Very cool – at least for Pittsburgh. Google has opened an office on this side of the country. Pittsburgh is a great town, and a beautiful city, and I think it makes a unique choice for a Google office. Pittsburgh is not an overly huge city, but offers a variety of talent coming out of Carnegie Mellon, Pitt, and the Art Institute of Pittsburgh.
Pittsburgh is the ultimate melting pot, with people from every corner of the world, thus, a lot of ethnic food (makes you want a beer and pierogies, doesn’t it?), plenty of culture and all the historical significance you could ever want. And it’s got the Steelers!
A Google office (which is hiring, by the way) is a nice boon to a really great area. I like the statement from Google saying they want to provide an unlimited number of “very interesting and significant jobs” to entice people to either stay in Pittsburgh or return.
Check out the very cool office space pics provided by Google.
Located in Baker’s Square, if you are at all familiar with Pittsburgh. Wonder if they’ll give fellow geeks a tour? Time for a field trip!
Now here is an application for Twitter that had not even occurred to me, and I’m not sure it’ll be effective. Seattle’s police department, according to Mike Sachoff over at WebProNews, is integrating a program whereby the police station will Tweet pertinent information about a stolen car, such as make, model, color, year and plate number. If someone sees the car they can call 911, and help the owner get their vehicle back that much sooner (hopefully before it gets trashed).
While I don’t know how well this would work in our area, at least until more folks get around to using Twitter, a Web and tech savvy area such as Seattle might be the perfect place for pilot program like this. It’s a pretty good idea, really. Amber Alerts should be done the same way – any missing persons reports, actually. I think I might have started with that and worked my way down to cars and what have you.
Law enforcement is stating that criminals are using social media to set up, scope out crimes and actually brag about them afterward. The police feel they need to use social media to stay a step ahead of the criminals. I think we’ll continue to be amazed at the ways people use the Web. 2011 should be pretty interesting, don’t ya think? I think I see social media and web experts becoming full time members of the police forces across the country…
If you’d like to get the lowdown, read more about it over at The Seattle Times.
Yeah, you read that right. The FCC is rearing it’s “net neutrality” head again. It was rejected once by Congress, and yet the head of the FCC (FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski) has decided that it doesn’t really matter, he’s already gone ahead and set a vote for it on December 21.
Net Neutrality is being sold to the American public (at least those who are paying attention to this stuff) as a safeguard, a protection against who knows what – I guess a bias by ISPs in traffic to certain sites, depending on what the ISPs want to enhance or encourage in the search traffic- in my opinion it’s a power grab. This guy, Genachowski thinks he can get away with it legally, so he’s going to try. If he is successful, it will have some significant impact on the Web.
1. Sites will be required to change the way they perform link building. For example, if you include a link to a conservative site, you will now have to offering one with an opposing viewpoint.
2. ISPs will be monitored to ensure that they are not prohibiting traffic to any sites – as in, they are not as the Washington Post put it:”favoring or discriminating against any traffic that goes over their networks.” In other words, ISPs will not be free to run their businesses as they see fit, they will have more governmental mandates and policies to follow.
3. Net Neutrality is a sneaky way of getting the Fairness Doctrine sneaked in under our noses. They want to be able to tell Web users, whether they be searchers or site owners/content providers, how to conduct themselves on the Web.
Interestingly, others of high position in the FCC don’t agree with the chairman and have released their response to the action the chairman is taking and their intentions for the meeting to be held on December 21. I think now is the time to place some calls to Congress people, and even the FCC itself to let them know how you feel about this issue. I personally am tired of government agencies deciding to regulate something that works quite well on it’s own. Commissioner McDowell and Commissioner Baker both feel that it’s not within the FCC’s authority to enforce the Net Neutrality policy, so it’ll be interesting to see how this all pans out. Their statements can be read on the FCC site.
So what do you think about this whole thing? Have you given it any thought? How will it impact your business, your presence on the Web?
So, my Dad sent a few of us this link earlier today. He reads quite a bit and passes along various articles, videos etc. on a regular basis in an attempt to keep us educated and engaged. It usually comes with a brief message about getting our heads out of the sand and getting involved because things are changing fast and not usually for the better. This one was a bit of a surprise, because of the positive tone.
It’s a fairly quick read but offers what I believe is some great insight on America. The general sentiment is resilience and optimism, which are 2 things we are sadly lacking these days.
If you can spare about 3 minutes, read this article. It’s time to quit being so damn negative.
Read it here.
I have a lot to be thankful for. I have a gorgeous wife, Amy, along with a half dozen carpet critters that keep life interesting. I have a big, happy extended family, and a thriving business. We’ve been blessed with some small medical miracles recently, and for that I am grateful.
I am grateful too that I work with a great group of people, many of whom stuck with us through the economic downturn, and more than a few whom we have been fortunate to have join us in recent months, when we were ready to hire again. We’ve rebounded nicely, and are looking forward to an awesome 2011.
Today of all days, though, I am most thankful for this country. Because I was born in America, I have the opportunity to start and build a business, and run it the way I see fit. I worship as I need and want, and can choose to homeschool (well we chose that my wife would homeschool, but you know what I mean) my children. Liberty is not to be taken for granted. I am thankful that we have an awesome military that has protected these liberties with great honor. God has blessed us so richly, and I pray that He continues to do so. With a bit of a new direction in the coming months, I think that America will start to feel more like the America I grew up in. I know that this is the greatest country in the world. We work hard, pray hard, and play hard, and are thankful for what we have been given.
I’m also thankful that I get to go have a fantastic turkey dinner with my family (actually a couple of ‘em) – so, go – eat turkey, watch football, and be thankful for the great American Thanksgiving Day traditions that we all hold dear.
HAVE A HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
