I just finished reading an article in a local paper that reports the investigation of the alleged ghost(s) in Slippery Rock University's Miller Auditorium. It seems unexplainable things happen there, though I don't recall any while I was a student. A paranormal research group from northern PA spent Saturday night collecting data using all manner of equipment to detect that which cannot be seen or heard by most human eyes. Reportedly, a 14-year old psychic accompanying the group saw several apparitions, including a tall man with dark hair sitting in a front row seat of the auditorium. The group claims it will take several weeks to analyze the data. It will be interesting to see the results.
Winter has a stronghold on western PA. Sub-zero temps the past few days makes it seem as though spring will never come. At least we didn't get the heavy snows the coast received. Warmer temps are forecast for the weekend, and I will be one happy woman if that happens.
Was anyone else as disturbed by The Bachelor's final night as I was? I couldn't believe Jason actually broke up with Melissa on the air. How humiliating was that for her? She is a beautiful and sweet young woman and I certainly hope the best young men of American agree and go after her. I personally don't care for Molly - I don't think she really cares that much for Jason and his son, but Jason made his choice and I doubt will ever be able to get Melissa back. What is it with a second finale tonight? More surprises? Maybe he decided to go back to Deanna. I just don't like it when these reality shows with big audiences cut into other reality shows with the same audiences. Idol time should be sacrosanct.
Nuff.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Monday, March 2, 2009
SEO and Twitter and all things Networthy
It amazes and astounds me the way the Internet has changed since I first connected in 1994. It was obvious back then that anything was possible online because there was so much ROOM! I thought it would be a great way to do research but realized it took time to input a lot of data, and it did. Today a searcher can find just about anything, except for that elusive something that you need but cannot locate. Though many hours are wasted looking, the search can take you to many interesting places.
Back in those early days, the only internet providers for the average person were Prodigy, Compuserve. and AOL. I tried them all, but ended up using AOL for a few years. My youngest daughter was a teenager then, and that fact coupled with the limited number of hours one could spend online (like about 4) could, and did, spell financial disaster. Three-hundred dollars later, I put passwords on everything, including the log-in. That didn't do any good - she figured it all out. The next best thing was to disconnect the phone cord (everything was dial-up in those days) and take it with me. I was so happy when unlimited Internet use for a set monthly fee came into being!
When I began to do freelance writing online, I found I had an information deficit. SEO, keywords, social networking - all those terms were new to me, and I am still trying to figure them out. The whole concept of social networking seems to be lacking in substance to me and I suppose that is because it is so different from everything I have learned in life. Kind of like what many freelancers do when writing an article. Instead of diligently researching many sources, including the READING of those sources, and making sure those sources are sound and not written by yet another careless freelancer, today's content writer seems to go the quickest route possible. The result is frequently, judging by much of what I read online, a piece with poor grammar, spelling, and incorrect information. Surely the educational system hasn't lowered standards so much that correct use of our language is no longer important. I hope not, because the written word is such an important part of communication. The purpose of punctuation, particularly the comma, is for clarification of meaning.
I suspect more than a few English teachers were a bit weak on grammar rules and the result was several generations of high school graduates who didn't know the rules. How sad. That said, mea culpa for any errors I have made here.
Back in those early days, the only internet providers for the average person were Prodigy, Compuserve. and AOL. I tried them all, but ended up using AOL for a few years. My youngest daughter was a teenager then, and that fact coupled with the limited number of hours one could spend online (like about 4) could, and did, spell financial disaster. Three-hundred dollars later, I put passwords on everything, including the log-in. That didn't do any good - she figured it all out. The next best thing was to disconnect the phone cord (everything was dial-up in those days) and take it with me. I was so happy when unlimited Internet use for a set monthly fee came into being!
When I began to do freelance writing online, I found I had an information deficit. SEO, keywords, social networking - all those terms were new to me, and I am still trying to figure them out. The whole concept of social networking seems to be lacking in substance to me and I suppose that is because it is so different from everything I have learned in life. Kind of like what many freelancers do when writing an article. Instead of diligently researching many sources, including the READING of those sources, and making sure those sources are sound and not written by yet another careless freelancer, today's content writer seems to go the quickest route possible. The result is frequently, judging by much of what I read online, a piece with poor grammar, spelling, and incorrect information. Surely the educational system hasn't lowered standards so much that correct use of our language is no longer important. I hope not, because the written word is such an important part of communication. The purpose of punctuation, particularly the comma, is for clarification of meaning.
I suspect more than a few English teachers were a bit weak on grammar rules and the result was several generations of high school graduates who didn't know the rules. How sad. That said, mea culpa for any errors I have made here.
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