Extra Credit: Google+

My Experiences with Google + 

"Google plus logo " by Bruce Clay

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bruceclay/5935522390/

Creative Commons License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en

I was able to ioin Google Plus without an invite because an invite is no longer required to join. My e-mail is mbalmaceda@ufl.edu for my account. I will not be using Google + because I am not interested in it. In my opinion, Facebook is better. Surprisingly, I don't have many friends  that have joined Google +.  Upon creating the Google Plus account, and added a few friends and was able to experience what Google Plus is all about. The circles on Google Plus are similar to the Facebook "Lists" that they have recently created. In my opinion, I believe that Facebook made the "Lists" feature in order to compete with Google + and to keep the users that wanted to switch over.

I was able to try out the Google + Hang Out option. Basically, you can do exactly what the name depicts, hang out. You can pick a circle of friends or multiple friends and hang out with them through video chat. I think that this is the only thing that Google Plus has over Facebook. I also believe that it may be too easy for you to add people to your Circle, when they may not want you to be in your circle.

In regards to the article, as I have said before, I believe that Facebook has a huge advantage over Google Plus. Facebook has much more "followers" and it will be difficult for people to translate from Facebook to Google Plus. After Facebook has implemented the Lists feature, I haven't seen many people talk about Google +. When Google + was released, everyone was extremely interested in it, but in the end, they have returned to Facebook. Facebook has numerous updates which may be annoying, but I believe that they will be the more popular choice every time.

Extra Credit: VoIP

My VoIP Call

"Skype " by Jhon Alexander Calderon Sanmartin
Jhon Alexander Calderon Sanmartin

Creative Commons License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en

This was not the first time that I have used VoIP software to call friends.  I called up my friend Kevin in the video and put in a little shout out to Dr. Means and Professor Olson! VoIP software is very easy to use. All you need to do is add the contact to your contact list then double click their name. You can text chat the contact if you'd like or just call them. Skype to Skype calls are free! If you want to video call your friends that is also an option, as you will see in my recording of my video call.

Skype is not the only VoIP software available. ooVoo is also a very popular option to video chat multiple people at one time. In the end, Skype is great to use if you are over seas. My girlfriend that went to Argentina over the summer used Skype on her cellphone to call me for free. It was clear and it was very easy to contact her or text her whenever I wanted.

I know you must be waiting to hear the shout out, so here is a recording of my call using Jing:

http://screencast.com/t/hhhj63W5

On a side note, Jing was very easy to use also. Once signed up, you just select what part of the screen you want to highlight, then boom, finished. You can upload straight to screencast. It's extremely simple, and I WILL be using this software again.

Thanks for the extra credit opportunity!

Extra Credit: Avatar

My Experience with FaceYourManga

"Mike's Avatar" by Michael Balmaceda

After using FaceYourManga.com, I was able to create an avatar or myself that can be found above. I am a boxer, and it was awesome to be able to put boxing gloves on my avatar. I've made the avatar look almost exactly like me. I couldn't find a better representation of my spikey hair, so that was the closest I could find. I couldn't have made the Avatar without including my Aviators and looking as if I was going to knock someone out!

Using the FaceYourManga website was extremely easy. I've never been to the site and it was extremely simple to go through part of the avatar and click which option I would like to have.

The avatar options include (but are not limited to): 

• Clothing
• Accessories
• Hair
• Facial hair
• Eyes
• Eyebrows
• Background and themes
• Weather
• And much more! 

If you haven't created an avatar, go ahead and create one! It's super easy!