Google Plus

[Bann]

I've been in for one weekend so far, and its been about 3 or 4 weeks since I dropped facebook. So far, I'm enjoying the fact that I only have like 20 people in my circles, and probably 15+ of them are people I am actually close with, as opposed to all the "people I once knew" that had found their way into my network on facebook. My feed is relevant for a change. Circles seem more intuitive to me so I'm hopeful that I'll be able to manage circles better than networks or whatever it was in facebook.

[JWIV]

One odd thing I've found (and sent feedback in already about) is they're doing blocking wrong.  Or at least need to add an option to it.   Blocking right now only removes that person from your circles - they still show up in other people's comments, etc. 

[Sky]

Oh yeah, Google Music fucking rocks. I wish they had a few more sorting methods for your songs, but other than that, its really great.

I attended a two-day google apps training thing, mostly useless. But the instructor got a bit tired of me hammering on him about how searching is great, but sorting is critical. He kept trying to weasel around the fact that sorting in google apps blows.

The circles thing kinda plays into that. One example of an evasion around sorting from the session: I told him I'm appalled there's no column sorting in gmail. He said "well, with searching and labels you don't need to!" I then gave him about a dozen reasons I and others need to on a daily basis. No answer. So circles is their thing, like labels is. It's the answer you'll get, and if it doesn't work, you're just not thinking googlethink and should probably shut up.

[01101010]

Oh yeah, Google Music fucking rocks. I wish they had a few more sorting methods for your songs, but other than that, its really great.

I attended a two-day google apps training thing, mostly useless. But the instructor got a bit tired of me hammering on him about how searching is great, but sorting is critical. He kept trying to weasel around the fact that sorting in google apps blows.

The circles thing kinda plays into that. One example of an evasion around sorting from the session: I told him I'm appalled there's no column sorting in gmail. He said "well, with searching and labels you don't need to!" I then gave him about a dozen reasons I and others need to on a daily basis. No answer. So circles is their thing, like labels is. It's the answer you'll get, and if it doesn't work, you're just not thinking googlethink and should probably shut up.

This annoys the shit outta me. Sorting is in everything - I can't imagine working on these research databases without sorting every other command. In google+... I noticed my public "circle" is not sorted by latest post. Every time I scroll over to the public screen, it has the exact same post at the top since I got it on my droid. Scrolling down I can find updates to the hour or some that are days old...

[apocrypha]

The android app needs some serious work, I'm getting very annoyed at the dichotomy between the app and the web UIs. Simple example - on my phone Huddles are prominent and easily accessible. Can I find them on the web UI? Can I bollocks.

And the lack of chronological sorting is going to have to be resolved quickly or it may be a deal-breaker for me.

[Yegolev]

I'm not sure what to do with you if you don't have "f13" somewhere in your profile.

[MuffinMan]

Simple example - on my phone Huddles are prominent and easily accessible. Can I find them on the web UI? Can I bollocks.

That's because I believe Huddle is a mobile only feature, at least for now.

[RhyssaFireheart]

I'm not sure what to do with you if you don't have "f13" somewhere in your profile.

Uhh, I don't, but then I'm not sure if I'm linked to you since I don't have all the RL/online names figured out yet.  I do have my online name in the nicknames field though.

[Mazakiel]

So far, all of my friends and I are loving Google+ and will probably be using it long-term.  Most of us aren't fans of Facebook though, and either tolerated it because it's all there was, or didn't bother with it at all. 

[waffel]

Figured I'd ask this here.

Anyone else use google music? I was wondering if it was possible to search my music collection on my PC from my phone? Like say I want to hear an album from my PC that I didn't upload to the cloud yet, can I use my phone to find the album on my PC, and have it automatically upload to the cloud thus allowing me to hear it on my phone?

I kinda messed with it and it looks like the only way to play music on my phone is if it's either:
On my phone already
On the cloud already

[MuffinMan]

Figured I'd ask this here.

Anyone else use google music? I was wondering if it was possible to search my music collection on my PC from my phone? Like say I want to hear an album from my PC that I didn't upload to the cloud yet, can I use my phone to find the album on my PC, and have it automatically upload to the cloud thus allowing me to hear it on my phone?

I kinda messed with it and it looks like the only way to play music on my phone is if it's either:
On my phone already
On the cloud already

I'm in but haven't really messed with it much since the original install, haven't really found a need for it. Doesn't it monitor your folder and update the cloud immediately, sort of like Dropbox does?

[01101010]

Figured I'd ask this here.

Anyone else use google music? I was wondering if it was possible to search my music collection on my PC from my phone? Like say I want to hear an album from my PC that I didn't upload to the cloud yet, can I use my phone to find the album on my PC, and have it automatically upload to the cloud thus allowing me to hear it on my phone?

I kinda messed with it and it looks like the only way to play music on my phone is if it's either:
On my phone already
On the cloud already

That is pretty much it. Google music only works through the cloud to get stuff on your phone - and then it only cache's the music in it's own specific folder. You can go into that folder and pull the songs off but they lack any information other than google's numbering system. I have taken to dropboxing all the songs I want then downloading them onto my phone's sd card and going from there - setting up my own play lists, etc. However, I use the cloud for the other music, but hate having to stream them off there... in case my signal falls and there is no wifi around.

[sigil]

I'm not sure what to do with you if you don't have "f13" somewhere in your profile.

Uhh, I don't, but then I'm not sure if I'm linked to you since I don't have all the RL/online names figured out yet.  I do have my online name in the nicknames field though.

Just did that myself

[apocrypha]

I do have my online name in the nicknames field though.

It would be awesome if everyone did that. If you don't want non-gaming people to know that you are [f13]AnimeFan382 or whatever then you can set your Nickname or Other Names field visibility to specific circles.

That's because I believe Huddle is a mobile only feature, at least for now.

Ahh OK, thanks.

Anyone else use google music?

We're sorry. Music Beta is currently only available in the United States.
 

[fuser]

We're sorry. Music Beta is currently only available in the United States.
 

You just have to bypass the register button/initial page with a US IP and the rest of the service will work fine (at least in Canada).

[Bunk]

Some weird quirks on this so far. Apparently I can't upload photos without sharing them with someone. Of course it let me just share it to an empty circle, but still.

[waffel]

Figured I'd ask this here.

Anyone else use google music? I was wondering if it was possible to search my music collection on my PC from my phone? Like say I want to hear an album from my PC that I didn't upload to the cloud yet, can I use my phone to find the album on my PC, and have it automatically upload to the cloud thus allowing me to hear it on my phone?

I kinda messed with it and it looks like the only way to play music on my phone is if it's either:
On my phone already
On the cloud already

I'm in but haven't really messed with it much since the original install, haven't really found a need for it. Doesn't it monitor your folder and update the cloud immediately, sort of like Dropbox does?

The thing is, is I'm not going to upload 6000+ songs to the cloud so I can hear them on my phone. If they were all on the cloud originally and any NEW album I get would automatically update it would be a different story. I was just hoping I could have my PC upload the an album to the cloud only when I want to hear it on my phone. Sure, once I hear it once on my phone doing this it would be on the cloud in the future and thats fine.

It's like on my PS3 if I want to watch a movie that's on my PC. I open PS3 Media Server, find the movie on my PC, and stream only it. I'd like to do something similar with Google music. Open my phone software, find the album on my PC, and stream only it. Hopefully in the future with google music this will be possible.

[Sky]

Just started using Google Music. Going to take days to get all my songs up there from my work computer, then I have to sync our current work-in-progress: we're ripping all our CDs onto an external drive. So it's nice to have access to my 60GB of music that was previously at work only and what will end up being about double that once we get all our stuff ripped. Having both our collection available at home, at work, on the road? Awesome.

Haven't used it enough to develop an opinion beyond that. Like all Google Apps, it's primitive.

The smart phone angle seems cool...if I had one. Wonder how much it eats through download caps, though. If I could stay under caps/use mostly on wifi, it's a nice way to get around the limited on-device storage.

Open my phone software, find the album on my PC, and stream only it. Hopefully in the future with google music this will be possible.

Doesn't iTunes do that?

[caladein]

Anyone else use google music? I was wondering if it was possible to search my music collection on my PC from my phone? Like say I want to hear an album from my PC that I didn't upload to the cloud yet, can I use my phone to find the album on my PC, and have it automatically upload to the cloud thus allowing me to hear it on my phone?

No, that's not what Google Music, Amazon Cloud Player, or iTunes Match are built to do.  For the functionality you want you need either Audiogalaxy or Orb Live.  (Or, you could set up a VPN and just use iTunes Home Sharing if you just need to stream to an iOS device.)

[Amaron]

So I have never used facebook because of lack of certain privacy options (as far as I know anyways).   I checked this out but it seems there's still some stuff missing or I can't figure out how to do it.

1) No way to stop crazyinabadway friend X from displaying publicly that they've put you in a circle.
2) No way to hide circles from seeing each other.   You can hide circles but not selectively filter them vs each other.
3) No way to have pseudonym connections.   Real name on at least one profile is fine but there are plenty of people I'd like to connect with and not let them know who I am.

You can sort of emulate these things by making several accounts but that's not very useful.   If anyone knows how to do this stuff in the settings it'd be very useful.

[Selby]

Google+ is kinda nifty... but yeah I have no idea who is out there to actually add to my friends, so I'm likely just going to wait until more people adopt.  Besides, I hate my RL name being out there.

[MuffinMan]

1) No way to stop crazyinabadway friend X from displaying publicly that they've put you in a circle.
2) No way to hide circles from seeing each other.   You can hide circles but not selectively filter them vs each other.
3) No way to have pseudonym connections.   Real name on at least one profile is fine but there are plenty of people I'd like to connect with and not let them know who I am.

Your life sounds complicated.

[Amaron]

Your life sounds complicated.

Is it really?   Those 3 things are basically 100% required if you want to have circle privacy.

[MuffinMan]

I was more extrapolating in my head why you need those features, not the features themselves. I came up with an elaborate scenario where you have a crazy ex-girlfriend that puts you in a circle but you don't want your current girlfriend to know. You want to put your ex in a circle as well but you don't want anyone else to know. The third point I just assumed you like to stalk people.  

I guess your privacy needs are much more complicated than mine so I figure your life must be, too.

[naum]

1) No way to stop crazyinabadway friend X from displaying publicly that they've put you in a circle.
2) No way to hide circles from seeing each other.   You can hide circles but not selectively filter them vs each other.
3) No way to have pseudonym connections.   Real name on at least one profile is fine but there are plenty of people I'd like to connect with and not let them know who I am.

Your life sounds complicated.

But that's not how Google rolls.

G+ is just an efficient way to let algorithms be fed by priming humans -- while parts of the Google web plex are entirely detached (i.e., Reader, Google Apps), it's yoked to Google profiles. And the Google team has released some statements that they don't want non-real-name users and will scrub those who do, and that if you want a "page" for a brand or company or organization, that's coming down the pike.

[Amaron]

G+ is just an efficient way to let algorithms be fed by priming humans -- while parts of the Google web plex are entirely detached (i.e., Reader, Google Apps), it's yoked to Google profiles. And the Google team has released some statements that they don't want non-real-name users and will scrub those who do, and that if you want a "page" for a brand or company or organization, that's coming down the pike.

Yea from what I'm reading they don't really seem to be pushing the privacy angle after all.   They're basically trying to make a slicker Facebook.   I'm curious to see how well that will work for them.   I hate Facebook but I sort of doubt they'll take it laying down if G+'s only real advantage is better interface.

[Tale]

I do have my online name in the nicknames field though.

I like that feature. Only my "gaming" circle can see my nicknames. My personal and professional life has very little crossover with my gaming life, so I don't want to be telling anyone else "I'm Tale".

It would be good to be able to set circle-specific nicknames though. Currently a single circle setting applies to all nicknames.

[KallDrexx]

1) No way to stop crazyinabadway friend X from displaying publicly that they've put you in a circle.

I agree with this one and it's annoying.  I've already seen random people I don't know adding me to their circles.  This at first confused me because I specified that I shouldn't be searchable, but it seems like people are traversing other people's pages and seeing who they have in their circle and moving through there. 

[01101010]

1) No way to stop crazyinabadway friend X from displaying publicly that they've put you in a circle.

I agree with this one and it's annoying.  I've already seen random people I don't know adding me to their circles.  This at first confused me because I specified that I shouldn't be searchable, but it seems like people are traversing other people's pages and seeing who they have in their circle and moving through there. 

I'd suspect people are just trying to build circles at this point considering people on G+ are a bit sparse right now. Having few people in your circles means nothing going on with G+ streams/huddles and thus people move back to facebook. Activity is going to be key, and right now (yes I realize they have not opened the flood gates yet) G+ is a ghost town for a lot of people which means those people are going to have a hard time putting any value into it over other social netwerkz.

[KallDrexx]

I'd suspect people are just trying to build circles at this point considering people on G+ are a bit sparse right now. Having few people in your circles means nothing going on with G+ streams/huddles and thus people move back to facebook. Activity is going to be key, and right now (yes I realize they have not opened the flood gates yet) G+ is a ghost town for a lot of people which means those people are going to have a hard time putting any value into it over other social netwerkz.

No, the random people I have found doing this are people trying to advertise their businesses (recruiters, real estate agents, etc) so they can force their ads and proposals on you via the "incoming" stream.

[Amaron]

The pseudonym thing is the one that makes the least sense to me.   You should have your real profile then be able to create pseudonym profiles linked to it.   If only so people could actually search for each other.    Transferring contacts is going to be a big enough barrier as is.

[01101010]

I'd suspect people are just trying to build circles at this point considering people on G+ are a bit sparse right now. Having few people in your circles means nothing going on with G+ streams/huddles and thus people move back to facebook. Activity is going to be key, and right now (yes I realize they have not opened the flood gates yet) G+ is a ghost town for a lot of people which means those people are going to have a hard time putting any value into it over other social netwerkz.

No, the random people I have found doing this are people trying to advertise their businesses (recruiters, real estate agents, etc) so they can force their ads and proposals on you via the "incoming" stream.

Well those aren't random people, those are fucking vultures that need to be culled with a huge fucking machete. Was wondering when they would start spamming streams with adverts... guess that is answered.

[K9]

3) No way to have pseudonym connections.   Real name on at least one profile is fine but there are plenty of people I'd like to connect with and not let them know who I am.

Social networking, you're doing it wrong.

[Hawkbit]

The circles UI isn't complete for me - it needs the ability to draw Venn diagrams with users and feeds.  It's a step in the right direction, though.

[Yegolev]

I'm not sure what to do with you if you don't have "f13" somewhere in your profile.

Uhh, I don't, but then I'm not sure if I'm linked to you since I don't have all the RL/online names figured out yet.  I do have my online name in the nicknames field though.

I do have "Yegolev [F13]" as an Other Name.  I searched for your handle and found someone communicating with Craig Dalrymple, so I bet on that horse.