Just a guy in Vermont trying to connect all the dots...
Dan York
Author's posts
Nov 18
FIR #730 – 11/18/13 – For Immediate Release
We're interviewed by Inside PR and the GaggleAmp podcast, two interviews coming, listener survey results imminent; Quick News: Twitter Custom Timelines, adding mobile to monitoring, Google's legal win, study about mobile-text charitable donations; Ragan promo; News That Fits; four Twitter gaffes, Dan York's Tech Report, the JP Morgan hashtag kerfuffle Media Monitoring Minute from CustomScoop, listener comments, social media throughout the marketing funnel; blogger show-offs; music from Persian Claws; and more.
Nov 15
Google+ Changes Cover Photo Size Again – Removes Huge Image, Moves Profile Photo to Left
If you haven't looked at your Google+ profile or page for a bit... you might want to do so because Google has changed the image size again. It used to be a huge image that took up a great amount of your screen - and then "collapsed" in a funky way when you scrolled down the page. Your name and your profile photo appeared at the bottom of the photo and the photo was greyed out a bit.
That's all gone.
Now your photo is a good bit smaller and does not collapse as the page scrolls... it just disappears off the page as you would expect it to. Most significantly, though, your profile photo and info is on the left side of the photo, taking over about a quarter of the image. Here's what my Google+ page looks like now:
You'll note that the profile photo and info now blurs the image behind them. But... if you had taken the time to create a cover photo with something centered in the middle of the photo, you'll probably want to adjust that to shift the image over a bit.
I've not seen any formal specifications out of anyone at Google about this new image size. The only real note I've seen is this Google+ post by Google engineer Karthik Nagaraj just indicating the change was happening. He indicates that basically any 16:9 image should work.
On my Mac using Google Chrome I did a screen capture of that part a G+ page and that told me that the overall image was 1060x438 and the main visible (non-blurred) part was 780x438 (which math then says leaves 280x438 behind the blurred part. That, however, is just how it was displayed in Chrome on my Mac... I don't precisely how it will appear on other browsers on other operating systems.
The main point is that about the leftmost 25% (actually 26.4% if those numbers I measured) of the image will be blurred, so keep that in mind when choosing an image.
Given that I find myself using Google+ a good bit more these days, I do like these changes... it just would have been great if Google gave all of us a bit more of a clue about the change rather than just waking up to find that it had been done. Ah, well... given how much I've paid for Google+ (i.e. nothing) I guess I can't really complain, eh?
What do you think of the new cover photo size? Do you like this better?
If you found this post interesting or useful, please consider either:
- following me on Twitter;
- adding me to a circle on Google+;
- following me on App.net;
- subscribing to my email newsletter; or
- subscribing to the RSS feed.
Nov 15
Watch the US Olympic Curling Trials Live This Weekend (Nov 16-17) On NBC Sports Network
Want to watch some amazing curling on TV? The US Olympic Curling Trials are happening today and this weekend in Fargo, North Dakota. They will be live on the NBC Sports Network channel. The schedule of games seems to be this:
- Friday, Nov. 15: 2:30 p.m., women’s playoff #1 and men’s playoff #1 (NBCSN, live TV)
- Saturday, Nov. 16: 2:30 p.m. men’s playoff #2 (NBCSN, live TV)
- Saturday, Nov. 16: 7 p.m., women’s playoff #2 (NBCSN, live TV)
- Sunday, Nov. 17: 11 a.m., men’s playoff #3 (if required) (NBCSN live TV or rerun of Saturday show)
- Sunday, Nov. 17: 2 p.m., women’s playoff #3 (if required) (NBCSN live TV or rerun of Saturday show)
More information can be found on the USA Curling website, as well as via their Twitter account, Facebook page and Google+ page.
P.S. And yes, the only coverage now is on NBC Sports Network. There was a free live stream on the web but that was for all the games up until the playoffs.
Nov 14
Congratulations To Keene Ice! First Round Of Keene City Council Approval Tonight
Congratulations to Keene Ice! In a completely packed Keene City Council Chambers tonight (including out into the hallway), the Keene City Council finance and operations committee voted unanimously to approve the two agreements between the City of Keene and Keene Ice. The agreements now go to the full Keene City Council next Thursday for approval… but tonight was the big step to get this approval from the finance committee!
Congrats! We as a city are now that much closer to having a year-round ice rink right here in Keene.
And… in looking at the drawings… there seems to be this “open storage space” behind the bleachers that looks like it could be enough room to hold some curling sheets! A regulation curling sheet is about 150 feet long and 15-ish feet wide. I don’t know the scale of the drawings… but it looks like that storage space is maybe 40-ish feet wide by 200 feet long, so probably only enough room for 2 sheets. I know we said in our FAQ that we’re really looking for 3-4 sheets to be able to bring in the large bonspiels and a large number of members… BUT… that could be interesting! I think we need to follow up with Keene Ice and see what possibilities might exist there…
Nov 14
.SEXY? .TATTOO? Now Live in DNS? Welcome to the World of NewgTLDs (Featured Blog)
As I wrote last week, ICANN is proceeding along with "delegating" the "new generic top-level domains (newgTLDs)" and while last week's .GURU may have provoked some chuckles, this week's block of 11 newly "delegated" newgTLDs brings us... More...
Nov 14
Keene Ice At Keene City Council Tonight
If you get a chance to go to the Keene City Council meeting tonight, Thursday, November 14, 2013, the proposal for a year-round skating rink from Keene Ice will be under discussion. While we’ve written in our frequently-asked questions why we are seeking a dedicated ice facility, we’re very much in favor of seeing Keene Ice’s proposal go through. The Monadnock region needs more access to winter sports facilities – and it would be outstanding to have a year-round skating rink here in Keene! I (Dan York) am planning to be there and I hope others will join in the meeting as well.
Nov 14
Should The Root DNSSEC Key Be Rolled? ICANN’s SSAC Issues Some Guidance
Should the root key of DNSSEC be rolled over? And if so, when and under what conditions? We’ve mentioned this discussion before and even sent in our own comments to ICANN. After reviewing all those comments and consulting with many people, the ICANN Security and Stability Advisory Committee (SSAC) has now issued their guidance in a document, “SAC063 – SSAC Advisory on DNSSEC Key Rollover in the Root Zone“. The document is well worth a read and explains SSAC’s thinking on a variety of issues. For a quick summary, SSAC issued five recommendations that I would paraphrase as:
1: ICANN and partners should immediately undertake a worldwide communications effort to publicize the root zone KSK rollover motivation and process as widely as possible.
2: ICANN staff should coordinate a testing program to analyze the behavior of validating resolvers to identify problems that could be caused the the root KSK rollover.
3: ICANN staff and the community should identify clear and objective metrics for acceptable levels of “breakage” resulting from a key rollover.
4: ICANN staff should coordinate the development of rollback procedures to be executed in case things go wrong.
5: ICANN staff should coordinate the collection of information during this KSK rollover so that lessons can be learned for future rollovers.
This SSAC report is issued in time for next week’s ICANN 48 meeting in Buenos Aires where this topic will again be in the conversation within DNSSEC circles. ICANN has contractual requirements to roll the key within five years of the signing of the root in July 2010 and so efforts are underway to make sure this can be done in a sensible manner.
Nov 14
Welcome To The Monadnock Curling Club!
Greetings! Are you interested in the sport of curling? Have you played it before? Or seen it on TV and thought it looked interesting?
Would you like to be able to play the sport of curling within the Monadnock region?
If so, please join with us and help us bring a dedicated curling facility to the Monadnock region of southwestern New Hampshire and the surrounding regions in Vermont and Massachusetts.
Nov 11
TDYR #047 – Remembrance Day And The Ubiquitous Canadian Poppy
Today, November 11, is "Remembrance Day" in Canada and I reflect on how moving I find the ubiquitous poppy symbol...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remembrance_poppy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Flanders_Fields
