The alternate title to this blog could be “Why do I keep getting my irritating cousin’s political rants in my Facebook newsfeed?” There’s an answer to that question if that’s happening to you, and it comes in the form of a question: “Do you engage with your cousin’s Facebook rants?” Because if the answer is YES, boy, are you in for a revelation – engaging… [Read More]
Writing is primarily a solitary activity. But, as Stephen King wrote in On Writing, “Write with the door closed, rewrite with the door open”. At some point you will share your work with someone for editing – and that’s where the art of writing gets technologically tricky. Microsoft Word has a well-documented compatibility issue between versions of the software; Google Docs doesn’t have an easy… [Read More]
If you are working towards publication and own an eReader, chances are there’s a copy of APE: Author Publisher Entrepreneur sitting on your Nook. It’s a manifesto on the art of self-promotion and marketing books aimed at the self-published author, but it’s making waves for wordsmiths of all publication inclination. Its author, Guy Kawasaki, wrote most of this bestselling eBook from a 5-by-5 closet of… [Read More]
You may have been noticing a particular status update making the rounds on Facebook. It’s a disclaimer that asserts the poster’s copyright and privacy rights, and it makes it seem like it’s as easy as copy/paste to protect yourself from anything you failed to catch in the Terms and Conditions you agreed to upon signing up for Facebook. Of course, it’s total malarky. Before you can… [Read More]
If you’re an author on Facebook, you’ve certainly noticed that your personal timeline and your page exist as two seperate entities – at least on Facebook, your ‘Author-Self’ and ‘Everything-Else-Self’ are as divided as the North and South Poles. It’s not even possible to write on your own personal timeline; you can only communicate with other business pages directly. What’s a well-connected and sociable author to… [Read More]
What’s the buzz about? It’s just another social network and another way to waste time on the Internet, right? Not quite. A few weeks ago, GalleyCat shared a post on how writers can use Pinterest. Then they followed up last week by collecting several fun reader-themed boards, proving the speed of the network’s growth as publishers like Vintage Scholastic and Chronicle Books hop on board and… [Read More]
Art Spiegelman wrote the only comic book ever to have won a Pulitzer Prize. Maus: A Survivor’s Tale is a memoir of his father, Vladek, a Polish Jew and Holocaust survivor. In Spiegelman’s comic book, Jews are depicted as mice, while Nazis are depicted as cats. In an obvious nod to Spiegelman’s artistic genius, this animation video by Evgeny Morozov uses mice to represent citizens… [Read More]
In light of the recent Mid-East upheavals, I came across this video that I consider a new perspective, and wanted to share it with you. The assumption has been that The Internet helps promote democracy. That’s what the Buzz Leaders tell us. You’ve probably heard the stories of bloggers and Twitter users helping to protest against evil dictators or unfair governments. In an effort to… [Read More]
