I’m a fan, I like it. I blogged a while back on how Google Wave was going to take over, and how awesome it was going to be. That was back when I believed that Google couldn’t fail when it came to making a big social media effort. The truth is that Google has failed a handful of times with their social media efforts, but recently they have paid attention to an ideal that has seen monumental impacts for the internet world in general.

It seems that this time they have made their most humbling, most thoughtful, most dynamic and possibly biggest effort yet. They have released Google+ and many have latched on to it as quick as they could. I am a first generation user (that’s nothing that I write home about) and I certainly do like the functionality. Now that this has come out I feel the ease of what Facebook should have been if they were to be in the mindset of not trying to be so intrusive with your personal info.

I like the concept of Circles, I like the clean interface, and the potential to expand in ways that many find ideal. The only problem is that the posts that I find are that of cute kitten video’s and peoples blog links that pertain to Google+ itself. The natural energy that MySpace, Facebook and Twitter brought about isn’t there. GGL seems to be a giant with a new weapon that is following all the rules to have you naturally share your life, without bringing the people enough meaning to validly be personal with it. As a result, there is a lot of ‘flub’ on there..I find hilarious video and pics, but also a lot of peoples thoughts on this Google+ thing. So, for example, if people are posting their thoughts on Facebook all the time, what fun would Facebook be?

The problem is that I don’t care what people think about it- its potential nor the fact that they do not promote businesses right now. I hope that GGL thinks up a good plan for business but, it seems to be just another medium unless they do something spectacular. Facebook has this thing cornered for the time being.

I do hope that Google+ makes it, even if I sound a little negative about it.

I remember being a child in the late 80′s, and seeing the appearance of a broken man on the TV screen. He had a humongous frown on his manly face, tears streaming out of his eyes and regret in every single syllable of his words. He was in mourning, but this was different. He wasn’t mourning the loss of a family member nor of anyone notable in this nation. He was mourning the media exposure of his actions. He was caught with a prostitute in his vehicle and had no viable excuse as to what his intentions were.

He gave a heart-wrenching confession to his congregation soon after. He used bible verses and his own personal remorse as an ally in his pursuit of absolute confession. Anyone that believes in forgiveness could give an ear to this ordeal, and even be sympathetic. I am sure that it was tough for many of whom that followed him at his church and that watched him on TV. There is so many in any congregation that is struggling with every day temptations that are luring them in, and many that feel the need for repentance to be in front of the one that God has chosen to speak to them. Suddenly, their appointed/ anointed leader are begging them for forgiveness. It is good to know that our leaders are human, it’s another to know that, in this case, are using the money that they ‘need’ to build the church are using it to satisfy their own internal hunger. But..I am not trying to go into the first instance- which was in 1988.

Swaggart received the forgiveness that he desperately pursued. He was able to continue doing what he loves doing- getting the congregation swept up in a whirlwind for God. He speaks with the typical southern-baptist style of emotion, he walks around as he talks, he says emotional things and waves the bible in the air at the same time. He’s a natural conjurer of the faith. But then, there’s 1991..

1991: (lets keep this short, it’s already predictable)
On October 11, 1991, Swaggart was found, for the second time, in the company of a prostitute, Rosemary Garcia,[6] when he was pulled over by the California Highway Patrol in Indio, California, for driving on the wrong side of the road. SOURCE- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Swaggart

Ok, so he gets caught again..And reports say that he told those at Family Resource Center that “The Lord told me it’s flat none of your business.” (Same source as above).

Many would say not to judge him over these instances overall- fine. But I do know of a verse from the Bible that says: (This is from 1 Thes 5:21 (Phi)) “By all means use your judgment, and hold on to whatever is good.” There are other verses of judgement as well in the Bible that allow me to feel the way that I feel.

TV evangelism already is tough to watch and is out-of-date as it is. You will see an old man preaching the gospel along side his wife that has bleached-blonde hair with her fur coat and mascara running down her face as it is- and she has just received a message straight from God on the miracle that can happen in your life right now. Although I truly believe that God can do all things, I feel frustrated with these TV mongers.

I tuned in to a Swaggart broadcast recently (curiousity) and as he was swooning the crowd and he stated: “That devil from 1991 that rose in my life is on the run tonight!”.  He was waving that bible through the air, walking as he talked and had this look that he had just conquered something- with a smile.  The people cheered.. My feelings at this point are: No, Mr. Swaggart, you’re lack of pressing into God is your fumble. And you still don’t admit that.

I would be a little more sympathetic if I could see the heart and love for God. I haven’t been able to see that because of the theatrics in place that are the same as what was happening in the 80′s. There has been much time go by and maybe he can use his gift to reach the unsaved.. But perhaps he could preach from the Bible, and put down the ‘devil got me’ mentality? Maybe we can see a new and reformed man? I’m just not seeing that. All that I saw him do was the swooning- the arousing- the emotional grabs…The man is a performer, and of course his kingdom is being re-established as we speak. I have to leave this blog post on a sad note. )-=

No, I don’t!

*A poster ad for VitaminWater claims “flu shots are so last year”.
*There is a TV ad for “VitaminWater power -c” that indicates a person who has so many unused sick days that she has additional days to stay home.

These statements are seen as being very deceptive, and even dangerous. The product is made of water, and vitamins…But, are also made with crystaline fructose or other forms of sugar. Each bottle contains 125 calories, too! There is also an amazing 33 grams of sugar per bottle, which is equivalent to about 8 teaspoons of sugar (4 grams per teaspoon), which doesn’t exactly win over the health fanatics. Many call this a desert, and not a drink.

By July of 2010, Coca Cola (the parent company) finally states that VitaminWater isn’t a healthy beverage. Enough said.

We get deceived in advertising all the time. Im writing about this product here because I was deceived by it myself. You walk into the gas station, you see it on the rack, and it has a very clear message that stands out from the rest. Its black & white labeling screams ‘I am a drink that’s focused on vitamins, so take a break from the Gatorade electrolytes and have something else that will be beneficial for you’. You buy it, you drink it, and it’s something tasty.

Is it VitaminWaters fault that I saw the bottle that way? That could be argued. It seems that they were just doing their job. They were after another cattle in the herd like myself. The branding of this product is genius. The simplistic lettering and the risky claims all add up to being a nice, subtle product.  Although I’m not angry at VitaminWater, I do feel mislead. It’s a great lesson in researching the claims in the world around us. Believing their claims isn’t their problem, unless there is a multitude like myself that feels dismissed. Being that it is a product that is alive & well, that multitude must not be there.

Is this the first time that this has happened?

NAY. This is reminiscent of the early days of Coca-Cola (funny how history repeats itself, mainly with Coca-Cola!) The early claims of Coca-Cola are as follows:
*Cures morphine addiction.
*Cures Dyspepsia (indegestion; upset stomach)…Well, maybe this one isn’t far off because many still believe that this is helpful for this ailment.
*Cures neurasthenia (fatigue/anxiety).
*Cures headache.
*Cures morphine addiction.
*Cures impotence.

This stuff sold like hotcakes because of these claims. You had the old man wheel his cart into town in the late 1800′s, and he would stand to the side of that cart verbally announcing the health benefits of this ‘wonder drink’. People wanted that extra ‘edge’ of an outside source to boost their own bodies & minds into something better. Sound familiar? Sound like what we desire in a simple drink that you can buy for pennies on the dollar?

Moral of the story… Think before you drink.

Upon setting up your PPC ad, it is natural to want to see it on the SERP’s (Search Engine Results Page). There is reporting in place that can tell you the approximate positioning, but there isn’t anything like seeing the ad(s) that have been created in action, as your potential customer base will see them.

There was concern growing over this, because the irresistible temptation of viewing your ads in ‘real life’ could potentially injure your ads performance. One of many factors that affect the performance of your ads is the ‘impression’ count. If your ad appears many times on the SERPs, but doesn’t receive the click-through’s, then Google deems your ad as either being less relevant to the search, or not relevant at all. Therefore, they decrease your quality score, and you suddenly come to find that your ads are 2 or more pages back- this is a highly undesirable place to be.

Many times, people find it necessary to look at the ads exactly as they appear in a search that is conducted like a potential customer would search. Seeing this happen provides more validation than seeing numbers in a report indicating approximately where your ad is. The problem was that they were costing themselves impressions every time they ran these searches, and the ad doesn’t get clicked on because you do not want to pay for a click like that. Here is the cycle that many have found themselves in:

Edit Ad/Upload New Ad –>  Conduct A Search –> Find Ad, but without clicking on it –> Higher Impressions, Lower Click-Through’s –> Lower Quality Score (ad is declared less relevant) –> Placement Decreases –> Ad Becomes Ineffective

 Googles Solution:

Google has come out with the ‘Ad Preview and Diagnosis Tool’. The purpose of this tool is for you to be able to run these searches for your ads, without concern of any long term retribution. When you do a search in the Ad Preview tool, it ‘mirrors’ the actual SERPs, so you can see in real time which ads are appearing and where they are.

Another great feature of this tool is that you can specify which geography you would like to see the ad results in. Simply select your geographical area from the drop down box underneath the search field.

Here’s how to perform a test search with the Ad Preview and Diagnosis tool:

1. Go to http://www.google.com/adpreview
2. Enter a search query.
3. Select the Google domain to search through, such as google.com or google.fr.
4. Select a display language.
5. Select a location from which you’d like to run the search by choosing a location from the drop-down menus. This is a great way to preview your ad as if you were in a different country.
6. Click Preview.

If you click on any of the ads, it will not go anywhere. This tool is only to show you Google AdWords ads as they actually appear in the SERP’s.

Please note that you also have the option to view ads as they appear on a mobile device. Underneath the area where you select your geography, you can edit the device (desktop computer vs. mobile device).

Camp WOW is located in Oklahoma. We had over 350 Jr. High students attend this year. It was a week that started out with rain and mud, and ended out with heat and dryness. Whether that sounds good or bad, I don’t know, but what I do know is that there were many lives that were changed in this short time.

We had about 50 students per dorm room, so you can imagine the chaos..But really the chaos is a part of the fun in all of this. You can either be at the office or running wild, making fart jokes with the kids- while becoming a trusted friend to them. I choose the latter. (-=

Events ranged from zip flying, multiple competitions, swimming, jetski rafting, ultimate frisbee, volleyball, basketball, power pole, blobbing, outdoor laser tag and more. Also in the package is a snack shop that has slushee’s, ice cream, pizza, etc etc. And let’s not forget the milk drinking contest, where 3 contestants (dont worry, they were leaders) attempted to be the first to chug a 2-gallon container of milk. This is the first time that I’ve ever seen three people puke in unison..fascinating. I have to admit, sitting on the sidelines and watching them, I was dry-heaving myself..!

Our family groups consist of a co-ed group of boys and girls that are lead by 3 leaders (also of mixed genders). Like last year, this is one of my favorite things that happens at camp. Our life groups meet two times a day, once in the morning and once in the evening. There’s plenty of socializing that happens, but this is the beauty of the family group. The members are randomly selected so chances are that none of us really know each other. When questions are asked, the females (usually much more vocal about spiritual matters) open up and starts talking, this encourages the boys to open up. Before you know it, you have a group that is talking and laughing together.

During the services, I saw kids get saved for their first time, and others re-commit their hearts to Christ. There were alot of kids opening up, and quite tired of the things that they have been struggling with. Many of these young people have issues that are more intense than what many adults do. Seeing them step up to the plate and hand it all over to God was enough to make any believer tear up. This happening once is one thing, but night after night is a life changing experience.

I jotted down some things I heard while the boys were goofing off in our dorm room:

“Babies are made in China”
“The clouds are not raining, they are relieving their liquids”
“I dont know you, you are an idiot”
“I feel pretty clean”
“Pot holes are the earth trying to run away from Chuck Norris”
“Im going to change into the clothes that I will be wearing tomorrow”
“So you cant man-burp anymore?”
“From my angle, it looked like he actually slapped you”
“Your mom is so fat she uses an asteroid belt as her own belt”
“Theres nothing free in this world, except for death”
“You sound like a grandma with amnesia”

Additionally, if you would like to see the ongoing struggle (or I should say fist fighting) between pig and cow, feel free to visit http://www.ampedjrhigh.com/run_blog

So, assuming this is true (and the worst-case scenario would be a $5 work day), isn’t it wild? You hear about the price of bread in the 50′s or whatever, just pennies. This was previous to the 50′s, but wow. I guess we think of that in terms of our own current exchange rate. If that were to hold to date, I myself would have quite a few ‘Neverland Ranches’. Instead, you hear of staying in a hotel in New York and having to get a bottle of water for $20 (if you’re in a hotel), or the price of living (rent, etc) in California. Recently, even in Texas, the price of simply parking your car at the new Texas Stadium is is $40 (minimum)- unheard of in this region. That wave of outrageousness is even reaching here (for those of you northerners looking to move here for a break, and there’s plenty of you).

So..I think that it’s time to make a battleplan..Where do you live? If you go to an area that’s prospering, you can count on paying outrageous prices on life at some point- and expect it to escelate further. Texas is a great place to go for now, but let me confirm with you that we are on our way.

Back to my grandpa- How awesome it is that you worked outside there in the elements and took that hot girl out afterwards (maybe my Grandma? lol)..Outside of the cubical, highway traffic, and Twitter you busted your butt all day & made it happen- all on $1. Go gramps!

As Gwen Stefani was singing, she leaned down to a girl next to me. The girl fan grabbed Stefani on her leg & Stefani leaned down to hug her. The girl tried to whisper something in Stefani’s ear- but accidentally spoke into a microphone that was on Stefani’s collar. She said “I need help”, and you could hear that statement amplified through the whole theater.
Stefani said “Sure honey”, and without missing a beat went right into the chorus “cause Im just a girl in the world”…

Right then, Stefani turns around & runs to some stairs that are behind her on the stage to go upstairs (as she’s singing). This means you cant see her anymore. We look to our right, and there were some stand-alone escelators that allow you to go up. Everyone flocked to them, and by the time we got up there, there were alot of people. They played the encore up there, and when we were coming down the escelator moved real slow because the people were weighing it down.

After that, we were walking to my truck. In the parking lot, I saw Hayden Panettiere. I was a little star-struck, but put on a smile & winked at her. She saw it & got a very flattered look on her face, then immediately passed out..Thats when I knew I was dreaming & woke up..

This seems right. It even ‘feels’ right to our humanistic nature. It’s fair, it’s logical, and it’s just plain fun to think about. But does this mean that it’s actually correct?

Where is Karma’s standard for right & wrong? If there’s a fine line between right and wrong, and Karma determines what is right and wrong, then who is running this show called Karma? Isn’t the whole concept of Karma a logical function? If so, then a mastermind behind it is required…

What if there is a murderer who, in his/her own mind, thinks that murder is ok and has no concious about it? If that person is ok with it, but others aren’t, at what point does Karma declare guilt & disperse ‘bad karma’?

If there is belief that a creator (aka a “higher power”) unleashed Karma on us, then that may indicate that the whole purpose to life is for us to not be ‘mean’ to each other. So, this ‘Higher Power’ sits at a distance and ensures that we are nice. If we end up with good Karma, we go to a good place. If we end our lives with bad Karma, then our punishment is that bad things will happen to you before you die, and then you go to a hell-ish place for further punishment. This is an aspect to Karma that I just don’t get.

From what I can gather, Karma is a mystical force that functions logically. It’s like a watch that ticks, but doesn’t need a person to wind it. Logical, yet illogical…

We are exploring (as humans) to find life on other planets. We have launched satellites into outer space that act like telescopes. If we see a planet that orbits in front of a different sun that is way, way out there, then we calculate how much light that planet absorbed  during that eclipse- And then we are able to calculate:
1. How far out that star (sun) is
2. How far away from that sun the planet is
3. The size of that planet, which will enable us to investigate #4-
4. If that planet might be like our earth, which has obviously sustained life for a long, long time.

What geniuses we are these days…We are at such an advanced plane of existence that we can actually look for the next best thing- which is sustainable life on other planets. I won’t even go into the Mars Rover or Mars Spirit, we are really looking out from our current box of existence. What would happen if we found verification of life on another planet- or if we found a planet that could sustain our own lives…We are obviously on a serious hunt for this, as we always have been.

If we were 1% closer to the sun, we would all burn. If we were 1% further away from the sun, we would freeze. We are the ‘middle bear’ in the story of the 3 Bears…We are at just the right distance to prevent extreme temperatures. We have water, animals, each other and resources to succumb to our needs and wants. Amazingly great landscapes and endless exploration into our own living organism’s, geography and history that we can never fully conquer..

So, with faith in the God of the Holy Bible dwindling in America & around the world, what would happen if we discovered another species of something living out there? What would happen if we found that planet that doesn’t have life, but could sustain it? Evolutionist’s & Big Bang theorists get all the more recognition and the notion that the Creator of the universe gets all the less credibility. Im not here to prove a case, but instead to be fascinated with these things and also to express my reality that there is a creator.

I saw something on Einstein’s view of creation in the universe years ago. From what I understand, he was an agnostic. In all of his amazing and in-depth studies of the universe, his conclusion was: “There must be one center-point for creation in the universe”. Think on that for a sec…

I don’t think he would come to that conclusion unless there was too much ‘chance’ in the universe…And that’s the case. I cannot go into everything, but there is alot that goes into us being here at this present moment. Billions of mutations (that must work out exactly perfect each time) and a universe that will align just right for us to even be here.
Feeding on Einstein’s conclusion, even though he had no faith in the Holy Bible, what is this ‘center-point’? Why would this center-point cause creation with no follow up? Why would it cause us to live here amongst ourselves, while it stays at a distance and simply ‘watches’ us? It can’t be studying us…It shouldn’t need study since it created the universe!

We have history here (on earth) that defines life going back to 40 billion years (or something to that effect). This is obviously in direct conflict with the writings of the Holy Bible. Here’s the thing…We do not ever hear the creationist’s studies on this. They are scientist’s with legitimate arguments, but they have less credibility every day. The popular theory is something along the line’s of the ‘Big Bang’ theory.
Let’s define this:
Big Bang Theory; An astronomy theory that says the Universe began with a super-powerful explosion.

I’ll end with this question: Since when have you seen chaos implement creation?
Did an explosion create us? Have you ever seen an explosion? What was ever created from it? What has ever been created from any explosion??

Thank you for reading.

Various reviews are stating that Google isn’t as intuitive as Bing. The general concensous is that the overall search behavior is very different from each other. Is Bing going to make it to be big enough to overtake Google? Is it that good? My view is that MSN just implemented something that should’ve been launched a long time ago. MSN’s long period of time in the dark here in the Search Industry has crippled them. I believe that it will take something more than a great Search Engine with an usability that is actually practical & user-friendly. It’s definitely a step in the right direction, but MSN is just playing ‘catch-up’, whether they realize it or not.

Why is it called a Decision Engine, and not a Search Engine?
Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO:
“When we set out to build Bing, we grounded ourselves in a deep understanding of how people really want to use the Web. Bing is an important first step forward in our long-term effort to deliver innovations in search that enable people to find information quickly and use the information they’ve found to accomplish tasks and make smart decisions.”

The results that Bing pulls is from all over, it seems. That is really where it coins the name ‘Decision Engine’. If you go to look up (for example) a sports team, you likely get your top listings as informational (Wikipedia, etc), statistical (latest scores), images, homepage, apparel/ promotional sales (if applicable), schedule, etc.
Ugh…This is good.

There’s more positive out there on Bing than negative. Most are still hooked on Google, few are giving Google up for Bing. This may be the beginning of an avalanche, especially if MSN continues to improve & market their new baby. They have been trying to do this for years…is it time?
Like I’ve said before, they are just now catching up to the industry. But…This does mean that they are finally in the playing field to be competitive.