Skip to main content

Custom URLs, #SecretSanta, and a new Explorer appears

A somewhat slow week, so this post will be a bit shorter than the rest.

So this week, yesterday in fact, Google deemed me worthy to receive a custom URL for my Google+ page (http://plus.google.com/+JoshWilson-sohjsolwin in case you're curious). I was not allowed to reserve a simple +JoshWilson like I would have preferred, simply due to it being too common of a name. I was instead forced to append some characters to the end to make it unique. I am not too happy with the result. Being able to select something like /+SohjSolwin would have been preferred to the naming scheme I had to abide by, but in the end, I still got my custom URL and it's still easier to remember and write out than the long number i was assigned before.

Now, on to the #SecretSanta. This year, I will be participating in the #GPlusSanta #SecretSanta gift exchange on Google Plus. It's this really awesome thing where you put together an Amazon Wishlist, send it in to the GPlusSanta, and someone may pick your list and buy you a present off of it. The real goal (and fun of it) is to pick a random other person's list and send them a gift. The actual sending of gifts is all handled by Amazon, so it's incredibly simple. I'm looking forward to participating and sending out some secret ninja gifts that will arrive on someone's doorstep in time for Christmas, but it would be cool to receive something too. I like having no clue what's in a gift when I open it. I put things on my list that I've put in my shopping carts at various points, but always decide not to get right now for whatever reason. I won't include a link to my list here because I would rather you go to the www.gplussanta.com site and buy someone else a gift.

A new Challenger Explorer appears! I submitted my wife, +Rachel Wilson, +Maximillian Fox, and +Tim Wendland as potential +Google Glass explorers. So far, I only know of Rachel that's received her Glass. She went with the Sky model. She's quite excited to be a part of the program and is having a blast already. I just realized that I've been part of the program for 6 months now. I wear my Glass every day, all day until I get home, at which point it rests on it's charger until the next day. That's probably why I forget I have it on so often and why I am now accustomed to looking up to see the time, even when I'm not wearing Glass. It really begins to feel like an extension of your consciousness after a while since you don't really have to think about using it, you just do a natural action and you have all the information you could need. It really is an amazing device.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Happy Holidays, Catching up before the New Year, and Family Visits

So, I'm a few posts behind. I hope you'll all forgive me for taking some time off to spend with family and friends throughout the holiday season. After my last post on the way down to South Carolina to visit my parents, brother, and as many friends as I could, I have been quite busy. First, I brought my mom back up to Maryland with us to visit for a couple weeks following Thanksgiving. We had a good time and she very much enjoyed her stay. The trip to Union Station so she could catch her train taking her back was a little sad, but surprisingly Union Station is a seriously awesome Metro/Amtrak/Marc station. It felt very much like a mall or a large airport. There were three levels with food, shopping, souvenir shops, and more. It was quite something else. Not to mention it was decked out in lights for the holidays so it looked even more amazing. So, to catch everyone up on what's been going on, what is going on, and what will be going on: Since the last post, I am now g
Post a Comment
Read more

Getting Fit, Glass and Relax, and Hacking Habits

A few weeks back  +Noble Ackerson  recommended a book that sounded interesting, but I didn't really want to spend the money on it at the time. That book was "The Power of Habit, by Charles Duhigg". Well, I received some Play Store gift card over the last few weeks due to being awesome at work and decided to pick it up. I haven't quite finished it yet, but I can without a doubt say that it will make you look at things in an entirely different way. You'll begin to recognize all the habits that you have and even the habits that your company has. The things that we do every day without knowing and without even questioning. It's astounding. One of the key aspects of the book though is that if you know and understand a habit, you can change it. I've started to utilize what the book details about habits to accomplish a few things that I've realized I want to do. First, I plan on utilizing the habit forming routines to get to the point that I exercise every
Post a Comment
Read more

Let's get this started

If you can read this then I guess I've set up the DNS records and account settings correctly. This first post comes to you, as I'm sure many of them will, from my Android device. I hope to use this blog to help with keeping my myriad projects I have in line as well as to keep track of ideas for new projects I'd like to take on once I have some additional room on my plate. I'll keep this short so it doesn't burn through your attention span (and mine). ;p I like to build things, be them digital or physical. I like to consider myself on the path to becoming a great code ninja. Although I have been trained in the coding arts, as with any great skill, it takes time, effort, and much, much practice to hone those abilities. From time to time I'll take on a project that involves creating something tangible. Those projects are a little more varied than my digital ones. My current list contains items as strange as building a kayak and a couch. I'll wrap up thi
1 comment
Read more