The Fearless Blogger

I’ll admit it – I’m in a crappy mood.

Maybe it’s my meds. Maybe it’s the heat. Maybe I’m just scared of walking out of this room and never feeling the rest of my whole life, the way I feel when I’m with you - ooops! That’s Baby in Dirty Dancing, not me! Got a bit carried away there!

Whatever the reason  (I’m sure if I spent another couple of minutes, I could list at least five more), I’m cranky and I’m irritated and am not about to take it out on my cats – and certainly not on you. (I love you! You know that! Right? OK – we’ll talk more bout that later – remind me!)

I’d say it’s possible I got up on the wrong side of the bed – only I still don’t have a friggin  bed to sleep in, thanks to a combination of careless movers, poor timing, ADHD-procrastinated paperwork, and just overall shoddy customer service from Priority Moving.

So, I’m in the mood to vent. I’m wanting  to share some of the frustration that the random dingbats and doody-heads (you heard me right!) are bringing into my life.

Still, I don’t want to turn my blog into a ranting bitch-fest.

What’s a girl to do? read more

click me so you can read all the funny-ness (and watch your entire day disappear as you get sucked into the Hyperbole and a Half time vortex)

This is why I love Allie Brosh.

And why you should subscribe to Hyperbole and a Half.

Right now.

(Go ahead, I’ll wait.)

I wanted to tell Allie I no longer have blonde hair and do not have a pink dress, and to please stop reading my diary.

Then I wondered how someone who lives in Montana and doesn’t know me was able to get access to my diary.

Then I realized I don’t keep a diary.

Huh.

(Just to make sure we’re on the same page: I think this is funny and you should read it: Hyperbole and a Half: This is Why I’ll Never be an Adult.)

In case you haven’t heard, Google recently launched a new social media service called Buzz:

Buzz lets you share updates, photos, links, and pretty much anything else you’d like with your Gmail contacts; it’s an easy way to follow your friends, too.

If Orkut was Google’s version of MySpace, Buzz is Google’s version of Facebook.

Personally, I’ve been getting sick of Facebook’s shifty-ness -- seems like the site’s sporting a new homepage and/or privacy settings more often than Ryan Seacrest touches up his highlights -- so I’m hoping Buzz gets some momentum.

It’s certainly getting its share of attention. Just two days after the launch, Google implemented some “immediate improvements” based on user feedback (mostly around privacy control features).

One thing I haven’t seen addressed is Google’s approach for verified accounts.

When I visit my Google profile page, I’m greeted with a message advising me that the page “is eligible to be featured in Google search results”. This links to a help page on how to make your profile easier to find,  including this tip “to help you make your Google profile more useful”:

Verify your name, and get a “Verified” badge on your profile.

If you were me, this is the message you'd get.

Given I have a sink full of dishes waiting to be washed and laundry to do, my natural reaction is to immediately set about getting my name verified. (Seriously, you get a “Verified” badge! How could I resist?)

After clicking through a mere five pages, I arrive at the place where the magic happens. Intuitively (that’s sarcasm, by the way) nestled among the Knol (Remember Knol? Google-flavored wikis?) ”Preferences” resides my “Name Verification” page, where I am presented with two options to complete the verification process (the badge is so close!):

1. Credit Card
2. Social Security Number

Nope. Not a Rick Roll.

Really?!

Short of perhaps a picture of me naked and sitting on the toilet, I can’t think of anything I’d feel less inclined to post online than either of those items.

I begin to wonder if perhaps I’ve landed on an archived April Fool’s Day page. After all, it seems far more plausible that the links would lead me to a Rick Astley video, than that Google would actually be requesting that information.

I decide to explore further.  (Who says those dishes aren’t going to wash themselves?!)

Turns out it’s true -
The only way to get that Name Verification badge is to fork over details for either your credit card or social security number.

Of course Google assures us that your card is not charged, the information is used for verification purposes only (via a third party), blah blah blah.  Comfy? Well, before you pull your wallet out, read through the FAQs -- only certain credit cards will work and Name Verification is only available in the U.S.

Indeed, you don’t have to get your name verified. So unless you have a compelling reason to prove you are who you claim to be, this is far from the end of the world. (Even if you do have a compelling reason, I’m confident you’ll be able to work through this.)

Currently, the feature does not seem to be widely used. Google describes it as “experimental”, explaining they “now downplay the feature in the user-interface”.  For those wondering about page rank, the FAQ states:

At the moment, the feature exists solely as one means for you to communicate to your readers that you are who you say you are. At this present time, it does not have a significant effect on ranking.

Does this graph remind you of anything?

Still, I have to believe that this is something Google will need to address sooner or later.

Users are encouraged to update their profiles when getting started with Buzz. Potentially, many are likely seeing the message about having their profile featured in search results.  If so, Google may find their efforts to downplay the verification option to be less-than-successful.

Call me cynical, but given the alarmist reaction to Google potentially exposing who’s on your “most e-mailed” list, the current verification options are unlikely to sit well with the average user.

Would you be willing to share your credit card or social security number to get verified?

Does it even matter?  Will Buzz lead to an increased need (real or perceived) for Name Verification or will verification remain a “downplayed”, experimental feature?

Since I have dishes to do (so much for them doing themselves -- hmmph),  please talk amongst yourselves (i.e., leave a comment)!

A company’s culture carries a lot of weight for me when making purchasing decisions – especially for service-related products.

I saw this ad on Daring Fireball and it cracked me up.  I’m not even in need of a web host and I couldn’t resist clicking the link.

On the downside, I’m not sure I’ll remember the name (Fused Network, by the way).  But I’ll definitely remember the ad.

(Just a friendly word of caution:  Clearly someone should look for more than just a good personality when selecting their web hosting provider.  That said, a good personality is a definite plus!)

from The Inside Scoop from Backstage

(Yes, another Conan blog posting. Sorry if this blog’s been a bit single-minded the past week. For those who are not Conan fans, please bear with me – there’s just another week of this!)

Didn’t get to see La Bamba in a Popemobile today? Me neither.

At least folks like us can live vicariously through Tonight Show blogger Aaron Bleyaert, who just posted a great depiction of today’s rally outside the Universal lot where the Tonight Show is recorded.

Die hard fans who braved the torrential downpours were rewarded with appearances by band member La Bamba (in aforementioned “Popemobile”), announcer Andy Richter and Conan himself, plus free pizza, Conan/Leno look-alike showdowns and “I’m Wet for Conan” buttons.

La Bamba in the Popemobile (from The Inside Scoop from Backstage)

My favorite part:

(warning: Truman Show spoiler ahead!)

Conan O’Brien himself jumped out of a white van, and started jogging up the street towards Gate 2 and our building!!  It was like The Beatles dropped out of the sky holding the Jonas Brothers on their shoulders – everyone went CRAZY and ran with Coco up the street and into Gate 2!!!  Then, the weirdest thing happened: Just as Conan started running up the street, THE RAIN STOPPED. It was magical. I’ve never seen anything like it in my life; the cops blocked off lanes of traffic as everyone cheered and screamed and jumped up and down and blue sky actually peeked through the thick dark clouds and I almost expected the booming voice of Ed Harris to come rolling out of the clouds like in that part at the end of The Truman Show. . .

My favorite chant of the whole day was then: “Conan stopped the rain!  Conan stopped the rain!”

Were you there? If so, I’d love to hear about your experience in the comments!

If not, feel free to leave a comment anyhow, sharing what you imagine it was like.

And read Aaron’s full story here.

video of today’s events shot by Tonight Show Clip Guy Doug Karo