Work In Progress, blogging since 2009, has surpassed 200 followers! Thank you all — friends, family, readers — each and every one, from 1 to 200. And counting . . .
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Category Archives: Blogging
Global Travel Contest, Clarification
“My Destination,” a travel industry Web site, is the sponsor of the travel blogging competition referenced in my Jan. 29 repost from the blog, “Bucket List Publications.”
As information goes viral around the Internet, it’s easy to be confused about the original source of the information. You can go straight to the source for more information about the contest here: http://www.mydestination.com/bbb#.UQcaxW8702w
The home page for My Destination is here. Travel is a huge worldwide industry.
Good luck to all in the contest. – John
Global Competition - All Expenses Paid Around the World Blogging Trip - Launched Today
Win Travel's Biggest, Baddest Bucket List with My DestinationGlobal competition to win a six-month all expenses paid trip blogging around the world - plus $50,000 cash
Los Angeles, CA – January 28, 2013 - My Destination, a global travel resource powered by a community of local experts, unleashed travel's Biggest, Baddest, Bucket List offering one lucky person the prize of a lifetime: a six-month, all inclusive blogging trip around the world to a minimum of 25 international destinations and a $50,000 (USD) cash prize upon their return.
Contests are all the rage in the blogosphere. WordPress positively encourages contests! And now (drumroll please . . .) the grand prize for possibly the most sensational competition of all goes to a contest offered by My Destination. It's a contest designed especially for bloggers (of whom there are millions worldwide). Video bloggers will especially love it. I predict the contest will also attract a zillion entries (give or take a billion, but who's counting?) from people who simply love to travel. The ingenious part is, you can even base your entry on your own home town, humble though it may be. As a public service, I'm reblogging the story here. If nothing else this contest is going to generate a wealth of free publicity for travel destinations, many that you've never heard of or thought about. Enjoy the fun. -- John
In conversation with Matt Mullenweg, WordPress
At Le Web 2012, I chatted on stage with my friend Matt Mullenweg. We discussed a variety of topics, but the conversation kicked off with our growing disgust with the un-customer centric approach of social networks. In their bid to become dominant platforms, they are sacrificing the needs of Internet users, and perhaps that is why it is time for the Internet entrepreneurs to think different about how we build the future.
Philosophy of the Web 101. I think everyone who's interested in where the Web is and where it's going, or in the evolution of social media, and the rise of mobile media, will want to hear this 20-minute conversation between Om Malek and Matt Mullenweg. Is the age of the laptop coming to an end? Here comes the touch-screen future. What comes after that? We'll think about it next year. -- John
Iconic Photographer Steve McCurry Talks Blogging and WordPress
Steve McCurry, a professional photographer and author of several photography books, shares his reasons for why he blogs on WordPress.com. His iconic photo, Afghan Girl, graced the cover of National Geographic and was named one of the 100 Best Pictures of the magazine. McCurry has been recognized with some of the most prestigious awards in the industry, including the Robert Capa Gold Medal, National Press Photographers Award, and an unprecedented four first prize awards from the World Press Photo contest, to name a few.
You too, could be a blogger. Or even a photographer. It's interesting to me that in the age of video, words and photography remain irreplaceable. I wouldn't want any photographer to miss Steve McCurry's work. His advice to budding photographers is also good for budding writers. To paraphrase: Find a particular place or subject, and dig deep into it. In a way that's like my motto, "Write what you know." -- John
Eight views from Slovenia
Aside
Can someone please tell me why I have eight views from Slovenia today? And two from Zimbabwe?
Too Easily Distracted
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My unfinished review of J.K. Rowling’s “The Casual Vacancy” is weighing heavy on my mind. Also, I’ve been wanting to post a remembrance of Sen. George McGovern, who passed over to a more peaceful place on Sunday, at the age of 90. And I have another “power in a box” review waiting to be written, about the new Kindle Fire. Nevertheless, I’m distracted by the sound of distant thunder. Hurricane Sandy is heading north with potential to rearrange the Eastern Seaboard. The hurricane is the blip on the radar that I cannot ignore. – John
Related articles
- Hybrid Of Sandy, Winter Storm Threatens East Coast (wbur.org)
- Billion Dollar Storm Threatens East Coast Next Week (planetsave.com)
- Hurricane Sandy Poses Growing Threat To East Coast (huffingtonpost.com)
- Hurricane #Sandy is being called a #snoreastercane if and when it hits the East Coast (vielmetti.typepad.com)
Power In A Box: Cannon Power Shot SX160
CANNON POWER SHOT SX 160 — WHENEVER I’M BUYING NEW TECHNOLOGY, I ALWAYS WONDER: “DOES EVERYTHING I NEED COME IN THE BOX?” IN THIS CASE ‘YES,’ ALTHOUGH A PROTECTIVE CARRYING CASE WOULD BE A NICE ADDITION.
You want to know what an obsolete bachelor’s degree feels like? Long time ago, as part of my journalism major at University of Maryland, I took a class on news photography. Although 135 mm film and Single Lens Reflex (SLR) cameras were state of the art in the 1960s, the journalism class provided us with older Yashika Mat cameras.
Today, I unboxed the very latest Canon digital camera. It can make an amateur photographer like me feel like a pro! Photography has come a long, long, way since I took that class.
“Freshly Pressed” Insider’s Report
Being “Freshly Pressed” is the best thing that can happen to a blogger, short of going viral. (But it doesn’t put you in a class with Adrianna Huffington or Matt Drudge.) Human beings thrive on recognition and affirmation.
Freshly Pressed focused my attention. It prompted some overdue housekeeping around the blog, clean-up and improvements that are hopefully invisible to the reader.
It also reminded me of the largeness of the digital world. One little blog is like a star in a galaxy, or sand on a beach. Though insignificant in the grand scheme of things, one blog can shine light in the darkness, or – like a grain of sand — irritate the complacent and powerful.
Blogging Worldwide
Readership of my blogs has always been mostly in America, with a few readers from other parts of the world, especially Europe. Lately, readership has gone international. Since WordPress started tracking hits with a nifty worldwide map, I’ve noticed a significant increase in readers from all corners of the globe, with the possible exception of Africa.
“WordPress Rules the Web”
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Adriano Gasparri photo
An amazing “business” story is on Forbes: “WordPress Rules the Web.” It’s the story of WordPress; its founder, Matt Mullenweg; and his unusual and counterintuitive approach to software, blogging, and profit.
Related articles
- The Future of Work? (assortedstuff.com)
Play In Progress???
This humble blog would be more popular by a mile if I changed the name to “Play In Progress.” That’s the thought that occurs to the blogger in me as I look at the blog’s three most recent entries:
Then to make matters worse, all those posts about the Supreme Court and Chief Justice John Roberts. Talk about serious! All together now: BORING! What do you think? I’d seriously like your feedback.
Photo by Roo Reynolds via Wikipedia
If I could choose between Playful and Joyful, on one hand, and Serious and Responsible on the other, I wonder which would I choose? Is one better than the other? Can you be both? Is it a matter of your age or role in life? Child, Teenager, Young Adult, Middle-aged, and so on? As I take stock at age 64, which would be the better road for me? Or can you have it all? I believe I’ll be posting some more on this dilemma.
In the words of a great American, Popeye: “I ‘yam what I ‘yam.” But maybe my personality and my blog needs a little tune-up.
Naturally, I can’t write more just this minute, because I’m due at my paying job in an hour.
– John Hayden
With WordAds, My Nintendo News Turns Hobby Into Budding Business
Last November WordPress.com announced the launch of our WordAds program, whereby WordPress.com sites can partner and share revenues on ads sold and managed by WordPress.com. Since its beta launch, WordAds has grown to over ten thousand sites. WordAds has been a success because bloggers can focus on content and building their audiences while handing off the time-consuming role of advertising optimization to the WordAds team.
A significant development in the world of blogging! WordPress is beta testing a new advertising feature called WordAds. You may have noticed test ads both here on "Work In Progress" and on my other blog, "Ocean City Blog" AKA "Maryland On My Mind."
The ads are usually sophisticated videos and can be seen at the bottom of the most recent post on my home page, and also at the bottom of specific posts you click on to read. If you have feedback to offer on the new adds, please leave a comment. As with Internet advertising in general, a blog or Web site needs a LOT of traffic to make more than coffee money through advertising, and that's only if you buy your coffee someplace cheaper than Starbucks.
-- John Hayden
Related articles
- Rare Blue Lobster Found In Ocean City (baltimore.cbslocal.com)
- Life's A Holiday At The Beach (marylandonmymind.com)
Quote
“Bring on the populist battle we have been waiting for. The 1% vs the 99%.”
Jonathan Taplin (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The quote is from Jon Taplin. Everyone who’s serious about the 2012 election and the continuing economic crisis would probably appreciate his blog at http://jontaplin.com. I know his savvy essays have helped me understand what a political and economic predicament we’re in.
