By Ron S. Doyle on March 7, 2010
A map of human brain neuron-to-neuron connections.
Map of European city-to-city internet connections, 2007
There are more neural connections in your brain right now than stars in the entire universe. The average human brain has 10 trillion (10,000,000,000,000) synaptic connections, allowing us to look at a total stranger and think, “he looks like my Uncle Bob” or smell rosemary and remember a house we rented in college. Those connections are responsible for our memory, our learning, our advancement as a species and perhaps most importantly, our advancement as individuals.
The internet is founded upon a model that closely mirrors our brains. The potential for connectivity is infinite.
But, like the brain of a person that never leaves the house, never encounters new things, never reaches out to connect with others—the internet is limited by its operators. And that’s you.
When was the last time you reached beyond your network to learn something new? What happened? Tell me about it!
Posted in Blog Salad, COMM 4203, God Bless the 21st Century
Share this Post
By Ron S. Doyle on March 2, 2010
In January, fellow freelance writer Rosie Colombraro embarked upon a mission to do something different with her blog, Trust the Universe, and with her New Year’s resolutions. Like the guy who traded up from a giant paper clip to a house, Rosie decided to trade up some of her belongings for a trip to Ireland.
Well, it’s a couple of months later and Rosie still hasn’t seen the Emerald Isle nor fulfilled this lifelong dream on her “boxcar list.” Being most likely somewhat Irish, and a freelance writer, and a fan of wacky ideas, I’ve committed some of my belongings to the cause.
So, here’s the deal:
- The following items are a package deal—no mixing and matching!
- You can send your traded items (or international flight vouchers) directly to me or Rosie.
- Once Rosie or I have received your trade, I will ship these items to anywhere in the continental U.S. (or anywhere else, if you’re willing to pay the postage).
And here are the items:
- Teach Yourself Hindi book
- Stuffed Mascot of Big-O Tires, named “Little O”
- Framed picture of actor/rapper Mos Def
- Charger for a Sony Cybershot T1 (camera stolen on a cruise ship)
- IBM Thinkpad 2647
- Dell Inspiron 3500
And just so you know I’m seriously giving away two laptops, a framed magazine cutout of a rap star and a Hindi book, here’s a picture:
So there you go—let’s start trading! If you have any questions, please post a comment below!
Posted in Blog Salad, Blogger's Life, God Bless the 21st Century
Share this Post
By Ron S. Doyle on February 28, 2010
Strategy: Finish blog design. Tactic: Work in the car on the way to the sledding hill.
Last week, I suggested that some folks may be writing blogs that even they wouldn’t want to read, because they’re attached to a particular blogging style that doesn’t suit their audience—or themselves.
But why? Why do bloggers do this?
I have two theories:
1. Because they’re using someone else’s tactics to accomplish their strategy.
2. Because they have no strategy at all—and therefore don’t know what tactics to use.
Okay, I know you’re scratching your head like an ex-president right now wondering what the heck I’m saying with all this quasi-military tactic strategy mumbo-jumbo. Let me break it down for you:
Strategy: The big stuff.
Tactics: The small stuff.
As a blogger, the overarching strategy is simple. Maintain a blog. Your primary blog topic (or niche, if that’s the French word you prefer) is part of your strategy. Establishing a posting frequency, a social network, and learning about the business of blogging are all part of your strategy. For 90% of bloggers, our strategies are very, very similar.
Tactics are where things get interesting. They are the tiny details, the unique ways you follow your strategy. They are the wonky buzz words that your readers like to read, or pictures of monkeys. They are video clips where you could have written a paragraph. They are carefully plucked words arranged where a photo of flowers would have gone. Tactics are advantageous moments to do something out of the ordinary to accomplish your bigger goals—or creative ways to overcome roadblocks to your strategy.
The goal is the meal, the strategy is the recipe, and the tactic is how you still get dinner on the table when one of the ingredients is missing.
So, what are you cooking? Tell me about your blog—its goal, your strategy, and let’s chat tactics!
Posted in Blog Salad, Blogger's Life, COMM 4203
Share this Post
