Missing iGoogle

Image via CrunchBase

I signed onto my computer this morning just as I always do. After Windows sang its Good Morning song to me, in the form of its single-note repertoire, I watched as all my applications loaded. I thought to myself, as is customary, that I really must streamline my start menu. Finally, my day was about to begin. I clicked on my browser icon—Chrome—in the task bar. I saw the familiar Google search box. BAAAAAAHHH! I pressed the home button on my toolbar. There it was again. My old friend was gone!

Then I remembered what day it was—November 1, 2013.

Today is the day I’ve dreaded—the day my iGoogle was to be killed and buried, in one fell swoop. It is never to be seen again. Gone are my three separate pages filled with links I loved. Granted, I didn’t use all of them all of the time, but I liked having them around. Like comfortable shoes, these were some of the bookmarks I’ve had since I first created my iGoogle page in 2005. I’ve lost an old friend.

I fondly recall there was no better day than one when Google would announce it had added new features to upgrade iGoogle. I loved the themes, the many ways to customize my start page. It always made me feel like I had brand new software.

You know that feeling. It is almost euphoria. The very first thing I do when I get new software is change the colors. iGoogle was highly customizable, and I liked that a lot. My desktop often displays one of my favorite photographs. I used to coordinate my iGoogle to match. I like matching color schemes in all things, but especially on my computer where I devote so much of my day. That’s just me!

For the last several years I have had a sunflower photo on my computer, one that I took in my own back yard. There is a little ant on one of the petals. The yellow petals stood out from the background that was a blur of green tones. The only iGoogle theme I could find that matched was one that displayed greenery with water droplets. The combination was beautiful. The most important part of picking a theme was not so much the picture, but the overall color of the page. In my case, it had to be yellow. The yellow and green tones matched my sunflower well.

The only thing that ever bothered me about iGoogle was that I couldn’t change the color of the links. They were always that ugly bright blue color. The ideal would have been to make them dark green, but I could never figure out how.

Months ago, because Google gave us iGoogle aficionados fair warning of the death of our favorite start page, I began to look around for a replacement. I settled on Startific, which came highly recommended. It is a different concept entirely, but is also highly customizable. I created my page to include the same sunflower picture that is on my desktop. It is really quite lovely.

This morning I changed the link on my home button to the Startific page. Such finality!

If I have to be completely honest, it is really a more attractive page than iGoogle was, and is even more customizable. I haven’t really played with all the icons and widgets, although I had already put the ones I use everyday onto the page. I have a Facebook button, a Twitter button and buttons for all of my blogs and web page.

There is one button though, that was the most important to me. It was the one I used on iGoogle the most. It was the first one I put onto my new page. It is the Intellicast weather page. By inserting the correct URL, one click and it opens right to a radar loop in my home state. As far as I’m concerned, Intellicast has the best weather info. I’ve used it for years.

Startific still has a few kinks that need to be ironed out. The worst is the Amazon ad that shows whenever the browser opens. It takes up a large chunk of real estate on the right side of the application, but it can be clicked off. I keep telling myself, change is good. It will keep me young. The older I get though, the harder I have to work to convince myself.

Use Internet wisely

I love the Internet. I have loved it since my first online experience, back in those early, primitive days when AOL was the only online portal available to the public.

The Internet was filled with scientists, which is where it really all began, college professors, and other intelligent computer users--geeks if you will. God I love geeks! Every time I logged on to the Internet, I learned something.

Today, the Internet is becoming a horror. My email inbox is choked with jokes, inspirational messages, words of wisdom, and political rants with a large percentage that amount to no more than the latest Fox News BS.

ENOUGH ALREADY!

The Internet helped elect our President, because he and his handlers were bright enough to tap into the technology available to them. And that practice was not lost on every nut ball and wacko from Alaska to Mexico who wants the next taxpayer-funded gig to make them rich.

With so many political wannabes online, learning is much more difficult and I no longer have faith in things I read.

The result of having everyone use the Internet, the result has diluted information resources and watered-down content. Advertising is worse than it has ever been with startling windows that pop up from seemingly nowhere just to startle and annoy me. They are never in an obvious place, so it is difficult to know how to turn them off. I usually just hit the mute button on my keyboard until I can find which of my multiple windows contains the offending ad and where it is located.

Even my beloved Google is no longer what it was. Being number one no longer means much as far as quality is concerned. Too many people who think they are writers who are more interested in search engine optimization and correct keyword placement than research. Plagiarism runs rampant online. Worse yet, the content that writers steal and copy is often times incorrect.

I'm tired of email jokes by well-meaning friends. So many of them think they understand my sense of humor. I hate to admit this, but my sense of humor is often times commensurate with what is going on that day. What I may get a kick out of one day may annoy me to the hilt the next. For the most part, I just don't have time to read jokes all day. I am a writer. I use my computer for work, not jokes. Besides, if I want to read a joke, I will Google 'jokes' where I will find just what appeals to me at the time. Funny, I never do that. Maybe I don't have time for jokes!!!

Then there are those inspirational messages with the beautiful music and glittery shapes. If I needed inspiration, I would turn off the computer and read a book or watch TV or look out the window. If I wanted to see NASA photos, I'd search 'NASA.'

My inbox is filled with newsletters, correspondence, and other items that are essential to me. There is no room for jokes and well-meaning inspiration.

But the worst is the political crap. I consider myself a student of politics. I love it. Trouble is, most of the junk that is sent to me is from people who know nothing about politics, and brazenly claim to hate it. So send me political emails?

One word of advice; if you don't like politics, don't forward political rhetoric to me and above all, don't send me spam that is verifiably wrong.

One last message...

If my inbox is any example of the kind of election season we are going to have, I cringe. We get the government we deserve. But I don't deserve it. Do me a favor, if you are not bright enough to understand the issues, don't vote.

Internet writing

Internet writing

As a former journalist I have some real concerns about internet writing. It seems everybody's doing it, but is everybody qualified to do it? This should be of concern all internet users.

Not only is it difficult to earn decent pay by writing on the internet, but I see another problem as well.

Catering to Google

I am a big fan of Google. I too have my Google adsense account and try to use the proper meta tags. I want to please Google too. After all, it is Google that hosts this blog. But, it seems that writers are more interested in how Google perceives your work than facts and information internet readers are seeking. This is akin to newspapers catering to advertisers instead of their loyal readers. And look what happened to them. Google is a business. It should cater to advertisers, but writers should not.

Folks seem to be more interested in SEO (Search Engine Optimization), page rank, and visibility, than they are about checking facts.

Citizen Journalists

For example, I came across an article this morning, written by a citizen journalist, on one of those writing sites that touts 'write what you know.' The article was clearly her opinion. What she said could be construed as being detrimental to the person she wrote about. I hope he doesn't sue. Clearly her opinion, the article was presented as if it was fact, in a newspaper style. Now, I've been known to have strong opinions myself, but only with supporting evidence and an opposing viewpoint.

Her story was later picked up by a blog that quoted her, giving false credibility to her story.

I've also come across researching issues only to find the same misinformation copied over and over and over again.

A call to internet writers

Consider this a call to all internet writers -- check your facts before you publish anything. Is the information you are publishing reliable enough for your child to use in his/her term paper?

I love the internet and I don't want to see it filled with garbage. What we write lasts forever. I have found the internet to be an incredible resource. I would hate to see it tainted with bad information. Let's all band together as writers and do whatever we can to ensure that what makes it to the internet is responsible, factual, and legitimate.

Good to be a computer geek

I have come to the realization that I simply love my computer. I don't know if I would or could be a writer without it. It has allowing me to make a living over the last 20 years. I cannot imagine trying to hand-write a story or type one on a typewriter. I think 'cut, copy, and paste' has revolutionized writing. The ability to move thoughts from paragraph to paragraph makes writing so easy, allowing for concentration on the story instead of writing mechanics. Of course typing is a must, but I learned that years ago.

I love the social networking sites. It has been fun to meet up again with old friends on Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter. Just this week, I re-connected with an old friend I hadn't seen in years. We live miles apart now, both having moved away from the old neighborhood where we used to talk on the sidewalk, literally for hours. Our young children played together. Now, we are grandparents. And we can share pictures. That is one of the best parts about today's technology. I wouldn't think of going anywhere without my camera. My job as a reporter got me into the habit of carrying a camera, and I continue the practice even when not covering a story. Recording moments in time is now second nature, evidenced by the thousands of images that clog my hard drive.

Yesterday, I watched a movie on Hulu.com. Who would have ever thought you could use this little box on the desk for such activities? I admit to having wasted hours and hours on computer games. I was addicted to Mahjongg for a time. It was the ultimate self-competition until my daughter got involved. With her youthful agility, she beat my score by fractions of seconds. And her winning record will just have to stand. Now I love word games. I don't know that it has helped my vocabulary at all, but it does offer great competition. I love Upwards, and Scrabble too. One of my favorite games is Mind Your Marbles, but that is strictly for relaxation purposes.

I wouldn't be without technology, even though it certainly can be infuriating sometimes. Over the years, I cannot imagine all the hours I've spent trying to solve computer problems, although that was the best way to learn. Trying to solve a computer problem can be annoying, frustrating, aggravating, and time-consuming, but never futile. There is no better feeling than conquering the little box that thinks it knows everything. It is easier to solve problems these days, since typing in the problem into Google will usually yield thousands of people with the same problem. And they tell how they solved it. Thank goodness for a world full of computer pioneers, always anxious to help.

But the best part about today's technology is the ability to communicate. It is fast, easy, and satisfying to connect with others, to share information, and to inspire learning. And then there is blogging ...