Bad language in Comments

Recently I wrote about a problem that exists between Microsoft and Google in relation to embedding YouTube videos into PowerPoint that has resulted in Microsoft withdrawing support for using YouTube's embed code - they simply removed the option to embed.

Image source: Genius Outside the Bottle.

This situation has led to many comments on my YouTube channel about the features I describe not working, and in many cases viewers get confused and make a comment on the video. Usually these comments are polite, and are written seeking help. I get an email any time a viewer comments on the channel, and I do my best to respond to each comment - usually pointing the viewer to a work-around video that does work. Today I have put a large message on front of each video warning the user that some features might not work.

Recently some of this frustration has boiled over into an increased use of bad language. In the past week I have been called an "a**hole", "c**k sucker", "mother f**ker", "bitch", as well as "dumb", and "stupid". Charming! This is a tiny percentage of the total number of comments, and I must credit one viewer who apologized for calling me "dumb" when I pointed him to the work-around video.

Bad language has been with us forever, and will not go away. I use bad language - I think my use is low and restricted to "f**", "sh*", and "boll**ks" - I don't use it on the Internet and try to keep it to a minimum in conversation. I do not judge people who use bad language, but there is something different about using it on the Internet such as in writing a comment. Seeing it in written form seems to make it worse, why do people want to leave this trail of bad language behind them? Perhaps to regret later? It's already possible to trawl through Internet comments to analyse for sentiment, maybe the day is not far away when employers could run a scan of a job applicant's on-line behaviour before deciding if they want to employ that person.

"Bing Video Search, YouTube, and From a Video Embed Code" still missing from Microsoft @Office365

The now long running problem with embedding YouTube videos into Microsoft PowerPoint presentations seems to have no resolution in sight. On Microsoft's support page article "You can't embed an online video in a PowerPoint 2013 presentation", at least Microsoft acknowledge that there is a problem and point the finger at Google: 

"Due to changes in the YouTube service, PowerPoint 2013 is currently unable to support Youtube videos. Microsoft is currently investigating potential fixes to this feature".

Image source: Interactive.

This update is dated 20th November 2013. This problem first started to occur in the early summer this year and I can't believe that Microsoft's programmers can't sort this out within a few minutes. In the statement above I smell a legal issue ("changes in the YouTube service"), but this does not make sense as you can easily work around this by using PowerPoint's Developer Tools (see my video how to do this here). This work around uses a modified URL, but the method referred to above uses embed code. Maybe it's legal to use one, but not the other? 

In any event, I wish this could get sorted. Tom Warren, writing in The Verge last May, replicates a "cease and desist" letter (see below) from Google to Microsoft in a row over the YouTube App on the Windows phone. While these two kids fight over this, the rest of us are kept waiting. Grrrr!

Real help, from real people, in real time

Here's something very interesting from Google - Helpouts. This is where people can get and offer help on-line to get a helping hand with whatever it is that they need help with. So far you can get a Helpout for setting up printers, cooking, health and fitness, DIY, and many more areas. The idea is a simple one, say you need help with learning to play guitar - there's free helpout where you can access an expert live on-line who will help you out. The number of categories is quite small, and the variety of Helpouts is still low - but this is certain to grow. Some Helpouts link to YouTube channels - here's a Google video with more information:

To me this sounds like a great idea, even though it is still in its infancy. The costs are from free, to $1 a minute, to $25 per Helpout. It's an interesting model that I'm sure Google has run the numbers on - their revenue sharing model (38% for Google, 62% for content provider with AdSense) is sure to attract people who can offer their expertise on-line. Think of that time you rang your Dad to help you out when unblocking a sink or fixing a plug. As long as you have a computer - help is never far away.

A Custom URL for Google+ Profiles #NowWhat? #TooManyThings

Today I received an email from Google offering me a custom URL for my Google+ profile. This is so that it "lets you easily point people to your profile (no more long URLs!)".

Image source: Wardell Design Blog.

The wonderful URL "reserved" for me is google.com/+EugeneOLoughlin. I tried to change it to have +eoloughlin at the end, but even though this is my Google user name I was told it had already been taken! 

Google+ hasn't really taken off for me yet, and Google seem to be determined to keep this up even after their "Buzz" debacle. I wish them well, but I'm not sure how a custom URL makes a difference (it's easy to shorten URLs these days with the likes of bit.ly). It's also so easy to find people's Google+ profile - a search would be quicker than trying to remember a URL.

I also note that for people with an apostrophe in their name (and I'm sure with other nationalities' symbols too) that it is not possible to have a URL with their full name.

Thanks Google, I have added this to my web page, it's now the 5th link after Twitter, Linkedin, Facebook, and YouTube. I have too many things!

Course Builder for @YouTube - Google Steps Up Educational Offerings

At the recent EdTech 2013 Conference in UCC, one of the keynote speakers Ross Mahon (@roscomahon) of Google, told us about Course Builder which is still at the experimental stage, but the tool is available (here) for early adopters.

According to the Course Builder website, it "contains software and instructions for presenting your course material, which can include lessons, student activities, and assessments. It also contains instructions for using other Google products to create a course community and to evaluate the effectiveness of your course. Some basic technical skills with HTML, Python, and JavaScript are recommended to get started.

Course Builder is Google's attempt to provide a platform for building on-line courses "whether they're for 10 students or 100,000 students" ranging from full University courses to short "How To..." videos. They are a little late into this space following the success of Udemy, Udacity, Coursera, and EdX. But I've no doubt that Google will make a success of this mainly because of all the content that they already have on YouTube EDU. Check out the video below from Peter Norvig, Director of Research at Google, who introduces Course Builder: 

Visit to Google Offices, Dublin

Yesterday evening I attended and event for NCI postgraduate students at the Google Docks building in Barrow St. It was a very interesting evening that was well attended by over 100 NCI graduate students. We were given ppresentations on how Google search works, SEO (Search Engine Optimization), AdSense, and AdWords. All very informative and delivered by people actually working on each project for Google, we were not given a sales pitch. It was nice to see that one presenter is an ex-student of NCI, while two otheres are current students. Surprisingly (to me), none of the five presenters was Irish.

Image source: Wikipedia.

I have heard a lot about the Google offices and they certainly are colourful and cool. It was 6.30 when I arrived and a lot of Googlers were leaving work for the day, I was stuck by the diversity of the (mostly young) employees as they were leaving - I'm certain this is a great place to work. I wished I was about 25 years younger so that I could have blended in a bit better.

PhD in Googling

There are so many things that you can do with Google Search, but most of us are unaware of them. Last week I wrote about Google Search at the Speed of Light, where I used an Infographic from Masable to show how a Google Search works. Below is a slide show from OnlinePhD.org who have "compiled a comprehensive list of Google search tips in this infographic that will help you get  your “PhD” in Googling". For example - did you know that the search bar is also a calculator? Or that you can search for information in documents of a specific type? Or get definitions of words? Or find the weather and time in specific locations? 

So - check out the slide show below to improve your Google Search skills. Who wants 60,000,000 search results when a little bit of knowledge of a few simple commands will narrow down your searches to what you really want.

I also note that typing in some of the commands in the Google Search bar is a bit like the old MS-DOS prompt (or Command Line for you UNIX folks). The prompt/command line hasn't gone away you know!

Google Search at the Speed of Light (Infographic)

One of the things that many of my students ask about is how does a Google search work, how does it work so fast, and how they get so many results? For example - if you search for "Speed of Light" you get "About 64,300,000 results" in "0.10 seconds". Wow!

Samantha Murphy, writing for Mashable, describes an Infographic created by Google showing how searches work. There are some fascinating numbers (eg each search travels an average of 1,500 miles) and some breath-taking statistics (eg 450 billion new unique queries since 2003). I think I'll use this infographic in class from now on - check it out:

Image link to Mashable.