Google__ The Missing Manual - Kevin Purdy [58]
The buttons in the lower-left corner of the window are more interesting. Click Invite to bring up the standard circle- or people-picking box so you can type in names of people or circles to invite them to hang out. The Chat button opens up a panel on the left side of the hangout window, where you can type things instead of saying them out loud. This is helpful for pasting in links to websites (or YouTube videos, as explained next), for those hanging out with video but not audio (such as folks joining from work), and when someone wants to contribute a quick thought without interrupting the speaker (especially useful in formal hangouts, like team meetings). Click the Chat button again to collapse the panel.
The YouTube button is mostly just for fun, but it can be a practical tool if there’s a video you want to share with the group. When you click the button, the center of the hangout window changes to let you search for YouTube videos. Type a search term in the text field, hit Enter (Return on a Mac), and then click the video you want everyone to see.
After a brief pause while the video loads, everyone will see the video play in the center of the hangout window, so you can laugh, interject, and scratch your chins in real time. You’ll also notice that Google+ automatically mutes every-one’s mics while the video is playing, then unmutes it when the video ends. That makes some sense, since you’re likely soliciting opinions (or just chuckles) from your audience. But if you want to interject something during the video, click and hold the “Push to Talk” button that appears under the video, speak your piece, and then let go of the button.
You already know that the Mute Mic button lets you mute your own audio feed. But what if somebody else’s audio is causing problems? For example, somebody might step away from their keyboard and not know that their IM program is making a really annoying notification sound. Muting is definitely the way to go for simple annoyances and mic problems. Anyone in a hangout has the power to mute other participants—folks can even mute the hangout’s organizer, if they want.
To mute someone, point your cursor at the person’s video feed in the row of attendees near the bottom of the window, and you’ll see two icons: a green microphone and a red hand. Click the green mic and you’ll see a little bar at the top of the hangout window that says “Mute audio for meeting participant [name]?” Click the “Mute now” button to do just that, or Cancel if you change your mind. The person’s audio will go quiet so nobody can hear him, and he’ll see a quick pop-up notification that he’s been muted. It’s up to him to unmute himself by clicking the Unmute Mic button in his hangout window. Obviously, muting is more of a temporary fix than a way to solve audio problems. If someone starts muting people just to be annoying, you might want to block them.
The red hand icon is for reporting abuse, which is for more serious problems with a hangout participant. Unlike reporting abuse for posts and photos, though, clicking this icon gives you very specific options for reporting what the person did wrong: they shared adult or violent content, or material that could harm minors; they threatened or harassed someone; they’re trying to sell something or they’re spamming people; or they’re violating copyright laws. If someone is intentionally being a pushy, disrespectful jerk, click the red hand icon below her video feed, turn on the radio button for the type of violation she committed, and then click Report Abuse. (If you want to document the violation, you can take a screenshot of the problem before clicking the red hand icon, and then you can upload that image before clicking Report Abuse.) Google+ moderators