Interview with Darren Rowse on Building a Better Blog

Interview with Darren Rowse on Building a Better Blog Interview with Darren Rowse on Building a Better Blog Interview with Darren Rowse on Building a Better Blog By Daniel Scocco Last week we published a post about Darren Rowses new ebook, titled 31 Days to Build a Better a Blog. I asked Darren if he was willing to answer to a small interview giving more details about the book to our readers, and he agreed. There are some interesting points, so check it out. 1. Do you believe that any writer can benefit from having a blog? Im always a little hesitant to make sweeping statements and claims about blogging and how its the best tool for every person but I do think that a blog is a fantastic tool that most writers should at least consider. There are a many reasons why I think blogging is a great medium for writers three that immediately spring to mind: 1. Profile, promotion and branding I know in writing my own book with Chris Garrett that having a blog was a big advantage, both in landing the book deal and in promoting the book once it was launched. My blog (and Chriss) built our profiles, credibility and authority on the topic we were writing about. This in turn led to Wiley approaching us with a book deal. It also meant that when we launched the book, we already had an audience ready and waiting to buy it. 2. Idea development one of the things I love most about blogging is that it enables me to grow in my own understanding of the topics that I write about. This happens as I research, develop and write up posts, but also as readers respond to what I write in comments and on their own blogs extending and deepening my ideas. 3. Practice one of the best ways to improve as a writer is to write particularly in a public forum where you know people will be reading and interacting with your ideas. Regularly publishing your writing on a blog is a great way to grow your writing skills. 2. What feedback did you get from the 31 Days to Build a Better Blog project? The reaction to 31DBBB was amazing on a number of levels. Firstly, I was overwhelmed by the numbers of bloggers signing up. Within just a few weeks we had 13,000 participants, which showed me just how many bloggers felt that they needed an injection of fresh ideas and inspiration for their blogs. The main feedback I initially got from participants was simply that they felt energized, inspired and equipped to improve their blogs. However, as the initial 31 day period progressed I began to hear stories of bloggers seeing real and significant improvements in their blogs as they took the tasks seriously. Some reported significant rises in traffic, others reported deepening relationships with readers, others yet reported that the quality of their posts were on the rise. The other two things that I heard time and time again from readers was: 1. The pace of daily tasks wasnt right for everyone. Some wanted to do it faster, some wanted to take their time and slow it down. 2. People wanted it all in one document either on their own computer or to print out. They wanted it all in the one place so they could keep digging back into it over time. It was these last two pieces of feedback that motivated me to develop the content into a workbook. 3. Why do you think most bloggers procrastinate when it comes to improving their blogs? There are a number of reasons. 1. For some it is simply that the blogger doesnt know what to do. They start of with loads of ideas and energy, but in time lose steam, inspiration and ideas. Many bloggers get to a bloggers block, where they simply dont know what to write or how to move their blogs forward. 2. For others it has more to do with discipline. Just like many aspects of life, successful blogs are something that you need to dedicate time to. Getting into a rhythm of blogging can be hard particularly when life is full of other competing interests. 3. The other reason is that many bloggers have one or two particular aspects of blogging that they love and are good at, and which they do to the point of excluding other aspects of building a successful blog. For example, some bloggers love designing their blogs so much that they end up sinking a lot of time into continually tweaking how their blogs look, at the expense of actually writing content. For others the obsession can be SEO, networking with other bloggers, writing a particuar type of post, adding and playing with blog tools. the list goes on. None of these things are bad in and of themselves, but when you obsess over them at the expense of other activities, you can end up being distracted and ignoring some important aspects of your blog. 4. What is your favorite task out of the 31 listed in the workbook? Tough one I actually really enjoyed writing most of them and got quite into doing the tasks for myself over the month. Some of the writing focused tasks were great to watch participants do, but two of my favorites were Day 11 where I share a technique for coming up with 10 (or more) blog post ideas, and Day 18, where participants develop a Sneeze Page for their blogs (a type of page that can drastically increase page views on a blog and increase reader loyalty). 5. Is the 31 Days to Build a Better Blog workbook useful for people who are just getting started with their blogs? The workbook is designed for people who have blogs but who need a kick start for one reason or another. This might be a new blogger who doesnt quite know what to do after setting up their blog, a blogger who has been at it for a few months who loses his way, or a more advanced blogger who simply has run out of steam or has hit the dreaded bloggers block. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the General category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Bare or Bear With Me?Excited ABOUT, not "for" 5 Examples of Misplaced Modifiers

Cyclical Transportation Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Cyclical Transportation - Research Paper Example Example, when a shortage is foreseen, the carrier can get some additional capacity from other carriers to ship together when deficit comes. Demand forecasting is another important step a career should take. Demand forecasting shows whether there will be an excess or a shortage. After forecasting a weak customer demand that simply interprets to the capacity shortage, in the future so one can start preparing how to manage the shortage like in step number one above. Step number three is leveraging the available assets. That is possible by making sure all available assets are utilized. The capacity available should be loaded on the right asset hence making sure that space is well utilized. The carrier can also employ combining orders strategy where they consolidate orders from one place and ship with a transporting unit whose space will be well used. Creation of interpersonal relationships with the suppliers is another step. Customer goods from the suppliers have to pass through the carr iers for them to reach the customers. With developing the close relationship with the supplier, the suppliers get to share order information, delivery information and their day-to-day performance. Such information is necessary for the carrier is planning to offer low freight charges but provide the best quality. Learning from mistakes is another step carriers take in minimizing capacity shortages and their effects. They achieve this through the closed-loop process where they plan, access results and adjust the plan to saving costs.

Literature Review (Topic may be decided by writer) Research Paper

Literature Review (Topic may be decided by writer) - Research Paper Example This literature review aims to explore the factors that encourage people to recycle. In order to achieve this, I will discuss the findings of a series of waste management reports including Barr et al (2001) who measured a series of reported waste management behaviours, including recycling, re-use and waste minimisation. They concluded that recycling emerged as the most popular sustainable waste management activity, due to the ease of access to recycling facilities. Ebreo and Vining (2000) also claimed that people’s behaviour can be linked to their attitudes, values and perspectives towards the environment, in which people with more positive views towards the environment would recycle more frequently. ... Figure 1 illustrates the TPB and highlights how a combination of subjective norms, attitudes towards recycling behaviour and perceived behavioural control affect social behaviour and the likelihood an individual is to engage in sustainable waste management practices. Tonglet et al (2004) have claimed that the TPB is an effective model in assessing the driving forces behind individual’s waste management behaviours. Figure 1 - The Theory Of Planned Behaviour (TPB) Attitude towards the behaviour Subjective norm Intention Behaviour Perceived behavioural control Adapted from Ajzen (1991) However, research by Barr et al (2001) has concluded that the structure of waste management behaviour is complex and they became dissatisfied with the TPB in explaining waste management behaviour. They suggest that other important factors have been neglected. It is therefore important for research to draw upon several environmental framework models that explain the interaction of different key vari ables and factors. One such framework designed by Barr et al (2005) complements the TPB and is depicted in Figure 2. It seeks to appreciate how different forms of reported environmental action can be predicted. Figure 2 – Environmental Behaviour Model Situational Variables Environmental Values Behavioural Intention Environmental Behaviour Psychological Variables Adapted from Barr et al (2001) The role of three key factors have emerged that have been shown to influence people’s level of commitment to environmental action. These are: The situational circumstances in which individuals are placed The socio-environmental values individuals hold Attitudes towards specific

Religious Imagery In The Godfather

Religious Imagery In The Godfather Describe the religious imagery Coppola uses during the Baptism scene at the end of the Godfather. How is this ceremony used to heighten the tension of the scene? What statement (if any) is he making by cross-cutting between the murders and the ceremony? The Baptism scene is one of the most exceptional scenes in the Godfather movie because Coppola-the director- combined visuals, language, music, and editing in a very powerful way. To summarize the scene, Michael, the Godfathers son, sets up himself as the new Godfather and settles the family issues by ordering him men to murder his enemies. In this scene, Coppola uses montage editing to cut between those two scenes back and forth, as if he is trying to demonstrate a point about Michael. Coppola wanted to present Michaels complex character as an evil and good man at the same time. Also, Coppola used close ups during the scene to emphasize it more. In the Catholic Church, the priest was using Latin in the baptism; he shifted to English when he asked Michael questions about faith. This shifting between Latin and English was used to underline Michaels contrast between what he is saying and the murderous actions that he orders. The scenes in a film can be edited by either continuous action or parallel action. As for editing the baptism scene, a parallel action was used wisely to present Michaels personality and life. Cutting back and forth between scenes can be helpful to present events that happen at the same time. The parallel action highlighted the dishonesty and the darkness of Michaels soul and personality. Add to that, it presented the double life that he will live as the head of the family. Coppola used the image of the innocent baby, who is being washed for purity and sinfulness, to contrast it with Michaels life that is filled with sins and darkness. A rising action was starting; Michaels men were preparing for the murders and the priest was preparing the baby. Then the scene reached the peak when the priest asked Michael if he renounces Satan. The scene cut to the first murder of mafia, then cut back to Michael saying I do. The shifting between Michaels men preparing for a Mafia war and the religious ceremony getting started highlights the tension, the lies, the darkness, and the contrast of this ceremony. At the time where a baptism should be a religious ceremony to clean the soul from sins, the scene presented the opposite of that. We can see the hate and the shadow thats around Michaels life, as if this ceremony was a lie. Coppola was able to clearly present the complexity of Michaels soul and how each murder stresses out a new meaning. Combining the two events in one scene emphasizes Michaels title as the Godfather. We can clearly notice how Coppola used the four elements of filmmaking (Mise en scene, sound, cinematography, and editing) in this one scene to create the perfect atmosphere. Coppolas choice of using a religious music during the ceremony didnt change during the murders. However, he manipulated the level of sound by increasing it during the killings and decreasing it during baptizing the baby. As a result, the level of tension, fear and pressure increased, and the audience was able to see the real Michael. Michaels true personality was being revealed as the family man who deals with crime and murders. Using different lighting techniques during the ceremony was a clever move by Coppola. He focused the sun light only on the altar where the priest was baptizing the baby. However, he darkened most of the altar and especially the statute of Jesus Christ that was directed toward Michael. Michael being in the light and Jesus in the dark can imply or suggest the differences between them. People may see the use of lighting as a symbolic method to reveal Michaels duplicity. Especially when he rejected Satan in words, while, his men were murdering his enemies. To conclude, Coppola tried hard to introduce Michaels character and personality through the baptism scene. His way of using the simplest techniques to reach the point where people can really analyze the character, was powerful. Not all directors can demonstrate the different feelings that audiences felt throughout the scene. If this one religious scene created this amazing feeling of fear, dishonesty, and faith, what about the entire film? The Baptism ceremony was established to compare between Michaels life and what he pretend to be. Add to that, the cross-cutting between the murders and the ceremony helped showing the evil side of Michael. Coppola had the choice to separate the murders from the religious ceremony, but he chose to combine them to create this anxiety and nervousness feeling. Combining them was a success because the audience was able to live the scene and to understand each character aside. Some historians argue that films reflect the political and social mores of society at the time of its creation- is this an accurate statement? Is this subject matter of the movies we have watched driven by society or does society drive the entertainment industry to create films within a specific moral, social, or political context? Discuss. Coppola, one of the American directors who created powerful films with strong personal appeals, may share some of the cultural, social, and political mores that most American have. For example, after watching the Godfather, we cant help but say that it expresses some social or cultural mores that directors usually have with their audience. Godfather clearly reflects the American society in many ways: the mafia wars, the killings, and the family relationships. According to Quart and Auster (2002), the movie industry tries hard to perfectly utilize some social values to attract audience, who is most likely accepting those values and living on them. All films can be considered political as the Batman movie (1989) that point out several views about the American reality. However, we cant say that all cultural and political views in films can relate to audiences social and political beliefs; it is difficult to relate to them all the time. Most of the American films try not to eliminate the social patterns. Producers usually try to stylize the cultural or social world to let people live in this bubble of thrill or to let them escape the emotional reality. Films are usually built around the audiences dreams, the individuals heroism, or the individuals personality. In fact, this is what most Hollywoods movies are based on. We can see that from Home of the Brave to Platoon films, where the political events were included to define some characters fate or feeling. For instance, the producers in Platoon film included the Vietnam War to define and show the soldiers journey that he goes through. (Quart and Auster, 2002) When the U.S has entered World WarII, the film industry tried to support the war effort by producing some documentaries and short movies about the war. Also, the OWI (the office of War Information) joined the film industry to spread notion among people about supporting the war, and to maintain awareness about it. For example, during the war, Basil Rathbone has played as the brilliant detective Sherlock Holmes who defeated Nazis inhumanly acts. The film industry and the OWI were concerned about the rising tension in the society because of the war. Therefore, they wanted to create a national unity between people, and to present the U.S. as a unified country. Hollywood placed an effort during the war by producing movies. For instance, Hollywood realized that women had been left behind because their men joined the army; therefore, Hollywood produced series of films about how these men are scarifying themselves and their families, and how they are contributing their souls for war. This type of drama pleased and helped many people during the war especially women, who were presented as the supportive spouse. Hollywoods box offic e hit a new level because of people admiring the drama of these womens lives and their support for their brave men. (Grainge, Jancovich, and Monteith, 2007) After stating all these facts, I would have to say yes films reflect the political mores of society but not necessary directly; it could touch the audience in many simple ways. Films can be liberal, conservative, or confused when it comes to political events, and analysts are still trying to figure out the connection between them and the society. However, films are a reflection of the society because most movies now a day present part of our daily lives. Films present partly what a family, a teenager, a soldier, a child, and a woman go through every day. For instance, the movie New York talked about how the 9/11 has changed the life of three students who were studying at New York State University. This movie reflected many aspects of society, politics, war and darkness. Add to that, people are able to see the corruption and the dishonesty of the business world by watching the Corporate movie. It presented how women used their femininity to get jobs, how people killed others for silly excuses, and how teenagers took drugs and got pregnant. These entire movies clearly reflect the society as a whole, as if they are the mirror of societys culture and politics. Of course, there are other types of movies like fiction or animation movies that are produced to create a new world for some audience. To conclude, I believe that movies are driven by society and society is driven by them too. In fact, Movies are produced for people, and because people need them to escape their everyday routine. As a result, people get affected by many stories, actors, and styles presented in the movie. People, especially females, tend to follow the trends and fashion of movie stars, and they try to be them in every way possible. The images of these movie stars affect society as a whole. Lets take Hanna Montana films and series as an example for how teenager girls were copying her style, her clothes, and her life. We cant deny that society is driven by films, and that movies are driven by society because each one of them is connected with the other. They both complete each other. Society, especially since the last decade, is getting affected by movie stories; everyone wants to re-live them. Films in general are created as tools for people to perfectly reflect their economy, culture, and politics. Fi lms basically present societys values and beliefs at a certain time and place; each film reflects a certain era and a certain issue. Filmmakers always try to connect with audience through presenting something that may touch their lives or experiences. Finally, Films are now basically part of our lives, routine, and activities.

We Need Affirmative Action Essay -- essays research papers

PRO-AFFIRMATIVE ACTION   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  What is it? Well affirmative action is, in plain text, the consideration of your class, race, gender, color, ethnicity, national origin, and disability when deciding who gets a certain job or admission into a school. If you are amenity applying for a job and there are other people that are applying as well then you will be considered for the job over one of the other people, even if they have more experience. It is not only for jobs, it is also used in any situation that there is a minority or different person, racially or ethnicity, because the particular business or corporation needs to have some minorities working in that business or in that school. They do this because of a government law or because they wish to add some diversity into their corporation or school in order to give some balance to have a more diverse setting. This strategy does not just work for minorities but also for women who apply to jobs where there are none or where the majority of the emp loyees are white male. Since the US has won the war of discrimination against woman, now more and more places want women to work there in order to do a few things. To add women to the workforce, or to hire women, is to not give a business an image of discriminating against woman for not having any female employees (no author, see work cited #1). Affirmative action was created to fight the war on discrimination. There are many examples where people of all different color, race, cultural background, ethnicity, or religion have been hired or offered an education where they were previously declined. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 made discrimination illegal and established equal employment opportunity for all Americans regardless of race, cultural background, color or religion. Subsequent executive orders, in particular Executive Order 11246 issued by President Johnson in September 1965, mandated affirmative action goals for all federally funded programs and moved monitoring and enforcement of affirmative action programs out of the White House and into the Labor Department (Kivel, 2). The California Civil Rights Initiative (CCRI) asked the question: Why should the people of California constitutionally prohibit themselves from ever again taking gender, race, national origin, ethnicity, or color into account in the operation of public employment, educa... ...niversity grew nervous as it watched trends in other states, such as Texas and California, so it sought a way to merge the applicant pools in a way that maintained representation from underrepresented racial groups-African Americans, American Indians, Filipinos, Hispanics, and Pacific Islanders. The university’s solution was to admit the top two-thirds of the freshman class solely on the basis of academic numbers. In evaluating the bottom third, the university used a more-extensive review process that combined academic and nonacademic ratings but gave less-explicit emphasis to race (Gorman, 1121). WORK CITED PAGE ________________ 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Affirmative Action, UCLA School of Law Affirmative Action Outreach, Education and Organizing Project. UCLA: 1999. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Kivel, Paul. Uprooting Racism: How White People Can Work for Racial Justice. Philadelphia, New Society Publishers: 1996 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Affirmative Action, UCLA School of Law Affirmative Action Outreach, Education and Organizing Project. UCLA: 1999. Gorman, Siobhan. After Affirmative Action, Washington, National Journal Group, Inc., 2000

Leaders: Born and Made Essay

A large amount of research is carried out around ‘are leaders born or made?’ studies have shown that genetics and the environment both play a part in leadership development. However, the relative contribution of each is subject to much scientific debate. For example, intelligence plays a part in leadership development, as does emotional intelligence. Certain personality traits such as self-confidence, dominance and extroversion also play an important role. The family often influences us, as does the national and organisational culture. some individuals may have the potential to lead, but were never given the opportunity. And, some believe they cannot lead, when they could have. However, most leaders would no doubt agree with the words of the American football coach Vince Lombardi who said, â€Å"Contrary to the opinion of many, leaders are not born. Leaders are made, and they are made by effort and hard work.† Vince Lombardi once stated, â€Å"Leaders are made, they are not born. They are made by hard effort, which all of us must pay to achieve any goal that is worthwhile.† For centuries, this has been a debate one that continues into society today. There are many opinions on this topic, but one thing is certain; all leaders are born, effective leaders are made. Every leader must be born with certain characteristics that distinguish them above their peers. One such characteristic is intelligence. Effective leaders aren’t necessarily the smartest people, but they have to be smart enough to do the job they’re assigned. Another trait is the ability to motivate others and themselves to achieve results, and to make decisions. These essential traits, ones that any leader must possess, are the foundation for the making of an effective leader. Not a single leader was ever born with all the necessary skills to be an effective leader. Leadership is an apprentice trade, and most leaders learn more than 80% on the job. To become effective  leaders must do one important thing; take responsibility and seek self-improvement. The most successful leaders seek out training that provides them an opportunity to expand their leadership abilities. Goldsmith and Morgan studied the progress of over 88,000 managers that had attended leadership development training. Those that returned from the training, talked about what they had learned, and did deliberate work to apply their learning were judged as becoming more effective leaders. Those that did not showed no improvement.() This goes to prove that leaders are born, effective leaders are made. Leaders must always continue to grow, and an effective leader makes learning a lifelong activity. Effective leaders continually seek out opportunities that will allow them to develop new skills that may be utilized in other areas. Effective leaders also seek out projects or jobs that draw attention to their leadership skills. Performance alone will not get you to the top in your career. An effective leader makes themselves visible to those that make decisions, promotions, a nd assignments. Leaders become more effective when they seek new skills, and make themselves stand out to higher leaders. Providing yet even more evidence that leaders are born, effective leaders are made. Though there is no true means to tell if leaders are born or made, but there are two things evident. First, all people are born, so in effect all leaders are born. They are born with the foundational traits that leaders must possess. Second, leaders only become effective through experience or when taught the skills to be effective. This tends to lead to the opinion that effective leaders are both born and made. References Bock, W. (2006). Three Star Leadership. Retrieved November 21, 2013, from Official site of Wally Bosch: http://www.threestarleadership.com Gentry, W., Deal, J. J., Stawiski, S., & Ruderman, M. (2012, March). Are Leaders Born or Made? Retrieved November 21, 2013, from Center for Creative Leadership: http://www.ccl.org

Adding a Date or Time Stamp to an Access 2010 Table

There are many applications where you may wish to add a date/time stamp to each record, identifying the time that the record was added to the database. It’s easy to do this in Microsoft Access using the Now() function, in fact, it shouldnt take more than 5 minutes. In this tutorial, I explain the process step-by-step.  Note: These instructions are for Microsoft Access 2010. If you are using an earlier version of Access, please see Adding a Date or Time to an Access Database. Adding a Date or Time Stamp Open the Microsoft Access database containing the table to which you wish to add a date or time stamp.In the left window pane, double-click on the table where you would like to add a date or time stamp.Switch the table into design view by selecting Design View from the View drop-down menu in the upper left corner of the Office Ribbon.Click on the cell in the Field Name column of the first blank row of your table. Type a name for the column (such as â€Å"Record Added Date†) in that cell.Click the arrow next to the word Text in the Data Type column of the same row and choose Date/Time from the drop-down menu.In the Field Properties window pane at the bottom of the screen, type â€Å"Now()† (without the quotes) into the Default Value box.Also in the Field Properties pane, click the arrow in the cell corresponding to the Show Date Picker property and select Never from the drop-down menu.Save your database by pressing the disk icon in the upper left corner of the Access win dow.Verify that the new field works properly by creating a new record. Access should automatically add a timestamp to the Record Added Date field. Tips: The Now() function adds the current date and time to the field. Alternatively, you may use the Date() function to add the date without the time.