The Silicon Emperor

Buckle up. Backup.

2012-02-03T14:34:00.001-05:00

Google+ Coming to High Schools Near You

2012-01-30T16:10:00.000-05:00

It was announced this week that Google+ will soon be available to teens beginning at age 13. This puts Google+ on the same page as Facebook and Twitter, both of which abide by the letter and the spirit of COPPA.

When the service was first launched this summer (I was lucky enough to get my beta invite while I was at ISTE in June) it was initially assumed that the age limit of 18 was to encourage more intelligent discourse. I bought into this argument, even though a Google employee posted the day the service launched that it would eventually open up to teens, once the "right teen safety features" were in place.

Smart move on two fronts. First, as Mr. Moore-Jones points out above, allowing the adults in first sets the tone. Facebook started with college students (pictures of red Solo cups and keg-stands) and then added high schoolers and finally the general public. MySpace began with bands, but was quickly adopted by teenagers and became a blaring, blinking mess of unintelligible blathering. Google+, on the other hand, emphasizes long-form discussion, threaded comments, and public sharing (+1's). For the past 7 or so months it has been occupied by the 18+ set, and even more so by journalists and technorati. The level of discourse is high, even if it doesn't yet enjoy the traffic of Facebook.

Second, however, is even more important. Google had in mind all along that teenagers need better privacy protections than adults, and they have now fully baked those protections into the social network. Teens are encouraged to "think before posting" if they intend to share publicly. Strangers are prohibited from contacting them or interacting with them unless they are added to a circle. Google even built in something as simple as muting the teen when a stranger joins a hangout.

All of this is consistent, in my mind, with a company that is being thoughtful about teen safety, privacy, and "not being evil." Google has taken a lot of flak this week about their new privacy policy, undeservedly so. Others have explained why the new policy isn't really new, and isn't nearly as "bad" as folks seem to think it is. I won't rehash those arguments, except to say that I assumed Google was already doing this (and in some places they were). We have waiting for Google to consolidate a lot of disparate products into a single unified platform for our benefit. Simplifying and consolidating privacy policies, especially after notifying the public in advance of the change, is a welcome break from other companies who make changes and announce them afterwards.

Schools are going to have to deal with Google+ for teens just as they have with Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace before them. Some schools will block Google+, in a knee-jerk, outdated, Draconian response in order to "minimize risk" from online bullying or to "keep students focused." For years we have heard how social media can positively affect students in the classroom, and how, if done right, social networks can actually give all students a voice in the classroom. Any school that is blocking these sites has their collective head in the sand, in my opinion. Instead, we should be teaching students to be well-behaved digital citizens. When our graduates leave us and enter the real world, they will either have years of experience dealing with adults on these social networks in respectful and constructive ways, or they will have years of experience bypassing filters and firewalls.

Baltimore's Awesome 311 Program

2011-11-22T14:36:00.001-05:00

A "dirty alley" from Baltimore's 311 service.

Apparently Baltimore, Maryland is one of the first cities to contract with ConnectedBits on a 311 smartphone app for iPhones and Android. The City has also hooked up the service to a Twitter account which posts all of the tickets as they are opened and closed, many of them with photos.

What an awesome idea. Smartphones are proliferating faster than any other tech device ever. In just four years, the sales of smartphones have overtaken those of featurephones. Everyone with one of these magic devices is suddenly a citizen journalist, a neighborhood watch member, a city inspector. And since ConnectedBits built Baltimore's app using the Open311 standard, others can hack and add to the platform to improve the service even more.

I wasn't aware that Baltimore had been at the forefront of the 311 program. I assumed that most cities had something like this. I wonder how effective the program, coupled with new mobile apps, is in helping to improve areas of the city?

Inaugural Grand Prix Huge Win for Baltimore, I Say

2011-09-04T17:30:00.000-04:00

The Baltimore Business Journal agrees. Some restaurants might disagree.

From my viewpoint, the race organization was superb. Ticket checking was fast and easy. The "stamp" system worked really well (you only needed to show your ticket once all day, and then you could come and go from the various race areas as much as you wanted). I didn't think the lines for the bridges were awful, but I know sometimes they were long. A friend suggested they could double some of the major bridges to have one in each direction, and that might make sense.

Food and soda was easy to get, and reasonably priced (for festival fare). The view, even with a general admission ticket, was great. I saw the entire race course with just a little walking. I got some good pictures and videos. The weather wasn't awful. There were maps of the course and surrounding area everywhere. There was even an app (although I would rate it the worst part of the experience; who cares about seeing pictures of the "Checker Flag Girls?").

Most importantly of all, I didn't hear a single person complain all day. The "mood" on Twitter seems to be very positive as well. Plenty of people, including the mayor are cautiously optimistic about next year's race already. The country (world?) got to see a very positive view of our town, Baltimore, today, and that might be the biggest win of all.

Update: Apparently some drivers agree with me, and even Roger Penske is bullish on Baltimore.

Marital Satisfaction

2011-07-12T19:25:00.000-04:00

My wife and I are addicted to The Marriage Ref. I'm not sure why.

Perhaps it's the celebrities that draw us in. Ricky Gervais, Jerry Seinfeld, Ellen Pompeo. Big name stars who are very funny.

Perhaps it's the absurdity of the fights. The stuffed dog the husband refuses to take off the mantle. The wife who spends thousands of dollars on a doll house. The husband who spends way, way, way too much time with his giant pumpkins. They're so unbelievably droll, mundane, trivial, that it contextualizes our every day disagreements and makes them seem much more normal.

Or perhaps it's just that there's nothing else on in the summer that Heather can stand.

Who knows?