Last week I celebrated my birthday. And Facebook celebrated right along with me; when I started my abbreviated workday on Friday morning I had a handful of Happy Birthday wishes from my social networking friends, and more rolled in while I was replying to those.
Yesterday I promised to tell you everything you need to know about Google Drive. GDrive is a subject that been tossed around literally for years; we all knew Google Drive would show up eventually, and if “storing your stuff on line” was the only thing that interested you, it’s possible that you figured out how to create a virtual “Google Drive” years ago by putting your files into GMail.
Back in the day, when I spent a lot of time being The Computer Answer Guy, I built my street cred giving a little talk about how you couldn’t go wrong being full-on into all things Microsoft. I’m no longer inclined to throw my mind and soul into the goings on of the folks in Redmond, and have gone so far as to suggest that Microsoft is becoming irrelevant.
This despite Microsoft’s inroads in areas like . . . batteries. 
I know a thing or two about Virtual Assistants. Virtual VIP helps our clients get stuff done. I’ll stop short of saying “whatever you need done, we do for you”, but it’s close.
Apple’s Siri, despite what you might have seen on television commercials, is not a Virtual Assistant. In fact, forget what Samuel L. Jackson and Zoey Deschanel have to say on the subject, most people will find that interactions with Siri go more like this one (NSFW):
The Siri Rock God Commercial, Reimagined
And like a puff of smoke, Home Depot’s Web Site is all but invisible in Google.
Last year, JC Penney found themselves penalized by Google. Penney’s Search Engine Optimization had become too aggressive, and the search giant slapped JCP on the wrist. Now, it’s happened to Home Depot.
The subject of what Google allows and what’s considered grounds for penalty is one that fascinates me, both because my mind loves puzzles like this one and because The Answer Guy does Search Engine Optimization. And Home Depot did something last week that falls right into puzzle territory. They asked contractors to link to the Home Depot web site, which isn’t actually forbidden, but then suggested that the contractors could hide the links, which is.
Yesterday, this very short message showed up in my inbox:
i need to access the Verizon wireless internal systems
It found its way to me through our Contact Us page, and I was so incredulous I did a little research. That research led me to this public document at the Federal Communications Commission’s web site.
Let that wash over you for a moment, and I’m pretty sure you’ll conclude that a the guy who asked me for what sounded like help hacking Verizon Wireless’ computer system also has some pretty strong ideas about the product offerings Verizon Wireless makes available in Northeastern Massachusetts.
Privacy may have ended forever, but if you’re determined to keep some of what you do and say away from the prying eyes of . . . everyone, there are still options.
In the world that Google (trading in your data and pretending they don’t) and Facebook (open about the fact that there is no such thing as privacy, anyway) have created, I start this discussion by repeating a point I first made here a couple of years ago: privacy is a new idea and you can’t really control yours. Thrash about indignantly as much as you like, but no law will grant you privacy, any more than laws can legislate morality on an issue like equal pay.
A short time after I started using a Droid, I found myself in the middle of a “what’s the real-world impact of the decisions I make?” conversation. I’ve always looked a technology as a means to an end, and while I know about the latest and greatest toys before most people I rarely own them early; I prefer to stay off that bleeding edge.
Last week, I talked about the reason I’m not an attorney. If you don’t feel like reading that piece I’ll sum it up really simply: most attorneys are weasels. And I don’t want to be a pantless weasel.
A couple of days ago, a US Court of Appeals judge issued a ruling that to my not-a-weasel eye makes, at least until the problem he’s created gets fixed, digital piracy legal here in the USA. Like, completely legal. Like, go out and start stealing copying stuff all you like. LEGAL.
Axl Rose is my favorite SEO client. Or the Guns N’ Roses front-man would be my favorite client if we were doing his Search Engine Optimization.
I’ve mentioned Mr. Rose before. I wrote a whole post about the idea of Axl Rose as a business change agent about a year ago, and then a few days later showed off our SEO skills with this post about Axl Rose, Mick Jagger, and The Grateful Dead. Take a look: our SEO Rankings were pretty impressive.
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