Put Pants On Before You "Hangout" With President Obama on Google+ [Google+]
Google+, impervious to the teasing of tech-bloggers, marches on. Now with more than 90 million users, they just picked up a rather prominent one. The Big O (not Oprah), El Presidente, Mr. Barack Obama himself, and the house he lives in.
This is just the latest foray into social media for the White House. Twitter and Facebook, sure. LinkedIn? Uhhh, why? Instagram! Sure! And now Google+. "Hey youths, look how cutting edge we are! You're gonna vote for us again, right?" Well, probably. Google+ actually might have a little more to offer, though. According to the White House's blurb:
On our Google+ page, we'll host regular "White House Hangouts" with administration officials on a range of issues and topics. Some Google+ users will be invited to join the Hangout with the White House and have a conversation with policy experts. But the best part is that even if you're not "in" the Hangout, you can watch the whole thing live on WhiteHouse.gov, on our Google+ page or on the White House YouTube channel.
That's actually kinda cool. I wanna hang out with Barack Obama. We could watch our favorite YouTube videos together while eating Funyuns. Well, maybe not, but the White House is currently accepting ideas for Hangouts, so add 'em to a circle of yours and let them know what you want to chat about. Me? I'd just like to ask him why the hell he has a LinkedIn account. Given the current crop of Republican candidates, I'd say he's got job security at least until 2016.
Related StoriesNew Amazing Videos Show Birds Like You've Never Seen Them Before [Video]
Birds have always fascinated humans. Their flight has inspired writers, artists and engineers to create poems, legends, novels, airplanes and superheroes. The new BBC documentary Earthflight captures this fascination in a way that nobody has before. It's awesome.
Earthflight was made for the BBC by John Downer Productions in high definition. I can imagine they spent years devising the methods needed to capture these shots, and then some more to shoot them.
The results, the amazing detail in which you can see their bodies interacting with the wind and the extreme angles, are incredible:
Common cranes flying through Venice.
Condors' birds eye view.
Scarlet macaws feeding on clay licks.
Condor flight school.
Swallows in South Africa (they can carry coconuts, I'm told).
Pelicans hunting sardines.
