tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-40113068332025578112024-03-18T22:56:17.894-05:00Fresh ContentGary BridgmanAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17022054523556414304noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011306833202557811.post-89789192630921433522017-10-30T11:18:00.000-05:002017-10-30T11:18:13.402-05:00Do they speak English in "Utilize"?!<span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: "Source Sans Pro", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Hiragino Kaku Gothic Pro", Meiryo, "Hiragino Sans GB W3", "Noto Naskh Arabic", "Droid Arabic Naskh", "Geeza Pro", "Simplified Arabic", "Noto Sans Thai", Thonburi, Dokchampa, "Droid Sans Thai", "Droid Sans Fallback", -apple-system, ".SFNSDisplay-Regular", "Heiti SC", "Microsoft Yahei", "Segoe UI"; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I have given up trying to stop this ridiculous practice in business communications. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: "Source Sans Pro", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Hiragino Kaku Gothic Pro", Meiryo, "Hiragino Sans GB W3", "Noto Naskh Arabic", "Droid Arabic Naskh", "Geeza Pro", "Simplified Arabic", "Noto Sans Thai", Thonburi, Dokchampa, "Droid Sans Thai", "Droid Sans Fallback", -apple-system, ".SFNSDisplay-Regular", "Heiti SC", "Microsoft Yahei", "Segoe UI"; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Here is the copy editor I have brought in. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: "Source Sans Pro", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Hiragino Kaku Gothic Pro", Meiryo, "Hiragino Sans GB W3", "Noto Naskh Arabic", "Droid Arabic Naskh", "Geeza Pro", "Simplified Arabic", "Noto Sans Thai", Thonburi, Dokchampa, "Droid Sans Thai", "Droid Sans Fallback", -apple-system, ".SFNSDisplay-Regular", "Heiti SC", "Microsoft Yahei", "Segoe UI"; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">He is a communications <i>specialist</i>.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmBCOXH7bDUqIh82oe2gZgcfjmt0bsNHEC9vzKvgo5hhl5uT9gLxWO46RCVx_ML3JVpYlrJD8fcwEg-F98CitxFKNxTx2P6nufCIxOiBN2MxjH3OJQjgaBz74yptwAoI4-OT7AxgLKaATl/s1600/Utilize+What+Pulp+Fiction+Jules+Samuel+Jackson.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="531" data-original-width="1024" height="165" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmBCOXH7bDUqIh82oe2gZgcfjmt0bsNHEC9vzKvgo5hhl5uT9gLxWO46RCVx_ML3JVpYlrJD8fcwEg-F98CitxFKNxTx2P6nufCIxOiBN2MxjH3OJQjgaBz74yptwAoI4-OT7AxgLKaATl/s320/Utilize+What+Pulp+Fiction+Jules+Samuel+Jackson.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: "Source Sans Pro", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Hiragino Kaku Gothic Pro", Meiryo, "Hiragino Sans GB W3", "Noto Naskh Arabic", "Droid Arabic Naskh", "Geeza Pro", "Simplified Arabic", "Noto Sans Thai", Thonburi, Dokchampa, "Droid Sans Thai", "Droid Sans Fallback", -apple-system, ".SFNSDisplay-Regular", "Heiti SC", "Microsoft Yahei", "Segoe UI"; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: "Source Sans Pro", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Hiragino Kaku Gothic Pro", Meiryo, "Hiragino Sans GB W3", "Noto Naskh Arabic", "Droid Arabic Naskh", "Geeza Pro", "Simplified Arabic", "Noto Sans Thai", Thonburi, Dokchampa, "Droid Sans Thai", "Droid Sans Fallback", -apple-system, ".SFNSDisplay-Regular", "Heiti SC", "Microsoft Yahei", "Segoe UI"; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qo5jnBJvGUs" target="_blank">Here is the original context</a>, from <i>Pulp Fiction</i>. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Hiragino Kaku Gothic Pro", Meiryo, "Hiragino Sans GB W3", "Noto Naskh Arabic", "Droid Arabic Naskh", "Geeza Pro", "Simplified Arabic", "Noto Sans Thai", Thonburi, Dokchampa, "Droid Sans Thai", "Droid Sans Fallback", -apple-system, ".SFNSDisplay-Regular", "Heiti SC", "Microsoft Yahei", "Segoe UI"; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: red; font-size: x-small;">[language and violence notice]</span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17022054523556414304noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011306833202557811.post-13772399463589038422017-10-10T11:11:00.000-05:002017-10-10T11:11:07.218-05:00Word is not a vessel for emailing imagesPlease do not threaten the mental health of the web developers and graphic designers in your life.<br />
<ul>
<li>Send them images as separate files.</li>
<li>Send them in their original (large) format. </li>
<li>Better yet, ask them first. </li>
</ul>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKHSRjshogi285VO7RyKz3SN_ZnoBgrVPGdFFvHsKUPvmK14mVs9ZVwINqPfHk4mrZLEyK_gb38AoAcXhdqhHpdsGuXQPLZc7zGX_Qp8Jar43y-IeOB4YYrbusAqwiZymSUpLy6gqng0oO/s1600/Send+Image+Files+Dwayne+Johnson.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="725" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKHSRjshogi285VO7RyKz3SN_ZnoBgrVPGdFFvHsKUPvmK14mVs9ZVwINqPfHk4mrZLEyK_gb38AoAcXhdqhHpdsGuXQPLZc7zGX_Qp8Jar43y-IeOB4YYrbusAqwiZymSUpLy6gqng0oO/s320/Send+Image+Files+Dwayne+Johnson.jpeg" width="264" /></a></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17022054523556414304noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011306833202557811.post-14833153064299687772017-09-27T10:12:00.000-05:002017-09-25T15:54:03.509-05:00Let us message against Philip<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZRGYmwZbGaqCq5DEoHfo1pe_sY3d1AB-ZjZH9Q6qNBZVOt0zJhNMF4-NXXecoHbqlbQMU6TCuLlRqHpuc-GHAid0uGAoIDhEse5be7UdsbIQrJEvpXrb6BLUvKp5IjyHBPfdu1mIe7xbi/s1600/Demosthenes+and+Aeschines.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZRGYmwZbGaqCq5DEoHfo1pe_sY3d1AB-ZjZH9Q6qNBZVOt0zJhNMF4-NXXecoHbqlbQMU6TCuLlRqHpuc-GHAid0uGAoIDhEse5be7UdsbIQrJEvpXrb6BLUvKp5IjyHBPfdu1mIe7xbi/s320/Demosthenes+and+Aeschines.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>
When I write an advertisement, I don't want you to tell me that you find it creative. I want you to find it so interesting that you <i>buy the product</i>. When Aeschines spoke, they said, "How well he speaks." But when Demosthenes spoke, they said, "Let us march against <a href="http://www.historyofmacedonia.org/AncientMacedonia/PhilipofMacedon.html" target="_blank">Philip</a>."<br />
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—David Ogilvy</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17022054523556414304noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011306833202557811.post-85498888878477648362017-09-25T11:05:00.000-05:002017-09-25T11:05:04.845-05:00Data-driven in the Depression<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">In case you've been curious about the density of<i style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7);"><a href="http://www.more.com/new-home-lhjcom" target="_blank"> Ladies Home Journal</a></i><span style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701960784313725);"> </span>and/or<span style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701960784313725);"> </span><a href="http://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/current-issue" style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7);" target="_blank"><i>Saturday Evening Post</i> </a>subscriptions in Memphis in 1932<span style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701960784313725);">. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0 , 0 , 0 , 0.7); font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: red;">Red</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0 , 0 , 0 , 0.7); font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">= at least 1 in 3 families subscribed.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqq9OVh0d9_nZGQliitEk9hAcNA3dGcx1jrR5esHv4m1jkBZ2elDSqXrbxuW7HTGouU0FBWjQlJWgesl6Ndysc9dK3Ok84UlppZN-2uqMkT1a9VzBTTBJ6FoT2Tmy9MQz4ZoUfMjMBLcXP/s1600/Memphis+readers+of+Ladies+Home+Journal.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1225" data-original-width="1600" height="488" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqq9OVh0d9_nZGQliitEk9hAcNA3dGcx1jrR5esHv4m1jkBZ2elDSqXrbxuW7HTGouU0FBWjQlJWgesl6Ndysc9dK3Ok84UlppZN-2uqMkT1a9VzBTTBJ6FoT2Tmy9MQz4ZoUfMjMBLcXP/s640/Memphis+readers+of+Ladies+Home+Journal.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0 , 0 , 0 , 0.7); font-family: "source sans pro" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif , "hiragino kaku gothic pro" , "meiryo" , "hiragino sans gb w3" , "noto naskh arabic" , "droid arabic naskh" , "geeza pro" , "simplified arabic" , "noto sans thai" , "thonburi" , "dokchampa" , "droid sans thai" , "droid sans fallback" , , ".sfnsdisplay-regular" , "heiti sc" , "microsoft yahei" , "segoe ui"; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17022054523556414304noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011306833202557811.post-42475133441675000532017-08-28T10:38:00.000-05:002017-08-28T10:38:52.161-05:00Google AdWords Certification<span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: "Source Sans Pro", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Hiragino Kaku Gothic Pro", Meiryo, "Hiragino Sans GB W3", "Noto Naskh Arabic", "Droid Arabic Naskh", "Geeza Pro", "Simplified Arabic", "Noto Sans Thai", Thonburi, Dokchampa, "Droid Sans Thai", "Droid Sans Fallback", -apple-system, ".SFNSDisplay-Regular", "Heiti SC", "Microsoft Yahei", "Segoe UI"; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">My Google Adwords Certification course is really starting off with a bang. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: "Source Sans Pro", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Hiragino Kaku Gothic Pro", Meiryo, "Hiragino Sans GB W3", "Noto Naskh Arabic", "Droid Arabic Naskh", "Geeza Pro", "Simplified Arabic", "Noto Sans Thai", Thonburi, Dokchampa, "Droid Sans Thai", "Droid Sans Fallback", -apple-system, ".SFNSDisplay-Regular", "Heiti SC", "Microsoft Yahei", "Segoe UI"; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">At least one of these three "X" people is younger than me.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh6D1W2Oa7lRWOKSxLwcp7xoaZgqEOwwx9VGFKfR0qrtJOEqYeyAueclQDqLfqJrzYtCIFzn5WJzxVBrVjTX5Ql1Mdfocp2SUHEsuSdkwKM3zQFoc8_eQ2pHLWSUlEibmC1zkJAXO9Y_VR/s1600/Ageism+in+Google+Adwords+Certification.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="395" data-original-width="864" height="146" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh6D1W2Oa7lRWOKSxLwcp7xoaZgqEOwwx9VGFKfR0qrtJOEqYeyAueclQDqLfqJrzYtCIFzn5WJzxVBrVjTX5Ql1Mdfocp2SUHEsuSdkwKM3zQFoc8_eQ2pHLWSUlEibmC1zkJAXO9Y_VR/s320/Ageism+in+Google+Adwords+Certification.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: "Source Sans Pro", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Hiragino Kaku Gothic Pro", Meiryo, "Hiragino Sans GB W3", "Noto Naskh Arabic", "Droid Arabic Naskh", "Geeza Pro", "Simplified Arabic", "Noto Sans Thai", Thonburi, Dokchampa, "Droid Sans Thai", "Droid Sans Fallback", -apple-system, ".SFNSDisplay-Regular", "Heiti SC", "Microsoft Yahei", "Segoe UI"; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7); font-family: "Source Sans Pro", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Hiragino Kaku Gothic Pro", Meiryo, "Hiragino Sans GB W3", "Noto Naskh Arabic", "Droid Arabic Naskh", "Geeza Pro", "Simplified Arabic", "Noto Sans Thai", Thonburi, Dokchampa, "Droid Sans Thai", "Droid Sans Fallback", -apple-system, ".SFNSDisplay-Regular", "Heiti SC", "Microsoft Yahei", "Segoe UI"; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17022054523556414304noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011306833202557811.post-20296791517639492462017-07-31T10:18:00.000-05:002017-08-28T10:50:36.463-05:00A.I. is easy. A.V. is not.This is kind of the way I felt when I got my first iPod. But I have to give this guy credit for operating his reel-to-reel, in front of an audience of VIPs, without looking at the interface. (<i>Close Encounters of the Third Kind</i>)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO5enuZVkFbBjwW4t-1EEbJv5o0V60fJk4aFY4bEYODgeZOAmDg5PH58HIixrIPvdnyIqSZN7Tdwj0fj-8j28WAJ-BwumeWZC_nCskWhCIOiZjmx7kd9PgiyBQKM0DOT6pmiCFnXxCr5-f/s1600/happy+reel-to-reel+dude.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO5enuZVkFbBjwW4t-1EEbJv5o0V60fJk4aFY4bEYODgeZOAmDg5PH58HIixrIPvdnyIqSZN7Tdwj0fj-8j28WAJ-BwumeWZC_nCskWhCIOiZjmx7kd9PgiyBQKM0DOT6pmiCFnXxCr5-f/s320/happy+reel-to-reel+dude.jpg" width="289" /></a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17022054523556414304noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011306833202557811.post-52231611742752995112017-06-07T10:36:00.000-05:002017-08-28T10:41:54.053-05:00Don't let Stanley Kubrick design your web content!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEb7tTleRfXQFJSpk4sfaFE5XZZ-Kp6NqHSxT1W9VNPIuFBtwKnh3etNoGvVeX0DgJyC0vGIL2eKBrfg34_fHKS2V0yXdjHPqH1olH4VNGK88YVtZo2n3hE1LJqLGxyUB2qEnmnWj95c1G/s1600/Monolith+2001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEb7tTleRfXQFJSpk4sfaFE5XZZ-Kp6NqHSxT1W9VNPIuFBtwKnh3etNoGvVeX0DgJyC0vGIL2eKBrfg34_fHKS2V0yXdjHPqH1olH4VNGK88YVtZo2n3hE1LJqLGxyUB2qEnmnWj95c1G/s320/Monolith+2001.jpg" width="310" /></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-size: large;">"So, I went to that company's site," the business reporter told me. "What do they do?"</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-size: large;"> <i>Ouch! </i></span><br />
I was embarrassed by that question about my PR client and frustrated that I had little or no input on their site's content. All key pages on the niche BPO provider's site were dominated by slogans, vision statements, mission statements, graphics of world maps, etc., but no clear description of what specialized services they provided.<br />
<br />
To put it in terms of science fiction movies, the reporter needed to see a web site that read like <i>Star Wars</i>, but her experience was more akin to watching <i>2001: A Space Odyssey</i>.<br />
<br />
I'm a fan of Stanley Kubrick's movies and Arthur C. Clarke's novels, but I thought the famous 1968 collaboration between the two suffered from serious gaps in story-telling. Kubrick meant to take a non-verbal approach to the movie, reaching the viewer at a visual or visceral level rather than through conventional narrative.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><b>But I really wanted to know what the hell was going on in the third act, when the <i>Discovery One's</i> onboard <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_intelligence_in_fiction" target="_blank">AI</a> starts killing crew members. </b>HAL9000's motive or malfunction is never revealed, and the stylized conclusion, "Jupiter and beyond the Infinite," is as confusing as it is breathtaking.<br />
<br />
I didn't get the point of the story until I read Clarke's novelization of the screenplay a few months later. "Ohhhh!" I said. "That's what they were up to," too late.<br />
<br />
I was as oblivious to what was going on as Moonwatcher, the hominid ancestor of the human race, when he first encounters the alien monolith.<br />
<br />
Company web sites often similarly mystify their visitors—not as mystified as Moonwatcher, but at least as confused as I was watching <i>2001</i> at 17.<br />
<br />
<b>Three example guidelines for avoiding this problem:</b><br />
<ul>
<li>Describe what people or other companies pay you to do, even if your target prospects are likely to know that already. </li>
<li>Give the reader an idea of how you provide the services or products in a unique way, different from your competition. (Pro tip: Just saying that you're "better" is only believable to your mom.)</li>
<li>Label site navigation tabs with terms that inform the visitor precisely what they will find after clicking them. </li>
<li>The ancient (in internet terms) <a href="http://garybridgman.blogspot.com/2013/01/13-years-later-web-site-vistors-bill-of.html" target="_blank">Web Site Visitor's Bill of Rights</a> contains other guidelines that are still relevant today, and still broken today.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17022054523556414304noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011306833202557811.post-44863037633099485862017-05-17T11:34:00.000-05:002017-08-28T10:51:02.813-05:00"Past-Perfect Storm" on the Mississippi River<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>"I crawled back down to the water's edge because I was afraid to stand with the wind roaring so hard. Then I immersed myself in the river like a scared possum."</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyhu9X9aaRwEo94VaCHbGsm21PkwaH24Plmq8F5I3_8hD9CxuQJ2PePUu6cDydBZlcwiJB9IoJz8JQYnJtcSw-hqIV4F1aLPuBfx0oQDJBGzeuXl7wAxX40gBzt1Gz5xoQJPEBO9PIfamC/s1600/John+Not+The+Baptist+Ruskey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyhu9X9aaRwEo94VaCHbGsm21PkwaH24Plmq8F5I3_8hD9CxuQJ2PePUu6cDydBZlcwiJB9IoJz8JQYnJtcSw-hqIV4F1aLPuBfx0oQDJBGzeuXl7wAxX40gBzt1Gz5xoQJPEBO9PIfamC/s320/John+Not+The+Baptist+Ruskey.jpg" title="John Ruskey November 2000" width="267" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></blockquote>
Prepping for a Boy Scouts campout, I was looking up <a href="http://www.island63.com/" target="_blank">John Ruskey's</a> recipe for "Raft Potatoes" that I included in a 2000 <i>Memphis Flyer<a href="https://sites.google.com/site/garybridgman/home/bylines/RiverRatMemphsFLYERJohnRuskey.pdf?attredirects=0" target="_blank"> </a></i><a href="https://sites.google.com/site/garybridgman/home/bylines/RiverRatMemphsFLYERJohnRuskey.pdf?attredirects=0" target="_blank">article</a> about his Mississippi River canoe guide service, <a href="http://www.island63.com/" target="_blank">Quapaw Canoe Co</a>. When I turned in the article to <i>Flyer</i> editor Bruce VanWyngarden, he asked for two additions: The recipe (since I mentioned it in the story) and an account of danger on the river. I emailed John, and he promptly sent me a thousand-word paragraph describing a storm he kayaked through four years earlier. I added line breaks and moved the paragraph order around where it made sense. <i>The raft-potatoes recipe is at the bottom of this post.</i><br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<i><br /></i>
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Past-Perfect Storm</span></b><br />
<i>John Ruskey's own account of some Delta sound and fury, </i><i>signifying humility.</i><br />
<br />
On the lower Mississippi I have come to understand the God of the Old Testament: vengeful, wrathful, and full of contradiction. William Faulkner bemoaned the cutting of the Delta forests because it was the wilderness that taught a man humility. I was especially humbled by the river once, having fun on the edge of a tornado on a solo float. It was the spring of '98, I think, or maybe '97, and I was returning downstream from a circumnavigation of Island 63 [near Clarksdale]. The<br />
willow forests were groaning under the weight of the wind and the leaves were showing their undersides. I was in the lee of Island 63 on the way upstream, so it was actually quite enjoyable -- all of the wind and commotion, the leaves torn from the trees, the rush of the air through the willows and mad clattering of the cottonwoods. I was kayaking upstream under the shelter of the island, but all of that changed on the return trip.<br />
<br />
Really, in hindsight, I should have returned downstream the way I'd come; in the back channel there was little flow. However, being a good river rat I wanted to let the main channel carry me downstream. It's something like the reward you get in the downhill after climbing the mountain. I cut through a pass at the top end of 63 that's only accessible during high water and entered the fray.<br />
<br />
With the fury of a storm that was still in the making, the channel was a mess -- all frothy and wind-whipped, foam being sprayed off of each wave and whisked in wind-beaten lines eastward. You could see sand storms upstream on the bar of Island 62, which indicated gale-force winds, and vision was down to a couple of miles. The chop was not normal -- waves rolling in parallel<br />
lines from one direction -- but chaotic, water beating and crashing from all directions, waves climaxing on waves, waves hitting the revetment and bouncing back to be superimposed upon by other waves, haystacks leaping upward.<br />
<br />
Each stroke of the kayak blade was like paddling upstream in a Rocky Mountain rapid, each stroke necessary just to stay in the current and to stay upright. It's something like walking a<br />
tightrope, where your kayak blade becomes your balance pole.<br />
<br />
Downstream a tugboat captain was having problems of his own. The onslaught of the storm front had forced his starboard edge onto the revetment and rocks above me along Island 63. Later I learned that they lost two barges.<br />
<br />
Meanwhile, the sky to the west was darkening from grays and blues into a thick atmosphere that seemed to press down on my shoulders. At one point the clouds close to the horizon<br />
became consumed in a vertical blackness -- you could see the forests of Island 62, but above that nothing but striated blackness. Then lightning flashes illuminated the blackness and my adrenaline started to rush when I saw the forest on the Mississippi side get bent over by an unseen hand.<br />
<br />
The wind intensified into a loud roar and the trees began thrashing back and forth like wheat in a Kansas field -- and there I was midstream with no cover, so I beat tail for the shore, which<br />
was fortunately downwind.<br />
<br />
But what to do once I got there? There was a lightness entering the sky -- a greenish-blue light -- and hail began to spatter the water. There were a few trees in the water at the shore, and big rolling waves were crashing through them. I managed to get out of the kayak without flipping, pulled it ashore, hail pelting my skin. I was afraid the wind would blow my kayak away it was roaring so loudly and hard, so I removed my knife belt and strapped the kayak with the belt to some low-lying osage orange in a low place on the bank. I crawled back down to the water's edge because I was afraid to stand with the wind roaring so hard. Then I immersed myself in the river like a scared possum.<br />
<br />
Getting in the water solved the problem of the hail, even though I was riding the waves as they came crashing into shore -- the river actually felt warm after the wind. One of the trees I was floating among pitched over. It wasn't a violent collapse. The sycamore trunk just ruptured, exposing the gleaming bony whiteness of the wood inside. It made no sound as it fell; I suppose because the wind was so loud.<br />
<br />
So now a twisted mass of sycamore branches, twigs, and leaves was riding the rollers with me and I was wondering why I hadn't stayed at home. By and by, a lightness began to creep under the billowing clouds to the west, and then a calm fell.<br />
<br />
Once again, I set off downstream along Island 63, feeling very scrubbed and much sobered. I'd always hoped some day to witness a tornado, but in the face of one I felt small. I certainly<br />
would never impose these kinds of weather conditions on fellow paddlers. In fact I have stayed at camp for several days with clients awaiting the passage of severe weather, but at the<br />
same time, powerful storms and their effect on the river are fascinating to watch.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Quapaw Raft Potatoes</span><br />
<div class="p1">
"As far as food goes, I don't like hungry paddlers. A hungry paddler is not a good paddler. An unhappy paddler is a dangerous thing to have on a windy day, and hunger is just one step away from mutiny." —John Ruskey</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9i39dqn7_r_2BaI9s5rZza64wtAi7LhG8o7eKDTLwmCL2tWO1zLRK5ycogL8k36lLCcOUnLUvBeKYr_BOU_LbnsbgH5mITAxbKxYLEDlioLREITpK764ezPnPXa8dOyUywAbv94Znwc4p/s1600/Ruskey+cooking+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9i39dqn7_r_2BaI9s5rZza64wtAi7LhG8o7eKDTLwmCL2tWO1zLRK5ycogL8k36lLCcOUnLUvBeKYr_BOU_LbnsbgH5mITAxbKxYLEDlioLREITpK764ezPnPXa8dOyUywAbv94Znwc4p/s320/Ruskey+cooking+1.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<i>Raft potatoes for two people</i></div>
<div class="p1">
corn oil</div>
<div class="p1">
4 medium potatoes, roughly diced</div>
<div class="p1">
half an onion, chopped</div>
<div class="p1">
3 cloves of garlic, chopped</div>
<div class="p1">
4 eggs</div>
<div class="p1">
1/2 cup sliced pepper jack and/or cheddar cheese</div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
Coals of a campfire are preferred to cooking at home, but when cooking at home, set the burner to a high heat. Cover bottom of skillet with 1/8-inch corn oil. Sauté potatoes with onions and garlic until potatoes are soft and onions and garlic are caramelized. Crack eggs over potatoes and mix thoroughly; stir occasionally till eggs are cooked. Add cheese to top of mixture, cover skillet and wait till cheese melts. The raft potatoes are ready to eat when cheese is melted. The preferred garnish is cayenne pepper or Frank's Original Red Hot Cayenne Pepper Sauce.</div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
Ruskey and his high school buddy, Sean Rowe, concocted this rib-sticking dish in 1982 while floating down the length of the Mississippi on a homemade log raft. The raft sank when they</div>
<div class="p1">
collided with a TVA tower south of President's Island, but the recipe has survived.</div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17022054523556414304noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011306833202557811.post-17712452473195580722017-04-12T11:05:00.000-05:002017-08-28T10:51:23.329-05:00Pete Savage's 6 copywriting tips everyone should know<h4 style="color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms'; font-size: 15px; margin: 4px 0px;">
</h4>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms'; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 5px;">
</div>
Here are six essential copywriting tips you should know, from Pete Savage, co-founder of <a href="http://www.thewealthyfreelancer.com/">The Wealthy Freelancer.</a><br />
The beauty of these six tips in particular is that it's rather easy to identify when they are missing from a sample of copy.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNjgRNetUxWcie3V0gcslq4sbeNG4_qNEPh6BCSBnFFpBYhI5IUzEMdJgAfF4uEA9x1I5pFEGeu7i7xHOgWxEIKHtGJTN2-xIqSxuwJPnNfSgZo9YqSPiB3QPfyo-3-wuvTZjMIT5nigRo/s1600/mad+men+logo.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNjgRNetUxWcie3V0gcslq4sbeNG4_qNEPh6BCSBnFFpBYhI5IUzEMdJgAfF4uEA9x1I5pFEGeu7i7xHOgWxEIKHtGJTN2-xIqSxuwJPnNfSgZo9YqSPiB3QPfyo-3-wuvTZjMIT5nigRo/s1600/mad+men+logo.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>"You" can make a difference. The word "you" is perhaps the most important word in copywriting because it involves the reader with your message. So instead of writing about what your company offers, write about what the customer gets. Whenever you're tempted to write something like, "We offer the most advanced...", stop. Instead, begin the sentence with "You" as in, "You get the most advanced...".<a name='more'></a></li>
<li>Features tell, benefits sell! Good copy clearly communicates the benefit that your product or service delivers to the customer. Poor copy, on the other hand, merely lists features and leaves them dangling, with no explanation as to how they will benefit the customer.</li>
<li>Here's how you avoid that trap... as you write about the attributes of your product or serve, ask yourself, "So what?" Your answer will lead you to the benefit. For example, the sentence, "This car comes with automatic four-wheel drive," lists a feature only. But by asking, "So what?" you'll lead yourself toward a benefit: "... so you will enjoy safe, worry-free driving, in all weather conditions."</li>
<li>Reinforce your USP. Make sure you remind customers of the reason(s) why they should buy from you. Your Unique Selling Point (USP) is the characteristic of your product or service that sets you apart from the competition. For example, "...the only downtown dry cleaners with in-by-noon, same-day service!" is a sound USP.</li>
<li>You will not be graded for grammar. Good copy not only avoids many conventional rules of grammar, it torments the daylights out of them! This means you can do things that would make your grade three teacher squirm, such as starting a sentence with "And". And writing sentences that aren't proper sentences. Like this one.</li>
<li>"That's" the problem. Here's one of the simplest copywriting - and editing - tips around. Scour your copy for all occurrences of the word "that". You can often make a sentence much more readable by simply deleting this word. And often, you can delete entire phrases connected to the word "that" without losing the meaning of the sentence.</li>
<li>Tell the reader what to do. How often have you seen a television commercial that ends with, "Now run down to the corner store and buy a Coke today."? Never. Why? Because brands like Coke have decades of user experience attached to them. By now, their customers know what to do, so Coke can afford to spend millions on an awareness ad with no 'call to action'.</li>
<li>Your promotional piece, however, must have a call to action which tells the reader what to do. For example, "Visit our website for your free information guide." or "Contact me to schedule a no-obligation consultation valued at $150."</li>
</ol>
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17022054523556414304noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011306833202557811.post-66059960444431016092017-03-15T21:54:00.000-05:002017-08-28T10:51:44.978-05:00The REAL value of writing, for corporations<div style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;">
<div style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;">
<br />
<img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicem_ogfUc38zvdAl-B__l1yZgMfv4xH_q0GVi8E4_0gd-bJjXlkp-vZBv2R9bKK-kRGUgW5NP7QBKP3pRRJi0bsVu323rYdaLUaElaSPdbZ3o9w1dIYPWorn1vquZ5LQDXyqTpYQs82u3/s200/Harvard_Business_Review_March_2008.jpg" width="200" /></div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
My favorite, most heavily copied (via photocopiers and Cntrl-C) and shared HBR article. Lucky for both of us, it's very brief.<br />
<br />
from the <a href="http://hbr.org/2005/12/revaluing-writing/ar/1">Harvard Business Review</a><br />
by Jack Shulman<br />
<br />
<span style="color: red; font-size: x-small;">EXCERPT:</span><br />
Companies spend whatever it takes to develop intellectual assets. At the same time, they routinely seek to minimize their investment in the technical and procedural documents that tell people how to use those assets. Such metainformation as instruction manuals, process descriptions, and procedure guides script the experience of customers and the performance of suppliers and employees. Yet companies view the creation of this information as, at best, a cost of doing business and, at worst, something they can safely ignore. <br />
<br />
Good writers can change all that. What's more, good writers who are consulted early enough can improve the product development process and, potentially, products themselves. Unfortunately, <br />
<a name='more'></a>writers in many companies don't get that chance. Brought in at the end of the development cycle, they are expected only to take what the project team says is important and turn it into English. <br />
<br />
When this happens, the writers may become caught in a squeeze play between the engineering and marketing groups: The engineers are unavailable, having built little or no time into their schedules for tedious meetings with people whom they believe think only in adjectives and verbs, not specs and functions. And the marketing folks are losing patience, having been slowly going mad for months, waiting to find out what they are expected to sell and unable to understand why it takes so long to get facts on a product that is nearly complete. In a multinational, multilingual corporation, the burden of translation and localization compounds this problem. <br />
<br />
In addition, the writer's act of mastering a product's or a process's complexities and then distilling those into simple, clear language for a lay (or expert) reader sometimes reveals flaws, contradictions, or unfulfilled product promises that developers are too close to the project to see. <br />
<br />
Questions from smart and skillful writers can cause engineers to reconsider a product design element after it has been finalized. When writers are brought in late, the result can be slipped manufacturing and shipping dates, cost overruns, and delayed or lost revenue. <br />
<br />
Companies that want to reverse this dynamic and use their writers as a strategic asset can take the following steps: <br />
<ul>
<li>Involve writers early. It takes time to understand a product, process, or technology well enough to effectively explain it. Early involvement gives writers a realistic chance of delivering complete and accurate information at launch. The marketing department and your customers will be pleased.</li>
<li>Make use of writer “audits.” Ensure that writers have sufficient time to question the development team as the product evolves. Ideally, and perhaps uniquely, writers can perform continuous reality testing on the product or process, comparing what the team tells them about it and their own experiences with it. Products and processes are often modified and even redesigned based on discoveries by writers in their quest for the facts.</li>
<li>Use writers to compound the value of your intellectual capital. The best writers aren’t just adept at technical or business language; they are also expert communicators. Much of a company’s intellectual capital resides in the brains of people who have difficulty making their ideas accessible outside their narrow disciplines or who simply don’t recognize that something they know may be useful or important. Writers can elicit that information, provide it in exactly the language and structure required by each audience, and, in the process, preserve and enhance the value of your intellectual capital to your customers, suppliers, and employees.The written word and the writing process itself are powerful tools that can have a real, strategic impact on your business. Give your writers the opportunity not just to document, but also to help create. </li>
</ul>
by <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/jackshulman">jack shulman</a>, director, information design and development, Sony Computer Entertainment, AmericaAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17022054523556414304noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011306833202557811.post-53408445873384918412017-02-15T10:10:00.000-06:002017-08-28T10:52:05.934-05:0017 years later: Web Site Visitor's Bill of Rights<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">In 2000, the folks at Giga Information Group (now part of Forrester Research) published this document, mostly as a PR stunt, but also to foster better information design on Web sites. Seventeen years later, this list still has the power to shame Web site owners who still make it hard to figure out who they are and what they do or even how to have a conversation with them.
</span><br />
<div style="display: inline; float: right; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 5px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">
</span>
<br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">In fact, before posting this list, I checked over <a href="http://www.garybridgman.com/">my own site </a>and made a couple of tweaks to be in compliance.</span>
<br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<h2>
<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-weight: normal;">The Web Site Visitor's Bill of Rights<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9nb4Z0-8yx4f4pu4M8Szr554Bvw6_nOxkExxAQarkqryQT-Y7Ax2rCnghK6e53Y4TJWb4SVTONLYOMiy8_0BUdcDUSZc5ckNIhoIcabPZhdt7_mVT3Pnby8YdMDvbl5TNTmUoxBXeJY35/s1600/Magna+Carta.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9nb4Z0-8yx4f4pu4M8Szr554Bvw6_nOxkExxAQarkqryQT-Y7Ax2rCnghK6e53Y4TJWb4SVTONLYOMiy8_0BUdcDUSZc5ckNIhoIcabPZhdt7_mVT3Pnby8YdMDvbl5TNTmUoxBXeJY35/s320/Magna+Carta.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
</span></h2>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">
While all Web sites are not created equal, every Web site
visitor <i>deserves</i> an acceptable measure of usability, functionality and privacy.
In order to form a better user experience, we, the web users, analysts and
advisers of Giga Information Group, do ordain and establish the following
unalienable set of Rights for web site visitors:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br />
<b style="font-size: large;">The Right to Accessible, Basic Company Information</b><br />
<i>Visitors have a right to: </i></span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">
<li>A
company profile link</li>
<li>The
legal name and ownership visible on the home page</li>
<li>Notification
of the geographic areas served</li>
<li>A link
to the company's legal information on the home page</li>
</span></ul>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">
<b style="font-size: large;">The Right to Accessible, Basic Contact Information</b><br />
<i>Visitors have a right to: </i><br />
</span><br />
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">
<li>A
"Contact Us" link on the home page </li>
<li>A
physical mailing address for the primary office available on the contact
page </li>
<li>A
phone number for the primary office on the contact page </li>
<li>An
electronic contact feature for the primary office on the contact page </li>
<li>A link
to the general feedback, questions and comments feature</li>
</span></ul>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">
<b style="font-size: large;">The Right to Know What Can Be Done on a Site </b><br />
<i>Visitors have a right to:</i><br />
</span><br />
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">
<li>A
description on the home page about the major objectives/tasks/actions that
can be accomplished while on the site </li>
<li>A
direct link to accomplish these goals and objectives </li>
<li>Purposeful,
direct language that sets a clear expectation when a link is selected </li>
</span></ul>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">
</span><b style="font-size: large;">The Right to Know if a Site is Applicable to a Visitor's
Goals or Interests</b><br />
<i>Visitors have a right to:</i><br />
</span><br />
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">
<li>An
easily identifiable description on the home page of how content is
segmented to cater to various audiences visiting the site </li>
<li>A home
page designed so that visitors will be able to tell right away if the site
contains applicable information </li>
</span></ul>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">
</span><b style="font-size: large;">The Right to Essential Navigation Tools</b><br /><span style="font-size: medium;">
</span><i>Visitors have a right to:</i><br />
</span><br />
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">
<li>Global
navigation bar(s) on the home page that are consistently formatted and
placed throughout the site </li>
<li>Page
titles available in the body that effectively describe the page content </li>
<li>A
home page link on all interior pages </li>
<li>Alternate
text under all static images </li>
<li>Alternate
text under all applets, programmatic objects and scripts</li>
</span></ul>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">
<b style="font-size: large;">The Right to a Consistent Usable Page Design </b><br /><span style="font-size: medium;">
</span><i>Visitors have a right to:</i><br />
</span><br />
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">
<li>HTML
page titles that clearly describe each page's content </li>
<li>Font
colors that enhance the readability of the Web site's text </li>
<li>Font
sizes that enhance the readability of the Web site's text </li>
<li>Underlines
only used for linked text </li>
<li>Colors
for links that change after they have been visited </li>
<li>Colors
chosen for the link states that are readable against the Web site's
selected background</li>
</span></ul>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">
<b style="font-size: large;">The Right to Basic Site Support Tools </b><br />
<i>Visitors have a right to:</i><br />
</span><br />
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">
<li>A site
map that contains active links to the content listed, and is linked from
the home page </li>
<li>A link
to the site's search tool from the home page</li>
</span></ul>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">
<b style="font-size: large;">The Right to a Detailed Accessible Privacy Policy</b><br />
<i>Visitors have a right to: </i><br />
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;">
<li>A link
to a privacy policy from the home page and every page that requires or
accepts data </li>
<li>The
word "Privacy" in the link name that leads to the privacy policy
</li>
<li>A
privacy policy that identifies exactly how (e.g., cookies) and what
(personal information) data is being collected </li>
<li>A
privacy policy that identifies the intended use of the collected data </li>
<li>A
privacy policy that addresses whether the receipt of customer data is an
integrated part of the company's business model </li>
<li>A
privacy policy that addresses the option of having personal information
used for sending unsolicited materials by the company (e.g., mailing lists
or any other marketing targeted back to the consumer) </li>
<li>A
privacy policy that addresses whether personal information is disclosed to
third parties and the option and instructions to decline any third-party
disclosures </li>
<li>A
privacy policy that addresses third-party privacy policies (e.g., third
parties are governed by the same privacy policy or are not the
responsibility of the site) </li>
<li>A
privacy policy that addresses whether personal information is stored on a
secure server or whether its server is inaccessible from the Internet</li>
</ul>
<span style="font-size: 9pt;"><i>Source: Giga Information
Group</i></span><br />
</span></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17022054523556414304noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011306833202557811.post-88684041104386962622016-12-20T13:01:00.000-06:002017-08-28T12:56:35.541-05:00Have WWII saboteurs infiltrated your company?<div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms';">
In 1944 the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OSS" rel="nofollow" style="color: #551a8b;" target="_blank">Office of Strategic Services</a> (the precursor to the CIA) created the formerly secret <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/garybridgman/home/blog/havewwiisaboteursinfiltratedyourcompany/SimpleSabotageFieldManualOSS.pdf?attredirects=0" style="color: #551a8b;" target="_blank"><i>Simple Sabotage Field Manual</i> </a>[PDF] for OSS operations officers<br />
<div style="display: inline; float: right; margin: 5px 10px;">
</div>
and resistance organizers living in Axis-occupied countries.<br />
<br />
There are tips on physical sabotage common to insurgents, but the list of methods (and desired outcomes) for volunteers to interfere from within organizations reads startlingly like the dark sides of today's American corporate and government workplaces. The common weaknesses of executive and middle management as well as front-line workers (specialists, coordinators, analysts, etc) are clearly evident in this list of<br /><br />
<div style="margin-left: 40px;">
"universal opportunities to make faulty decisions, to adopt a noncooperative attitude, and to induce others to follow suit...may involve nothing more than creating an unpleasant situation among one's fellow workers, engaging in bickerings, or displaying surliness and stupidity." </div>
</div>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms';">
</div>
<h2>
<span style="font-size: small;">(11) General Interference with Organisations and Production <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA5m0TU8UzkKhDAZXFRnOVdNMM_hp58GHD4LCbTjQfxTDLbZyGyYuPh2tj5zikczND4ig_lkHtCizVg4FfxLFbq0c9coK1e37hnR_MeH5vHVVs26rwm1A-0SBa3iL6HFfWCDsGa9Ive2p4/s1600/OSS+sabotage+manual+cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA5m0TU8UzkKhDAZXFRnOVdNMM_hp58GHD4LCbTjQfxTDLbZyGyYuPh2tj5zikczND4ig_lkHtCizVg4FfxLFbq0c9coK1e37hnR_MeH5vHVVs26rwm1A-0SBa3iL6HFfWCDsGa9Ive2p4/s320/OSS+sabotage+manual+cover.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
</span></h2>
<br />
<ul style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<li>Insist on doing everything through "channels." Never permit short-cuts to be taken in order to expedite decisions.<a name='more'></a></li>
</ul>
<ul style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<li>Make "speeches." Talk as frequently as possible and at great length. Illustrate your "points" by long anecdotes and accounts of personal experiences.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<li>When possible, <b>refer all matters to committees,</b> for "further study and consideration."</li>
</ul>
<ul style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<li>Attempt to make the committees as large as possible — never less than five.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<li>Bring up irrelevant issues as frequently as possible.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<li><b>Haggle over precise wordings of communications</b>, minutes, resolutions.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<li>Refer back to matters decided upon at the last meeting and <b>attempt to re-open the question</b> of the advisability of that decision.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<li>Advocate "caution." Be "reasonable" and urge your fellow-conferees to be "reasonable" and avoid haste which might result in embarrassments or difficulties later on.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<li>Be worried about the propriety of any decision — raise the question of whether such action as is contemplated lies within the jurisdiction of the group or whether it might conflict with the policy of some higher echelon.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<li>"Misunderstand" orders. Ask endless questions or <b>engage in long correspondence </b>about such orders. Quibble over them when you can.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<li>In making work assignments, always sign out the unimportant jobs first. See that the important jobs are assigned to inefficient workers of poor machines.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<li>When training new workers, give incomplete or misleading instructions.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<li>To lower morale and with it, production, <b>be pleasant to inefficient workers; give them undeserved promotions</b>. Discriminate against efficient workers; complain unjustly about their work.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<li><b>Hold conferences when there is more critical work to be done.</b></li>
</ul>
<ul style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<li>Multiply paper work in plausible ways. Start duplicate files.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<li>Multiply the procedures and clearances involved in issuing instructions, pay checks, and so on.<b>See that three people have to approve everything where one would do.</b></li>
</ul>
<ul style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<li>Apply all regulations to the last letter.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<li>Pretend that instructions are hard to understand, and ask to have them repeated more than once. Or <b>pretend that you are particularly anxious to do your work</b>, and pester the foreman with unnecessary questions.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<li>Never pass on your skill and experience to a new or less skillful worker.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<li><b>Snarl up administration in every possible way.</b> Fill out forms illegibly so that they will have to be done over; make mistakes or omit requested information in forms.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<li>If possible, join or help organize a group for presenting employee problems to the management. <b>See that the procedures adopted are as inconvenient as possible for the management</b>, involving the presence of a large number of employees at each presentation, entailing more than one meeting for each grievance, bringing up problems which are largely imaginary, and so on.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms'; font-size: 13px;">
<h2>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">(12) General Devices for Lowering Morale and Creating Confusion </span></h2>
<br />
<ul>
<li style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">Give lengthy and incomprehensible explanations when questioned.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">Report imaginary spies or danger to the Gestapo or police.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><b>Act stupid.</b></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">Be as irritable and quarrelsome as possible without getting yourself into trouble.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Cry and sob hysterically at every occasion, especially when confronted by government clerks.</span></li>
</ul>
<i></i><br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
<i><i style="font-size: 13px;">Thanks to WBF for sharing the manual with me.</i></i></div>
<i>
</i>
<br />
<div>
<i><br /></i></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17022054523556414304noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011306833202557811.post-32575521153272490642016-06-15T21:58:00.000-05:002017-08-28T10:55:17.508-05:00Tech sector ironies of the 2010s<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 13px;">from </span><a href="http://twitter.com/phil_nash" rel="nofollow" style="color: #551a8b; font-family: 'trebuchet ms'; font-size: 13px;" target="_blank">Phil Nash</a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms"; font-size: 13px;">, London.</span><br />
<blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: large;"><b style="background-color: white;">Welcome to the new decade: Java is a restricted platform, Google is evil, Apple is a monopoly and Microsoft are the underdogs.</b></span></blockquote>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17022054523556414304noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011306833202557811.post-62594063469496422192016-05-16T11:53:00.000-05:002017-08-28T10:57:20.214-05:00My 1999 coverage of minor-league pro wrasslin' in OxfordI was a contributing writer to <i><a href="http://oxfordeagle.com/category/arts-entertainment/oxford-town-arts-entertainment/" target="_blank">Oxford Town</a></i> from 1997 to 1999. That's the <i>Oxford Eagle's</i> free, weekly entertainment supplement, sort of a cross between the <i>Memphis Flyer</i> and the <i>Commercial Appeal's GoMemphis. </i><br />
<div>
My editors included Rob Robertson, Jamie & Kelly Kornegay, Jimmy Thomas and others.<br />
<div>
While they would publish just about anything I felt like writing, my most rewarding experiences were typical arts/entertainment/leisure assignments that somebody was going to have to write.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">⚒ </span><b><span style="color: red;">Pro Tip: </span></b>The end of this post includes a glossary of pro wrestling terms.</div>
<div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijhZ_FOn7WMELyAysZqneCzMmucnfbGa0emC2s0kEXeKkl4itWgsUyJ64jFXg8s8rdFX9n41soNZPa682aSOl8831oxhpHwu3g0JHrNqw6eOqNV6DdmPytfmbxmG0YNv8NsbTEnkJs331t/s1600/wrasslin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="171" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijhZ_FOn7WMELyAysZqneCzMmucnfbGa0emC2s0kEXeKkl4itWgsUyJ64jFXg8s8rdFX9n41soNZPa682aSOl8831oxhpHwu3g0JHrNqw6eOqNV6DdmPytfmbxmG0YNv8NsbTEnkJs331t/s320/wrasslin.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div>
<b>
</b>
<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Are You Ready to Rummbulllll?</span><br />
<b><i> Loudmouthed Wrestling Manager Issues Challenge to Ole Miss Sororities</i></b><br />
<div>
<br />
Professional wrestling makes its defiant return to Oxford Friday night as the Dallas-based International Wrestling Federation stages several championship matches at the National Guard Armory on University Avenue.<br />
<br />
“We want to see all the wrestling fans in the area come out,” said Mr. Sensational, manager of the controversial Sensational Stable, <b>“including all our fans on your Sorority Row!”</b><br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br /></div>
<div>
Bell time for the first match is 7:30 p.m. The promoter of the match said that, “we don’t set tables on fire or throw people off balconies, but there’s still going to be some real exciting matches Friday night.”<br />
<br />
“Real exciting” is a huge understatement considering the championship belts at stake on the card. The main event pits the 6’7” Storm against Bad Wolf for the World Heavyweight Title. Incredibly enough, the World Tag Team Title will also be decided during the same event. The Sunset Riders and 100% Sexy (both of which are bad guy or “heel” teams) will put the “two wrongs don’t make a right” proverb to the ultimate, violent test. <br />
<br /></div>
<div>
Additionally, Wraith and “Mr. Muscle Brian So Fine,” neither of whom you want to take home to meet Mom, will battle for the “Hardcore Title,” a fight which usually results in face-prints on metal garbage cans. Hardcore wrestling is an offshoot of mainstream professional wrestling that employs blunt instruments, long hair, goth sensibilities, and a number of rather rude comments.<br />
<br />
Kenny Valiant is coming down from Memphis to defend his Southern Heavyweight Title against a mystery opponent from parts unknown. Valiant is famous for showing up at regional events like this escorted by a motorcycle gang—and don’t park any foreign-made bikes next to theirs!<br />
<br />
Capping off the evening will be a Battle Royal involving all the evening’s participants. If you’re unfamiliar with professional wrestling terms, a Battle Royal is something like a King of the Hill contest, where the last wrestler left in the ring (standing or not) wins. Front row fans are encouraged to brace themselves for falling wrestlers.<br />
<br />
Some proceeds from this event will go to The Oxford National Guard Family Support Group. Tickets are $7 for adults, $5 for children aged 6-10, and children under 5 get in for free (keep them away from Mr. Muscle Brian So Fine!)<br />
<br />
<h3>
Abridged Glossary of Professional Wrestling Terms</h3>
<i>From bad guy wrestler, Gemini’s, homepage “The Orion Professional Wrestling Resource Directory”</i><br />
<br />
<b>Note:</b> Some of these definitions imply that professional wrestling is somehow “staged”; however, these allegations are undoubtedly groundless. In my opinion, this Gemini fellow is looking for an asswhuppin’. <br />
<br />
ANGLE. A created fued or grudge. Planned by promoters and managers it usually involves a series of matches.<br /></div>
<div>
BLOW UP. To become exhausted early in the match. Ultimate Warrior was said to "Blow Up" on the entrance ramp.<br />
<br />
CARD. A single wrestling event and the matches that are a part of it.<br />
<br />
DO THE JOB. Losing to another wrestler. <br />
<br />
DUD. Wrestling matches are often rated on a five star scale. A "dud" is the second worst rating a match can get and is often an insult to fans who paid to see it. Especially true if the particular "dud" was hyped beyond belief.<br />
<br />
FACE. Derived from the word "babyface". Although they are supposed to be the good guy they can often be disliked by the fans due to their devotion to the rules.<br />
<br />
FEUD. An "angle" constructed as a scheduled matches between wrestlers who have a problem with each other. Often good vs. evil but sometimes not.<br />
<br />
FINISH. The series of moves that bring a close to the match. Many wrestlers often use the same setup and "finish" for a majority of their matches.<br />
<br />
GETTING HEAT. The art of drawing boos. A good rulebreaker can "get over" with the fans by being evil enough to get "heat". Also applied to matches. If a match is being booed and cheered with good enthusiasm it is "getting heat".<br />
<br />
GETTING OVER. Connecting with and being accepted by the crowd. A wrestler with a good persona and good charisma can "get over" easily with the crowd.<br />
<br />
HEEL. The bad guy. Usually defiant of the rules, they are often the thorn in the side of the “face.”<br />
<br />
HOT TAG. A tag team practice in which a distracted referee doesn't see a "face" tag and therefore nullifies it. Later in desperation the "face" makes a "hot tag" and his partner proceeds to clean house.<br />
<br />
KAYFABE. An old carnival term. Refers to a private language often used to communicate between two wrestlers to pass information without the public catching on.<br />
<br />
KILL. The loss of enthusiasm for a match or wrestler, usually the after effect of too much hype.<br />
<br />
RUN IN. When wrestlers or managers that aren't scheduled to be in a match interfere.<br />
<br />
SAVE. A "run in" after the match is over. Usually to "save" a wrestler.<br />
<br />
SELL. To make an opponents moves look real and painful.<br />
<br />
SHOOT. A match that is legit. Usually when wrestlers stop working together.<br />
<br />
TURN. Changing from a "heel" to a "face".</div>
</div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17022054523556414304noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011306833202557811.post-56403334903993231702014-02-19T12:41:00.001-06:002014-02-19T12:41:09.575-06:00Don't Make Me Think [Revisited] is out!Steve Krug's <i><a href="http://www.sensible.com/dmmt.html" target="_blank">Don't Make Me Think</a></i> is my favorite book on Web site usability, and he has just published a completely updated version. It's arguably the <i>Elements of Style</i> for Web planning.<br />
<br />
If you're too busy to read the book, or the rest of this post, the book's title is great advice in/of itself. Don't make the site visitor have to approach your site like a puzzle or mystery... spoil the ending and get them to the right page quickly.<br />
<br />
Since the first edition of <i>DMMT</i> came out waaaay back in 2000, Web designers and developers have relied on Steve’s guide to help them understand intuitive navigation and information design. Now he's back with fresh perspective and updated examples and a new chapter on mobile usability.<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/Ye4GyzJVeog" width="560"></iframe>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17022054523556414304noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011306833202557811.post-78437738290971387052013-12-16T13:37:00.000-06:002013-12-16T13:37:24.538-06:00MBQ reprints my "Makers" article
<div class="p1">
<i>MBQ Inside Memphis Business</i> reprinted my article about the <a href="http://www.midsouthmakers.org/" target="_blank">MidSouth Makers</a> in its December </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNvqyonvylf2tRg3kz-QeSf0AoNMAkgEM_Qd947IBlGCoVxl6VMRfRicPkdGHZ7PPsdAWLkDWcfRrumsvPdV2In8S6Z7Wofp1Wtk5zRIRDSiGIgZ2-3hxJL4B4f8k6_knYO7UJE31Zjq6j/s1600/MBQ_InsideMemphisBusinessLogo_Header.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNvqyonvylf2tRg3kz-QeSf0AoNMAkgEM_Qd947IBlGCoVxl6VMRfRicPkdGHZ7PPsdAWLkDWcfRrumsvPdV2In8S6Z7Wofp1Wtk5zRIRDSiGIgZ2-3hxJL4B4f8k6_knYO7UJE31Zjq6j/s1600/MBQ_InsideMemphisBusinessLogo_Header.png" title="MBQ logo" /></a></div>
2013 issue. The story originally appeared in its sister publication, <i>Memphis Flyer</i>, in October.<br />
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
It's titled "Makers in Memphis," and it should be <a href="http://www.mbqmemphis.com/MBQ-Inside-Memphis-Business/Made-in-Memphis/" target="_blank">archived here.</a> </div>
<div class="p1">
I've also posted a <a href="https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=ZGVmYXVsdGRvbWFpbnxnYXJ5YnJpZGdtYW58Z3g6MzIxY2VlZDAyOTljZWMxMA" target="_blank">one-page PDF</a> of the print version here on my site. </div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="color: #444444;">As this tech-influenced DIY community gained momentum, makers began to evolve from hobbyists into entrepreneurs, spawning their own markets and creating new products and services. Despite the movement’s grass-roots, anarchic vibe, these bands of inventive makers equipped with open-source technologies have begun to inspire new innovations in manufacturing, engineering, industrial design, hardware technology, and education.</span></span></blockquote>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17022054523556414304noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011306833202557811.post-52099895528977409332013-10-17T09:14:00.002-05:002013-12-16T13:39:04.761-06:00"Making It in Memphis" my 3rd Flyer cover story: Local emergence of the DIY/tech/inventors Maker Movement <span id="goog_864335162"></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="http://www.memphisflyer.com/memphis/making-it-in-memphis/Content?oid=3527481" target="_blank"><img alt="Making It in Memphis" border="0" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgADyuZLg0DMa_QUxvlz2UpfoUk_n6i5YLFOW694s0NAHEDrd7AVrTEsXoJDYKR3R8nhiqk0B_H4CDck143F49rY3TwW-47cGga4xPYbADgFBM82priLIjlNlKSVgd2LZvsOlgzSaYZXPm7/s320/Flyer+maker+screencap.jpg" title="Memphis Flyer article on MidSouth Makers" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Claudio and his quadcopter, built from parts <br />
he made on a 3D printer, which was made from <br />
parts printed on yet another 3D printer.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<a href="http://www.memphisflyer.com/memphis/making-it-in-memphis/Content?oid=3527481" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span id="goog_864335163"></span>read the full article here</b></span></a></div>
<span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">The would-be burglar counts himself lucky that he saw an interior light switch on and immediately spotted your shadow moving across the window curtain, giving him time to flee.</span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">... not that anyone was home. </span><br />
The burglar is frightened away by a cheap motion-detector you plugged into a <a href="http://www.arduino.cc/" target="_blank">hobby microcontroller </a>that turned on the electric motor that slowly waved a plastic fin in front of a lamp.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
No, it's not that scene from <i>Home Alone</i> but a practical example of the many kinds of devices people can hack together with like-minded tinkerers thanks to the "maker movement" — inventors, hackers, and artists forming local groups around the world — that is now also emerging in Memphis.<br />
<br />
"It's a gym for geeks," said Brett Henley of the <a class="g-profile" href="http://plus.google.com/117828018860639435264" target="_blank"><b>+MidsouthMakers</b></a> <a href="http://www.midsouthmakers.org/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[their site]</span></a>, describing the three-year-old group's community workshop (or "maker space") tucked away in the light-industrial south end of Bartlett's historic district. The facility is bristling with tools and technology ranging from a glass kiln to a sandblasting booth to cutting-edge 3D printers that Henley's colleagues built from parts they made on other 3D printers. <a href="http://www.memphisflyer.com/memphis/making-it-in-memphis/Content?oid=3527481" target="_blank">more</a><br />
<br />
UPDATE: The week after this was published, the national Hacker Scouts organization announced that its new name is "Curiosity Hacked." The group yielded to cease and desist orders from the Boy Scouts of America, which even fought the Girl Scouts over the use of the S-word back in the 1920s.<br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Groups or sites mentioned in this article:</span></b><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.midsouthmakers.org/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">MidSouth Makers</span></a></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.hacker-scouts.org/" target="_blank">Hacker Scouts</a> <span style="font-size: x-small;">(national, now called Curiosity Hacked)</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a class="g-profile" href="http://plus.google.com/115204429798983153499" target="_blank">+Maureen Barger</a> <span style="font-size: x-small;">(Memphis Hacker Scouts leader)</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://neverstop.co/" target="_blank">Start Co.</a> <span style="font-size: x-small;">(business incubator)</span></span></li>
<li><a href="http://www.makezine.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Make Magazine</span></a></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.makerfaire.com/" target="_blank">Maker Faire</a> <span style="font-size: x-small;">(global)</span></span></li>
<li><a href="http://www.hackmemphis.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">HackMemphis</span></a></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.hackerspaces.org/" target="_blank">Hackerspaces</a> <span style="font-size: x-small;">(find other maker groups)</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://arduino.cc/" target="_blank">Arduino</a> <span style="font-size: x-small;">(Open-source prototyping platform for creating interactive electronic objects)</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.lulzbot.com/" target="_blank">Lulzbot </a><span style="font-size: x-small;">(3-D printers)</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.instructables.com/" target="_blank">Instructables</a><span style="font-size: x-small;"> (project examples)</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://soundcloud.com/mancontrol" target="_blank">>mancontrol<</a><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.scouting.org/sitecore/content/Licensing/Protecting%20the%20Brand/Boy%20Scouts%20of%20America%20Trademark%20Listing.aspx" target="_blank">Boy Scouts of America's "Protecting the Brand" page</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://troopsofstgeorge.org/" target="_blank">Catholic Troops of St. George </a><span style="font-size: x-small;">(BSA spinoff, formerly "Catholic <i>Scouts</i> of St. George")</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://traillifeusa.com/" target="_blank">Trail Life USA</a> (<span style="font-size: x-small;">evangelical BSA spinoff)</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.republiccoffeememphis.com/" target="_blank">Republic Coffee </a> <span style="font-size: x-small;">(site of bi-weekly MidSouth Makers meetings)</span></span></li>
</ul>
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My second <i>Flyer</i> cover story, <b>"<a href="http://garybridgman.blogspot.com/2011/05/my-memphis-flyer-cover-story-and.html" target="_blank">Up on a Crippled Creek</a>: A firsthand look at Memphis’ most ravaged urban waterway — Nonconnah Creek." </b>April 21, 2011.<br />
PDF of my first <i>Flyer</i> cover story:<b> "<a href="https://ce4ea5be-a-62cb3a1a-s-sites.googlegroups.com/site/garybridgman/home/bylines/RiverRatMemphsFLYERJohnRuskey.pdf?attachauth=ANoY7cp9KsoomFPkJgpBajZc3HpyqCov9BqRp_rkF1of5KnewZEPhM0U-FhEFBg5Fh8W3eSvybxAQYXF_SGQ8nCPp4294fn9M5svaji-9XHSs91yes23Sz5dEDVyHxQihEr9NigzRUFWCKtteiAGQhsDR_Y9JdmBwDYerF8X5nyI8ZtZCwhRsR9LTb5hD8KTGjlSO70-SNP9IDlamr8FTnTEIjiER64lyLLSprQNGKwEazgB-V2p5MbQ7jOcYcPLjjnq9MhSUPy8&attredirects=0" target="_blank">River Rat</a>: John Ruskey brings adventure tourism to the Mississippi River"</b> December 7, 2000. (It's no longer on the <i>Flyer</i> site.)<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17022054523556414304noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011306833202557811.post-82371772886070749212013-09-20T10:39:00.000-05:002013-11-06T13:30:08.778-06:00Introducing my free "Twitterglyphics" table<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">☠</span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #999999;"></span></span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">⅓</span></span></span><span style="color: blue; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">☯</span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #38761d;">≠</span></span><span style="color: #783f04;"><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">♞</span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">+</span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">☁</span></span><span style="color: red; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">♕</span><span style="color: orange; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">෴</span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">⚐</span><span style="color: purple; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">♬</span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">♫</span><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">♪</span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">⚾</span><span style="color: #999999; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">⚒</span><span style="color: blue; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">⚙</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">⚛</span><span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">☢</span><br />
<h4>
Copy and paste space-saving symbols into your Twitter posts and other tight spots</h4>
Social media sites encourage brevity, especially Twitter, with its strict limit of 140 characters and spaces per-post. Many people have simply adopted abbreviations and emoticons from text messaging, but those were developed for speedy replies, not necessarily to fit a word limit.<br />
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While Twitter conversations are often fast-paced and held on mobile devices, many posts are thoughtfully crafted. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unicode">Unicode symbols</a> can shorten the character-count, allowing you to fit more meaning into each message, and when used creatively, they can draw a lot more more attention.<br />
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<a href="https://sites.google.com/site/garybridgman/home/twitterglyphics"><b><span style="font-size: large;">I created this symbol chart</span> </b></a>because other sites that list such symbols are either too hard to navigate or they list 8 different ☛s, 5 different ✐s but not enough technical characters or other symbols that I sometimes need. I don't post equations or technical data on Twitter, it's just that Ø can mean "nothing" and ≠ can mean "not the same as" and ¶ can denote a paragraph within an article.<br />
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My own № 1 symbol is this: … It's an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elipses">ellipsis</a> that only takes up one character space. I use it to separate sentences or items in a series using only one character-space. (Periods and commas require an additional space after them.)<br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;"></span><br />
<a name='more'></a>These symbols can also come in handy in illustrating documents, bulletins or presentations.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Non-displaying symbols:</span> </b>Note that some of the unicode characters I've included may not work on your computer or device, or they may not work on other people's devices. Your devices come with Unicode information pre-loaded, but not necessarily with everything. If you tell me about a character not working, I will poll my Twitter followers to see if they can see it, and if it doesn't work for many of them, I'll remove it. <br />
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<span style="color: red;"><b>Reader requests</b>:</span> If you want to bookmark this page and use this chart on a regular basis, please let me know if you would like for me to add other symbols or special characters. I found most of these on the <a href="http://unicode-table.com/en/">Unicode Character Table</a> which is being built out by a team in Russia.<br />
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You can also refer to Unicode lists on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Unicode_characters">Wikipedia</a> and on the <a href="http://www.unicode.org/charts/#symbols">Unicode Consortium </a>site.<br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #38761d; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: medium; text-indent: 2.4000000953674316px;"><br />Sample symbols:</b></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://sites.google.com/site/garybridgman/home/twitterglyphics" style="color: #551a8b;">See full chart here</a></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; text-indent: 2.4000000953674316px;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>Punctuation</b></span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="color: #38761d;">:</span></b> </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: NewtonSansRegular; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; text-indent: 2.4000000953674316px;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;">… </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;">‽ </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;">‷ </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;">‴</span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(for quotes within quotes)</span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;">―</span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: x-small;"><b>Weather:</b></span></span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;">˚ </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">℃ ℉ </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">☂ </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">❆</span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">☼ ☽</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>Symbols = words:</b></span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;">Ø</span></span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> ≠ ∓ ≈</span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">(approximate)</span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;">∞ </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;">♺ </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;">¶ </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;">★ ☆ </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;">➑</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Business:</span></span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"> </span></span></b><span style="font-size: large;">℅ <span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">© ® ™ ℠ </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">Ȼ ¥ € £</span></span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"> </span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Comms & media:</span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></b></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">☎ </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">℡</span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">℻</span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"> ✉ </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">♬ ♫ ♪ </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">►</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: x-small;"><b>Emphasis: </b></span></span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">☠</span><span style="font-size: large;"> ෴</span></span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> ⚐ ⚑ </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;">✽ </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;">★ </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;">‽ ‼ </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;">⁇ </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;">⚠ ✖ ✔ </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;">№ </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>Full-contact politics:</b></span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;">▦☰ </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;">✪ </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;">⚠ ✖ ✔</span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;">☭ ࿕ ♞</span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">+</span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;">☁ </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;">♕ </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;">☠</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Faith & philosophy:</span></b><span style="font-size: x-large;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">✝ ✡ ☪ </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">☮ ☯ </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">☫ </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">☸</span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"> ☥ </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">☄</span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">☿</span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;">⚾</span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17022054523556414304noreply@blogger.com0Vollintine Evergreen Community Association, Memphis, TN, USA35.157997172708896 -90.00373363756807535.1547516727089 -90.008776137568077 35.161242672708894 -89.998691137568073tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011306833202557811.post-34789473575513847842013-07-02T22:00:00.000-05:002013-11-06T13:33:40.286-06:00My software skills map<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms'; font-size: 13px;">Simple, graphic approach to explaining what applications I know and how well I know them. </span><br />
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<div style="color: #333333;">
If you want to be strictly empirical about this, the only thing this chart "proves" is that I know how to render a really crowded slide in Apple's Keynote program and then turn it into a jpeg. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIBXlD3IZJS38cc_XRYJLX31gGjO6Kz2roi6iscoRbtzEOeCVylHrATsuGEdLaK-Grg3OXx9QwLoAB2SWTiYNKxc-3ZgKTU2_Kk0cy78V7gWqAAFip0dyXjcOc9gCBqqQG8vBLprH1DFFE/s1600/Solftware+Skill+Map+Gary+Bridgman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIBXlD3IZJS38cc_XRYJLX31gGjO6Kz2roi6iscoRbtzEOeCVylHrATsuGEdLaK-Grg3OXx9QwLoAB2SWTiYNKxc-3ZgKTU2_Kk0cy78V7gWqAAFip0dyXjcOc9gCBqqQG8vBLprH1DFFE/s320/Solftware+Skill+Map+Gary+Bridgman.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<div style="color: #333333;">
The real knowledge lies in how to use these tools to turn a buck or edge out a competitor... or do something really extroverted on FourSquare. Note that I always exercise a lot of restraint when doing anything "on the clock" on Wikipedia. It's generally best to let nature take its course there—else the volunteer Hounds of Hell will edit you all the way back to AOL.</div>
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<span style="color: red;">UPDATE: </span><span style="color: #333333;">The latest edition of Thunder Kitty, or whatever Apple is calling its current operating system (10.8, 2013) does not support Microsoft Office. I now use Apple's Pages word processor and convert the documents into PDF or RTF text files for others to use. I can export something as an Office file, but there are usually formatting irregularities that I can't see on my Mac. </span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17022054523556414304noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011306833202557811.post-23848941827028333412013-06-03T21:36:00.000-05:002013-11-08T12:20:27.789-06:00My 2nd Memphis Flyer cover story (and unexpected cover photo)<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms';">Two years ago, I was only dimly aware that my article might be the cover story for the Earth Day issue of the </span><i style="color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms';">Memphis </i><i style="color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms';">Flyer,</i><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms';"> but when I looked for my article and </span><a href="http://www.memphisflyer.com/binary/5546/cover.jpg" rel="nofollow" style="color: #551a8b; font-family: 'trebuchet ms';" target="_blank">found myself staring back</a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms';">, it was a bit of a shock. Not that I'm complaining!</span><br />
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<i style="color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms';"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy_kuXyLFw0HD792BpNrAK2lgCzyvLP3X69XvQtJnlONiJsuO9R5oGM0ZfMVgUMvA-RPsBJigIYhpOEM4960wJ3iZZFaeCQqzGvyTMmKhH2XlJz8A2OHlpptE1o6Bi41ytrmWPsRdoqT-M/s1600/Flyer+nonconnah+cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy_kuXyLFw0HD792BpNrAK2lgCzyvLP3X69XvQtJnlONiJsuO9R5oGM0ZfMVgUMvA-RPsBJigIYhpOEM4960wJ3iZZFaeCQqzGvyTMmKhH2XlJz8A2OHlpptE1o6Bi41ytrmWPsRdoqT-M/s320/Flyer+nonconnah+cover.jpg" width="243" /></a></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">EXCERPT (<a href="http://www.memphisflyer.com/memphis/up-on-a-crippled-creek/Content?oid=2741391" target="_blank">Read the rest of the article here</a>)</span><br />
<div style="color: #333333; display: inline; float: right; font-family: 'trebuchet ms'; font-size: 13px; margin: 5px 10px;">
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<span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">The oldest evidence of human activity in Memphis — a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clovis_culture" target="_blank">spearhead</a> designed to </span><span style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms';">slice through a mastodon’s thick hide — was discarded at Nonconnah Creek </span><span style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms';">13,000 years ago, behind what is now the Sam’s Club on Winchester. The rain </span><span style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms';">of litter on the creek hasn’t slowed much since then.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: trebuchet ms; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: trebuchet ms;">The newest evidence of human activity in Memphis is a plastic Sprite </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: trebuchet ms;">bottle. And right now, it’s blowing out of the back of a pickup truck on Bill Morris </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms';">Parkway. During next week’s thunderstorm, it will be flushed down our storm-water system </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms';">to join thousands upon thousands of other plastic bottles that migrate down Nonconnah </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms';">Creek and into McKellar Lake.</span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: trebuchet ms;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: trebuchet ms;">I followed another bottle flotilla earlier this month, steering my Coca-Cola-red </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms';">polyethylene canoe down Nonconnah Creek with local environmental activist <a href="http://www.memphisflyer.com/memphis/scott-banbury/Profile?oid=3065399" target="_blank">Scott </a></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms';"><a href="http://www.memphisflyer.com/memphis/scott-banbury/Profile?oid=3065399" target="_blank">Banbury</a>.</span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">(</span><a href="http://www.memphisflyer.com/memphis/up-on-a-crippled-creek/Content?oid=2741391" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" target="_blank">Read the rest of the article here</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">)</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17022054523556414304noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011306833202557811.post-4420114175379182612013-04-02T10:41:00.000-05:002013-09-13T12:11:42.842-05:00Content marketing: It works, but remember to include the content<a href="https://soundcloud.com/officialsxsw/moving-from-story-to-narrative">https://soundcloud.com/officialsxsw/moving-from-story-to-narrative</a><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Deloitte's John Hagel: "Moving from Story to Narrative" </td></tr>
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I should be plugging my freelance writing practice right now, but I'm still digesting the slide-free presentation by Deloitte's John Hagel at South by Southwest Interactive last month, entitled <b>"Moving from Story to Narrative."</b>*<br />
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Most of my freelance writing practice involves reinforcing companies' marketing strategies with actionable content. So Hagel really got my attention describing how the "old" way of marketing with content—telling stories—has always been less effective than the practice of creating "narratives." <br />
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<li>STORIES are finite and they are about the storyteller or others, not about you. <a name='more'></a></li>
<li>But NARRATIVES are more open-ended and the resolution is yet to be determined. </li>
<li>Importantly, narratives invite us to participate to help collectively determine the outcome (often involving a purchase).</li>
<li>"Less filling, tastes great" is a story that was once told to TV viewers. But "Think Different" is a narrative that is still unfolding for Apple product users, many of whom never saw the "Think Different" ads. </li>
<li>Storytelling is an easier deliverable for me to sell, like a customer case study, a ghost-written white paper or a refresh of all the text in a web site. But identifying and nurturing a company or product's true narrative still requires the story teller's art. </li>
<li>Hagel explained that narratives take root organically, growing from the actions of people, and they evolve over time. As one SXSW blogger noted, "they aren’t the product of a brainstorm session." </li>
<li>Hell no, they aren't. But this doesn't mean your customers are going to write web copy for you for free, either. </li>
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*If you were in Austin for SXSWi and are wondering why you didn't see me, I "attended" this session via Soundcloud: Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17022054523556414304noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011306833202557811.post-15803383554707996782013-03-16T13:04:00.000-05:002013-11-06T14:01:13.104-06:00Bridgman Pottery is in Southern Living<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguLPkj4q7nVmVTCxf3MVfTlctnR3iIPFn7PPq7lgmi4hJ-mVMXjXKIKsYo5xDXOaset9KoXlAYbOSiu-2ZMoyocIZVyoi-_yUPW2nXf2O_88nYr1LSe7ixAfongzAeySodfOrKdp9XXFej/s1600/Southern+Living+Jan+2011+Bridgman+Pottery.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguLPkj4q7nVmVTCxf3MVfTlctnR3iIPFn7PPq7lgmi4hJ-mVMXjXKIKsYo5xDXOaset9KoXlAYbOSiu-2ZMoyocIZVyoi-_yUPW2nXf2O_88nYr1LSe7ixAfongzAeySodfOrKdp9XXFej/s320/Southern+Living+Jan+2011+Bridgman+Pottery.jpg" width="306" /></a> </div>
To honor my wife's birthday, I'm reposting this bit about her spotlight in the January 2011 print edition of <i><b>Southern Living.</b></i> Melissa is a potter dba <a href="http://www.bridgmanpottery.com/">Bridgman Pottery.</a><br />
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Southern Living runs a recurring feature called "Best of the South: Made by Southern Hands," focusing on regional artisans (craft, food, furnishings etc). <br />
This issue's feature is subtitled "Breakfast Time," highlighting food and serving ware made in the South. <br />
An editor at SL was searching on Etsy for breakfast-related crafts last summer and found Melissa's old-school egg cups on her online store there. <br />
I am still very, <i>very</i> grateful that Melissa ignored my advice to make a ceramic rack for microwaving bacon.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17022054523556414304noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4011306833202557811.post-10124199192217376122013-02-01T20:58:00.000-06:002017-08-28T13:00:14.830-05:00Applebee's and a Catch-22 of social media marketing<br />
What happened to Applebee's on Facebook, Twitter and Reddit last week has been described with many metaphors: "implosion," "meltdown," "disaster" and others.<br />
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I liken it to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn">Battle of Little Bighorn</a> that cost General Custer his life in 1876. However, Applebee's isn't going to "die," and the company is not a victim of its own hubris like Custer. But the "action" on the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/applebees/posts/10151383621179334">Facebook page</a> may resemble the final hour of Custer's life: Thousands of current and former waiters "circling" the normally bland/cheerful corporate page, furiously pumping arrows and spears into every new post the company made in an attempt to explain its actions during the last week of January.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3EvkK-FfM7mTteAHt2Mq-HasjqKh7T1Fp46bAMwfPp1CUMq-Kdnx99RvjDESEiist5wm_We_pNTftnK9DRupjkJhXI651YH0eT8cSeaR6E-fBDNBG8FoR-PFxuWHWQyFBfsAPWQSLr5g1/s1600/applebees+facebook+protest.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3EvkK-FfM7mTteAHt2Mq-HasjqKh7T1Fp46bAMwfPp1CUMq-Kdnx99RvjDESEiist5wm_We_pNTftnK9DRupjkJhXI651YH0eT8cSeaR6E-fBDNBG8FoR-PFxuWHWQyFBfsAPWQSLr5g1/s320/applebees+facebook+protest.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Slate <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/life/faithbased/2013/02/alois_bell_applebee_s_tip_why_do_americans_tip_more_than_they_tithe.html">coverage</a>:<br />
When Applebee’s tried to impose an automatic 18 percent tip last week on the bill of Atlanta pastor Alois Bell, she crossed it out, reduced the tip to zero, and added the note, “I give God 10%, <a href="http://www.thesmokinggun.com/file/tipping-pastor-receipt?page=0">why do you get 18</a>?” A waitress posted the receipt online, earning Bell nationwide derision and the server a pink slip for violating Bell’s “right to privacy,” according to Applebee’s. Over the weekend, the restaurant chain suffered an avalanche of criticism. [Note: I neglected to include "avalanche" in my list of metaphors!]<br />
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No matter how Applebee's tried to explain itself, the criticism continued to snowball [that was my final metaphor]. <br />
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Now I've helped manage content on a number of Facebook pages, ranging from my church to a $10 billion Indian tech giant, and the most common PR challenge in that space is the problem of being ignored. People just don't want to read about your new product launch or your Milwaukee plant's ISO 14001 certification. The only people who are going to seriously discuss Applebee's new "Pick 'N Pair Lunch Menu" are, frankly, people with no lives. Then, something bad happens and you can't get people to shut up: Catch 22.0. <br />
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As a former waiter, I have little pity for Applebee's or the disgraced pastor. But as a <i>marketer</i>, I wince at the thought of those arrows whistling over my head! <br />
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Applebee's PR/social media staff made a few decent efforts, given the reality of the situation: The company fired a waitress in response to the cheapskate customer's complaint over an infraction that was not really an automatic termination offense. So, if Applebee's or the franchisee's operations management isn't going to reverse the termination, then reality is going to trump any spin about "corporate policy." <br />
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I wonder if the CEO thought that his PR department could magically make the problem go away without suffering the "humiliation" of reversing a decision. Come to think of it, General Custer was pretty stubborn about reversing his decisions. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17022054523556414304noreply@blogger.com0