There's usually a third option:

Listen to me, America.  I beg of you, PLEASE!  I know it's hard to get air right now. News crews are breathing down your back waiting for you to do something controversial and the instant you speak, someone will be there to distort your words or reality in general.
You may feel with all the ruckus that you only have two choices: Trump or Hillary.  But it's not true.
There will be other candidates on that ballot.  Ones that you and I have never heard of.  Ones that may be gang members.
But trust me, you could throw a dart out of an airplane and hit someone better for our country than the dirt-bag democrat or the demented republican.
I know that you know your current favorite sucks ass.  You've picked what you believe to be the better of two evils, but you know something is still very wrong.  In the middle of your chants you might begin to look at those around you and they will be looking at you and in your minds you are all wondering "why in God's name are we saying this?  Who started this chant, anyway?"
Our current Presidential race consists of two people vying not for the title of President, but for the title of "most outrageous" or "biggest liar".
If it is difficult for you to choose outside of these two, because you're not certain they'd be a better fit than Donald or Hillary, I offer this option for you:

This is "Kitty".  She is 5 years old (35 in Cat Years), was born in the United States, and is very soft and cuddly.  She enjoys playing with various toys and will even do backflips for one of them!  She is friendly with everyone.
If you're still not convinced, you should know that I was a dog person until Kitty came into my life.
Kitty is as qualified as Donald, and tells no lies like Hillary.
Her campaign has been stifled under the media attention that Mr. Trump has been receiving, and Hillary has refused to debate her.
In 2016, let's make America Fuzzier again. (No, but seriously, anyone outside Trump and Hillary will suffice)

How to get ANY 360 photo to appear properly on Facebook and Google.

If you're like me, you might use a couple different 360 apps.  I actually downloaded a 360 camera app from Occipital immediately before our massive vacation.  Unfortunately most of my photos came out subpar. I don't quite have the talent for beautifully stitched 360s.

But this also created another problem. Occipital 360 photos upload to facebook directly from the App, but they show up under Occipital's Java, which only scrolls left to right, and doesn't allow you to move up or down.  In fact, even when viewing ON THEIR OWN WEBSITE, you can only scroll left to right.

So how do you get a 360 up to Facebook or other sources the best way?

It's a little complicated, but just follow these instructions (no programming knowledge needed)

First, acquire the .jpg file of the panorama.
To do this with occipital, first, upload all pano's from your phone to your occipital account.  You'll then want to log into your account from a PC/Mac, and download the flat image to your computer.  It's easy enough, just find the "My Panorama's" page, and under every pano is the option to "Download image".

Now you have your flat image.

Next, you'll want a google+ account (free).  You'll want to travel over to the group "Google Map Views" - https://plus.google.com/communities/103875683874059925989

Upload your pano to this page, add a caption if you'd like.  Share your 360.  Then click on your photo.  On the right side of your photo you'll see "photo details"- click the dropdown arrow, and add the location of your photo.

Usually after a few minutes, you'll receive a google plus notification.  Click your notification tab (upper right of google plus pages, will be a red circle with a number).  You'll see "new panorama created from your library".  Click on that box to open up your photo, then click "save" in the upper right corner.

Next, access your photo library. To do this, click on the set of nine boxes in the upper right corner of google plus next to your notifications icon.  A menu will pop up, and you can select photos.  Once on the photo page, click the panorama you want to put on facebook or other media.  Click the "more options" button in the upper right corner (icon with 3 dots aligned vertically).

Download the photo to your computer.
From here, you can upload the photo directly to Facebook, and it will automatically identify as a 360 photo.
Or, you can take things a step further and add the photo to google maps, which will give you a large screen 360 view and a link to share anywhere you'd like.

Go to maps.google.com.  Search for the location where you took the photo.  On the left hand side, scroll down until you find "add a photo" (this is usually directly below a photo of the location)
Click this button, then find and select the downloaded panorama (not the first flat image, the one you got from uploading to google).

If you can't find the "add a photo" button on the left side scroll area, try clicking an existing photo.  The "add a photo" option should show up on the far right of the set of images on the bottom of the screen.

After another few minutes, you should be able to find your photosphere on the map. (To find your contributions, just go to google maps, click on the menu next to the search bar, click "your contributions", and then click "photos"

Here's a few examples. Sorry for the crude quality.

Conrad Maldives Renovated Beach Villa
Park Hyatt Maldives Water Villas
National Harbor

Update 11/19: It appears this methodology may no longer work.  Possible new solution:
1: Upload photos into google photos (use the 9-square icon next to the alerts icon in the upper right corner of google+
2: Wait until your library automatically stitches a panorama together (may take an hour or two)
3: Click the assistant button in the photos page (left side of the page, top icon)

AT&T, Verizon, and likely all Cell-Phone Companies: Liars.

I can't think of any more proof that society is being F***ed in the A** than my two experiences with Cell Phone companies.
The very first time I signed up for cell-phone service was in 2009.  I was resistant, I had done well without for my first 24 years of life.  But alas I was now a manager and I needed people to be able to call me at any given time for help with the runnings of my store.  So I obtained a used, non-smart flip phone from my aunt, and took it to a Verizon kiosk down the way from my store.  I presented the phone to the employee, who immediately wrote me up a two year contract.  Upon reading the contract, I inquired about a month-to-month program.  I didn't want to be on contract, I didn't understand why I had to be on contract.  His simple answer: Verizon did not offer month-to-month plans.  So I signed the document.
Yes, it is always on the consumer to do their research, and I've often found myself siding with corporations when they don't.  But I'm not asking for pity here, I need none, the problem was actually resolved when I called up Verizon after finding online that of course they offer month-to-month plans.  While I don't need pity, this country might--- because what the employee did is what he is trained to do.
Example 2: Another example: (and this is less about lying and more about how messed up these cell-phone companies are)  After several years with Verizon, I decided it was time to switch to AT&T when they offered a $300 switching credit and a $200 phone trade in credit.  So two days after my most recent contract (yes, I did end up going the way of the contract) with Verizon expired, I ported my phone over to AT&T.  Shortly thereafter, I caught my mistake and screamed at the stars... I was only 4 days into my new billing cycle, AND I had not downgraded my plan from 6GB to 2GB.  What this ultimately ended in (and it took three phone calls with Verizon to get someone to admit it) was me paying $103 for four days of cell-phone and text messaging usage and .85GB of Data.  No pro-rating, no nada.  The third representative I talked to was an actual human being named Monique, who took some time with me and admitted that if I had downgraded my plan from 6GB to 2GB BEFORE I switched service, I would have saved $30.  She was unable to offer any compensation.
Again, my mistake.  Again, we're being F***ed.
Final Example: I know, I know, I know.... do your research first.  I felt calm, cool, collected, knowledgeable when I walked in the door to AT&T.  The employee pitched me the first BS and I batted that BS out of the park. The first line of BS was a tablet offer.  I was eligible for a free Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 because I had picked up the Edge 6 Plus.  Freeeee, you say!?  I'll bite.  Are there any charges involved?  I just have to sign a 2 year contract for a data plan at $10 a month, that doesn't sound bad.  How much data does that get me? Oh, it doesn't get me any data, it comes off of the data plan I'm already on.  So it's actually a $240 tablet that can be found on Amazon for practically the same price.  No thanks, I'll just continue to use the better tablet that I already own.
I felt GREAT! I had just kicked this marketing in the face.  And then came the hardball: do you want to pick up a protective case? 
Me....I kind of do.  I've had one for my HTC one and it's protected at least a dozen drops, what options are available? 
Employee (Paraphrasing)....Well, we have the $50 one, and the $40 one. 
Me (Paraphrasing) Um, no.
Employee....Well, you know you'll have a good amount of in store credit.
Me....I will?
Employee....Yes, $130 (at this point, it did not click that this was the $200 phone trade in credit - 70 for the taxes on the new phone)
So I picked up a Fit-Bit Surge, which I was going to grab for my girlfriend for Christmas anyway, at an after-tax cost of $270.  I didn't want to pick it up this early, and I didn't particularly want to purchase it at AT&T, since I'd get 5% back by purchasing it at Amazon with a certain credit card.  But hey, for $130 off, I felt good about it.
After a bit more banter, I realized that this $130 was not just some in-store credit that was on top of everything else, this was my $200 trade in credit, at which point came the following....
Me....Can I use the trade-in credit towards my bill?
Employee....(And then the lie!) No, it has to be used in store.
So I used up my $200 trade in credit for the $70 in taxes and $130 towards the FitBit, and paid an additional $140 on my credit card.
It was less than a week later when I realized that I may have picked up the wrong size FitBit, and realized I'd need to exchange it.  I was concerned that I may run into an issue trying to exchange it, and I also noticed that it was cheaper on Amazon than in store for the smaller version.  So I found my offer e-mail, which stated.... "Trade-in Credit: Provided either an instant credit or a promotion card. Private label AT&T Promotion Card ("Card") issued by MetaBank™ or CenterState Bank of Florida NA, via a license from Visa U.S.A. Inc. In AT&T-owned stores provided an instant credit to spend that day or Card. If do not spend entire instant credit, balance may be used to pay wireless bill or get Card."
During my return, I confronted the employee that lied to me, and believe me when I say confrontation is NOT my thing.  He readily admitted that they are trained to get people to use their credit in-store, though he did throw out the generic "every offer is different" line, another lie.  He took the item back, and I further stated that at this point, there was no consequence for them, and that I was the one who suffered in all this.  He then told me to come back when I got my first bill and he would see what he could do.  So I left, realizing that my first bill was probably already available, but without the emotional energy to return that day.  I realized when I returned home that none of the $270 that I had paid for the FitBit was going to refund to my credit card, it was ALL going towards my future bills, as I now had a $140 odd credit on my bill and my first months' charges were approximately $130.
...So that is where I am at now, and after writing all that and thinking about having to go back in to confront the employee again for some kind of additional bill credit,  I've lost a lot of energy.

I shared some of this story with a friend, who shared that he had a friend who worked for T-Mobile, who said "I'm basically paid to lie to people all day".

Ultimately, I'm not looking for pity.  I'm well off and these problems for me are more emotional than they are financial.  I don't like being F***ed in the A**, and other than the daily screwing that every citizen gets by our corporate friends, it's not often that I let them pull one over on me.
But I do know there are millions of others who this can have a greater effect on, and I also know that companies being able to train to employees to lie is the most blatant proof there is that they are way too powerful.
I like my daily dose of Facebook (though I have managed to avoid it for 15 months), and my Starbucks and my Wendys. I'm not against corporations.  I am against being raped.

Image only- No Text: GHK Room Layout

CONRAD:

Why a week at the Grand Hyatt Kauai is the best first vacation a couple should take.

As I sat in one of the three outdoor jacuzzi's, the sound of the rushing water from one of the hotel's many waterfalls behind me, I gazed up at the incredibly clear night sky, awed at the thousands of stars visible to the naked eye. Next to me sat my girlfriend, and around me were fellow young travelers. In that moment, I wondered if life could get any better.

Three nights later, wrapped in a spa robe, enjoying cocktails and desserts at 1 A.M in the living room of the Presidential Suite (AKA the Kaumuali'i Royal Suite), I realized it had gotten better.

I have visited a large portion of major tourist hotspots across the U.S: From Miami to Vermont, from L.A to Seattle. I've stayed in luxurious resorts and hotels, and been pampered on numerous cruise ships.

The best two vacations that I've had in the U.S were in the same spot: At the Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort and Spa in Poipu, Hawaii.

Let's start with who you are: you're young, you're a professional, and you have someone in your life that you want to either impress, relax with, propose to, or honeymoon with.  You also live west of the Mississippi.  If you live on the east coast, as beautiful as Kauai is, it is likely impractical/unnecessary as a first vacation.  There are numerous sweet spots up and down the Atlantic coast for you and your significant other, and Hawaii does not need to be first on your list.

And, as much as I hate to admit, if you aren't in a relationship, this isn't the place for you.  A week in Honolulu might be a better fit if it's a Hawaiian vacation you're after.

The Grand Hyatt Kauai is located on the south shore of Kauai: an island that is peaceful, scenic, and offers plenty of adventure.  The resort features world-class restaurants, a magnificent pool, second-to-none service, a divine spa, and plenty of shops and activities right on property.  Outdoor table-tennis, walks along the beach, sea-turtle spotting, kayaking, tennis, and luau's are all available activities ON PROPERTY.  So you can only imagine how much more there is on the rest of the island.

Customer service at the resort is impeccable, and from the treatment you receive, you will feel less like a customer, and more like a welcome guest.  From the valet, to the bell-service, the front desk, and the concierge, everything that is done is done to make your stay that much more enjoyable.
The pool area is perhaps the highlight of available activities at the resort, a multiple tier recreation zone that features a lazy river (very light current, not similar to theme park lazy rivers), swim-under waterfalls, a two story water slide, volleyball net, numerous jacuzzi's, and plenty of loungers and bars.

Your room... well, while you may not have the opportunity to enjoy the vastness of the Presidential Suite, odds are you'll end up in an overly spacious room with a view that you wish you had at home, and you'll sleep in an incredibly comfortable bed.  I've slept in five room categories over two stays, and I've no complaints.  If you don't like critters like lizards, request a room on a non-ground level floor. (Floors 1 and 3 are ground level)

So why is this the best first vacation a young couple can take? Nearly everything you can do is meant to be done as a couple, and nearly every element of this hotel has been designed for couples to take advantage of.  Even that first "Wow" moment when you walk into the lobby is better shared with a significant other.

The outside of the resort especially promotes romance, with a sunrise beach, rocking benches, and foliage such as plumeria trees and orchids all around.  Dinner at their on-grounds Tidepools restaurant has the perfect atmosphere, and was rated the best place for a romantic dinner in Kauai for several years by the Ultimate Kauai Guidebook (alongside dinner on the beach).

Most importantly, no matter how much you read about the hotel, no matter how many pictures you see... you will arrive at the resort with high expectations, and those expectations will be blown out of the water. 

You'll want to keep a pen and pad with you at all times.... because you'll want to give extra thanks to EVERY person you talk to.  I'm still kicking myself for missing names at the Valet and Grand Club. Here are some names I did have time to write down that provided excellent/exceptional service and that you might have the privilege of interacting with. At the front desk: Eric, Ronald, Jacob, Sophia, Jimena, Lauren. Bellhop Service: Irvin. That in no way means that the rest of the people I dealt with didn't provide excellent/exceptional service, but like I said, I can only note/remember so many names.

For an extensive tour of the Presidential Suite:

3D America Presents: The Kaumuali'i Royal Suite

For a tour of Kauai:
3D America Presents: Kauai: Land, Sea, and Air (2D or 3D)

Life without Facebook.

Have you ever read a Facebook post so dumb, so irresponsible, so incomprehensibly terrible that you instinctively throw the screen you read it on against a brick wall?  No? Neither had I, but based on several posts of lesser stupidity, I knew the day would be inevitable.  So what action did I take?  I did what any noble American would do and blamed the issue squarely on Obama.

Oh wait, no, I deactivated my Facebook account, confident that the stupidity could haunt me no more.  But alas, my withdrawals began, and I am here to give my account of life.... without Facebook.

Day 1: I deactivate my account, and head over to IGN.com for the latest gaming and movie news.  After reading a couple articles, my fingers inexplicably enter Facebook.com into the address bar.  I realize I am no longer on Facebook.

Day 2: I have a dozen thoughts which would make great Facebook posts.  I am no longer on Facebook.

Day 7: I take a picture of my burger.  It's at this point I realize it may be a good thing I am no longer on Facebook.

Day 32: For the first time ever, I start a Blog.

Day 33: For the first time ever, I am on Twitter.

Day 34: For the first time ever, I am on Reddit.

Day 62: A friend of mine celebrates 100 days of Sobriety.  I joke that I have been sober for 62 days.  My friend is not amused.

Day 75: I am keenly aware I will one day be back on Facebook.

8 months in: I wonder what the rest of the world is up to.

One Year: I was going to post about it on Facebook, but that'd be counterintuitive.

Posting "RIP" on Facebook in reference to a celebrity is the lofty way of saying "FIRST!"

We all felt the sting of the news that Robin Williams had passed away, and none of us had to say anything to anyone to know that the news sucked ass.

I haven't been on Facebook in 2 months, but because I know the psychology of Facebook users (self included), I know that on that day millions of people posted "RIP Robin Williams."  There is no denying it, you saw it (or worse, you posted it).    It follows in the footsteps of "RIP Paul Walker", and "RIP Philip Seymour Hoffman."  If you or your friends are extra special, you might have even seen or posted "RIP Vin Diesel," or "RIP Jim Carrey" this year, despite the fact that they are both alive and well.

The impact of your friend's posts on the subject matter cannot be overstated enough.  Their earth shattering insight into the meaning of the loss of a celebrities life using only three simple letters defies all research on the capacity of the human mind.

So when you've recovered from this dramatic discovery, let me tell you what your friends really meant when they said "RIP Robin Williams."

They said, plain and simple: "FIRST!"  They didn't say the implied "RIP Robin Williams, I will miss your comedy as will the world."  They didn't say "RIP Robin Williams, this message is written in tribute to you out of pure respect and love for an incredible human being."

What your friends (and maybe you) said was "RIP Robin Williams, I am writing this because although I loved your comedy and acting, more importantly I'm hoping my friends will hear this from me first, because being the first to know that you've died and relaying that information to others is one of the greatest satisfactions I can gain by using Facebook.  Given that I haven't seen any of my other friends post about this yet, I can safely assume that I am the first among the 1000 people on my friends list, and that makes me special/cool."

I don't mean to take away your feelings about the deaths of actors and actresses, I'm sure they exist in you as they do in me.  But we all know that the "RIP" post isn't about sharing our feelings or paying respect.  We know this because it is so much a shallow and plain remark, and that posting anything on Facebook is typically such a shallow and plain action, that the sentiment couldn't even begin to express our actual feelings or our gratitude for the impact someone has had on our lives.  It isn't a profound statement and it won't lead to any epiphanies.  It is "First", and I'm just glad that the assistant who found his body called the paramedics before taking to Facebook or Twitter to post "RIP".

So do yourself and the rest of us a favor and.... oh crap, RIP Tom Cruise!