blogging: July 2007 Archives

Yesterday I came across a post at Untwisted Vortex about blogging and grammar, punctuation and spelling. The point of the post:

I believe that how you write is just as important as what you write. Your level of accuracy in grammar, spelling and punctuation are obviously dictated by the level of professionalism required (or desired) for your blog. Even if you're writing a purely personal blog, some level of accuracy is necessary in order to convey your message and the meaning behind the message.

I couldn't agree more. Even though it would appear I am placing myself up on a pedestal for all the world to emulate, I acknowledge that I am capable of letting mistakes fall through the cracks. I am not perfect. I try to proofread my posts, utilize the spellchecker and make sure that things are up to snuff before I press that post button. But, as I said, sometimes I miss stuff due to time constraints, distractions, or other things that prevent me from being absolutely perfect. The only time it bothers me is when I'm reading someone's blog ( or other online publication ) and I come across errors that demonstrate an obvious lack of any effort to proofread. What will further irritate me is when I know that they are held in high regard in the blogosphere. So with this in mind I decided to compile a short list of words that seem to be commonly used in the wrong context, provide the correct usage and a few links that might be useful.

Firefox is a pretty awesome browser. I not only use it exclusively to surf the web but also some of its features come in pretty handy when you develop web apps. There's an abundance of extensions and themes available for it. However, some of this stuff can get pretty overwhelming and tweaking it for your own benefit can be a little imposing to the non-techie. This guide could come in pretty handy if you're trying to personalize all those Firefox tabs.

This one is not for kids or those who are offended easily. So if you click on the link - don't blame me !!. If you're in the market for a t-shirt that expresses your innermost feelings ( even when they're not very acceptable ), here's the site for you.

Words of wisdom that, even though they were muttered almost 70 years ago, ring true even today.

Eminem, Bruce Willis, Jean Claude Van-Damme . . . ever wonder what they looked like when they were kids?

Ever wonder where you should hide your money in case a burglar finds his ( or her ) way in? Here's a guide written for you.

I found this cool t-shirt a week or so ago. If you'd like your own go to North Shore Shirts. I've browsed their selection quite a bit and they have a wide variety of stuff to pick from. With shipping it only cost $15.
 

Beer education 101. The college class that every student seems to major in at one time or another. Speaking of beer, we've all had those moments in time when all there is is warm beer. Warm beer is enough to gag a maggot as far as I'm concerned. Fortunately, there's an easy way to chill warm beer in under five minutes.

Newsmap is a site that visually maps news from the Google news aggregator. It's pretty interesting how the news is displayed. From their about page:

Newsmap does not pretend to replace the googlenews aggregator. Its objective is to simply demonstrate visually the relationships between data and the unseen patterns in news media. It is not thought to display an unbiased view of the news; on the contrary, it is thought to ironically accentuate the bias of it.

If you're anything like me, age has taken a bit of a toll and perhaps you're getting a little wider around the midsection. I've been thinking about the easiest way to work in some time to get in a little exercise. Thankfully someone's come up with 101 ways to lose weight quickly.

Last on the list today . . . You can't help but laugh at these misplaced or unfortunately timed ads.

Admittedly, I have not tried using it yet so I don't have a whole bunch of details for you. However, this plugin is supposed to show the lyrics for whatever song is playing in either Winamp or Windows Media Player. Pretty cool, huh? Once I try using it I may write it up in a short post.

The Internet offers so much to each and every one of us. From those in ivory towers to those who are easily distracted with small, shiny objects. Have some fun playing with this text to speech generator.

If you've recently decided that you need to get into shape ( and I'm not suggesting you should ) or you already are in shape and need something to supplement your workout, this is the link you've been looking for . . . 15 excellent stretching exercises demonstrated.

Did you see that one where . . . oh never mind, just go watch hilariously funny ads. My favorite was the one for SFR Mobile. You must have the sound on to get the joke because you need to hear the phone call in the background.