Google thinks Custom means Suggested

I am finding myself disappointed by our supposed innovation star, Google.  Maybe I just haven't been paying close enough attention or maybe it is because I am starting to see the world through a small business owner's perspective.  But with the recent hoopla about their YouTube Content ID service changes, I am should be surprised to find out that Google+ does not actually offer Custom URLs.  They are just Suggested URLs.  Their community Help page states that there is no review system or option to choose an alternate URL.  Meantime, posts on the page by users indicate that the option was available at one point, but everyone is getting rejection emails.

Google!  Ewe dun fuk'ed it up again!

Although these options do match my name on my profile, I don't want to use my name, I want to use my USERNAME.

Whatever happened to anonymity.  Does google not value it?  Another idea for a blog post, maybe..... hmmm....

Please leave your comments below.

FYI - I am thinking of switching to Wordpress or Drupal sooner than later, being unsatisfied with the limited commenting options available for Google's Blogger. What I really want is something like Comments Evolved which allows readers to comment in any way they prefer.

Is it time for a YouTube clone?

With all of the recent Content ID matching issues on YouTube, I am starting to seriously consider creating my own video hosting website as a replacement.  This would be an Open Innovation organization using copyleft licensing like Creative Commons, encouraging fair use content with an ad-revenue structure.

This type of venture would require a CDN (Content Delivery Network) that already supports this structure and if none exists, the creation of a new CDN.

The basis of this desire stems from the strong belief that IP Claims abuse is rampant and growing.  If we don't restrain corporate interests from being able to undermine the legal system in this manner, they will destroy the creativity movement entirely.  Worldwide, we are facing the potential for total disaster at every turn.  If we continue to discourage creativity and innovation in the same manner, we will surely experience further recession and other potential consequences.

Would you be interested in participating in this type of venture and/or do you know of any other organizations that are already attempting a media website like this?  Please leave a comment on this subject.  I would like to know what you think.

Related Videos:

Related Articles:

Deconstructing Let’s Play, Copyright, and the YouTube Content ID Claim System: A Legal Perspective

YouTube ignores content-creator concerns in statement regarding mass copyright flagging

Lawrence Lessig v. Liberation Music

10 Reasons Why You Should Never Host Your Own Videos

Norah's Notebook: Artist or the Clay?

Video 1.8 - Design Thinking: Bringing Empathy and Collaboration To Your Designs

The perfectionist in me can't stop from noticing that the first video in this series covered the 3rd and 4th points. Where the second/last video covered the first two points. But, I digress.... This program is really trying to drive home the point that good product design is intuitive. Being a female engineer, I am intimately familiar with this concept. I find myself wondering if the world if starting to catch on to my personal passions surrounding open innovation and creativity or if I am being shaped by this world. Am I the artists hands and is the world my clay or is it the other way around?

References

engineeringdotcom. (2012). Design Thinking. Bringing Empathy and Collaboration to Your Designs. Engineering.com. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-tQJ9RHKRw

engineeringdotcom. (2012). Integrative Thinking and Experimentalism in Design Thinking. Engineering.com. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_kc80XumZY

Norah's Notebook: Crazy=Awesome?

Video 1.7 - How To Design Breakthrough Inventions

David Kelley's Stanford’s Joint Program in Design is realizing the same benefits as this IEMS program at Full Sail.

I feel strongly that this course, in particular, is getting into material and discussion that is going to make the most difference to by business ventures.

Each material, discussion and assignment provides additional personal validation.

References

How to design breakthrough inventions. (2013, January 6). 60 Minutes. CBS. Retrieved from http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/how-to-design-breakthrough-inventions-50138327/

David Kelley. (2013, December 4). Stanford University Institute of Design. Retrieved from http://dschool.stanford.edu/bio/david-kelley/

Norah's Notebook: Why does starting a business have to drive you nuts?

While catching up on some reading homework today, I found myself writing this in my notebook:

Great Brands Are About Fusing Product And Service. How Do You Do It

"Companies need to start thinking about the holistic experience between their brands, products, and services. Crafting an experience requires design that considers these three elements of brand, product, and service in order to generate successful results. Any company can be analyzed through these lenses to evaluate the experience it creates for its customers (Seiger, 2013)." I feel very strongly that we require a strong brand image.  In fact, this has been my largest roadblock.  It keeps holding me back from starting.  I feel like I can describe the elements that I want, the emotion I want it to bring... but have not yet fully allowed myself to realize what that looks like, what arrangement is required and it amounts to my own fear, that I am incapable of doing so, that even though I appreciate and desire to perform and produce art, I am never going to be good enough... Ughhh, maybe I need to get a counselor....  Why does starting a business have to drive you nuts?

Steiger, R. (2013, December 3). Great Brands Are About Fusing Product And Service. How Do You Do It?Co.Design. Retrieved from http://www.fastcodesign.com/1670034/great-brands-are-about-fusing-product-and-service-how-do-you-do-it

Closing the Auto-share loop: From Twitter to Google+

On my previous blog post, Automatically Share Blogger posts to Multiple Social Networks, I discussed my strategy for sharing Blog posts to Blogger.  However, Buffer does not yet post to Google+ Profiles, which often leaves this social network out of the loop and in turn decreases my reach.  To remediate this concern, I have created a this IFTTT recipe.

Logic: Twitter posts with links are usually in regard to a new, whereas those without are usually a discussion specific event.  Thus, I have designed it to only fire when posting a link to twitter.

In order to avoid double posting to Google+, I have removed automatically posting to Google+ from the other recipes that use sources, like Tumblr, Blogger and Disqus.

The loop is now closed and the structure, subsequently, easier to diagram.

UPDATE (12/21/2013): Updated IFTTT recipe to use Link to Twitter post instead of embed code, which results in a blank post.