Category Archives: Writing

Links: Identity, Kindle, Language, and the Moon

Posted on July 31, 2010 by Kelson

Posted in Comics, Computers/Internet, Life, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Web Design, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Do You Fix Old Online Typos?

Posted on May 27, 2010 by Kelson

I always feel somewhat embarrassed when I find a typo in one of my old blog posts, and try to fix it. I’m a little less concerned with forum posts, since they tend to be more ephemeral anyway, and I should probably treat Twitter updates and Facebook status the same way, but I’ve made my share of “Oops, I mean to say ____” posts.

How about you? If you stumble on one of your own online posts and find a typo, what do you do about it?


The poll is open through June 8. And yes, I know there’s a typo in the question. I didn’t notice until after several votes had been cast, which meant that Twtpoll won’t let me fix it. :-(

Posted in Computers/Internet, Writing | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Perspective

Posted on December 1, 2009 by Kelson
  • Having one of *those* mornings. On the plus side, I’m not the one who flipped his car on the freeway. #
  • Writing effective link text – an old article, but worth revisiting. #
  • Oops! Was so focused on figuring out WHY random Japanese characters were replacing letters in Twhirl that I forgot to take a screenshot! #

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Short Copy & New Spring

Posted on May 12, 2009 by Kelson

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Carbs & Contrast

Posted on April 28, 2009 by Kelson

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On Original Ideas

Posted on September 4, 2008 by Kelson

Newsarama’s Ambidextrous column has a post on Original Ideas and Influences. Brandon Thomas talks about coming up with ideas only to find out someone else has already written them, and about how easy it is to unconsciously incorporate concepts you’ve been exposed to as you write your own material.

Something to consider in the next plagiarism scandal.

Posted in Comics, Writing | 1 Comment

No, They Don’t Read

Posted on May 7, 2008 by Kelson

It’s clear that a lot of people don’t actually read web pages before they respond to them. They’ll do things like…

  • Contact someone with a similar name, even when it’s clearly the wrong sort of organization — say, a student writing club and not the bookseller that’s been causing them problems.
  • Ask a blogger for a job application for a company mentioned in the post.
  • Ask unrelated tech support questions on a blog post because they used the wrong search terms for their problem.
  • Ask for help creating Flash animations on a forum dedicated to the Flash super-hero, then get indignant when people have the gall to point out that they’re in the wrong place.

Now, usability guru Jakob Nielsen reports on a study showing just how much people don’t read. In the average visit, users only read 28% of your text if you’re lucky. You have to drop way down — to 111 words — just to count on visitors reading half of it.

Depressing, but it explains so much. And it suggests there’s a benefit to highlighting key phrases. If they’re only going to read ¼ of the text, you may as well make sure it includes the important stuff.

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Legality Links

Posted on December 14, 2007 by Kelson

Organization for Transformative Works – dedicated to protecting the expression of fan fiction, fan art, etc. (via Naomi Novik)

Open Standards, One Web, and Opera – Just why are standards important, anyway? (via Opera Watch)

Speaking of Opera, their EU antitrust complaint against Microsoft has been making waves. Responses at CSS3.info, Web Standards Project, Slashdot (edit: more Slashdot), Asa Dotzler, Opera Watch, plus a Q&A w/ Haarvard. My take: Good luck on unbundling, but if they can force Microsoft to catch up with the rest of the market in terms of standards support, I’m all for it.

Nissan vs. Nissan. On my way to work I saw a bumper sticker on an XTerra that said “In support of our freedom, it’s my last Nissan.” Huh? There was clearly a web address below it, but it was too small to read at that distance. So I looked up the phrase, and apparently there’s been a long-running dispute over the domain name nissan.com, between a small computer business named after its founder, Uzi Nissan, and the Nissan car company. The dispute was eventually resolved (correctly, IMO, since he has a legit reason to use the name) in favor of the little guy. On the other hand, I don’t see why the site makes such a big deal about Nissan’s “French Connection” to Renault.

Posted in Computers/Internet, Opera, Politics, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Linkage: Authorship, Allergies & Alternate History

Posted on December 2, 2007 by Kelson

Catching up on interesting links from the past week.

Balkanized North America Map (thumbnail)Balkanized North America: what if every region that started independent had stayed that way, and every region that threatened to secede from the US or Canada had succeeded? (via ***Dave)

Enter Sandman: Who wrote “Footprints”? You’ve probably read the poem, or heard it, in which the narrator dreams of walking along a beach with God, and looking back and noting how many sets of footprints there are at different points in their life. It turns out at least four people claim authorship. (via Neil Gaiman)

Lunar UnicycleRetro-Future: To the Stars! Science-fiction illustrations from 1930–1970, many of them from Soviet/Eastern Bloc countries. (via Slashdot, though I noticed it popped up again today on The Beat)

My Son’s Food Allergies: Danger Every Day: An essay on a family dealing with their toddler’s serious (i.e. life-threatening) food allergies. I am so glad I didn’t have things this bad when I was younger. Fortunately for me, mine didn’t get really dangerous until I was around 17 or 18—just in time to go off to college and get exposed to all kinds of strange food! (Found on CNN)

Citizens Against Ugly Street Spam (CAUSS): volunteer group that tears down unsightly (and illegal) signs stapled to telephone poles and such. I saw their site a few years ago, but had no idea that they were not only still around, but had expanded to multiple cities. (again, via ***Dave)

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Nanomore

Posted on November 6, 2007 by Kelson

Official NaNoWriMo 2007 ParticipantDecided that with everything else that’s going on, I don’t have time for the added stress of Nanowrimo right now. Last night I didn’t even mess with the Flash-related projects that have been looming (way behind on current stuff for my site, and I’m contributing an article to the TwoMorrows Flash Companion book). All I did was catch up on comics & blogs and watch Heroes. It was amazingly relaxing.

Ah, well. I know I can do it, since I finished last year. And I’ll probably write some more on this story, in which case I’ll keep updating my profile. But I’m not going to worry about writing 1,700 words a day, or finishing 50,000 words this month.

I won’t have a new novel at the end of the month, but I’ll be a lot less stressed out dealing with everything else.

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