The Art and Science of Blogging - Articles - Zimbio

mm339: WordPress.com - I love the new Dashboard!

Fri, 5 Apr 2008 21:50:39 GMT

posted by mudge1705

MUDGE’s Musings

We’ve occasionally been moved to comment about process.

Blogging process (highlights)

mm252: A short word about the process of blogging

mm222: Encyclopedic, Careeric, Blogic

mm135: Process, again

mm119: Creating the sequitur

mm077: We pause for a few words about process

This hobby/pastime/obsession we know as “blogging” is made possible through a host of technological artifacts: the Internet itself; the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) who, for better or worse, are the ‘Net’s gatekeepers; and, most of all, the indomitable urge for self-expression that has found such fertile ground to manifest itself in these times.

And then there are the tools that we bloggers use daily to self-express.

Shortly after we began for real this grand adventure called Left-Handed Complement, we were moved to comment about the fantastic, free of charge nature of this medium.

The platform, the means to access it richly (although said platform is highly capable in that area), and some on-line resources whose existence makes life easier — essentially, the only cost to self-expression is one’s time.

Thus, we established MUDGE’s Blogging Process Hall of Fame, which we have returned to several times, as faithful reader will rediscover when s/he browses through the link table at the top of this post.

Well, it’s high time to revisit M’sBPHoF.

If you blog, and don’t know any or all of the above tools, you owe yourself an exploration.

First, we catch up with the latest addition. FuelMyBlog is a traffic-building site that we have featured in our sidebar for some months, and wrote about here and here. Its contribution to this nanocorner of the ‘Sphere©’s traffic has been modest, but high quality and most appreciated. I’ve encountered and interacted with a very select group of insightful and entertaining writers, and one hopes that they’ve similarly appreciated the efforts made here.

Next, WordPress.com. Yr (justifiably) humble svt has been raving about them from Day One, or nearly so.

As I’ve written consistently through the months (some of the more recent: here, here, here and speaking especially about the social networking element here), WordPress.com has provided the means to effortlessly exercise insufficiently used writing muscles, with little technical muss or fuss.
And, as a professional IT person, I know full well that only ferociously creative effort behind the scenes keeps it so simple and reliable where our rubber meets the road.

Yesterday, WordPress.com rolled out some new behind-the-scenes features for we, their blogging customers. They’ve completely updated and overhauled the Dashboard, the man-behind-the-curtains functionality that let’s us command and control our site. Very thoughtfully, and technically adroitly done.

By the time I read their announcement of the changes, the morning after first encountering them and being impressed, there were several scores of comments, surprisingly many of them negative.

Guess people really don’t like change. Lighten up guys: after all, it’s free!

Well, I do love the new Dashboard!

Thus, I felt compelled to add my comment to the lengthy stream, announcing there that WordPress.com had achieved Platinum status on MUDGE’s Blogging Process Hall of Fame.

So, I had to make that happen! Permanently on the top spot of this listing of the free-of-charge tools that make this hobby/pastime/obsession the blast that it has been for most of the past year.

Oh, not quite free. Full disclosure: I pay $10.00 for the ability to access the blog on their wonderfully reliable site using the domain address I own: http://mudge.essoenn.com.

Again, that’s the beauty of this hobby, as manifested in the tools shown in M’sBPHoF. Let’s review, shall we?

WordPress.com: $10/annually, for a feature most people probably don’t need; for most people, it’s free.

WindowsLiveWriter: $0, and this from what guys in my business often refer to in the pejorative, Micro$oft. I use it every day to create the posts that it sends to WordPress.com, and while not perfect, for the price it’s beyond excellent.

Picnik: $0, for this web image-scraping tool, which comes complete with an add-on to Firefox making access seamlessly convenient. Although they have a $25/year upgrade, I haven’t had occasion in all these months to miss any feature the upgrade offers; the recent update has improved Picnik’s functionality and processing speed. What a great boon for we graphically challenged amateurs!

BlogExplosion: $0, for the biggest single contributor of traffic directed to this nanocorner of the ‘Sphere©. As does FuelMyBlog, BlogExplosion requires reciprocal surfing in order to generate that traffic, so one spends in time what would be otherwise unavailable without expensive and in this site’s case, inappropriate marketing.

FuelMyBlog: $0, as discussed above.

Total annual cost for, thus far, 364 posts (plus today’s, and please note that that total was made much easier to ascertain on WordPress’s delightful new Dashboard!): $10.

The excellent overall experience enabled by those tools, by the commenters and friends, the respected sources of so much of the content examined and admired here (as seen in our blogroll ), as the commercial puts it:

Priceless.

It’s it for now. Thanks,

–MUDGE

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Technorati Tags: Mudge’s Blogging Process Hall of Fame, nanocorner of the sphere©, WordPress.com, WindowsLiveWriter, Picnik.com, BlogExplosion.com, FuelMyBlog.com, WordPress dashboard

mm333: "Great people shouldn’t have a resume"

Sun, 31 Mar 2008 02:07:31 GMT

posted by mudge1705

MUDGE’s Musings

Mostly, this nanocorner of the ‘Sphere© looks at the news and opinions of the day, be it political, or sometimes technological, seeking some nugget of value that, out of the information inundation, resolves itself as unique and important to yr (justifiably) humble svt, and hopefully to you, faithful reader.

Today it’s not about what’s new. It’s about each of you.

This won’t take long. But it just might be the most important few words you’ve read this year.

It’s Sunday. The next workweek lurks, its dimensions unknown, its outcomes uncertain, beginning in a mere few hours.

It’s recession in America, and perhaps the world. What’s going to happen to your job this week?

Better start thinking about your next job.

Seth Godin, one of the smartest minds in advertising today, tackled that subject a couple of weeks ago; I’d seen references to it, but on this abyss teetering Sunday, it gained new relevance.

Why bother having a resume?

In the last few days, I’ve heard from top students at Cornell and other universities about my internship.
It must have been posted in some office or on a site, because each of the applications is just a resume. No real cover letter, no attempt at self marketing. Sort of, “here are the facts about me, please put me in the pile.”
This is controversial, but here goes: I think if you’re remarkable, amazing or just plain spectacular, you probably shouldn’t have a resume at all.
Not just for my little internship, but in general. Great people shouldn’t have a resume.
Here’s why: A resume is an excuse to reject you. Once you send me your resume, I can say, “oh, they’re missing this or they’re missing that,” and boom, you’re out.

Focus your thoughts on what you do (and what you’ve accomplished) that’s extraordinary. Be sure that these are what you communicate. Godin believes that your traditionally organized résumé is simply a convenient way for a hiring organization to eliminate you from further consideration without having to expend much energy to do so.

Why make it easy for them?

[Please click the link below for the complete article -- but then please come on back!]

Seth’s Blog: Why bother having a resume?

By the way, you have got to be great — you’re reading this blog! So, yes, I mean you. You’ve been warned.

It’s it for now. Thanks,

–MUDGE

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Technorati Tags: Seth Godin, resume, job search, recession, economic depression

Welcome to our wikizine called "The Art and Science of Blogging"

Fri, 5 Apr 2008 21:47:42 GMT

posted by mudge1705
Wikizines are interactive magazines that anyone can create or edit - and this one is called "The Art and Science of Blogging". Here you can find fresh voices and respond in real time. Some members write articles about recent news and trends related to the wikizine's topic, others recount relevant personal stories or share their favorite pictures and video clips. Got an interesting idea or story to share with other members of this wikizine? Well, then put on your journalist's cap and add your own article!