I’ve been glued to Olympic coverage pretty much since the opening ceremonies. I’ve been following a lot of sports and watching as much as I can. During this time I’ve seen the entire range of human emotions. People winning and losing. Achieving their personal bests as well as performances they rather forget.
I paused to consider the success I’ve had thus far in life and the people I know who are also successful in what they do in terms of the Olympics. I’m pretty sure that the chances of me ever [...]
Tagged as:
olympic inspiration,
Success
We knew they were coming, as inevitable as the torch run itself, protests during the Olympic Games here in Vancouver. The blessing, and sometimes curse, of a free society is the right for people to gather, march, and protest to voice their objections and concerns about the state of things. It is our right. It is our duty. And people have died, and have died today, defending that right. However the right to object. The right to say “this is wrong and should change”, does not come with the right [...]
Tagged as:
Van2010,
Vancouver 2010,
Vancouver Olympic Winter Games,
Vancouver Protests,
VO2010
When I’m helping people first start blogging, one of the first objections (fears, concerns) is that no one will be interested in what they have to say. In nearly six years of blogging I have yet to find someone start a blog that didn’t have some kind of audience.
Think about it this way, no matter what your topic, issue, hobby, whatever is there has got to be at least one other person (and most likely more) in the world who shares your feelings/experience/passion. The world is a huge place and [...]
Tagged as:
Blogging how to,
blogging tips,
Writing
If you’ve being wondering how good Create Your Own Blog really is, now’s your chance to find out because I have a free sample chapter for you (the Introduction is also included, though I’m not sure I’d call that a bonus or not). Pearson has made Chapter 3, Writing and Creating a Conversation (1.5 MB, PDF) available for you to read and enjoy.
Chapter 3 is one of my favorite chapters in the book and I chose it because I think it is a great piece of work on its own. [...]
Tagged as:
Writing
Today, as you might have gathered from Google—Newest Google Doodle- falling apples for Sir Issac Newton—is Sir Isaac Newton’s birthday.
A brilliant chap he was, tad eccentric towards the end of his life I gather—mental_floss Blog » The Quick 10: 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Isaac Newton—but his work affects us all. I’ve always wanted to do a video explaining the basics of Newtonian Physics playing pool, but I’ll save that for another day.
You all know by now that I have my own eccentricities, which include a fondness (née preference) [...]
Tagged as:
fountain pens,
Sir Isaac Newton
What does your workspace look like? No, not the color or how many file cabinets you have, but how is your laptop or monitor positioned? What does your neck feel like at the end of the day? How about your arms, wrists, fingers? Having had my own brushes with carpal tunnel problems, not to mention a long standing back injury, I am always trying to find newer and better ways to layout my workspace.
Lifehacker has some simple (and inexpensive) ideas for getting your workspace up to snuff. Your first step [...]
Tagged as:
ergonomics,
Writing,
writing tips
This Saturday I’m teaching my full-day audio/video podcasting course at UBC Robson Square (9-4)—UBC Continuing Studies—and there is still time to sign up and room available for in the class.
The first class was a huge test for me. I could have (should have) been a lot better prepared for it. Now, however, I have had the benefit of having taught my full-day and half-day WordPress courses (don’t forget my full-day WP class at UBC is Halloween!) several times and have a much better sense of just how I need to [...]
Tagged as:
Podcasting,
podcasting class,
Video blogging,
Video blogging class,
vlogging,
Vlogging class
This past June I taught a couple Continuing Education courses at UBC Robson Square and they were so well received that before the end of June they were scheduled again for this fall. Now that you’re settling into fall, how about learning how to podcast (audio or video) or build a website with WordPress (for the non-geeky set)?
I promise that you’ll come away from my classes learning at least a couple new tricks and maybe even a radio show or website. So, here are the details:
Intro to Audio and Video [...]
Tagged as:
Podcasting,
Podcasting classes,
UBC Contiuning Education,
WordPress Classes
Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security made it clear that border crossing officials could continue to search any device that can store electronic media without any suspicion of wrongdoing.
Although the revised policy ensures searches will be completed in a “timely manner” (up to 30 days) and that travelers will stay informed about the search’s progress, travelers crossing the border might want to consider a few things.
Officials can still seize any device (including MP3 players or flash drives) and look at any file on it (including Internet browsing [...]
Alternate marketing slogans for Windows 7
by Grant Robertson (RSS feed) Aug 29th 2009 at 4:30PM
Normally, I wouldn’t do this. A source deep within Microsoft — who just happened to owe me a favor — passed along a list of new Windows marketing slogans which, for one reason or another, just didn’t make the cut. After careful consideration and soul searching, I’ve decided to release them to the public.
Frankly, I think a few of them deserved more contemplation.
Really, it’s better this time. We swear.
[...]