Add the G+ icon to your site and Authorship

Link your Google Profile to your site to help users find your content.
Connecting to your Google Profile will help users find your content on the web.
G+ button generator

Read the branding guidelines - This site outlines the various ways you can use the Google Profile name, logo, and icon without having to have your people call their people.

Hat tip to +Linda Lawrey for sharing this Google+ post today:  Online Tool To Check and Improve How Google Displays Your Search Results

Run your site through the Rich Snippets Testing Tool (beta).

Use the Rich Snippets Testing Tool to check that Google can correctly parse your structured data markup and display it in search results.

Authorship - Google is piloting the display of author information in search results to help users discover great content. This feature is being rolled out gradually and will be implemented algorithmically, so author information will not always display in search results. 

Have you added the Google+ icon to your site? Have you checked your site results in the Rich Snippets Testing Tool? A viable option for learners to start their digital portfolios beyond a walled learning environment?

Comments, recommendations, +1s, and reaction box checks are welcome.

What kind of shroom is this growing in my yard?

On May 1, 2011, I asked about a turtle  I saw in my back yard in a blog post...now I need help in identifying this giant shroom in my yard. From the deck I thought it looked like a small grocery sack that had blown in the yard from the recent gusts. As I strolled closer it almost resembled a bad cantaloupe but it is some type of mushroom with fire ants feasting at the base. Let the crowdsourcing begin: Can anyone tell me what kind of shroom this is? Is it safe to dig up and put in the yard waste can without causing more shrooms to sprout?

View from the top

View from the side

If you know what type of mushroom this is and the best way to dispose of it, please leave a comment. Thanks in advance for your participation in my crowdsourcing request.


Dug it up and scooped it into the yard waste can. It was solid so no spores drifted in the yard.

How do you keep your stuff up to date?

In a recent post by Mr. Byrne, author of Free Technology for Teachers, he asks, "Have you updated your browser lately?" On the homefront, I keep everything up to date, tinker with the new, the old, and the outdated...but at work my network is controlled. I understand why but we do not have the option of the tools used, including the selected browser.  This image displays if I check my Gmail:

This image displays if I try to access Google+ in the workplace:

But thanks to personally owned gadgets and apps, I can still access my Google products and projects when needed, while keeping OPSEC, COMPUSEC, INFOSEC, IA (and all other securities) in place.


So how do you keep "your stuff" up to date? What options do you have to make suggestions when you do not control your network management tools? Have you become technologically apathetic due to automated controls and functions? Do you have a data recovery plan in place that works? Have you tested the implementation plan that you developed or adopted?


Thanks to Mr. Richard Byrne and his awesome blog, Free Technology For Teachers for sharing his knowledge, skills, and abilities with the world, regardless of a reader's profession.


Comments, recommendations, +1s, and reaction box checks are welcome.