Tag: blogging

Why Am I Reading Salon?

On By southwerkIn Editorial1 Comment

Why Am I Reading Salon?

Maybe I like being mistreated? Maybe I have an innate sense that things are going too well and I need to put my life back in perspective?

What’s my problem, you ask. Well, Salon’s web site is still crashing my browser but I’m used to that now. However, they have developed new methods of making me unhappy.

As an author, I will pull up Salon and have individual tabs for four or more articles that I am reviewing for use in my blog. In what can be described as sadistic cruelty, advertisements now play at random times. That’s right! You can be sitting peacefully at your computer, working your way through the web, grooving down on a little Van Morrison, when you suddenly begin hearing theme music from a commercial narrated by really annoying people.

But it gets better. Not only do you not know which tab hides the commercial, if you find the right tab, the annoying ad could be anywhere in it: top, bottom, in the middle, left or right, or it can be camouflaged.

So, I’m playing a game of whack-a-mole with Salon, and they don’t even keep score.

I’m still reading Salon because I like the articles but I can’t recommend to just anybody. If you like me play music while working on the computer (I’ve maintained this blog for four years – it’s work – trust me.), it might be better to give it a miss. Van Morrison’s “Bright Side of the Road,” doesn’t sound as good with a commercial fighting it for attention.

James Pilant

Preparing to Move the Blog – Research

On By southwerkIn business ethics

I have been studying themes for the new blog. I was astonished at the versatility of what was available. For less than a hundred dollars, I can buy a theme very similar to that used by Slate, CBS News, or Yahoo!. It was quite a shock. After doing the initial research, it was hard to go back and write on my dinky theme.

Why is it dinky? I have three columns which is as much as you can get with the free WordPress themes but some of the premium ones have more columns and you can go down the page to point you decided and the reset the columns for different topics or pictures.

Sliders!! They have sliders. A slider allows you to create a set of pictures or articles or both and then have a single main article spot and these will then rotate every few seconds, so that someone who is on your blog for more than ten seconds or so see two of your articles – twenty seconds, perhaps three or four, it’s great advertising and it looks classy. One of the ones I looked at, Advanced Newspaper from Gabfire, enables you to put sliders in many locations on the page at the same time. Advanced Newspaper is probably going to be my choice. I think it’s beautiful.

I started my blog in 2009 and one of the things my research has demonstrated to me is that what’s available technology wise changes significantly perhaps dramatically every six months. This means that a good blogger on a small budget had better do continuous self training and a lot of it, if the intent is to stay ahead of the curve.

James Pilant

Ethics & Blog Purpose (via Backtrack 4 R2 How-to Blog 4 Noob’s)

On By southwerkIn business ethics1 Comment

This is a code of ethics for blogging. I like it. It is also a code of purpose.

Some might make fun of codes of ethics. I make fun of bad ones or ones not being followed. And I have a good time doing it. But I still like them. Aren’t the religions of Christianity and Buddhism in a way codes of ethics?

Codes of ethics are one way to spread the word about what is or is not acceptable conduct.

So, read and enjoy.

James Pilant

Purpose To educate myself and others about the weaknesses of computers and networks To provide a resource for myself and others on how to create a more secure computer, networking environment, and internet use For myself and others to be able to use this information to better protect themselves from spammers, bad hackers, and destructive people To create and maintain the information in this blog to be as accurate and user friendly as possible in … Read More

via Backtrack 4 R2 How-to Blog 4 Noob’s

I am Flooded!

On By southwerkIn business ethics4 Comments

The flood has damaged my internet cable. Currently I have no service. I am blogging from the college where I teach but I can only be there so many hours a day. So, I will not be blogging as much or at length. I am very sorry.

I don’t know when my internet service will arrive back at full capacity but I will hope. I thank my kind readers for their forbearance and I hope many of you can maintain an interest even if my blogging become sporadic and brief.

Thank You!!

James Pilant

What Blogs I’m Reading Today

On By southwerkIn business ethics, ethics, Philosophy of Business

There is no way to look at business ethics on the web and miss Chris MacDonald’s “The Ethics Blog.” A good writer who knows his subject backwards and forwards.

Lauren Bloom’s Ethics Blog is always a good read. She prides herself on practical advice and delivers.

The Week in Ethics by Gael O’Brien is another web site to stay with in the struggle to get intelligent moral sentiments on our modern culture.

Working Life by Jonathan Tasini is a site I strongly recommend. He’s good.

Julian Friedland’s blog, Business Ethics Memo, has a slogan, “To educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society.” Intelligent and tough, a good blog to read regularly.