Gizmodo: Google just made Bing the best search engine

Did Google’s overhaul of search results to add “Your World” (essentially including Google+ further into the algorithm) sufficiently alter the results enough to no longer provide the most relevant information about a topic? Does it give too much weight to content sources engaging on Google+? What about content your social networks and circles promote? Do you care if your friends have “+1-ed” an article? One guy thinks Google has gone too far this time and the Twitter leadership tends to agree. This article even goes so far as to argue that Google violates anti-trust legislation and offers Microsoft’s Bing as the best option. Ironic, no?

Forbes: CES Wrap: The end of the editorial, commercial divide is here

As another Consumer Electronics Show ends, Forbes looks at how brands are utilizing events and their own products as channels to serve up content, beyond traditional product placement. As editorial content and product offerings continue to evolve new ways to provide revenue streams, is the separation between “church” and “state” becoming blurred? As smart TVs and content served on computers, tablets & mobile device increases, the ability for marketers to deliver branded commercial content alongside editorial content becomes seamless. How long until the average consumer is no longer able to delineate the paid from the unpaid?

Pinterest, out for a little over a year, the upstart social product tagging aggregator is taking off, now reaching over 3 million users. Mashable looks at the Top Brand on Pinterest and evaluates 5 Ways Brands Can Use Pinterest to Boost Customer Engagement. These are interesting because I’ve been trying to find ways to promote the use of the site for a year, but now that I have a different type of client base, I can take these examples as a springboard to a larger conversation. Of course, it helps that the Pinterest numbers are growing. What brands do you follow on Pinterest? What do you like about them? Is it about personality? A way to find new product offerings?

In a Gorilla Costume delivers a great infographic (which still continue to drive huge traffic. People like their facts delivered in this format. I think it says something about our attention span) on The Real Cost of Social Media. Many of us already understand this concept, but this graphic will be helpful for taking to the client and saying “free isn’t really free.”

That’s what I read last week. How about you?

“All your news will be in a single stream with the most interesting stories featured at the top. If you haven’t visited Facebook for a while, the first things you’ll see are top photos and statuses posted while you’ve been away. If you check Facebook more frequently, you’ll see the most recent stories first. Photos will also be bigger and easier to enjoy while you’re scrolling through.” – A Facebook spokesperson

News Feed

• Curates friends’ posts
• Uses number of factors to decide whether they deserve top billing in News Feed
• More prominently display pictures
• New settings to give users post-by-post control over the feed

Ticker

• Real-time updates
• Fewer email notifications

Facebook is deciding what’s important for you to see.

“Just as we aim to show you the most relevant updates in your News Feed today, we use a variety of signals to decide whether a story might be interesting or important. For example, this may include changes about your employer, school, relationship status or city, as well as things like the number of likes or comments on a post. For example, if a friend’s post gets dozens of comments or likes, it’s likely to be a top story.” - A Facebook spokesperson

Users can control what becomes a top story by interacting with their own feeds.

“You can click on a top story and tell Facebook that it’s not relevant to you, or you can mark a post a top story,”

Likely future changes

• A media platform
• More e-commerce integration
• More visibility to Facebook Credits
• May also include an HTML5-based mobile platform (access to video on iOS)

What does this mean for brands?

Honestly it’s a little early to determine the overall impact, however, early analysis is that prominent appearance in the News Feed of fans will rely more and more on engagement with content. The more frequently fans Like or Comment, the more likely it is that more of fans and friends of fans will see content in their News Feed. This isn’t new. What is new, however, is the placement. Will content be in the Top Stories or in the Recent Stories (below the Top Stories)? The change to Recent Stories is important because early indications are that everything to which a user is subscribed will appear, whereas prior to the change it users needed to update settings from the default, otherwise all they ever saw was Top Stories.

How can brands help push content to the Top Stories?

• Ask for the “Like” or comment.
• Post compelling calls to action or engage in conversation
• Load more photos & videos
• Don’t over-post on a daily basis.
• Post seven days a week

More information as it becomes available and as we see the impact of the Top Stories on brand pages.

I’ve told this story over and over again, but my favorite day started as the scariest day of my life. January 31, 2010, the day Ingrid Arabella Eide entered the world and changed our lives. Every single day since then has been better than the day before because I’ve been able to have one more day with my girls.

This one is very easy for some people. Many folks have a book that changed their lives, a book to which they can go back over and over again and in which they can find meaning. I know someone who reads the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy every fall. Michelle can read Catcher in the Rye over and over again. I honestly cannot think of a book that has had a profound impact on me.

Honestly, as someone who loves to read, it make me sad that I can’t come up with one book that I can go to as my favorite book. I mean, I’ve read a high percentage of the “greatest 100 books” list the BBC put together, but can’t come up with one that sticks in my head.

So, I’m asking you, the public, to give me your favorite book in comments, and I’ll begin my reading list from there. Help me out?

I have no willpower when it comes to exercising and living a healthy life. Sure, I have the greatest of intentions, I start a “diet” and I begin working out or going to the gym, but allow life to get in the way.

I hate what I have allowed my body and my health to become, but I give up all too easily. I say “I’ll just take today off” or “I’ll go after Ingrid goes to bed” or “I’ll cheat today and get back on the diet tomorrow” but what I’m really saying is “it’s too hard and I don’t see results right away so I’m going to give up because I’m pathetic and lazy.”

I know I need to live healthily for Ingrid. I need to set a good example and I need to live a long life to be around for her and for Michelle, but honestly, I just have so much trouble sticking with it. I need someone to kick me in the ass and force me to take care of myself. It’s just too easy to give up and buy fat pants and bigger shirts. I hate it. I have such great clothes that I can’t wear and I miss being able to hit Theo Wirth and ride the singletrack for hours, but I’m just too lazy to get into good enough shape.

I need help. Badly.

Fall of 1992. I was a preparing for my junior year at Anoka High School.

I was a singer, but not just any singer, I saw myself as the next generation of the East Coast Family. I listened to Boyz II Men, ABC, BBD and the rest. I was a fan of tight harmonies, four or six part a cappella R&B and my favorite groups and the seniors to whom I looked up were all firmly entrenched in the culture and lifestyle. That included wearing matching outfits with the rest of the members of the group. We took our cue from the groups we saw on MTV and frankly as a bunch of suburban kids we looked incredibly stupid.

I took it to a whole different level. I loved my cross colours. I had huge, baggy purple jeans, brightly colored Reebok Pumps, t-shirts and button-down emblazoned with the Cross Colours logo, and honestly, I looked ridiculous.

Fashion for fashion’s sake was my ethos. I didn’t realize until the next summer exactly what I looked like, and for some reason my parents went along with it. They enabled my poor fashion sense and never made a peep as to how dumb I looked.

However, the meaning behind the clothes was positive. It was about racial harmony and education and pride. Yeah, we were suburban white kids who wanted to be Boyz II Men, but we didn’t deserve what we received. Catcalls at the mall, people calling us unprintable names, chasing us into parking lots trying to get us to fight. Yes, I looked foolish, but what I wish I could forget was how easily I allowed those idiots to change my behavior and quickly give up my look.

How can you know where you’re going if you don’t know where you’ve been?

After my sister graduated from high school in 2001 my aunt took her for two weeks to travel across Norway, visiting the land of our ancestors. She traveled from Oslo to Bergen to Solund (one side of the family’s side) to Eide, the area of Norway from which my father’s father’s family emigrated. Meeting relatives, experiencing life of a rock in the North Sea, walking the lands our family left around the turn of the century, learning what drew the Norwegians to the Upper Midwest and feeling a connection to a land not our own.

It’s the one thing in life about which I am envious of my little sister. She was able to experience all of this and has that connection that I lack.

I want that for Ingrid. I want her to know from where she comes. I want to take her to experience life in “the old country”, visit the family, see the sights, get grounded. I want to be the one to help her see life, experience the past so she can learn and build her future.

This is really hard for me. Not necessarily because I fear being open and vulnerable in a public forum, but rather because I try to be open and vulnerable that it’s tough to really find something that makes me uncomfortable.

That said, my biggest insecurity is one that I have been working on for a while. I have this deep-seeded need to make everyone around me happy and get everyone to like me. I know I shouldn’t care if people like me or not. It shouldn’t matter to me what others think, but let’s be honest, it does matter. I’m weak, I know, but it matters to me. I just want people to like me. I don’t want to be an outcast or the butt of jokes. It bothers me when people I know unfollow me on Twitter. It shouldn’t. I shouldn’t care, but I do. I wonder what I did wrong. Who did I offend? What can I do to make things right? Then I realize that it’s not likely my issue at all. I shouldn’t try to change who I am or censor myself (more than I already do) or put myself out just for the approval of others.

I have a set of people whose opinion of me matters. I know that aside from those people, I shouldn’t concern myself. I mean, I’m not the kind of guy who goes out on social channels with a boorish, self-aggrandizing stream of crap being spewed (don’t lie, you all know those people) and is pandering to people, sucking up just to get a follow or a retweet and sends passive-aggressive tweets if they don’t get their way. I don’t live and die by retweets or comments or replies or inclusion on lists or pats on the back and sulk if I don’t get them. Instead I just internalize things, wondering what went wrong, when in reality, nothing went wrong. Sometimes you can’t make everyone like you. So there’s your mantra for the day.

For 10 years, Michelle and I debated whether or not we wanted to have a child. Cost, change to our comfortable little life, the stress of raising a child, the impact it would have on our relationship, fear of failure, uncertainty of the kind of father I would be. I had so many concerns and insecurities, it was almost debilitating. Finally we decided to let fate play a role and stop trying not to have a baby. Sure enough, it happened almost immediately. Michelle came down the stairs while I was making dinner and simply stated “so, we’re going to have a baby”. I stopped, looked at her and said “ok”, smiled at her, gave her a big hug and went back to dinner, talking with her about everything we needed to do, what the next steps were and not letting on that inside I was both excited and terrified.

But that’s the way it is with any big change, both fear and excitement, right?

I burst into tears of joy the first time I saw Ingrid’s heartbeat on the ultrasound. I was awash in this desire to take care of my wife and make sure everything went smoothly. There were times during her pregnancy that Michelle and I thought something was wrong, that this wasn’t going to happen, but Ingrid’s a tough kid. She made sure that she would take care of us as much as we could take care of her. Until …

Five weeks early, Michelle woke me up and said “I think my water broke. It’s too early. I don’t know what to do.” I immediately went into crisis management mode (as well as I could, considering that I was startled awake and don’t really do well in the morning, let alone at 2:00), I tried to calm my wife, asking her if she was certain, then had her call the on-call midwife to make arrangements while I furiously packed everything. We weren’t close to ready. We were going to pack and make our delivery list that very Sunday!

Arrangements were made and I packed the car while Michelle got ready. We then sped down 35W to St. Joseph’s hospital, hoping that they wouldn’t send us to St. John’s where the emergency and high-risk births were held. Pulling into the hospital and getting into the maternity ward was otherworldly, but we finally got settled and I fell asleep in the chair while Michelle tried to sleep in the bed. Nurses came in and out, getting Michelle’s and Ingrid’s vitals, and our midwife was scheduled to see us in a few hours.

Finally it was actually day time and since we didn’t have any preemie clothes or diapers, I rushed out to Babies R Us to pick up some essentials. I mean, we were prepared for an infant, but not a preemie. Not yet. I was close to finishing my list when Michelle called and said that I needed to come back now, she was getting close to active labor. I rushed back to the hospital just as things were heating up. This was all moving way too fast and Michelle needed me to be strong. Neither of us were actually prepared for the event. Before our midwife even arrived, Michelle started active labor and was ready to start pushing. We were expecting a waterbirth and a calm arrival for our little girl, but that entire plan went out the window. A resident was scrubbing in just as our midwife arrived and helped Michelle get through the pushing. My wife is a freaking rockstar. She pushed and pushed and without any drugs at all brought our baby into the world. I was simply amazed at what she went through and how strong she was.

Then little Ingrid Arabella Eide joined the world. I looked at her, picked her up and said “welcome to the world Ingrid. I’m your daddy and I’m going to always be here for you. No matter what.” Michelle and I then cried and held our little girl for the first time. It was simply magical.

Unfortunately, she wasn’t strong enough yet to eat on her own or regulate her temp, so she spent two weeks in the special care nursery, getting bigger and stronger and learning how to eat. Ingrid and Michelle couldn’t nurse, so she was fed with a tube, then bottle. Small victories were celebrated and I somehow was able to instinctively care for this little girl. I was fearless. I’m still amazed at how easy everything seemed for me, especially in retrospect. I shouldn’t have been that calm, but there I was.

Over the next year, watching life through Ingrid’s eyes, I was amazed at how quickly she grew and learned and developed. I know that kids go through a lot in their first year, but when you experience it, it’s truly remarkable. She went from not being able to eat to rolling over, crawling, standing, cruising, talking, gesturing, signing, walking and seemingly eating until she bursts.

To say that Ingrid has had a big impact on my life recently would be an understatement. The first time I held her, I knew my life would never be the same. Every time she gives me a sloppy, open-mouth kiss or hugs my knee or reaches out for me I melt. I want nothing more than for her to be happy, feel safe and loved and supported. Everything I do, I ask myself what the impact will be on her, but I realize that she has an even bigger impact on me.

I didn’t know if my heart could stand another thing to love, but Michelle was right, I’m like the Grinch. On January 31, 2010 my heart grew two sizes.

I was lucky to have been raised by two incredibly loving, caring, strong, intelligent, passionate, bright, witty, persistent, warm and deep parents.

I adore my father. He shaped me, pushed me, taught me how to grow to be a good man; a man who would do good works, be caring and strong and love my family.

But let’s be honest. I’m a mama’s boy.

My mother is the most intelligent, loving, driven, caring and interesting person I have ever known.

She was a senior at the University of Minnesota when I was born, finishing her degree while caring for an infant couldn’t have been easy, but that was the plan. When she graduated, my dad was working for the YMCA and my mom was raising me. Dad was offered the executive director job at the North Miami Beach YMCA shortly after and we headed to Florida. Mom was the aquatics director there and I was raised at the Y, surrounded by a community who cared. My parents lived by this ethos, and still do.

My parents eventually moved us all back home and Dad continued his life of service in the non-profit field. Mom joined him, but this time at the Red Cross. I have to admit, it was my fault. I told her “go to work like the other mommy’s so I can go to school” not realizing that even in 1980 it wasn’t the norm. I was always fascinated by my mom’s job. I mean, she was surrounded by these creepy half-bodies (Resusci-Annie), managed blood drives and the coolest thing ever was that my mom helped people during natural disasters. Hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, it didn’t matter. My mom was important because she helped take care of people when they needed it. Eventually becoming the branch manager, I thought it was so cool that my mom was the boss (sure, my dad was too, and his job was also cool, but Mom’s dealt with blood drives and emergency kits) and I was proud of her.

Mom then took a job with the State of Minnesota in nuclear emergency preparedness. This was such a cool gig. I got to help out with the exercises, pretending to be hurt or contaminated by radiation, playing out my role but always keeping an eye on Mom and watching people take orders and listen to her. Even the National Guard had to listen to what my mom said. Eventually she moved into an assistant director role with Emergency Management and helped staff the Emergency Operations Center, doing conferences with FEMA and teaching classes and holding meetings and press conferences with the Governor. Going to her office was amazing for me. She taught me about public policy, emergency management, how government agencies work together and because of her, I wanted to work in public policy, helping those who need their government’s assistance.

In fact, we worked together briefly when I interned as a hazard mitigation specialist during the summer and fall of 2000. I was in the EOC during 9/11, and watching my mom in action was powerful and moving. I saw her in a whole different light. Everything was chaos, but my mom was a rock, just like she’d always been for me.

Now she’s the Director of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, leading Minnesota’s emergency preparedness. I still get excited and proud when she’s on the radio or TV or in the paper. In fact, Ingrid even noticed Grandma on the TV and reached out for her when she did a Sunday morning interview on the flood situation in the Red River Valley. I love that Ingrid has such strong female role-models in her mom and grandma. It means so much to me to see people to whom she can look up able to be driven at work and caring and soft at home.

That’s the most inspiring thing to me about my mother. Sure, she’s an incredibly important person and has to have the needs of the population of the state in mind, but she’s more than that. My mom is an incredible chef, a foodie before being one was fashionable. She has an exceptional voice; a first soprano who was always at the center of any musical performance. She loves to travel and golf and read and always knows exactly what to say to help me with any situation. She was always supportive without being enabling. I knew she always ha my back, but wouldn’t sugar-coat anything.

If I can be the kind of parent to Ingrid that my mother was to me, I will consider it a job very well done.