All Things Ardithian!

+Found Baby meets Delphine! Found Baby has a new friend, Delphine

+Found Baby meets Delphine!

Found Baby has a new friend, Delphine. If you take a minute to follow the +Found Baby project here on Google+, you can read about her and the journey she is on to teach the world that beauty comes from within, not without. Delphine is a special addition to the Found Baby project as she will represent children living with Cancer and dealing with the loss of their hair through treatments. As always, to learn about Found Baby's entire story, you can visit her website, www.foundbaby.net.

In album Found Baby at Dulcinea (28 photos)

Delphine is a new addition to the Found Baby project. She represents those dealing with illnesses that cause the hair to fall out. Read about her story here:
http://www.foundbaby.net/2012/01/tears-of-delphine.html

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I so disagree with this

Don't get me wrong, I love this network and the service it provides. With that said, I would not let my child use Google+ if they weren't 18 or over. Why? I get new followers that have porn attached to their profiles so often that I have to report and block. It is the nature of the beast with having followers, but it isn't something I would want my teen to deal with until they were mature enough. I also love the fact that we can have mature, adult conversations here without the worry that 'children' will be watching. Yes, I could use my circles, but I don't want to go into hiding within a circle just to avoid teen presence here. This is one 'fail' descion on Google's part for me. I so wish they would have built a separate stream, like games, for teens to use, that would have been the best of both worlds.

Reshared post from +Bradley Horowitz

Google+: new safety enhancements, now available for teens

Teens and young adults are the most active Internet users on the planet [1]. And surprise, surprise: they're also human beings who enjoy spending time with friends and family. Put these two things together and it's clear that teens will increasingly connect online. Unfortunately, online sharing is still second-rate for this age group.

In life, for instance, teens can share the right things with just the right people (like classmates, parents or close ties). Over time, the nuance and richness of selective sharing even promotes authenticity and accountability. Sadly, today’s most popular online tools are rigid and brittle by comparison, so teens end up over-sharing with all of their so-called “friends.”

With Google+, we want to help teens build meaningful connections online. We also want to provide features that foster safety alongside self-expression. Today we're doing both, for everyone who’s old enough for a Google Account (13+ in most countries [2]).

Safety starts with your circles
The difference between friends, acquaintances and strangers is a crucial one—especially for teens. Google+ includes circles to help people manage their different relationships, but we’re going a step further for our younger users.

Sharing content
With Google+ you can share privately with your circles, or publicly with the world. Posting something for everyone to see is a big deal, however, so when teens try and share outside their circles, we encourage them to think before they post. [Screenshot #1]

Receiving notifications
Google+ is a great place to connect with close friends, as well as discover others with common interests. We want to help people explore the community safely, however, so we give users control over who can contact them online. By default, only those in teens’ circles can say hello, and blocking someone is always just a click or two away. [Screenshot #2]

Hanging out with friends
Google+ Hangouts bring people together using live multi-person video, and the results range from heartwarming [3] to awe-inspiring [4]. However, we recognize that connecting face-to-face is special and serious, so if a stranger outside a teen’s circles joins the hangout, we temporarily remove the young adult, and give them a chance to rejoin. [Screenshot #3]

Our newly launched Google+ Safety Center [5] describes these and other changes in more detail, but our approach is straightforward: build awesome features that teens really want, encourage safe behavior through appropriate defaults and in-product help, and make abuse reporting tools easy to find and use.

People and pages for the young(er) at heart
The joy of real-life sharing lies in connecting with everything we care about—from family and friends, to businesses and brands. Teens, like adults, deserve a rich experience online, so today we’re welcoming some of their favorite individuals and organizations to the Google+ community. [6]

Between strong user protections and teen-focused content, it’s our hope that young adults will feel at home (and have some fun) on Google+. And of course, we do have at least one thing in common with our newest users: we’re both busy growing up.

—————–
#googleplusupdate

[1] http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict/facts/2011/material/ICTFactsFigures2011.pdf
[2] http://support.google.com/plus/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1350409
[3] Google+: Just hanging out together
[4] Highlights from the Dalai Lama & Desmond Tutu Google+ Hangout
[5] http://www.google.com/+/safety
[6] +106 and Park +A THIN LINE +AKB48 +Ashley Tisdale +Big Time Rush +Cody Simpson +ESPN +GLEE +Greyson Chance +Google Science Fair +Harry Shum Jr +The Hunger Games +Lea Michele +Mindless Behavior +Nickelodeon +Scotty McCreery +Selena Gomez +Shay Mitchell +Teen Vogue +The Annoying Orange +Material Girl Collection +Victoria Justice +Young Hollywood

Teens see a warning when they share with "Public" or "Extended Circles"

Google+: View post on Google+

Small Art Studio Challenges

If you have followed me for long you know I am an artist, painter, etc. For the past few months our lives have undergone a lot of changes on the home front, especially in regards to space, and my studio which used to be 12' by 10' has now gone back to 4' by 6'. For the longest time I stayed depressed about it. I piled things up, walked past it, couldn't even bring myself to look at it. I then had a long come to Jesus meeting with myself and realized, it is not true to my spirit to leave it like this, to give in….nor my son who now lives in the room, so I shamed myself into motivation. I created this pick and posted it on my Pinterest Before and After board, along with a few other 'supportive' networks, and asked to be held accountable. So far, the space is now clean, but I am in the middle of the dreaded task of making it more 'functional.' This is the challenge for artists using a small space, function must come before creativity, but that isn't always how our brains work. I will prevail in this task, my creative muses demand it, along with my domestic ones. As an artist, have you been here?

You can read about the whole journey here:
http://ardithsart.blogspot.com/2012/01/before-and-after-studio-project.html

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Love This Rocking Chair!

The design of this rocking chair by artist marija cvetinovic is brilliant. It not only looks beautiful, but it encourages conversation and connection, two of my musts for a happy family. I might consider a different fabric, but overall, would love to hang out in this. You can find info about it at the link below.
http://www.houzz.com/pro/anturija/marija-cvetinovic

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I LOVE hot tea and beautiful tea pots! This design is gorgeous

Short of wondering if the handle would be hot and the price, I could drink tea from this all day long.

Embedded Link

Norm Kettle Teapot – modern – coffee makers and tea kettles – – by HORNE
Norm Kettle Teapot

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New to Google+? This Might Help!

If you are new to G+ an interested in following the Google team more closely all of these community managers should be added to one of your circles. One of the things I love most about Google+ is the presence and interaction of these folks, like +Natalie Villalobos , and so many more. I send a big thanks out to them today!

Reshared post from +Natalie Villalobos

Community Manager Appreciation Day
I swear I'm not a robot

Today I'd like to give thanks to all the Community Managers out on the web for their passionate and savvy efforts in developing, managing, and evangelizing their communities. Want to be a CM? I'm making plans for some On-Air Hangouts to teach the tips and tricks and have open Q&A so you can develop the CM skillset.

In particular I'd like to give shout outs to all my Google CM homies that bring you the best of their products everyday – whether that's behind the scenes or here on G+.

+Toby Stein – CM Google+ Mobile and Google Pages
+Brian Rose – CM for Google+ Photos
+Katherine Gramann – CM for Google+ Hangouts and Chat
+Van Riper – CM for Google Technology User Groups (GTUGS)
+Jacky Hayward – CM for Chrome
+Melissa Daniels – CM for Chrome OS
+Gerard Sanz – CM for Panoramio
+Nicole Drobeck – CM for 3D
+Robin Ziegler – CM for Google Earth
+Mark Harrison – CM for SketchUp
+Vanessa Schneider – CM for Places
+Sky Bintliff – CM for Picnik
+Kelly Fee – CM for Web Search
+Teresa Wu – CM for Docs
+Paul Wilcox – CM for Android
+Lisa Ding – CM for Blogger
+Sarah Price – CM for Gmail
+Erik Silk – CM for News
+Daniel Mabasa – CM for Maps
+Adrienne Bernakevitch Ludwick – CM for Calendar

Big thanks to Mashable's +Meghan Peters for the shout out today on "6 Top Community Managers to Appreciate" – I feel honored to have myself and the +Handmade page featured! http://mashable.com/2012/01/23/6-top-community-managers/

+Likeable Media has a great infographic in honor of today too!

You can find out more about Community Manager Appreciation Day at #CMAD

Embedded Link

6 Top Community Managers to Appreciate
Community management has become increasingly important with the rise of social media. Here are six community managers leading the industry.

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Wooohooo! I was totally excited to see my Horde Shirt image created by the zombie…

Wooohooo! I was totally excited to see my Horde Shirt image created by the zombie master, +byron rempel He nailed the hat and I can't wait to see the shirt! If you can get in on one of his Kickstarter projects it is totally worth the money, that is if you are into zombies like me.

Reshared post from +byron rempel

another HORDEshirt image … this one killed me on the hat and I really don't think I did +Ardith Goodwin justice with that hat. Perhaps that's why she's giving me the evil eye.
That … and she's a zombie.

In album HORDEshirt (11 photos)

Google+: View post on Google+

I have been back in the hospital the past few days, am home now, and have missed…

I have been back in the hospital the past few days, am home now, and have missed my Googlesphere family. What all have you been up to and what have I missed?

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Even +Found Baby is coming out against SOPA today!

Even +Found Baby is coming out against SOPA today!

Reshared post from +Found Baby

Found Baby Hates SOPA too!
Wow! Arly was in a tizzy over trying to stop some soap, which I was like…"What the hay?", then she explained to me that it wasn't soap, but SOPA. I still just shook my head because I didn't get it. So Arly sat me down and showed me some websites like Google, Wikipedia, and Firefox along with explaining what SOPA was all about. As much as I don't wan't my pictures stolen, I don't think this is such a great idea at all. If I was censored, it would be like being put back in the dirt all over again. Arly said she signed the petition through Google in honor of me, since they most likely wouldn't take too kindly to a a doll having an opinion.

You can sign it too if you choose!
https://www.google.com/landing/takeaction/

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Flickr is allowing users to blacken photographs of other users to show their support…

Flickr is allowing users to blacken photographs of other users to show their support for stopping SOPA/PIPA.

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