing “ocka bocka soda poppa” and running around having fun.

The first film goes into the “Pittsburgh Dad” household and gives you an all-too-familiar glimpse of their home and family dynamic, filled with lots of “Pittsburghisms” and Pittsburghese that will resound with anyone from Western Pennsylvania.

In the end of the film, the kids are in the yard catching fireflies as the closing number, Just the Way You Are, by Billy Joel fades in. It really pulled at my heart strings as I remembered my childhood growing up in Pittsburgh.

Fast forward more than two later, and I finally decide to watch Chapter II, which also fast forwards to the summer of 1989 where Pittsburgh Dad’s kids host their first sleepovers. This episode took all of the funny nostalgia of the first short film and merged it with heartwarming portraits of adolescence from the perspectives of a young boy, his teenage sister, and two parents learning to adapt to their growing kids.

As if the episode wasn’t great enough, it ended a perfectly wistful, but uplifting and aptly named anthem, Memories, by who else, but The Midnight from their 2016 album (also appropriately named), Endless Summer.

Just maybe, as the song says, “All of this was planned when the world was started.”

When is the last time the universe winked at you in a big or little way?

Top 5 Videos Making Fun of Google Glass

It’s no secret that the jokes are abound when it comes to Google Glass. From late night television to some YouTube sensations, lots of celebrities have taken their turn at taking a jab at Google’s newest product. (If you haven’t seen the original Google promotional video, check it out here.)

Here’s a collection of five of my favorite videos which make fun of Google Glass:

5. Google Glasses Warfare

4. St Patrick’s Day [through Google Glass] (Warning: NSFW)

3. ADmented Reality

2. How Guys Will Use Google Glass

1. Saturday Night Live Weekend Update

13 YouTubers You Should Circle & Subscribe

And some really good reasons why.

Sharing quality content is what drives the Internet. +YouTube is the one-stop-shop for all things relating to, well, everything. So, with 48 hours of content uploaded every minute, it can be difficult to filter through all of the not-so-good stuff. In an effort to help you, here are 13 YouTubers that I reallylike and why. Some of them you might know, but hopefully others will be completely new to you.

Continue reading 13 YouTubers You Should Circle & Subscribe

How to Meme Your Images on Google+

Using any image on your hard drive, you can instantly create a meme by adding your own text. There’s no need to use photo editing software or a third party website. You can do all of the work, effortlessly, right here on Google+!

Face it, no one likes boring funny images without a witty caption. Spice up your original photos by making your followers laugh! Now start getting creative! Who knows, maybe your next meme will top the What’s Hot list!

Creating Impactful Presentations: How-To

Using nothing but Google Docs’ Presenter, Google’s stock images and a Google+ Hangout, presentation expert +Harold Carey Jr. was able to teach me how to create a very simple and effective presentation.

No more sliding text or sound effects, just a header, image and…well, I’d tell you the rest, but you can watch the video!

Check out Harold’s website at http://haroldcarey.com/ .

How Many Social Networks Should My Business Use?

Image Credit nk&f (http://www.naterkane.com/blog/2008/01/)
Image Credit nk&f (http://www.naterkane.com/blog/2008/01/)

In a world where people connect effortlessly with their computers, mobile devices and tablets, social networks are popping up everywhere. Some of them are geared towards finding and sharing websites (digg, stumbleupon), others are more geared towards sharing what you’re doing in text and photo (Instagram, Twitter), some focus on where you are (Foursquare, Path) while others try to tackle everyone at once (Facebook, Google+). Every day more and more of these networks are popping up like Pinterest and Issuu.

Of course, having a presence in all of these places would expose your business or brand to more eyeballs, but is it really necessary?

Continue reading How Many Social Networks Should My Business Use?

Follow-Up Interview with +Jennifer Wedel from +The White House Hangout

+Jennifer Wedel disclosed to us today that the Deputy Chief of Staff from+The White House called her home to inform her that the President wanted to ensure that her unemployed husband’s resume was send to key contacts in the Dallas Fort Worth area.

During our second hangout interview with Jennifer she explained the news of the phone call and why she shared it with us first. Continue reading Follow-Up Interview with +Jennifer Wedel from +The White House Hangout

My Reaction to +The White House Google+ Hangout with President Barack Obama

Over the last several months, Google has been pushing its new technology hard. They have been holding concerts in New York City, spending time with the Dalai Lama and hosting celebrities like David Beckham.

Initially these hangouts seemed extremely organic. Such as the one with +will.i.am, where I got a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to hangout with him virtually one-on-one and ask him about social media and where music is going with this new technology. That happened purely by coincidence, I was in the right place at the right time.

That’s how this network works and that’s how a lot of opportunities work. You have to be at the right place at the right time. Continue reading My Reaction to +The White House Google+ Hangout with President Barack Obama

The White House is Hanging Out Tomorrow

Image via Culturally Authentic Pictorial Lexicon

No word yet from +The White House, +Barack Obama or +Steve Grove as to whether or not my question made it into the queue or if I’ll be part of tomorrow’s hangout. But, nonetheless, it should be great to see the President using this incredible technology and platform to interact with some of our country’s citizens.

I really hope that politicians start to embrace and understand the power of connecting with their citizens and constituents using social media and things like hangouts that allows them to connect with people in their congressional districts while they’re busy working in Washington. Continue reading The White House is Hanging Out Tomorrow

Why Google Needs a Better Set of Controls

photo by Dominique Huet
photo by Dominique Huet

GMail, Google Docs, Blogger, YouTube, Google+, the list of products seems almost endless, and odds are if you are a power user of one, you use many of them.

Over the last several years Google has been adding to the list of its publicly available product and moving people’s workflow to the cloud. Successful businesses are now being started with the simple power of tools like GMail, Google Docs, Google Sites and AdSense.

Continue reading Why Google Needs a Better Set of Controls