Pinterest

Some thing Pinterest is no longer a thing. As I reflect on how I use Pinterest, I began to really understand what Pinterest is for. Some mostly look at Pinterest as a collection of favorites. Some others share ideas and tell stories using a collection of pictures from the Internet. Business types use Pinterest to sell products. No matter what, Pinterest has a lot of versatility in expressing ideas. I will therefore use this post to talk about Pinterest.

---

Pinterest

---

^ from: (YouTube) - Let Pinterest be your poster board of many ideas.

Pinterest is a convergence of pictures to share as one big piece of inspiration. For the most part, people will put together various images and videos to express a point. That is mostly what Pinterest is about. Each collection of pictures are called "Boards," and the many pictures and videos are "Ideas." Use these to help build your own inspirations.

When I made my first Board in April 15, 2019; I made a board regarding dress and sneakers combinations that work. I designed that board to show that not every pairing of dresses and sneakers works well. Those that I felt were good (or at least acceptable) combinations of dresses and sneakers was what motivated me to find more pictures. Once I started making one Board, I felt the desire to make other Boards sharing my ideas. Most of the Pinterest boards I made are fashion-related. However, I have made a few Boards about non-fashion topics, such as technology, artwork, vehicles, and more.

When you make a Board on Pinterest, you are expressing ideas based on various pictures saved on Pinterest. Some blogs and websites even let you share pictures and videos on Pinterest to inspire other peoples' Boards. So Pinterest has a lot of ways to express your thoughts any way you can.

How Do You Use Pinterest?

I have always seen Pinterest as telling a story or sharing ideas. For example, if you wanted to show off beautiful dresses then set up a Board with many dresses that you like. If you want to give food ideas to people to make, you want to find whatever food and drink ideas are available on Pinterest to share. I started off on Pinterest talking about dresses with sneakers outfits that I liked and that I think work. Each Pinterest Board is a story. Tell a story or share a general idea with inspiration from other material. A Pinterest Board is not just a collection of favorite pictures. Go ahead- tell a story. Prove your points. Make Pinterest your medium for expression.

Pinterest For Business?

If you sell your own items, you can promote your content by sharing Pins on your material. Some people use Pinterest for various business applications and settings. You can use your social media profiles, your Etsy shop, or any other such market platform for Pinterest Business. I have no experience with Pinterest for business, so I will comment no further on this topic.

Should You Try Pinterest?

A lot of people think Pinterest isn't really a thing anymore. I say it is. If you want to express your ideas based on inspiration from various sources, definitely consider Pinterest. People still post ideas and such on Pinterest today. It isn't "dead" by any stretch. It is only "dead" if you fancy something like Flickr, Photobucket, imgur, or even Instagram more. Enjoy sharing ideas by collecting Ideas and building your Board up.

Visit MY Pinterest! ;)

If you want to see the Pins I have saved and the Boards I have created, please visit my Pinterest profile. You're welcome to follow me on Pinterest if you like!





Hopefully this gives you some insight in regards to Pinterest. It is a pleasure for you to visit my blog(s). Thank you for reading! Take care and be well.

Visit my official website at johnbmarine.com, subscribe to My Blog(s), and/or Follow on Bloglovin!
Subscribe to John's Blog Space (JBS)	Subscribe to John's Creative Space (JCS)	Subscribe to John's Race Space (JRS)	Subscribe to StyleSpace (SS)	Subscribe to John's Life Space (JLS)

Support My Creative Works!
JMDesigns	Patreon	Soundcloud	Bandcamp	Twitch	OpenGameArt	TurboSquid

Get Social With Me!
Facebook (Friends)	Facebook (Fans)	Twitter	YouTube	Pinterest	LinkedIn (professionals only)

Questions or Comments? Contact Me (serious inquiries only)...
Contact Me via E-Mail

read more...

Why I Left Instagram

Earlier in March 2021, I made the decision to leave one of the world's biggest social networking sites- Instagram. I broke my silence explaining why I left "the 'Gram." I'm here to share why I left Instagram in this blog post. And... could I return? You'll have to read this post to find out more!

---

Why I Left Instagram: My Insights

---

For some people, answering the question of leaving Instagram is a "who cares?" deal. At least I'm here to be transparent.

Instagram was one of the biggest platforms to promote my picture work. I joined Instagram around 2017 or so. Many of my digital content and various other pictures were shared on Instagram with my friends. Some people whom I've known on Instagram are those who I've only known on Instagram and not available on other social media platforms. When I eventually left Instagram, it felt like I would lose certain people seemingly forever. While I didn't like doing this, I felt like I had to leave Instagram due to a number of issues. Even some famous personalities and some celebrities have announced leaving certain social media platforms for any number of reasons.

One thing I felt bad about was that instead of sharing a post with my thanks to my many Instagram supporters, I just simply left. Maybe I was drawn to one person who simply said, "who cares if you leave Instagram?" I probably took it to heart rather than tell all interested parties in my decision to leave Instagram. Granted I am not very popular anywhere (including blogging), I at least want to feel important in the eyes of others because people do enjoy my work.

---

Why I Left Instagram: Reasons

---

Now on to the main reasons why I left Instagram. Take a look:

Experiences.

Of Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram; I've had some of the least satisfying experiences on Instagram. I've dealt with a handful of idiots, trolls, and spammers trying to flirt with me. This is more than I endured on Facebook since 2007 or on Twitter since 2009. There were loads of times where I would encounter someone who wanted to "share messages" with me. Most of the time, they were suspicious links. I even complimented on a car that I liked online when someone was like, "nobody asked you!" I think I once mentioned someone being courageous in seeing a curvy/plus-size fashionista in either a swimsuit or lingerie. It was taken in a negative context; and so to prevent any further roasting, I deleted my comment. I felt like I drew more criticism in interaction on Instagram than with some other social networking sites.

Instagram Ecosystem.

I believe Instagram was made for mobile devices to use and share material with. While you can still use a standard computer, IG was made for mobile devices. Having said that, uploading material from PC was a bit of a hassle if you do not have certain extensions for browsers. I ended up using an extension for Vivaldi and various Chrome browsers to upload pictures and videos. Sad thing was that I had to use the JPG format to upload from browser. That means no PNG files. Also, I don't think I could upload a set of pictures on PC for one Instagram post through a web browser.

I learned you could have your Instagram profile suspended or have certain features disabled if you send too many "likes" or post too many comments in a short amount of time. I also learned that no one profile can follow more than 7,500 Instagram profiles, so you will have to let go of different profiles you do not follow much of anymore.

If you are going to be mostly exclusive to or recommend picture/video sharing be done through mobile devices, fine. Just please have other ways to share content if we don't have access to mobile devices. Make those non-mobile options viable and useful as if using a mobile device.

The Sharing Experience.

You can not use Instagram posts to link to certain websites. Instead, you mostly have to go from the profile's linked page from the bio. I felt this sort of took away from properly promoting certain material or expressing certain points. I am a blogger, and a lot of what I do involves promoting some of my blog posts and other material. Not having direct links that can be accessed in posts does not help in the promotion department.

Security Issues.

While I never got hacked on Instagram, there have been times where I would often have my account blocked due to some sort of security issues I was unaware of. When these security issues became more frequent, that is when I became more compelled to leave Instagram. It came to a point where I have begun to loathe being a part of Instagram any longer. Then too, part of these issues maybe came from accessing certain websites posted in Instagram profiles. Not sure if it was mostly Linktree or anything.


So because of these issues, they mostly were the driving force for me leaving Instagram. Now you may know more as to why I left Instagram.

---

Why I Left Instagram: Aftermath and Second Thoughts?

---

As a result of leaving Instagram, I felt like I have lost contact with certain individuals whom I only encountered with or mostly know on Instagram. I am someone who values EVERYONE who interacts with my material. So I feel like loyal fans of my work may have been lost forever. On the other hand, it is a chance to maintain bonds with people elsewhere or meet new people elsewhere. I felt like I acted among myself to prematurely leave Instagram rather than offer my support to my loyal Instagram followers, but I felt I needed to leave the fairly toxic realm of Instagram before I let it take me over.

When I left Instagram, I felt like my biggest platform for sharing pictures was taken away from me. I made Instagram work for me for the time I've been a part of it. I found a way to be motivated to share pictures on it to share with friends, fans, and even some of my family who were on Instagram. Leaving Instagram only took that liberty away from me.

I felt at one point wanting to make a second Instagram profile only to promote digital content I hoped to sell online. Yes- returning to Instagram as a business profile was what I had in mind. However, because of my less than satisfied experience, that probably will not happen. So rather than give Instagram another chance, I decided to retire myself from Instagram.

Instagram Alternatives?

When I looked up alternatives for Instagram, I was looking at Vero after seeing some recommendations. However, I don't think Vero is as versatile as Instagram, though many see it is a great alternative to Instagram. I don't think I have an Android device I could use for its app. I tried Flickr, and it was only recently I got to get my Flickr accessed again. I have not much interest in using Photobucket or imgur. And no way in Heaven or Hell am I joining TikTok or Snapchat.

Unless I see something convincing, I feel I'll remain happy to leave Instagram and simply not have any proper medium to share my pictures besides Facebook and Twitter. I respect Instagram as a social networking medium. I am just disappointed with my experience to where I felt leaving was the best thing to do.

To Any People Who Followed Me on Instagram...

I am thankful to have been part of Instagram for as long as I have. It does feel bad to no longer feel connected to or be part of Instagram, but I felt I had to leave it thanks to a number of different factors. I can always be found elsewhere on social media and through blogging. So please try to stay with me elsewhere, and I hope I can continue providing great content for you all.

Could I Return to Instagram?

Immediate future? No. Somewhere down the line? Possibly. I've had one too many poor experiences and overall dissatisfaction to even think about returning. Even I had my qualms of joining Twitter, but Twitter worked out for me (and still does). There is just too much for me to even remotely consider a return to Instagram. If I do return to Instagram, it will mostly be as a Business Profile to promote some digital content rather than use it for digital content and personal pictures. I will let you know if I change my mind on Instagram.





Now that I've broken my silence and explained myself, that is the end of this blog post. I am again sorry I didn't do anything to say, "thank you for your support, but I will leave Instagram." At least now you know why I left Instagram. Don't leave my blogging work, though! Subscribe/Follow if you enjoy my work! Thank you for reading! Take care and be well.

Visit my official website at johnbmarine.com, subscribe to My Blog(s), and/or Follow on Bloglovin!
Subscribe to John's Blog Space (JBS)	Subscribe to John's Creative Space (JCS)	Subscribe to John's Race Space (JRS)	Subscribe to StyleSpace (SS)	Subscribe to John's Life Space (JLS)

Support My Creative Works!
JMDesigns	Patreon	Soundcloud	Bandcamp	Twitch	OpenGameArt	TurboSquid

Get Social With Me!
Facebook (Friends)	Facebook (Fans)	Twitter	YouTube	Pinterest	LinkedIn (professionals only)

Questions or Comments? Contact Me (serious inquiries only)...
Contact Me via E-Mail

read more...

Embracing Pinterest

For some time, I signed up for Pinterest, since there were some images I saw in image searches that used Pinterest. Though really, I never cared much for using it then. Times have changed recently. The way I understand Pinterest, it is more like your own collage of images representing certain themes. Some Pinterest Pins and Ideas that you have on your board may be shared or tried by other Pinterest users. This makes it a better way to try to build up your own Boards. Some people have even used Pinterest to try to sell material online. Let me continue this casual post regarding Pinterest.

My Pinterest Experience So Far.

The first Board I started was on April 15, 2019; and it was about dresses with sneakers outfits that I actually like. As much as I felt the need to express thoughts of mine with any sort of material, I felt it was only right to do so with Pinterest. So I came along with many more different Boards on Pinterest sharing my mind about various other things. I thought it only seemed fair to try to express various thoughts under a certain category or categories. Ideas and collections I want to share are still fresh in my mind the more I want to use Pinterest. For the most part, maybe I overlooked or disregarded Pinterest when I probably shouldn't have.

Pinterest vs. Instagram.

While I don't fully understand Pinterest, I do at least have a general idea as to what you use Pinterest for and how to utilize it. Pinterest is picture-sharing social media, but not in the case of Instagram. I would probably say Pinterest is better for you if you are sharing some of your own physical or digital goods. There is, however, a HUGE difference between Pinterest and Instagram. The biggest difference between the two is that Pinterest does not use or utilize tags for any pictures. So whatever ideas may be offered for a Pinterest Board may not completely suit what the board is about. The inclination is more towards visual searching. Pinterest also involves material already posted online rather than Instagram showing material actually already posted by individuals themselves. You can, though, upload your own images and put them in your own Boards. Your images could also be part of other peoples' Boards. You can think of Pinterest more like your own saved collection of images you'd probably put in a collection as if you were doing image searches with your favorite search engine.

In Case You're Interested...

You can see the Pinterest boards I put together by visiting the following link: my Pinterest site. If you want to start your own Pinterest Boards, sign up for Pinterest at www.pinterest.com.





This was mostly just a casual post, but it is a post nonetheless in my continued blogging of anything and everything. Hope you enjoyed it! Your Subscribing/Following of my work will help you to get my latest content when it becomes available. So thank you for your support! Also, thank you for reading! Take care and be well.

Subscribe to My Blog(s), and/or Follow on Bloglovin!
Subscribe to John's Blog Space (JBS)	Subscribe to John's Creative Space (JCS)	Subscribe to John's Race Space (JRS)	Subscribe to StyleSpace (SS)	Subscribe to John's Life Space (JLS)

Support My Creative Works!
JMDesigns	Patreon	Soundcloud	Bandcamp	Twitch	OpenGameArt	TurboSquid

Get Social With Me!
Facebook (Friends)	Facebook (Fans)	Twitter	YouTube	Instagram	Google+	LinkedIn (professionals only)

Questions or Comments? Contact Me (serious inquiries only)...
Contact Me via E-Mail

read more...

"Friend" Requests

Friend requests are always cool. Meeting people locally and around the world is always great. However, some really drive me insane. I ALWAYS want to meet new people. Don't get me wrong. My problem is when there are people only trying to get social with you to spam you to no end. I always figure if you want to get to friend me or whatever, it's because you respect me or have respect for me in some sort of way. Friend means friend. It means you want to befriend someone because that person interests you and because you have equal respect for that person. This is a "just saying..." post regarding friend requests and people trying to get with you for reasons other than showing love and respect.

--- "Friend" Requests ---

So what am I talking about in people aren't true friends or fans? Here are examples:

Spam "Friends."

Some people try to follow you or friend you just so they can mostly direct you to certain suspicious websites. I think anyone just trying to spam you should be avoided altogether. You should inform someone if their profile has somehow been hacked. Anyone in their right mind would know that if he/she is concerned about his/her profile, they should be mindful of people who post material the person did not post at all. A few times have I deleted someone because the person just kept directing me to suspicious material constantly. Some people who just want to be friends with you mostly don't even care if you say something like "hello" or "happy birthday" to them- they just mostly post random material online while showing no real compassion or respect for you.

Romantic "Friends."

Someone just trying to friend me or connect with me by pretending to be in love with me or want to get with me are just as bad as spammers. I'd rather take my time getting to know someone than just jump into some relationship with someone who barely even knows me, let alone cares about me. Most who try to get with me are usually two kinds of romantic friends- (1) someone who is seeking love by connecting with almost anyone he/she can immediately contact, and (2) someone who pretends to want you romantically, but really is a living advertisement to promote a suspicious or seedy website devoted to online dating or other suspicious material. If you're THAT desperate for love, you need some psychological help. I guess getting to know someone or continually showing and proving your love for someone is overrated these days...

Seedy "Friends."

I'll classify such people as those who will only contact you to discuss certain suspicious activities. For example, someone once contacted me on Facebook. We had a little chat, and the person mentioned where I could find certain drugs. I'm like, "WHAT?" Really- why contact me about anything illegal or seedy that you wish to acquire? And why do I need to be around people who want to inquire me about illegal stuff? I get at least one spam E-mail every week about drugs or online pharmacies. I don't want that crap in my Inbox online, so why the heck do you need to contribute to this crap to me?

Trap "Friends."

What I mean by "trap friends" are those who try to connect with you by providing innocent material, but then try to offer you something you don't want or didn't ask for. Example: you meet someone, and that person- in return for accepting him/her as a friend, offers you dirty pictures or links you to a suspicious website. Long story short- you took the bait and got trapped by this person. Mission accomplished.

Associate "Friends."

I'll define the associate friend as someone who just wants to be friends with someone... just to say they're friends with them. Doesn't care anything about the person he/she is associating himself/herself with- just wants to be friends or fans with someone just to be cool. What's worse is not showing your respect and compassion to someone that you've longed to associate yourself with. If you're going to be with someone you so respect, at least show it in some positive way. Don't leave that person hanging. Or to put it in a slang sense- jocking somebody's swagger. Bandwagoning. Trying to get a piece of the pie.


And finally, here is a special category...

Traitor "Friends."

In other words... people trying to friend you so they can insult you severely. This can mean many things ranging from the following: friending you online so they can attack you, following you on sites (like Twitter) to send disgraceful tweets to you, subscribing to you on YouTube just so they can be the first person to attack you when you post a new video, etc. They are people just trying to connect with you so they can plan whatever attack against you online. That's not friendship; that is just someone trying to jock you all the time. Are THESE the people you want to associate with?


This is just the way I feel about certain spammers who'll post suspicious links and suspicious material in comments. It's bad enough I don't get as many loyal readers for most of my blog posts. What's worse is when suspicious material is posted in my blog when I could be getting proper and respectful material from others. The same things I put up with blogging are what I sometimes have to put up with dealing with suspicious people on social networks. The red flags about someone are often there in regards to some people. Just have to know who to trust and who to just let go of entirely and for good.

--- Final Thoughts ---

If you're going to be a friend online, at least have some compassion and respect for the person you're trying to get with. I at least try to show my respect to others. I want to assure people that they mean something to me. Sometimes, I chat with current people I'm friended with to show my appreciation and respect for them. I don't want anything special- just saying hello and showing respect. Some people just think I have to have a reason to show kindness to them. I don't! We're friends/family/fans!

Often times online, I don't know what qualifies as being with certain people online. I usually get the feeling I'm rejected because I don't communicate enough with people to where we can actually stay together online. I always feel like people connected in real life should also be able to seamlessly connect online as well. The only real acceptable excuse as to why people SHOULDN'T connect online is if someone just quits using a certain service. Not everyone will stay forever or leave himself/herself visible on a social networking medium 'till death do us part (so to speak). That's why I get concerned (and a bit saddened) when someone drops me from their friends list when I feel I haven't done anything really wrong. And if I did say or do something damaging or wrong, I'll surely apologize and try not to make the same mistake again. Also, some people just don't log on constantly to certain social networking sites. That is perfectly fine, too. Just know that I still care regardless whether someone logs on every day or every so often.

Or maybe... maybe there is some sort of unrequited love I have for people online? Could it be that I am not as loved back by others as I have for others? Could it be that connecting online with others is much different from trying to connect with others away from cyberspace? In my view, if you love/respect someone in one medium, you should be able to almost seamlessly express your love and respect in another medium. However, social networking does not equal life and living. The coolest social media before Myspace and Facebook is simply connecting with people in person. It still remains the best social networking media even to this day.





I would never damage my own integrity with others by being any sort of idiot towards other people. When I seek a Friend Request to others online or want to associate myself with others, it is for the purpose of befriending and connecting with others I respect. That includes everyone from people on social networking media to blogging to YouTube and all points in-between. Even I should be careful and mindful of certain people who seem suspicious that try to get with me in some way online. I honor and salute everyone who follows me, friends me, "like" me (as in Facebook), and more. I am as true blue and stand-up a person as I can ever be. All I ask in return is for people to have equal (or even greater) respect for me and my work. I don't want to meet or be associated with people who have little or no true compassion with me- not online or in real life. If you made the effort to want to be respectful to me, at least show equal effort in showing your continued respect for me. I am not being harsh... I'm just being real and honest.

What do you make of such people who try to connect with you that don't have any real compassion for you? Chat away and thanks for reading! Get social with me and subscribe to my other blogs:

"Like" me on Facebook, Follow JBS, and/or Contact Me via E-Mail!
Subscribe to John's Blog Space (JBS)	Subscribe to John's Shop Space (JSS)	Subscribe to John's Gran Turismo Space (JGTS)	Subscribe to StyleSpace (SS)

read more...

Social Media Overload (Guest Post)

This post is a guest post on John's Blog Space. For the first time ever in this blog's history, a post made by somebody besides myself will be posted here. A loyal reader named Greg Figueroa wants to discuss social media here on John's Blog Space. He wants to help you make sense of using social media as well as understanding what these popular services all entail. Everything except the image (and the image's description) are from the guest poster.

Now on to the post.

--- "Social Media Overload," by Greg Figureoa ---

^ from: marketingland.com - With so many different social networking media, it is easy to become overwhelmed with all the options. However, you can learn which social networking medium is right for you with this guest blog post from one of my loyal readers.

I’ve been putting together a social media promotion website called http://promoteclique.com and it has been challenging to say the least. One of the issues were picking which Social Media websites will I use to promote products and special announcements for my clients. There is an overload of Social Media websites to use and network in.

Here is a mix of popular to under the radar Social Media websites and their target demographic:

Facebook: Most popular Social Media website that allows you to post all types of media and stay connected to a community.

Twitter: Twitter has a character limit of 140 for any posting called tweets. This site is perfect for quick updates and musings that people want to share.

Linkedin: This is a business networking website. People post up their resumes in profile form and use it to maintain business contacts and to network for business contacts and opportunities.

Youtube (Google product): This a community based on sharing videos online that can be commented on and shared with other Social Media websites like Facebook or Twitter.

Google Plus (Google product): Google’s answer to Facebook. It’s biggest selling point is having circles to filter out who sees what with the information or media you post up.

Flickr (Yahoo product): A photo sharing website.

Ustream: This is a community for live streaming videos. Youtube has it’s own live streaming functionality, but it’s only for partners (people that YT pays to post up their content through Google’s ad sense program) and not as popular as Ustream.

Diaspora: This is an open source Social Media network that gives you control of your data.

Yelp: A community of peer reviews of restaurants, entertainment options, services, and business in their respective cities.

Ping (Apple product): A Social Media network based on sharing music.

DeviantArt: A community to share art amongst the members.

Myspace: This is the predecessor to Facebook as a Social Media networking website, but its new incarnation, it’s more a music and entertainment sharing and discovery community.

So I focused on popularity, differences of use, and most importantly, what my clients would possibly recognize. I settled on Facebook, Twitter, ustream, flickr, and Youtube. A nice variety that touches on the different ways to engage a community. Google Plus almost made the cut, but I felt like the community is stronger on Facebook; I will admit that I will lose out on some link juice in the eyes of the Google search engine because Google Plus and Youtube are products of Google and it’s in the best interest of the company to give more relevance to their products in search results, but at this point, in comparison to FB, it is an overload.

Here’s the thing, I believe that if you are a company or use your name professionally make sure to claim your name in these difference social media sites. I may not use Google Plus a whole lot, but I did make sure to claim my name. Let’s be honest, you never know when another Social Media website may become popular and you want to protect your business interests.

Maybe one day it would make sense to add more Social Media websites to my business, but not today. Only use the sites where your community is currently networking. I was once a member of Myspace, but then everybody started migrating to Facebook and I followed them. It made no sense to me to participate in a dying network. A Social Media website lives and dies on their considered freshness and if it has a large community that you relate to because of friendship, family, work, or through mutual friends.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Greg Figueroa is a Social Media promoter that helps promote products and companies in a fun and engaging way to his community. Check out his Social Media promotion site: http://promoteclique.com and his twitter handle is @promoteclique (Follow me).





Once again, I would like to thank Greg Figueroa for his loyalty and in presenting me with this guest post. Please be sure to send your compliments and such to him for this post if you enjoyed it. To get started with any of the sites mentioned, please visit the following sites:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Linkedin
• Youtube (Google product)
• Google Plus
• Flickr (Yahoo! Product)
• UStream
• Diaspora
• Yelp
• iTunes Ping
• deviantArt
• Myspace

Thanks to all of you for reading John's Blog Space! I am selective in deciding to allow guest posts. If you would like to make a guest post on my blog, please Contact Me via E-Mail. I will add your guest post after reviewing your post. And of course, I'll inform my readers that I did NOT make the post in question. Thank you for reading!

Become a Fan (or Like) my Facebook Fan Page and subscribe this blog (and my others) via FeedBurner (or any other aggregator in the sidebar)! Visit (or subscribe):
• Subscribe to John's Blog Space!
• Subscribe to John's Shop Space! (http://jbmshopspace.blogspot.com)
• Subscribe to John's Gran Turismo Space! (http://johnsgtspace.blogspot.com)

read more...

"First!"

"First!" Contests usually aren't held for posting the first comment on something. Prizes usually aren't offered for posting the first comment. I certainly don't care who posts first (or even last) on anything of mine I have no idea why people feel it is necessary or important to note being the first to post on something. What... do people think posting "first" or something like that is like a contest on the radio where a certain caller wins something? Or maybe somebody fears that he/she will lose the opportunity to talk about something while comments are open, so they decide to be one of the ones to quickly post about something before it's too late. Regardless, just typing "first" really disrupts the flow of an otherwise useful and discussion-worthy piece of material. Here is an example of what I'm talking about:


^ "Yay! I posted the first comment!" But honestly... who [expletive] cares who posts the first comment?



Why do people often frown upon typing "first" (or any other number) when making posts? Well, first off... nobody cares who comments first on something. When you have a chance to discuss something or share your thoughts on something, you're disrupting the flow of something by posting something as bogus as "first" or some other numbered comment. Most people can pretty much count for themselves, so no need to count up how many comments are posted. Simply typing "first" for a comment is almost as much damaging as spam.

More importantly, just typing something like "first" means you paid no attention to what a video was about and simply found an opportunity to jump on and type nonsense- just like people (or bots) who post suspicious comments with suspicious backlinks. If you're going to talk about something, at least make your time useful. At least make yourself useful. Don't ruin the experience by typing something stupid like "first" because nobody cares who makes the first comment on something. As long as people are interacting with something, that's all that matters.

Why would you want to waste your time in whatever spotlight you think you have by lowering yourself to just saying "first?" Take it as a life lesson- when you have a chance to do something magical, you'd be a fool to completely waste your golden opportunity by doing something pointless/stupid. So make it count when you step up and speak up!





I don't (and will never) host contests or offer prizes for people who post first on anything of mine. I care more about getting responses from people rather than always wanting the first commentator to step up. Anyone who posts their ideas about something is only making me happy because at least people are talking about something. But if you're going to comment, at least post something useful. That's all I (or any other publisher that allows for comments/discussion) ask for for any published material where discussion is allowed.

IN CASE YOU'RE INTERESTED: I discussed this topic a LONG time ago on YouTube here: "First?" on YouTube, courtesy of JohnMarineTube (me)

Thank you for reading!

Become a Fan (or Like) my Facebook Fan Page and subscribe this blog (and my others) via FeedBurner (or any other aggregator in the sidebar)! Visit (or subscribe):
• Subscribe to John's Blog Space!
• Subscribe to John's Shop Space! (http://jbmshopspace.blogspot.com)
• Subscribe to John's Gran Turismo Space! (http://johnsgtspace.blogspot.com)

read more...

Blogging Before Blogspot

Let me tell you a little story. Did you know that before Blogger/Blogspot, most of my blogging was on Myspace? My Myspace blog still remains intact today! I would mostly blog about anything that crossed my mind- just like here on John's Blog Space. Since a lot of my friends became interested in what I had to type about and post in bulletins back in the glory days of Myspace, I would share some stories with everyone including some personal thoughts of mine. I knew I had friends who cared about me and could offer some great words when I am not feeling strong. So because of this, I was able to share some of my issues. Nothing EXTREMELY personal, though. I even mentioned once about blogging for money in my Myspace blog. Over time, I became interested in starting a blog elsewhere. And in so, I chose Blogger/Blogspot.

This blog highlights on my past blogging on Myspace before graduating to Blogger/Blogspot.

--- Blogging Before Blogger/Blogspot ---

My Myspace blogging thoughts and history will be explained here. You will get to learn about my blogging past before coming onto the Blogger/Blogspot service.

From Myspace Blogging to Blogger/Blogspot Blogging.

Anyone who may know my story knows that I have apparently set up a Blogger profile in 2007, but never posted an actual blog post until 2009. And at that time, I didn't even think about a specific name for this blog. I then eventually came up with "John's Blog Space" to define and establish my blog. It was initially intended to be about the Gran Turismo series (among other things). After posting certain blog posts, I decided to focus my blog more on various topics as I was getting bored trying to stick to the Gran Turismo series. Once I became more serious about blogging, I decided that I wanted to try to monetize my blog. After all, I wanted to profit from my work because I wanted to feel like my work was actually being valued. So I took up on Google Adsense and Amazon Associates. I was uncertain what kind of occupation I wanted to take part in or what college aspirations I actually want to complete, so I stuck with doing blog posts and YouTube videos. I enjoy doing both.

I always kept a little text file stored on my computer or on some external media storing my work. I've always had this sort of knack for typing up a lot of text that would eventually lead to detailed posts. I would fear that I'd lose all of my text in case the computer crashes. Also, I want to make sure that if I did screw up something, I could quickly edit it and edit the previously-released post with the new data. This is a practice I still do. Only instead of using Wordpad (because I did not want to have to load RTF files in Microsoft Word), I mostly use text files with NoteTab. NoteTab is also more flexible to me in all that I do in posting blog entries.

Lessons Learned from Myspace Blogging.

Really, I didn't get to gauge my appeal in blogging until I started becoming more experienced with HTML. Myspace doesn't really allow you to get really creative with your blog. I started learning more techniques to enhance blog posts as I became more experienced using the Blogger/Blogspot interface. Even more so when I started using the Blogger in Draft features. When I was trying to promote my YouTube channel, I used my Myspace blog to get my Myspace friends to care about my videos. So Myspace has meant many things to me in trying to promote my material.

Has Blogging on Myspace Made me Better for Blogger/Blogspot?

To an extent, yes. I could communicate with a much bigger audience compared to my days on Myspace. More people have found John's Blog Space than hardly anyone finding my Myspace profile (let alone its blog). I just became more confident in what I post when I started doing more blogging on Blogger/Blogspot than on Myspace.

Myspace is also where I tried to meet many people from around the world. I wanted to try to be friends with others to try to expand my international appeal. Sort of the international appeal came over time when more people started viewing "John's Blog Space." Even more so when "John's Shop Space" and "John's Gran Turismo Space" got their respective views. To this date, over 170 to 180 countries and territories have visited any of my Blogger/Blogspot blogs at any time.

In all honesty, though... I sort of taught myself how to be better as a Blogger in going from Myspace to Blogger/Blogspot. Part of the maturation came in learning HTML and CSS to enhance blog posts. The main part of blogging that still matters at the end of the day is content, and that is one element that hasn't changed one bit in my blogging.


I guess you can say I've come a long way. :)

--- A Salute to my Myspace Blogging Roots ---

With Myspace being a sinking ship, I just want to thank Myspace and all of my Myspace friends for even caring about my blog on Myspace. I never thought I would care so much about blogging that I would graduate to Blogger/Blogspot. I am thankful for everyone to see my primary blog. As Facebook's popularity was growing, I started focusing more on my Facebook audience while still staying true to my Myspace friends.

I still eventually want to have my Myspace friends who have Facebook to friend me on Facebook and "like" my Fan Page. Since Myspace is dying (or dead to many others), I do not want to completely lose touch with my loyal Myspace people.

--- Was I Destined to be a Blogger? ---

One last thing...

Is Blogging Really My Trade?

You know, I've had a knack for making long and detailed material. So you can probably say that I've perfected becoming a blogger by simply typing up a bunch of stuff while making sure it all eventually makes sense. Since I habitually do lots of typing, you could say that blogging has been both a hobby and a profession to me.

While I do try to profit from my blogging, I hate getting the impression (not that anyone says it about me) that I care more about blogging for money than I do blogging for the love of posting blogs. Sure, I want to profit from my work, but it is more important that I share my mind and meet new people all the while. I felt like I have become a better blogger over time ranging from Myspace blog posting to making detailed posts in online forums. Sometimes, a habit or a hobby ends up becoming your strongest trade.

Want to See My Old Blog?

If you want to see my blogging before Blogspot, you may visit my old Myspace blog here: my old Myspace blog.





These days, I mostly use my Myspace blog to tell my Myspace friends to visit my Facebook fan page as well as my blogs- John's Blog Space, John's Shop Space, and John's Gran Turismo Space. You never forget where you came from. That statement surely is true in regards to where I've come from as a blogger and my further evolution as a blogger. I will never forget about my Myspace blogging roots. Trouble is, I never thought I'd be THIS serious about blogging to where I actually took it like a profession. There are many more blogs that get more traffic and probably earn more money than here on John's Blog Space, but I still enjoy what I do and still enjoy getting visitors from all over the world. I feel my international presence is greater on Blogger/Blogspot than on Myspace.

You now know about my roots in blogging before I seriously took into blogging. Thank you for reading!

Become a Fan (or Like) my Facebook Fan Page and subscribe this blog (and my others) via FeedBurner (or any other aggregator in the sidebar)! Visit (or subscribe):
• Subscribe to John's Blog Space!
• Subscribe to John's Shop Space! (http://jbmshopspace.blogspot.com)
• Subscribe to John's Gran Turismo Space! (http://johnsgtspace.blogspot.com)

read more...

PlayStation Home

LAST UPDATED: July 2, 2011 - edited material

Part of my maturation with the PlayStation 3 is in getting adjusted to the many features the PS3 offers. One such thing I downloaded for the PS3 is PlayStation Home. PlayStation Home is the work of Sony Computer Entertainment London Studio and has been around since December 2008. PS Home is a social networking gaming medium where PSN users can connect to this virtual city with all kinds of features and things to do. It's almost like (though I have NO experience with it) Second Life, but it is for gaming. You are able to connect with other PSN users and check out some of their avatars. PlayStation Home is completely free (just like a PlayStation Network account is free), but there are items in the game that can be purchased either with your own money or with funds from a PlayStation Network gift card. This is a little blog post talking about my PS Home adventures so far and how I feel about PS Home.

NOTE: PlayStation Home is still a Beta as of the date of this initial blog post (June 15, 2011). The current version of Home is Version 01.50 as of this initial post.

--- PlayStation Home ---

^ from: thedriverid.wordpress.com - SCE London created PlayStation Home. Since its creation, many PlayStation Network users worldwide have connected through Home to play, interact, and have fun.

PlayStation Home is all about connecting and having fun. In case you're wondering, yes. This is the first blog post on Home since mentioning Home in "Avatars and Virtual Reality." Home allows you to communicate with others and have fun. You can play a variety of arcade games as well as real ones. Get yourself noticed by playing games. You can download extra items to help enhance your Home experience. Of course, you can also meet many new people worldwide through Home. Feel free to chat with others either by text or by voice chat. People online say that if you do voice chat, there are those who recommend you do so with a USB headset.

Here are some of the finer points of PS Home...

Getting Started.

When you have downloaded Home to your PS3, you will be presented with your own room. It's called your Personal Space. The living quarters for you is Harbour Studio, a beautiful contemporary room where the view of the water and all the boats are in the distance.

PlayStation Home starts you off with an avatar. This will be the avatar you use as your public image. Dress yourself up however you please. Re-create yourself or come up with a totally different person online. It's all up to you. More on the finer elements of avatar creation will be discussed later. What about your personal space? You are free to modify or add furniture to your personal space. Make it as fancy or as cool as you like.

Playing games and receiving items will allow you to enhance your image to a great deal. You can use items you've earned in games or in purchases to dress yourself up or your avatar up. Just downloading or visiting certain spaces can net you some items to dress up yourself or your Personal Space.

Basic Controls.

The majority of your actions are dependent on your pad. Press [Start] to access your Menu Pad. This is kind of like your iPad that allows you to access a variety of options. This includes things like Wardrobe, Navigation, Options, Alerts (when available), and more. Use your left analog stick to move your avatar around the area he/she is in. When you come across something that can be accessed in a menu, press [X] to pull up a menu with all sorts of options for you to access. Go back or cancel certain items by pressing the [Circle] button. Create your own text to use as a message to someone or to the chat room by pressing the [Triangle] button. Press [Left] on the D-pad to access the text chat, or press [Right] on the D-Pad to access the voice chat. Remember to hold down [R2] to initiate speaking. When you're done, release the R2 trigger to stop the voice chat.

Press [L1] to access your quick reactions. Whatever you select in this menu will show up in the Chat Room window. Press [R1] to access your menu of avatar actions and status updates. Who knows? You might put on enough of a show to get noticed by somebody!

Finally, press [Select] to access your safe menu. This can allow you to re-enter your personal space, or more importantly... submit reports about suspicious people on Home.

--- PlayStation Home: Avatars ---

^ Myself in PlayStation Home. I tried to re-create myself as best as I could. I was unfortunately unable to find a decent pair of glasses for my Home Avatar.

From the previous section, I will discuss more on the finer elements of Home. This section focuses in on your avatar.

PlayStation Home allows you to change up your avatar to whatever you like. You have four options when starting out:

• Presets - Can't decide on how to customize your avatar? Choose from a set of preset characters.
• Character - edit the non-aesthetic elements of your avatar. You can even choose whether to use a male or female avatar.
• Clothing - edit the avatar's clothing.
• Load/Save - Store or save your characters for future usage. You can save as many as 24 different characters.

Avatars » Presets.

Choose from one of 18 different pre-made avatars to help you get started. If you are using an existing character, all of the changes you made to it will be lost. So it's best you save your current character before using a preset. The preset models include both male and female avatars.

Avatars » Character.

The key physical attributes of your character are contained in the Character menu. Those attributes include:

• Gender - choose between male or female
• Structure - choose the structure for the avatar's jawline, nose, eyes, etc.
• Face - precisely frame your avatar's face.
• Body - adjust the width and height of your avatar.
• Skin - change skin features as well as skin color.
• Hair - choose between a number of options for hairstyle, eyebrows, and facial hair (MALE only).
• Makeup (FEMALE only) - edit options for makeup. Options include eye shadow, eye liner, blush, and lipstick. Only for Female avatars.

These options help define the physical attributes of your avatar. Re-create yourself or make your own public face on Home. It's up to you.

Avatars » Clothing.

As anyone even remotely into fashion would know, clothing is what helps you make your statement to the world. This is your chance to dress yourself up however you choose.

• Head - put on various accessories for your head including caps and hats.
• Hands - you can wear gloves or other items for your hands.
• Torso - clothes for your upper body. Choose from a variety of tops to wear.
• Legs - clothes for your lower body. Choose from a variety of bottoms including jeans, pants, skirts, and more.
• Feet - give your avatar some shoes to wear, or even go barefoot.
• Jewelry - your avatar can wear jewelry. Items can either be worn on one ear, or on both ears.
• Accessories - for your avatar, this adds items to your avatar's face and head. Face items include glasses. Head items include headphones.
• Outfits - complete outfits are available for your avatar. Whatever your avatar is wearing prior to an outfit being worn will still be available even when he/she wears the outfit. All past changes prior to the new outfit will be saved and re-accessed once you stop wearing the outfit.
• Storage - put aside old items to be used again in the future.

I made two avatars- one resembling me, and a female avatar. It doesn't really make a difference how you go. It's your avatar- do what you want and dress as you please. To get more items for your avatar, you'll need to do some shopping on PS Home.

Avatars » Load/Save.

This section is self-explanatory. Save your characters (you can save up to 24) to your PS3's hard disk drive, or load your characters you've already created.


I touched up on it in the Avatars » Clothing section- if you want more clothes, you'll need to do some shopping. That brings me to this next section...

--- PlayStation Home: Game Spaces and Personal Spaces ---

What you have starting out is good, but you can do a lot more. You need to download other spaces to be able to enjoy your Home experience. They can be downloaded to be part of many more experiences. Download these spaces to your heart's content. Extra items you explore from the Navigator can be downloaded to enhance your Home experience. I will explain a few of them to you.

Central Plaza.

Personally, I think Central Plaza is the best way to meet new people and connect with new people on Home. It is also where you can chat via text or with voice chat. Consider this the living space for many people within the PS Home universe. This is where many people among the PlayStation Home universe converge and interact. If you turn around behind you, you can re-access the Harbour Studio.

You can run around the Central Plaza to access many different items in the area. Some of them will be explained later in this blog post. You can head over to where a lot of people hang out at and dance at the "Listen@Home" area (explained later). Songs are chosen as you're able to groove to the music.

The big fountain in the center of Central Plaza can be used to play any number of available games.

Mall.

Visit the Mall to shop for items to dress yourself and your personal space. Items purchased will be available to you to access and use per your request. There are many stores to choose from with all sorts of items. Make sure to drop by often to check out the latest items available for download and/or purchase.

Theater.

The theater allows you to check out many different videos. Want to keep tabs on the latest videos to a variety of shows and programs? Want to check out the latest podcasts? You can through the Theater.

Bowling Alley.

Just chill out and go for some bowling here. If you don't fancy bowling, however, you can play games like pool or any of the arcade games. Ice Breaker and echochrome can be played among others. Not sure if games rotate or if different games are offered at different times, but this zone is all about having fun.

LOOT Launch Pad.

Enter this zone complete with many different things to see and explore. Plus... you'll go outer space!

Listen@Home.

It's an outdoor dance party, and you're invited to check out the cool music bumping with the Listen@Home feature. You can listen to a variety of tunes as well as vote on the next tune to be played. This is where you will commonly see avatars dance the day/night away.


Here are some more items:

Gamer's Lounge.

Connect with other gamers and even take part in special gaming meets with the Gamer's Lounge.

Home Mansion.

Let's face it... you may never be rich and/or famous, so leave it to PlayStation Home. Live the rich lifestyle.

The Playground.

It may be an urban jungle resembling Brooklyn, but to the urban set, this is a paradise for dancing and playing basketball. Enjoy your stay in the ghetto when you download the Playground! :)


As I mentioned earlier, the way to make the most out of Home is to access other spaces. The best way to see these places is to go to Explore from the Navigator menu. All of these extra places can be downloaded to your PS3. Many of them take anywhere between 15 MB to 30 MB to download. More complex ones may run you by about 40 MB in size or more. For what I know, these extras are completely free.

Personal Spaces can only be bought, though some may be offered for free. That leads to the next section...

--- PlayStation Home: Store ---

Shop for items for your avatar and your personal space. You can also purchase games from PlayStation Network. There are a lot of items for which you can access online. An array of items can be bought even in other spaces by accessing the Store feature. For example, the Central Plaza space has an item that looks like an ATM. By accessing this one, you can check out all available items for you to purchase through the Store.

No Money? No Problem!

PlayStation Home's store allows you to shop for items for your avatar and your Personal Space, but what if you don't have any money or funds from a PlayStation Network gift card? No worries! Look for "100 Free Items." This is an assortment of items offered for free to customize your avatar and your personal space. I am not sure how often 100 Free Items is updated. Not sure if it's weekly, monthly, or whatever. Take advantage of this opportunity if you are able to access the 100 Free Items deal for PlayStation Home store.

--- PlayStation Home Review ---

I really want to try to make my PlayStation Home fun and meet people. If Home is still a Beta (as of this initial blog post), then I'd like to imagine how it will be like when it is no longer a Beta because Home is a great way to connect with other users in a virtual space. You can receive more items either through playing games or by buying them at various stores within the PlayStation Home spaces. There is no shortage of places to visit or things to do. So go download PlayStation Home for your PS3 and have fun!

Besides friends of mine on GTPlanet, I have failed in meeting more people. I have failed to successfully chat with someone on Home (whether by text or by voice).



Feel free to connect with me on PSN if you like. Connect with me by checking out my PSN portable ID:


Get your Portable ID!

"JMarine25" is my PSN ID. Feel free to connect with yours truly.

Recommended Reading...

I mentioned avatars and virtual reality before. To read up on that, check out "Avatars and Virtual Reality" here on John's Blog Space.





Thank you for reading!

Become a Fan (or Like) my Facebook Fan Page and subscribe this blog (and my others) via FeedBurner (or any other aggregator in the sidebar)! Visit (or subscribe):
• Subscribe to John's Blog Space!
• Subscribe to John's Shop Space! (http://jbmshopspace.blogspot.com)
• Subscribe to John's Gran Turismo Space! (http://johnsgtspace.blogspot.com)

read more...