Happy New Year!
Today’s Byte is a little different. First I wanted to send a reminder on a free webinar that I’m doing on Thursday on Facebook Stats: http://tinyurl.com/7m6hccc Please feel free join us.
Then I’m working with a group that is looking for product reviews – one lucky reviewer will win a $100 gift certificate. And you can review some of their free products and still qualify. Learning ZoneXpress http://www.learningzonexpress.com/ creates fun educational products that promote healthy choices – especially nutritional choices. They are running a Facebook contest, So if you write a review (fewer than 400 characters) and post it on their FB page you qualify for a drawing to win the gift cert.
Good luck!
I’m cheating this week by passing on tips that one of my customers is passing on to their patrons:
Here’s a quick take on the article on handling email:
1. Lower the volume.
2. Don’t ask to be kept “in the loop.”
3. Return email in batches.
4. Be clear.
5. Spell correctly.
6. Leave the iPhone or Blackberry at your desk sometimes.
7. Remember, email is not your job.
Here’s where I got it: http://www.lqpeda.com/2011/07/26/the-7-habits-of-highly-effective-emailers/ Because I am in Ireland I’ve been learning to live some of these tips already. Essentially I quite look at email at 5 pm (MN time). Then when I go back to it (at 2 am MN time) I find I can get through it much quicker than if I were answering messages as they came in.
Also I wanted to share another fun thing a different client is doing: http://melaniescorner.com/ You can follow their little Garden Hero toys around the world on their blog or Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/#!/learningzonexpress (My 7 year old has grown to love these little fruit and veg dolls!)
Two Bytes in a week? Maybe I’m back on track. One item was timely so I wanted to get this out in time for folks to enjoy the poster!
First – I work with some folks who have put together a cute Earth Day Poster that you can download for free http://www.learningzonexpress.com (scroll down to find it). With their permission, I’m sending the link with best wishes for a happy Earth Day (April 22)!
Second – do you have a friend on Facebook who is bugging you with her updates, yet you don’t want to deal with the politics of un-friending her? Well you could block her instead. The next time you see an update, just hover your mouse over the upper right hand portion of it. You’ll see a small X. Click on the X and you’ll get a dialog box asking if you want to 1) Hide this post, 2) Hide all posts by this person or 3) Mark as Spam. Choose the second option.
There you go – the person is hidden and none the wiser of your censorship.
Now what do you do if ever want to unblock those posts, just go to the very bottom of your Facebook homepage to find the older posts option. Just to the right you should find a “more options” button. If you click on that it will bring up a box with all things you have hidden and you can choose to unhide.
This week I attended the MHTA (MN High Tech Association) Spring Conference. Robert Stephens, founder of the Geek Squad, was a keynote. Robert was also a speaker at the Blandin Conference last fall. (Many of you will know that I work with and love the Blandin Foundation.) Anyways over the next couple weeks I’m going to try to highlight some of the ideas/tools that he mentioned. Partially I think they are fun – but partially I think that Robert has a good track record for knowing what’s on the horizon.
To start the ball rolling I wanted to mention Kickstarter http://www.kickstarter.com. Here’s the blub from the web site.
Kickstarter is the largest funding platform for creative projects in the world. Every month, tens of thousands of amazing people pledge millions of dollars to projects from the worlds of music, film, art, technology, design, food, publishing and other creative fields.
So if you have an idea you can go there for feedback and funding. If you have money you might go there for unique opportunities. It’s not like a traditional investment or gift. Each project offers its own benefits to donors. So maybe if get to name the product or get a free trial or signed first edition.
I’m bringing back an old tradition – a quiz for your family for Thanksgiving (below). I’ve focused on food this year. I hope you enjoy it.
Which of the following benefits are attributed to turkey?
- Protect from cancer and heart disease
- Protect from birth defects
- Keep cholesterol down
- All of the above
Which is part of the turkey is healthiest?
- White meat
- Dark meet
- Skin
Which Thanksgiving staple is known for medicinal benefits such as preventing urinary tract infections and ulcers?
- Pumpkin
- Cranberries
- Potatoes
- All of the Above
Which Thanksgiving staple was the first to be grown in space?
- Pumpkin
- Cranberries
- Potatoes
- Green Beans
Which pie has the least calories?
- Pumpkin
- Mince
- Apple
- Pecan
Which state is the leading producer of cranberries?
- Massachusetts
- Minnesota
- Washington
- Wisconsin
When was green bean casserole invented?
Potatoes originated from which country?
Quiz – http://10qs.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/thanksgiving-food-quiz-2010.pdf
Answers – http://10qs.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/thanksgiving-food-quiz-2010-answers.pdf
I have a double Byte today. The first part is for everyone:
Esty: http://www.etsy.com/ – it’s like e-bay for handmade stuff. Go there to buy unique handmade items or sell items if you make them. (I learned about it at the Blandin Conference http://tinyurl.com/37fo3lo last week – where I was also inspired to learn at least one new thing a week, which hopefully will keep me on top of the Bytes!)
The second part is for anyone who uses WordPress (on their own server) and wants to improve Search Engine Optimization.
All in One SEO Pack: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/all-in-one-seo-pack/
With All in One you can add meta tags (which are back in vogue) and make alterations to the title tags. You add it as you would any Plugin. Once added you’ll be able to access it under the WordPress Setting in the Dashboard. You need to administer it before you enable it. The top section is pretty straightforward, you add the title, meta-keywords and meta-description. Next you can a make modifications to the titles that show up in posts and pages – but it’s not as easy to set up. You can select what types of information you want to include in the title, such as the header, blog name, post categories or add your own text. Then you can set up no-index codes for categories and archives, which can be a good way to make sure that search engines aren’t penalizing you for duplicate content.
Once enabled you will also be able to set titles for each page and post when you write them – just scroll down for the option.
If you want more instructions on the setting the All in One options you can get more details here: http://www.jackleblond.com/all-in-one-seo-pack-configuration/
OK it’s a cheater Byte – although I wish I could offer a reward for the reader who can fit Bloomsday into conversation the most today.
Bloomsday is anniversary of the day that James Joyce’s Ulysses takes place. Ulysses is a day in the life of Leopold Bloom as he makes his way across Dublin (on June 16, 1904). It features a side story of Stephen Dedalus’ day as well. Here’s a great Bloomsday for Dummies site: http://thattherepaul.com/features/uford.html
We are going to spend the day following his path – well kind of. We skipped the naked swim in the ocean – but we might catch a pint in the pub for lunch. And yes, I’ve actually read the book, but remember I have an MA in Irish Lit so I sort of had to read it. If you love mythology, words and/or Dublin you’d enjoy it.
Have a great Bloomsday!
Today’s Byte is kind of fun – thanks to Rick in Minneapolis for sending it to me. It’s Library Thing (http://www.librarything.com). It’s part online catalog tool, it’s part social media. You can sign up with just a name and password. Then you can enter your book collection. How you define collection is up to you. It could be the books you own, books you’ve read, books you want to read…
Because Library Thing taps into a larger catalog, you don’t have to enter a lot of data to add your book. Just do a search and chance are you just need to select the right book. So you can think of your own reasons to catalog your books – I think I might challenge my kids to catalog their summer reading.
Once your online, Library Thing can give you book recommendations (or un-recommendations as they can them), can find you an online discussion or real live event in your area and more. Now I noticed that they didn’t list a few events in my area that I thought they would. If I were a better Library Thing citizen, I’d add them.
Happy reading!
So here’s my funny web site of the week for you: http://www.findagrave.com/
I learned about it on a bus ride across Scotland last week. The bus driver must have mentioned it half a dozen times.
Due to the time difference, we’re back home from the parade and the rest of the festivities. We wisely choose to participate only in events that target the whole family. But I’m using the holiday to cheat today because I don’t have a tip to share so much as I wanted to share one of my favorite sites:
TED: Ideas Worth Sharing: http://www.ted.com/
It’s a collection of videos from TED conferences. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design. The presenters speak for about 20 minutes on a huge range of topics – but I have enjoyed all of the ones I’ve seen. They speak about their industry but the idea of creativity and innovation always seem to shine through and I always feel like I learn something useful.
I’ve been a fan for a while but I have a renewed interest after attending a TEDx event at the Science Gallery in Dublin last week. TEDx are independent TED events. I wrote a post on it on our family blog, which may or may not be worth reading – but I will tell you that the presentations were great because the presenters had such a passion for what they did. I know a ton more about basking sharks after the event: http://10qs.wordpress.com/2010/03/14/tedx-dublin/
