Glass + Frames = Iwear

It's been little over a week since prescriptions lenses were put in my Frames. A new experience of wearing Glass every day.

It has been a positive experience.

Beyond all the negative press about the appearance of Glass in public places, I have not had any negative response.

People are noticing. Everyone is looking.

As with all abnormalities, everyone acts a little differently when they notice Glass. Many are afraid to stare or ask questions. Some just stop in their tracks and ask if it is Glass or what is it that I am wearing. Others, quickly look away when I look at them, or try to appear that they do not notice.

What I do see are a lot of smiles.    

I smile back.

When I am meetings with co-workers it is fun to briefly demonstrate Glass. Amazing how quickly those that know me are able to forget and accept that I am wearing Glass.  They remember it is 'just Larry' they are dealing with.

This does not mean that people have reservations about me wearing Glass. The other day a colleague stopped me in the hallway to say, "Larry, I know that there are a lot of positive uses for Glass, but it still kind of 'creeps me out' a little."

As my colleague and I stood there and giggled about what was just shared, the president of the college walked by escorting a group of dignitaries. One of the people being escorted stopped in their tracks and asked what I was wearing. After a brief couple minutes of introductions and Glass demonstration all in the escorted group were smiling and enthused as to what they just experienced about Glass. My colleague just turned to me, smiled, and reminded me of the meeting we needed to be at in the next half hour as we parted company. Business as usual.

What I am learning about as I wear Glass, is that you have to provide a positive experience to others.

Polite, professional, and unafraid to positively engage others is the best way to wear Glass.

I wear Glass.

Becoming a Glass Explorer

I really did not expect it.

"Your Chance to Buy Google Glass" was the subject of the email.  The email concluded with "Happy Thanksgiving". The invitation was to join the Google Glass Explorer program. An opportunity to explore a new concept product before it is marketed. I was shocked and honored.

As an educator and developer, the potential of Glass is very exciting. A couple of months before the invite I filled out an online application for obtaining Glass. When I filled out the form, I thought I would just get more information sent to me about the product. Never really thought I would be able to obtain Glass before it was commercially available.

I was not prepared for this.

My life is very full. Beyond my classes, there are already a lot of projects, and now Glass.

My experience with Glass to date has been very positive.  Haven't had any problems to date with social acceptance. People have stopped me to ask what I am wearing. Some recognize that it is Glass.

Wore Glass to the Winter commencement exercises. Was able to take pictures and Tweet live during the ceremony. Before the ceremony all the Deans got a chance to look at them. Several faculty members indicated that they wanted a pair.

My wife invited me to show her third grade class, which was a very uplifting experience that will be in a future blog.

Glass does not fit well with my prescription glasses. Therefore I do not wear them as much as I would like. Just ordered the new Frames for Glass that will allow me to get prescription lens. My commitment is to wear Glass everywhere with the Frames.

My professional life has been filled with looking to the future while understanding the past. Glass does represent an aspect of the future. What Glass will really do or end up looking like will be dependent upon those who explore the technology, discover its uses, and develop its applications.

As an Explorer my interest is as an educator and developer. Exposing people to Glass, understanding the development environment, and discovering how can be used will be my focus. I will use this blog site (dominele.blogspot.com) as well as my professional G+ account (+LarryDomine) to document what I discover.

Follow me in my journey and become a Glass Explorer with me.

Handles: Creating a name for yourself

You all have a 'given' name, but what do your friends or family call you?

If your name is Robert, people at work may call you Rob, your friends may call you Bob, and your family may call you Robbie.

These are all names or 'handles' that others use to identify you based on the persona that you represent with them. It is something that is easy to say or use and clearly is recognizable as you.

What about on the web or social media? Who are you? How do people find you, specifically? What is your handle?

A username is used to identify a unique person in a network or within a software system.  This is the primary security method companies implement to identify users within their systems and networks. Typically, companies assign usernames. With the public use of the internet and the web, individuals have been required to create their own usernames for the different web services, such as email accounts that they have setup.

The difficulty is that a person may end up with many different user names. This can create confusion for not only the user, but also for those attempting to connect with that individual. The advent and growth of social media has made this an even more daunting task as there are many different social media tools to be used.

Ideally, there would be one identifier that could allow an individual to move between all systems and networks. This is where our digital life is all headed, a unique identifier represented by avatar software that carries the identity. However, this will take awhile as the technology and social recognition of a complete digital persona becomes accepted.

Today a person could create a domain name for which to own an IP address associated with themselves. This can be used to create a website or blogsite where others can view information about an individual. What this does not do, is to identify a person within the social networks such as Twitter, Google+, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, or Instagram.

All of the social media accounts allow a person to be identified by a unique, alphanumeric identifier, or simply a 'handle'. This 'handle', as Twitter refers to this identifier, allows individuals to create a nickname by which it is easier and quicker to identify someone uniquely within a social network. It allows an individual to create something unique by which to be found within a social network. The key is to establish one 'handle' that can be used on multiple social networks.

Social networks require the association of an email account with access to their social network. Setting up a 'handle' begins by creating a username within a web email account, such as Gmail. The username then becomes not only the name by which people can send you email, but also how they can find you in a social network. As an example, if you want to send me an email or find me in a social network, you can simply use 'dominele'.

The quandary that many people have is finding the 'handle' that will work on different social networks. The first item is to consider how you want to be identified. Is it related to just your name or is there another element of your life for which you want to build upon, such as your profession. The second item to consider is wether this 'handle' is available on the social networks. Doing both takes some time. Recommend coming up with several different 'handles' that could be used and investigating their availability at namechk.com.

Establishing an effective professional persona in social media requires that an individual be able to control how they are discovered. For now, this begins with an individual creating a name for themselves as a 'handle' that can be used in multiple social networks and as an email address.