Category: WordPress

Blogging Fundamentals 2018 – Assignments One Through Five

Sign at Ceasars Head State Park in South Carolina

First things first – time for an update on my progress toward achieving any of my New Year’s resolutions. I published my resolutions on 6 January 2018 in this post: 2018 – Time For Some New Year’s Resolutions. It was a pretty good list, ambitious yet achievable, so I thought, and while it is still too early in the year to say I failed entirely, I can say I am not doing well to achieve a single one. But, this post marks a little more progress toward achieving some of them.

The entire focus of completing the Blogging University Blogging Fundamentals course at this time is to completely revamp this blog to have it align more with what I foresee as my writing focus for the foreseeable future – using this blog to support my need to earn more money, which is one of my published resolutions. As a retired person, all my income is fixed now, so earning more money can only result from getting another job or developing income from home-based business. I am not looking for a new job and I’m not going to look for one, so this blog is going to be one tool to help me start earning from business. Thus, the focus of my writing is going to be business related, primarily home-based business related.

Other than shifting the focus of my writing, revamping the blog also means I am completely changing how it will look. Again, this works well with completing the Blogging Fundamentals course, since the fifth assignment is to “Love Your Theme,” in other words to try several themes until I find one I like and start using it. This turned out to be pretty easy as I identified a theme several weeks ago I wanted to use, so the next several weeks will not only see a change to my content but a blog that will be changing several times as I move from my existing theme to a new one.

As I stated in the title of this post, it’s being written to accomplish the first five assignments of the Blogging Fundamentals course. I already talked about changing the theme, so in the interest of actually completing the first four assignments, here they are as assigned in the emails I received.

Day One – Publish a “who I am and why I’m here post: This is simple isn’t it? I am here to write and have people read and enjoy what I write. Actually, it never has really been simple. In my very first post on this blog, I wrote, One single thread of advice is repeated over and over in everything I have ever read or heard about writing – “just write!” Get started! Write something today, and tomorrow, and again and again. Today, that is what I am doing. That is why I was here six years ago and it is why I am here today.

Day Two – Take Control of Your Title and Tagline: It’s very easy to complete this assignment, I’m not changing anything. My title and tagline are both fine with me and they are well established so they actually have some SEO value. Again, no change needed.

Day Three – Visit the Neighbors: This is where the whole concept of a blog as a community starts to come together – visiting other blogs and developing a relationship by starting to comment on other’s works. Over the years I have done this and followed several blogs. Since I am going in a new direction now, it’s incumbent on me to find new blogs with similar interests to start engaging as my new peers.

Day Four – Identify Your Audience: This is going to be a work in progress for me over the next few weeks as I refine exactly who I am trying to reach out to with my new business focus.

Next up over the next day or two will be unveiling the new look of the blog and a couple of posts to complete the next course assignments. Hopefully within the next few weeks I’ll have this going in the general direction I want.

 

2018 – Time For Some New Year’s Resolutions

Blood Sugar Average Chart for Dec. 2017

Okay, here we go. The new year is upon us and it is time to do what many, many, many people do – make my New Year’s Resolutions. As I was searching for an image to use for this post, instead I found this article from lifehack.org – 50 New Year’s Resolution Ideas And How To Achieve Each Of Them. Nearly all the items I thought of for my resolutions are on this list. The only one that isn’t is my number one resolution. So here is my list of resolutions for 2018. Like most people, the odds are against me sticking with all of them, but I’m going to try harder this year than I have in the past.

  1. Publish at least once a week on this blog: Yes, this is my number one resolution and it’s the only one not on the lifehack list, although it kind of is. Number 49 on the list is Start writing a book/journal. No, this blog isn’t a book nor does it qualify as my journal, but the idea of either is to write, which is what this blog is about and what I intend to do. This is post number one, so it’s a good start.
  2. Get healthier: For my second resolution, I’m combining several different ones from the list. As you can tell by the graphic above, my blood sugar averages for December are awful. This is important to me because I’m a diabetic. If you’re not, the chart probably doesn’t mean much to you, but for a diabetic it can mean life or death. Reigning in my blood sugar is part of my overall resolution to get healthier by healthier eating, more exercise, more and better sleep, and giving up cigarettes. For many people, it’s not easy to do any of these regularly, but again, I am determined to do better in 2018.
  3. Watch less TV and read more: For this item on my resolution list, I combined a couple of resolutions that were listed separately on the lifehack list. Like many people, I watch a lot of TV – in fact I watch too much. I used to be a very avid reader that more often that not had my face buried in a book. Over the years, that changed, and in my opinion, for the worse. Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with watching TV, but it should be in moderation. In my case, 8 to 10 hours a day was entirely too much. So, I’m going back to the life I used to lead – the life of a voracious reader. Because I own a Kindle, and because there are thousands of books that can be downloaded for free, I am currently reading a collection of Sherlock Holmes novels by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
  4. Learn more about art, music, culture etc.: I’m fortunate in that I have a pretty decent education. Over the years I’ve taken classes and read and studied many subjects on my own, so I feel pretty knowledgeable about a lot of things. One of my biggest shortcomings though is what many of us consider “cultural” works. For example, I’ve never been to the opera or the ballet. I don’t understand a lot about art. These are the things that I intend to start experiencing in 2018, and I’m busy searching for the first one to attend this month.
  5. Earn more money: Like most people, I can always use more money. I am retired now, so I can’t get a pay raise or a bonus at work. I’m not looking for a job, either. My extra money is going to come from working from home in a couple of different endeavors, but those are for later posts or posts in another web site or blog I am working on.

So there you have it. These are my five resolutions for 2018. I hope you made yours as well and I wish you much success in achieving them.

Protect Net Neutrality | Join The Fight – Demand Congressional Support For a Free and Open Web

The Fight to Protect Net Neutrality

 

The FCC votes on net neutrality in 13 DAYS

Yesterday, I e-signed this petition from Mozilla. This is important. The web needs to remain free from any government control or interference. If you live in the United States, and you haven’t done so, you also need to sign this. Takes but a minute and Mozilla protects your privacy. If you aren’t in the US, you should familiarize yourself with pending net neutrality laws in your country and make your own stand for a free web.

The rest of this post is taken directly from Mozilla’s page urging us as netizens to take action.

We Are Close to Victory: Take Action Now

This is our final stand because the Web is not owned by any one of us; rather, it is shared by all of us. That’s why net neutrality is so important.

Sign the petition

If you live or vote in the United States, please add your name to the petition using the form below (if not, please forward this to anyone you know in the U.S.A.)

[This is the letter Mozilla will send on your behalf]

Dear Member of Congress,

The Federal Communications Commissioners will take a vote February 26th on net neutrality rules. I want the FCC to do all it can and put strong protections in place. I expect you to do the same.

As American citizens, we have been clear about what we want. To date, the public commented nearly four million times demanding that the FCC support full net neutrality. More than 300,000 of those comments were by phone — at one point reaching 1,000 calls per minute.

Clearly I am not alone in my belief that the Web is a global engine of innovation and entrepreneurship — a level playing field from which we can learn, connect and create. I stand with the millions of others in the global Web community that have opposed fast lanes which leave the majority in the slow lane, restricting freedom of choice online. There should be no blocking and discrimination of content online. If the FCC votes to uphold these protections, I am asking you to stand in support of full protections, and to leave a legacy that will ensure a free and open Web for generations.

Sincerely,
Your name will go here

The Fight to Protect Net Neutrality

We are so close to victory after a long, sustained fight to get strong, effective protections for net neutrality. The Federal Communications Commission is slated to vote on net neutrality rules on February 26th. Time is running out for us to speak out. That is why it is so important for every American to call or write their member of Congress now.

Momentum has been on our side, but the handful of powerful companies are pulling out all the stops between now and the FCC’s vote. The corporate Goliaths and their lobbyists are using their influence to get politicians to gut net neutrality as we know it and undermine the open nature of the Web. Don’t let them do this.

We’re so close to victory, but we’re not there yet.

The biggest weapon we have in the fight for net neutrality is you. Will you make a last stand with us to make sure the FCC votes for strong net neutrality protections?

We’ll make sure to send your message — along with those of everyone else who speaks out — directly to members of Congress. Let’s protect the open Internet for all.

The poll is mine – not from Mozilla.

Please take a minute to respond.

Mozilla Advocacy Wordmark

Learn more about how Mozilla is protecting the free and open Web.
Visit Mozilla Advocacy