The best camera to buy. Ever.

eye-to-eye with a lens

Because I’m often seen as a photographer, my friends sometimes ask me what can be done to improve their photos. And if their questions are about what equipment to buy, I often steer them first toward the debate regarding “photography = science + art.”

For those who haven’t heard that one, photography is a balance between two parts, science and art. The science : light, equipment, and mechanics. The art: composition, timing, light, balance and contrast, and story. My point? Too often, people concentrate on

Here is my vCard from card.ly

You’ve heard of eCards (electronic greeting cards that replace paper greeting cards for all occasions). And
you’ve heard of eCards (electronic business cards that you attach to email signatures or save in your online address book).

Now comes the vCard or virtual business card.

Powered by card.ly, vCards take the eCard (electronic business card) to the next step. The “v” is for “virtual.” Integrate your social networks (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, your blog, etc.) to your vCard, and display a live stream of your recent posts.

Here’s my vCard: http://card.ly/geewhizkid

How to break writer’s block – the conclusion

I promised a follow-up blog post about the writer who was suffering from writer’s block. Today, the conclusion of our story.

“Jay’s” piece went through a 3-level approval process, yet escaped with very minimal changes from the reviewers!

Her biggest challenge was in reducing word count! Remember that her initial problem was just getting started!

Her second challenge was selecting a title. Remember that the title was the piece she was initially stuck on. Our writer’s block breaking tactic allowed her to skip the title, get started on the content, and come back to the title later in the process. (NOTE: seldom do I start with a title or working headline. I also save my introductory paragraphs until the end, after I’ve developed my major points and conclusion. Only then, do I go back and write the opening paragraph. Think of that writing strategy for a moment, how else will I know where I’m going until I’ve gotten there first? I’ll wait for you to process that.)

I read her final piece, which listed three challenges and identified the strategies to overcome each challenge. The piece flowed, displayed a logical organization, and read with a tight writing style. Its final title made sense and captured the flavor of the full content.

In summary, Jay’s final piece came in at 3 pages, about 37 paragraphs, with a word count of 1,440 words.

Success story!

Related posts:

• How to break writer’s block – Part 1
• How to break writer’s block – Part 2

Facebook turns itself on its head

I think this interface would pose a challenge for us here in the United States. Two questions:

1. Would it be easier to use if someone was from “down under?”
2. Will this create a sudden demand for chiropractors?

Now that you’ve strained your neck to view the page, did you notice the language setting at the bottom of the screen capture?

5 Rules for Better Web Writing

Mashable.com’s Josh Catone clearly practices what he preaches when he writes the “5 Rules for Better Web Writing.”

• For seasoned technical writers, this is nothing new.
• For newbies and my practicing students who are thrust into the world of technical writing for the Web, pay heed.

How to break writer’s block – Part 2

Are you curious how our writer did on her writer’s block problem? Yesterday, I posted a blog entry on a writer (whom I’ll call “Jay”) facing writer’s block and impending deadlines.

Today, I checked in with Jay and learned the first draft went out to a first reviewer, at a whoppin’ 1,300 word count! Yeah, I’d say the block was broken.

jay's mindmap

Jay appreciated the following tips from our brainstorming and mindmapping session. Jay shared that before our session:

“I was overwhelmed on what was important and where to start. During our session, I was able to spit out a lot of topics and then organize afterwards…By seeing the topics in front of me instead of floating around in my head…it made it easier to focus and prioritize the information.”

So, stay tuned for a follow-up post on Jay’s final production piece, as the deadline to production approaches.

How to break writer’s block – Part 1

A fellow writer just mentioned getting stuck in writer’s block. It happens to all of us. So, I spent 10 minutes helping the writer (whom I’ll call “Jay”) overcome writer’s block. How?

I had Jay list the obstacles on sticky notes. “What is keeping me from crossing that divide between here and the finished product?”

why Jay's stuck

Once Jay saw them written, he/she either (a) knew that it was real and had a plan to overcome it or (b) realized it wasn’t a real obstacle after all.

With that out of the way, I had Jay mindmap the written project. In ten minutes, we had an outline of four key points and the four solutions, an intro, and an ending.

Jay had been stuck on the headline. So we put “headline” as a mindmap topic and left it blank for now.

I’ll write a follow-up post on Jay’s progress in a few days. Stay tuned.

What do teachers need?

A new school year starts this month for many school districts. That prompts me to write a blog entry on “Top 10 Things that Teachers Want” in their classrooms.

This is timely, considering the state of our education budgets, increased class sizes, and the growing challenge of students arriving ill-equipped by cash-strapped parents.

So teachers, if ten parents walked up to you and asked what they could contribute to your classroom, how would you answer that? What’s on your shopping list?

Your answers could range from the basics (paper, pencils, etc.) to the pie-in-the-sky (laptop, SmartBoard).

Please use the comments to reply.

Share. Play nicely!

geewhiz was taught to play nicely.

Do you facilitate training or brainstorming meetings? Read the ten groundrules for participants, and see how the simple geewhizkid brain translated them into three rules for preschoolers.
(simplified on vspblog.com)

Top Twitter freebie: TwitterMosaic

My Twitter “friends” are those who I follow and who mutually follow me.
Usually displayed in one long vertical list in the Twitter browser, my list goes on for five or six pages, not the best way to navigate quickly to a friend’s stream.

Enter TwitterMosaic, a free image generating utility by Sxoop Technologies in Cork, Ireland.

The image happens to appeal to those who, like me, have dominant visual learning style preferences.