You've Been Invited to Play Ingress

johnborgen@gmail.com has invited you to join the world of INGRESS.

ACTIVATION CODE:
C4KXGH7R

---

The Ingress has begun.Life seems "normal" but your world is being infiltrated. A mysterious energy has been unlocked by a team of scientists in Europe and is spreading around the world. The origin and purpose of this force is unknown, but some researchers believe it is influencing the way we think. We must control it or it will control us.There are two factions to choose from. The Enlightened seek to spread this influence. The Resistance struggle to protect what's left of our humanity.

The World is the GameMove through the real world using your Android device and the Ingress app to discover and tap sources of this mysterious energy, acquire objects from Portals to aid in your quest, deploy tech to capture territory, and ally with other players to advance the cause of the Enlightened or the Resistance.StrategyThe struggle is being played out globally. Track the progress of players around the world, plan your next steps, and communicate with others using the Intel Map.What is the Niantic Project?Is this just a game? An Investigation Board filled with cryptic clues and secret codes awaits. Powerful secrets and game tech are there to be unlocked.Bring your FriendsThe struggle to save the planet spans the entire world. Groups of people acting together can be more effective than individuals acting alone. And cooperation across neighborhoods, cities, and countries will be needed to achieve the ultimate victory.Want to see Ingress in Action?Check out the Ingress Report for the latest updates and intel. Or watch these great tutorials to help get started.

Visit Player Help Center to learn more.

Subscribe to the Official Ingress YouTube Channel.

Follow us on the Official Ingress Google+ Page.

BC Young - A Review of Wonderful Short Stories

Today I find that I'm the second stop on a blogging tour of an independent author.  I met Mr Young on Google Plus a few months ago.  There I found a link to this new kind of e-book called "All My Fiction".  It's a wonderful concept and I really want to discuss it a bit prior to my review.

All My Fiction has allowed me to purchase and pre-purchase everything Mr Young publishes as an independent artist.  All I have to do is check for update occasionally.  If there are any, I'll get the latest version. Simple.  Elegant.  Satisfying.

On to the review!

Mr Young has asked that I review a series of short stories called Unspoken Stories.  In short, I really enjoyed them all.  There are five different stories in the collection.  They're sort of a quasi-sci-fi genre and all very good reads.  Give yourself about 40 minutes for each.  Longer for some, shorter for others.  I read them all in a short afternoon while camping.  I'm not a huge fan of the iPad but I do like the iBook app.

Below is a brief review of the stories and some questions I asked the Author.

• Unspoken Stories
• Josie Dorri And The Coffee Ban (June 22, 2011)
• Great story.  Funny, serious and yet intriguing it should be the reason to buy this series.
• What was the inspiration for Josie Dorri and the Coffee Ban?
• Josie Dorri And The Coffee Ban was inspired by my brother-in-law. He said I should write a short story about someone not having their coffee for the day and all the bad things that would happen as a result. I thought about the idea and came up with using a coffee prohibition that the government institutes, and I added a little twist in there as to why things go wrong. Even though the story has a humorous tone, it does have an underlying theme about addiction and how it effects us personally and others.
• The Present (May 9, 2011)
• It's got you jumpin' all over the place...but you'll find your way back.  It's sort of the "gift that keeps on giving" kind of story; I found my self pondering this one long after I read it.
• Running To Keep Her (July 6, 2011)
• Touching and challenging it's an interesting story.
• Copy Bird (March 7, 2011)
• I really liked this story.  I wanted it to go further as well...to develop the two human characters further and to explore the relationship of the bird.
• Copy Bird is based in a post-apocalyptic world.  Will you be writing anything further in this genre?
•  I liked that setting because it fit well into my story I came up with. On several occasions people have asked me if I plan to expand on that story.  I might just do that. I find when I write stories that there is back story I come up with that never gets written. Sometimes I allude to the back story. While I don't have any plans to revisit a setting like that, I definitely can't rule it out, especially since there are a lot of stories I could tell with it.
• Going Home (March 18, 2011)
• This is the only story that I thought a bit predictable.  However, it's a good short story that will catch you if you're not careful.
• Going Home seemed like a very personal story.  Is there a connection with your own life that you'd be willing to share with readers?
• It's a personal story in the sense that we have all lost loved ones. We often remember the last thing we said to them, and sometimes we regret it. Other times though, it might become something that we live our life by and it defines us. I came up with the idea from a flash fiction story I wrote on my blog. The story is called Home, and the picture for inspiration of it showed a porch swing, which is where the ending scene came from. It was only about 100 words or so, but I liked it so much, I decided to expand on it by writing a short story.
• Will any of these stories be used to "seed" a full novel?
• Unfortunately, none of these stories will become part of a novel. At the most, especially with Copy Bird and The Present, I might have sequel short stories I'll write for them. Overall, the tales are written to be short, to the point, and read in one sitting.

Want a copy?  The author graciously offered a free copy.  The first request for the book in the comments will get the code, just be sure I've got your email address.  otherwise, it's only $2.99 on Smashwords.

It's simple, it's elegant, it's e-reading

I've done a bit of reading with e-readers over the years. I read most of Lord of The Rings on a phone/PDA about 8 years ago. I've recently gone completely to e-reading. I still haven't found the perfect e-reading application yet. I don't do the dedicated readers like the Kindle or the Nook. I prefer tablets. I've got an Android tablet (G-Tab) and an iPad.
My current front-runner in e-reading is the iBook app on the iPad. A very close second is the Nook on my G-Tab.
I'm going to be writing serveral articles about reading this these two devices over the next few weeks. I know it's not exactly cloud stuff but it's close...you have to get the books from the cloud, so I think it counts.
Be looking for me review of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe in the next few days/weeks. Also, I'll be reviewing and independant writer, BC Young on one of his short stories, Josey Dorrie and The Coffee Ban.
See you soon!

Benny Goodman is the MAN! (just so you know...and if you don't, look him up)

This is very interesting, with all of the new players coming into the space there's going to be plenty of fractured competition. Should allow SFDC to stay on top. http://ping.fm/M9sGc

http://ping.fm/PrAJK
It appears that Benioff is looking to "skip" $2B and jump to $3B. I hope so.

Will SFDC be able to extend it's market share withing the Cloud?

I don't know, my knee-jerk answer to this question is DUH!?!?! (and I think it's the right answer). The SFDC that we all know and love is enjoying a 25% gain every quarter for a bunch of quarters in a row (if I were a real blogger I'd probably go look that up to have actual numbers) But this article I just read seemed to question whether or not SFDC will be able to. Seems like a no-brainer to me, but you can read it for yourself and decide for yourself as well!