Paul Merrill
Reebok recently released the Zigtech shoe line. I think they’re really fun. Heather doesn’t like them. I don’t need a new pair of shoes, so the decision to not buy a pair was easy.
Which one do you like best? Or are you with Heather on this one?
My friend Jon Swanson spearheaded a great campaign to reduce the debt his church has on their building. He came up with several ways to view how the monthly mortgage payments could be better used – in this instance, one monthly payment could be used to fund a large number of New Testaments, rather than paying interest.
Takeaway: What are some ways you can use your resources in a better way?
There are two directions people go with their blogs – having dates with their posts and not having dates. I vote yes for putting the date with your post. Reasons?
1. It shows your readers that you are staying current with your blog.
2. It gives your readers a frame of reference for when the material was created. This is important for determining if the information might be relevant. In many fields these days, the latest information is vital. (This is true for social media, the area I work in.)
The other argument is that “my information is timeless”. That may be true – but your readers would like to know when you thought that particular thought. Maybe you have changed your thinking since then! (Not many people take time to go back to update all of their posts.)
If you are giving timeless information – and it’s valuable – just post it again, in a different way. Readers are smart enough to search your blog for that topic, if they liked what you had to say.
Finally, sometimes I actually will leave a blog when the blog is giving technical information and there is not date with the post.
Philo Farnsworth was the inventor of the TV. I saw his house last week. The most incredible thing about the home was how average it was. It is on an ordinary corner in an ordinary suburban neighborhood in an ordinary midwestern town.
Times have changed. If he were alive today, his third home would be on Seventeen Mile Drive in Pebble Beach.
“As a boy, Farnsworth saw television in the parallel furrows of his father’s potato field. His epiphany: Images could be scanned line by line.” (That’s from a Wired story.)
Moral of the story? Next time you’re viewing a field (or a forest, or a cityscape), look more closely. Your next great idea might be there.
I grabbed the photo from a video by Becky.
These lovely names are the supposed senders of spam that appeared recently in my gmail spam folder.
They have these characteristics:
– They are not normal spellings of English names.
– They are all female.
– Often the last name is a first name.
What does this tell me about spam?
– Those who respond are usually male.
– Those who respond might speak English as poorly as the spam authors.
– It’s fun to read these bizarre names.
More on spam.
No comment from me, but I welcome yours.
I thought that this headline represented an unusual choice. I chalk it up to marketing innocence – or ignorance.
My thoughts were several: does this mean that I can retire if I start an online business? That Patty Duke has already retired online, except for her promising modeling career? That this website (not prominently featured) would help me to learn how to retire? That as an internet user, I am encouraged to help an older person who does not know how to use the internet?
Takeaway: Writers, let’s think a little more carefully before we publish those headlines.
What kid in 1965 would be caught dead bringing this lunchbox to school? Maybe it was used by a pilot’s son who had no social awareness.
The wear and tear leads me to believe that whoever used it did so more than once. Maybe a pilot used it! But then, what pilot would be caught dead bringing a kids’ lunchbox to work in the morning?
Update: See the comments for some really valid points about this.
Again, from the Fort Wayne Air Museum.
This baby was from World War II, Japan.
I do have this theory that Japan has more cool stuff than just about anywhere else in the world, except maybe Italy. This backpack is actually a parachute – from the Fort Wayne Air Museum.
Cool.
So I went on a business trip last week. My itinerary included three airports. The Fort Wayne airport had a museum devoted to airplanes and flying. It was small, but I enjoyed my visit.
My only critical comment was that there was absolutely no focus. As you can tell from these photos, the display ranged from Leonardo da Vinci and Lego fighter jets to a large section on Art Smith, a local pioneer in the realm of flying.
Takeaway: How can you bring focus to what you are doing? (And many may point that finger at me – how can I bring focus to this blog? I have thought about that – but I enjoy being able to cover a wide range of topics. I’m seriously pondering a separate site where I do focus more. This site will most likely remain my sandbox to play in.)
