Not really a Halloween-related post, but it should be of interest to all of us who use Blogger to blog about Halloween blogging stuff.
Now that Google has launched its Facebook-like Google+, it's rumored it's going to close down its Picasa picture site and Blogger too, rebranding them under the Google+ rubric. The search king hasn't responded to requests for information about the purported switch, which is expected to happen perhaps as soon as the end of the month, but the changes coming look significant.
Earlier this year, Mashable ran a story about an overhaul Google was preparing for Blogger, and even
gave some screen shots about what was to come. Yesterday, Mashable ran another story about the changes underway and while Blogger won't be eliminated, it's probably
not going to be how you remember it and it will be a lot more "social." For one thing, "private" profiles on Google are going to be eliminated on July 31 (which is why it's believed the Picasa/Blogger changes will happen by then too).
Google feels threatened by Facebook and its Google+ service is its response to that. By tying all of its offerings together under one roof, it feels it can better compete and make inroads into the turf currently dominated by Facebook.
So if you have a private profile and use Blogger as your blogging tool, get ready for a whole new openness, whether you want it or not.
We've all learned, of course, that Hurricane Katrina was a massive storm that was the costliest and also one of the 5 most deadliest natural disasters in the U.S. What couldn't have been known at the time was that plans made at the time by many individuals and businesses would be left unfulfilled.
