Monday, December 05, 2005

The Utah Valley Monitor - Write for Us

The Utah Valley Monitor - Write for Us: "Write for Us

November 10, 2005

Utah Valley Monitor is a collaborative paper, which means we're always seeking out new additions to our editorial team.

But let's get this out of the way first: Any money we make from advertising gets put right back into the site. However, we think there are a number of benefits of writing for the Monitor. Here are five obvious ones:

1) It's good experience and good exposure. Thousands of people will be reading your work."

Tuesday, November 29, 2005

Do It Now by Steve Pavlina

Do It Now by Steve Pavlina

This guy graduated from college in 3 semesters.

Friday, November 25, 2005

Comments on 6829 | Ask MetaFilter

Comments on 6829 | Ask MetaFilter freelance writing opportunities

Wednesday, October 19, 2005

People that say they are a badass usually aren't | A Whole Lotta Nothing

People that say they are a badass usually aren't | A Whole Lotta Nothing: "People that say they are a badass usually aren't

Apropos of nothing, one of the best pieces of advice Meg ever gave me was to impart a big lesson she learned as an english major writing fiction: show, don't tell. When writing a story, don't talk about how bad a character is, write a scene where they do terrible things and the reader will come away with the point you were trying to make.

Now, me not being an english major and not having to write much fiction, I didn't think the advice would help. Over the years though, I've noticed it comes up in a lot of things aside from writing fiction. I think about it when working on my resume or portfolio, when I wrote the realtor description for our last house, and whenever I met someone for the first time. I'm highly dubious of people that tell me a lot of amazing things they have done but have little to actually show for it.

Show, don't tell. It crops up time and time again and is some of the best advice I've been given."

Friday, October 14, 2005

dooce: The daughter of an English major

dooce: The daughter of an English major: "The daughter of an English major"

Wednesday, October 12, 2005

Wayne C. Booth, Critic Who Analyzed Rhetoric, Dies at 84 - New York Times

Wayne C. Booth, Critic Who Analyzed Rhetoric, Dies at 84 - New York Times: "Wayne Clayson Booth was born on Feb. 22, 1921, in American Fork, Utah. His family was descended from Mormon pioneers, and as a young man he embraced his faith, becoming a missionary in Chicago. But little by little, he began to wrestle with church teachings. It was a struggle, he later said, that informed both his decision to root himself in the secular world and his particular interest in rhetoric.

He earned a bachelor's degree from Brigham Young University in 1944, a master's from the University of Chicago in 1947 and a Ph.D. from Chicago in 1950. During World War II, he was a clerk-typist for the Army infantry, stationed in Paris. After teaching at Haverford and Earlham Colleges, he joined the Chicago faculty in 1962. He retired in 1992."

John Battelle's Searchblog: Link Selling: A Case Study

John Battelle's Searchblog: Link Selling: A Case Study

Weird, internet-enabled advertising markets--i.e., the selling of search engine rankings.

steve happens

steve happens

An amusing anecdote from a local advertising blog. This has no redeeming value.

The Blackboard Jungle

The Blackboard Jungle: "That is my biggest fear now - that my ability to control a classroom will be limited not by my high pitched squeeky voice or my diminutative size but instead by the fact that I have nothing to say that will interest them. I can control this to some extent by preparing lessons but I am afraid that when they say 'But Miss, what's the POINT!' that I may crumble and confess yes, that they are right, they will never find a use for quadratic equations/logarithms/3D trigonometry."

BLOG ONE

BLOG ONE

Jon Lovas' blog about teaching writing for 41 years at Deanza College.

CNN Guerrillas in the Midst: A Viral Marketing Campaign Exposed | Nick Lewis: The Blog

CNN Guerrillas in the Midst: A Viral Marketing Campaign Exposed | Nick Lewis: The Blog: "This investigation started four days ago when I received notification that someone had commented on a two-week old post I had written titled “CNN: Televisions Great Orifice. Now, I've always had this nasty habit called 'reading critically'. As a result, I always read a comment with the question, 'why, exactly, are they telling me this?' Because I ask myself those sort of questions, its no suprise that the comment immediately struck me as odd. The commenter appeared to agree with my opinion, “Their new format is shameful...' But then surprised me by asking, “Have any of you seen Headline News Prime Time or Showbiz Tonight?' I thought to myself, “did you not just read me compare watching CNN to giving myself a chemical burn on the back of my thigh?”

"

CNN Guerrillas in the Midst: A Viral Marketing Campaign Exposed | Nick Lewis: The Blog

CNN Guerrillas in the Midst: A Viral Marketing Campaign Exposed | Nick Lewis: The Blog: "Last week, CNN appeared to be attempting an unusual marketing campaign in the blogosphere. The two day campaign combined blackhat search engine optimization techniques, viral marketing tactics, and guerrilla comment spam. Unlike the majority of comment spam, this spam only targeted mid-level blogs that discussed CNN. So far, 14 separate instances of the spam have been found. Most alarmingly, the spammers may have also left malicious keywords in 4 out of 14 of the targeted posts; its suspected the intent was to use google's keyword stuffing detectors to censor them. CNN's Christa Robinson denied their involvement, 'CNN is not responsible for this or any other guerrilla spam campaign. This is simply untrue.'

However, these findings are part of a much larger and more important story: CNN is gambling that they can use the blogosphere to gain a competitive advantage over their seemingly invincible arch rival Fox News[5]. Regarless of whether this was CNN or a smear artist, allowing these guerrilla marketing campaigns to continue could result in our blogs -- leftwing and rightwing alike -- to become the battlefield in ratings war between two of the largest media giants."

Paco Nathan

Paco Nathan: "Paco Nathan is the Chief Scientist and Vice President of Research and Development for Symbiot. He has over 20 years' experience as a software developer and systems architect, and his R&D credits include work with IBM, NASA, AT&T Bell Labs, Motorola, and TechWest among others. Mr. Nathan earned his Master's Degree in Computer Science (Systems specialization) and Bachelor's Degree in Mathematical Sciences from Stanford University.
"

If you google Paco Xander you can see someone who has built a "respectable" business and career out of their "fringe" cultural interests. Commodify your funkiness!

Shopping Spies

Shopping Spies: "his is how Andy conducts his business: buddying up to people in public
and secretly tapping their unconscious. Greenfield has coined a term for
his research--studying 'naked behavior.' 'In an ideal world, I'd actually
be in your head,' says Greenfield, 'and I'd understand that what Carrie
is looking for in a deodorant is something a little bigger with a better
grip on it.' He continues, 'What we're doing is enabling manufacturers
to better meet the real needs of the consumer.'"

frontline: merchants of cool: interviews: brian graden | PBS

frontline: merchants of cool: interviews: brian graden | PBS: "Brian Graden is President of MTV Programming.

How much effort and resources do you put behind market research?
We put an immense amount of resources behind market research. But it's a little bit nontraditional. It's not just a bunch of quantitative data, which I think is relatively useless. We do a lot more from the point of view of what it's like to be 19 or 21 years old. We'll do focus groups where we'll bring 12 trend-setting kids together to talk about things over coffee, or other
qualitative exercises like this to find out, what are the emergent trends?

What do they think is cool? What are the forces that shape them?

Why?
The implicit promise of MTV has always been that we see things honestly from your POV. And we're not trying to necessarily be adults who program to somebody who's 19. But we're trying to be a service that exists as an honest reflection of your world, and that's our covenant. Remembering back to when you were 19, anybody talking to you from the vantage point of a 40-year-old, you just don't hear the same way. So I think that's the main reason, from the business point of view. And then, just from the sociological point of view, I think it's really important that that voice be reflected honestly somewhere on the media spectrum.
"

The Intelligence Group/Youth Intelligence

The Intelligence Group/Youth Intelligence: "Couldn't companies find out this information for themselves? 'Sure,'
says Rinzler Buckingham. 'It's not brain surgery. But companies don't have time to find out what's cool.' Gordon adds, 'An executive in the Mid-west might think he knows what's cool because he has a teenage daughter. Trust me, his daughter isn't telling him what she does at night, but she'll tell me.'"

The Intelligence Group/Youth Intelligence

The Intelligence Group/Youth Intelligence: "'I'm not just pulling this stuff out of my a--,' says Gordon, director
of market research and youth culture diva at Lambesis, an advertising
agency based in San Diego. Gordon's prognostications help movie studios,
clothing stores and packaged-goods companies (she won't reveal which or
how many) develop new products and create ad campaigns. 'The predictions
I make come from careful analysis of mountains of data and interviews
with people all over the world,' Gordon says. 'In a way, I'm like a
journalist.' Gordon recently jetted to Tokyo, where she staked out the
hologram stickers that young Japanese hipsters paste on their cellular
phones, and she regularly rummages through London's Camden Market and
such Paris boutiques as Collette looking for new fashion fads.

If this sounds like a dream job, be advised that Gordon has a lot of
company. In the past five years or so, trend spotting has become a boom
field. Perhaps the world's most famous practitioner is Faith Popcorn,
whose books (The Popcorn Report, Clicking) top best-seller lists and
whose New York company, Brain-Reserve, attempts to divine everything
from why Americans like red meat to why they buy Furbies. But while
Popcorn tends to focus on the cultural shifts of baby boomers, a growing
number of trend consulting firms focus on the youth market� the group
that advertisers look to as the wellspring of pop-culture fads and their
largest consumers."

look-look.com

look-look.com: "The Look-Look network will rely on a network of 500 correspondents and 10,000 respondents in key cities. Subscribers will be able to access information on such topics as fashion, entertainment, music, and spending patterns. Subscribers, for example, will be able to download photos of teens in Tokyo, or hear the latest music from London, or get a glimpse of the Brazilian martial art called capoeira, which she said is taking hold in the States."

frontline: merchants of cool: interviews: malcolm gladwell | PBS

frontline: merchants of cool: interviews: malcolm gladwell | PBS: "Who is Dee Dee Gordon and how good is she at what she does?
Dee Dee Gordon is a cool hunter. . . . When I came up with that term, it
seemed fresh and original. She started in her 20s, I think, running a very hip
boutique on Newbury Street in Boston. She caught the eye of someone at
Converse and worked at Converse for a while, when Converse was making its big
comeback in the 1980s. She sort of got in the business of being an expert on,
an interpreter of youth trends for corporate America. She worked for a while
at an advertising company in San Diego . . . and now she has her own shop. . .
. She has taken that initial idea of being the go-between between those two
worlds and turned it into a very successful business. How good is she? I
think she's as good as anyone is at this game. It's a difficult thing to
quantify, of course. It's not a science. It's really a question ultimately
of, how much do you trust the person who's doing the interpretation, and how
good are their instincts? And I think in both cases, she's at the top of the
field.
"

Amazon.com: Books: Where the Suckers Moon : The Life and Death of an Advertising Campaign (Vintage)

Amazon.com: Books: Where the Suckers Moon : The Life and Death of an Advertising Campaign (Vintage)

One of the better books I have read on the advertising industry.

Sunday, October 09, 2005

Your final paper

English 2790 final paper
Length: 7 pages/250 words per page, double spaced
Due: October 13th, in class, and submitted online by October 15th.

This paper is 40 percent of your grade, so don’t blow it off.

You should write about one career path for the English major and how it intersects with your own interests and sense of self, and include relevant examples from our reading, discussion, and other reliable sources, in MLA format. The paper need not be overly formal, but it should be intelligent, well thought out, and reach conclusions about your future career path that are well supported by your research and understanding of yourself. This paper is an opportunity to show what you have learned in the last seven weeks.

It may also include illustrations, relevant graphics, or other necessary visual aids, but please, no clipart. You may also incorporate writing that you have done in class. As your primary audience, I want to be able to pick up your paper and get a strong sense that you have thought deeply about your career path(s) and the role your major may or may not have in that journey.

For Monday

Deb Thornton is going to speak to us Monday about working as an editor. Please bring good questions!

Wednesday, October 05, 2005

Ex-Door Lighting Their Ire - Los Angeles Times

Ex-Door Lighting Their Ire - Los Angeles Times: "Once, back when rock 'n' roll still seemed dangerous, Densmore was the drummer for the Doors, the band with dark hits such as 'Light My Fire' and 'People Are Strange.' That band more or less went into the grave with lead singer Jim Morrison in 1971, but, like all top classic-rock franchises, it now has the chance to exploit a lucrative afterlife in television commercials. Offers keep coming in, such as the $15 million dangled by Cadillac last year to lease the song 'Break On Through (to the Other Side)' to hawk its luxury SUVs.

To the surprise of the corporation and the chagrin of his former bandmates, Densmore vetoed the idea. He said he did the same when Apple Computer called with a $4-million offer, and every time 'some deodorant company wants to use 'Light My Fire.' '

The reason? Prepare to get a lump in your throat — or to roll your eyes.

'People lost their virginity to this music, got high for the first time to this music,' Densmore said. 'I've had people say kids died in Vietnam listening to this music, other people say they know someone who didn't commit suicide because of this music…. On stage, when we played these songs, they felt mysterious and magic. That's not for rent.'"

Chronicle Careers: Jobs in Higher Education

Chronicle Careers: Jobs in Higher Education

English Degrees

English Degrees: "English Degrees
�����It's now possible to
Earn an Affordable
Accredited
Degrees!�
No Studies
No Attendance
No WaitingNo Examinations
No Hefty Fee"

Tara Weaver: Interview with a Developmental Book Editor - written road blog

Tara Weaver: Interview with a Developmental Book Editor - written road blog

Occupational Employment, Training and Earnings: Education Level Search

Occupational Employment, Training and Earnings: Education Level Search

U.S. Job Satisfaction Keeps Falling, The Conference Board Reports Today

U.S. Job Satisfaction Keeps Falling, The Conference Board Reports Today: "mericans are growing increasingly unhappy with their jobs, The Conference Board reports today. The decline in job satisfaction is widespread among workers of all ages and across all income brackets.

Half of all Americans today say they are satisfied with their jobs, down from nearly 60 percent in 1995. But among the 50 percent who say they are content, only 14 percent say they are “very satisfied.”"

Federal Human Capital Survey Results: Job Satisfaction

Federal Human Capital Survey Results: Job Satisfaction: "Job Satisfaction"

US-NY-New York-Senior Web Writer/Editor

US-NY-New York-Senior Web Writer/Editor: "MUST HAVE 3 years experience writing for an ASSET MANAGEMENT company including extensive experience in writing for an asset management company web site. "

Writers and editors

Writers and editors: "Median annual earnings for salaried writers and authors were $42,790 in 2002. The middle 50 percent earned between $29,150 and $58,930. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $21,320, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $85,140. Median annual earnings were $54,520 in advertising and related services and $33,550 in newspaper, periodical, book, and directory publishers.

Median annual earnings for salaried editors were $41,170 in 2002. The middle 50 percent earned between $30,770 and $56,360. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $24,010, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $76,620. Median annual earnings in newspaper, periodical, book, and directory publishers were $40,280.

Median annual earnings for salaried technical writers were $50,580 in 2002. The middle 50 percent earned between $39,100 and $64,750. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $30,270, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $80,900. Median annual earnings in computer systems design and related services were $51,730.

According to the Society for Technical Communication, the median annual salary for entry level technical writers was $41,000 in 2002. The median annual salary for mid-level non-supervisory technical writers was $49,900 and for senior-level non-supervisory technical writers, $66,000."

Writers and editors

Writers and editors: "Employment of writers and editors is expected to grow about as fast as the average for all occupations through the year 2012. The outlook for most writing and editing jobs is expected to be competitive, because many people with writing or journalism training are attracted to the occupation."

Writers and editors

Writers and editors: "Writers and editors held about 319,000 jobs in 2002. More than one-third were self-employed. Writers and authors held about 139,000 jobs; editors, about 130,000 jobs; and technical writers, about 50,000 jobs. More than one-half of jobs for writers and editors were salaried positions in the information sector, which includes newspaper, periodical, book, and directory publishers; radio and television broadcasting; software publishers; motion picture and sound recording industries; Internet service providers, web search portals, and data processing services; and Internet publishing and broadcasting. Substantial numbers also worked in advertising and related services, computer systems design and related services, and public and private educational services. Other salaried writers and editors worked in computer and electronic product manufacturing, government agencies, religious organizations, and business, professional, labor, political, and similar organizations."

Writers and editors

Writers and editors: "Significant Points

* Most jobs in this occupation require a college degree in communications, journalism, or English, although a degree in a technical subject may be useful for technical-writing positions.
* The outlook for most writing and editing jobs is expected to be competitive, because many people with writing or journalism training are attracted to the occupation.
* Online publications and services are growing in number and sophistication, spurring the demand for writers and editors, especially those with Web experience."

Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2004-05 Edition

Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2004-05 Edition: "Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2004-05 Edition"

Tara Weaver: Interview with a Developmental Book Editor - written road blog

Tara Weaver: Interview with a Developmental Book Editor - written road blog: "Interview with a Developmental Book Editor"

Saturday, October 01, 2005

The Chronicle: Career Network: 12/20/2002

The Chronicle: Career Network: 12/20/2002: "A bit of good news, Ms. Feal says, is that the number of doctorates awarded in English fields fell to 977, down 8.7 percent from 1,070 in 2000-1. However, new doctoral recipients still greatly outnumber new entry-level job openings in English, she says.

In addition, there's a backlog of graduates from previous years still looking for tenure-track positions, Ms. Feal says. Findings from a recent MLA survey of Ph.D. placements show that only 42 percent of the people who earned English Ph.D.'s in 2000-1 obtained tenure-track jobs that year."

सलारिएस.

Utah University/College Assistant English Professor Job Salary. Salaries for Salt Lake City, Provo, : "Utah University/College Assistant English Professor Salaries"

Average University/College Assistant English Professor Salary. University/College Assistant English

Average University/College Assistant English Professor Salary. University/College Assistant English: "The median expected salary for a typical Asst. Professor - English - Higher Ed. in the United States is $44,329. This basic market pricing report was prepared using our Certified Compensation Professionals' analysis of survey data collected from thousands of HR departments at employers of all sizes, industries and geographies."

2003-04 AAUP Salary Report

2003-04 AAUP Salary Report: "Table C shows the average
salary of full professors in different disciplines relative to the average
salary of full professors in English language and literature for 2001%u201302
(see the Entire Sample column).20
Average salaries vary widely across disciplines at the institutions in this
sample. At the full professor level, the highest-paying disciplines relative
to English are business management and administrative services, computer science,
economics, engineering, and law and legal studies. Full professors%u2019 salaries
in these fields are, on average, 34.3 percent, 19.1 percent, 17.4 percent,
16.5 percent, and 44.5 percent higher, respectively, than the salaries of
their counterparts in English language and literature. The lowest-paying fields
are foreign language and literature, home economics, and visual and performing
arts. On average at these institutions nationwide, salaries of full professors
in these fields are 10.8 percent, 8.4 percent, and 15.2 percent lower than
the salaries of their counterparts in English language and literature."

2003-04 AAUP Salary Report

2003-04 AAUP Salary Report: "Don%u2019t Blame Faculty for High Tuition
The Annual Report on the Economic Status of the Profession
2003-04
By last spring, most faculty members at public institutions
of higher education were justifiably pessimistic about their likely salary
increases for the 2003%u201304 academic year. Many states were running large
budget deficits for the second or third year in a row and no longer had reserves
to draw upon to balance their budgets. These shortfalls resulted in reduced
fiscal 2004 appropriations for higher education in twenty-three U.S. states
compared with those of the previous year; in only fifteen states did increases
in higher education appropriations exceed the rate of inflation.1
Nationally, state appropriations for higher education in
fiscal 2004 declined by 2.1 percent, the first such decline in eleven years.2
This cut followed a year in which state appropriations for
higher education rose by only 1.2 percent."

AAUP- 2005 Salary Survey TOC

AAUP- 2005 Salary Survey TOC: "Report- Annual Report
on the Economic Status of the Profession, 2004-2005"

The Chronicle: AAUP Faculty Salary Survey

The Chronicle: AAUP Faculty Salary Survey: "Institution nameCategory Professor AssociateProfessor AssistantProfessor Instructor U of Utah (Utah)I94.066.258.7-- Utah State U (Utah)I74.956.451.939.1"

U of Utah (Utah)
I
94.0 -full
66.2 -associate
58.7 -assistant
--
Utah State U (Utah)
I
74.9
56.4
51.9
39.1

The Chronicle: Career Network: 06/11/2003

The Chronicle: Career Network: 06/11/2003: "'This is consistent with the pattern we have been seeing for the last several years,' says Rosemary G. Feal, executive director of the MLA. 'We in the academic profession are not satisfied with these numbers, because they indicate an erosion of the tenure-track position as the norm for new hires in colleges and universities.' That erosion is likely to continue given that tight financial times have forced states to slash higher-education budgets. 'Unless the economy improves, funding is restored at the public universities, and endowments at the privates get better returns,' Ms. Feal says, 'I can't say we would see growth in the number of positions again.'"

The Chronicle: Career Network: 06/11/2003

The Chronicle: Career Network: 06/11/2003: "At a time when most English departments are happy to get permission to hire one new faculty member, the English department at Florida State University has been on a hiring binge. Encouraged by the university's dean of arts and sciences, the department ran six searches this year, making it the envy of its peers.

'The dean conceived of a strategy that was countercyclical: When everybody else wasn't hiring it would be a good time for us to hire,' says Hunt Hawkins, the department's chairman. 'We would then have our pick of people on the market.'"

The Chronicle: Career Network: 02/05/2004

The Chronicle: Career Network: 02/05/2004: "A total of 1,367 positions appeared in the edition of the MLA's Job Information List for foreign languages in 2002-3, just two fewer than the 1,369 positions of the previous year, but well below the recent high of 1,482 in 2000-1. Unfortunately for job seekers, the tea leaves would seem to indicate that the worst is yet to come: Advertisements for foreign-language jobs in the October and December 2003 issues of the list were down more than 18 percent from a year ago. On the basis of that decline, the MLA is bracing for a 12 percent drop-off in openings this academic year.

The outlook in English isn't much brighter. According to the MLA, the total number of faculty job openings in English fell a modest 3 percent in 2002-3, but the number of positions is projected to plunge by 10 percent this academic year. (For more information on the job market in English, see a recent Careers article.)"

MLA Surveys of PhD Placement: Most Recent Findings and Decade-Long Trends


MLA Surveys of PhD Placement: Most Recent Findings and Decade-Long Trends


(1988 survey--for longitudinal comparison)

Wednesday, September 28, 2005

Networking on the Network

Networking on the Network: "It's not about you. In offering advice to someone else, you may be tempted to use your own experiences as examples. Don't. Stories about your life will not communicate anything useful. If you have learned any lessons from your experiences, then that's great; you can explore how (and whether) those lessons apply to the particulars of the other person's life. But leave your life out of it. This rule has only one exception. Often someone will be distressed because they're going through a crisis that lots of people go through. You can help them feel better by saying, 'yeah, I know, I went through that; lots of people do', and leaving it at that -- just a few words.

"

Networking on the Network

Networking on the Network: "Cultivate your powers of finding things interesting. If you are like most of us, you will need to learn how to distinguish your own interests from other people's. If someone is looking for direction, the worst thing you can do is to foist your own direction on them. Most such foisting is unconscious: you may not intend to manipulate anyone into following your own path rather than theirs, but if you have sewn yourself into the narrow world of your dissertation then you may not even recognize that other paths exists. Get used to the fact that some people want to make money, and that other people are interested in research methodologies that are quite different from your own, and that still other people are much more interested in theory than you are, or much less. Most people couldn't care less about the research literatures that fascinate you, and that's okay. In advising others, you have an opportunity to expand yourself by searching out and articulating a vision of greatness for someone else's life. You have to start by believing that everyone, including the person you are advising, is capable of making a tremendous contribution to the world. That tremendous contribution is inside them somewhere, it's trying to get out, and if you are advising someone who is looking for direction then your job is to identify that tremendous contribution and get excited about it. Figure out what the person is interested in. Elicit bits and pieces of their interests, then offer various alternative directions that they could pursue, and ask them which alternatives strike a chord. The process is like tuning a radio: you are going to fiddle with the dial until the person's tremendous-contribution-in-the-making comes through loud and clear. Share that person's excitement, and enthusiastically preach the importance of their vision. Their path won't always be easy, and your articulate and persuasive confidence will help keep them on track. In particular, you can help them by acting as a translator between their world and the professional world that they want to join, explaining their vision to them in professional-sounding language. Sell them their own lives. And whatever you do, don't go around discouraging people, or telling them that they can't cut it. Your question should be 'what does this person down-deep care about?', because that is where their greatest contribution will lie. It's not your job to go around trashing people's dreams, because you're not that smart."

Slashdot | DIY Electronic Paper Display

Slashdot | DIY Electronic Paper Display: "The real problem is that too many people are being paid to be passionate against their will. You may get results, you just have worry about the quality of those results.There is no point blaming people for not being that mind. The trick is to keep reading and looking for that one thing that you are passionate about, and when the oppertunity is there... grab it with both arms."

Euro RSCG Magnet: A National Public Relations and Marketing Communications Firm

Euro RSCG Magnet: A National Public Relations and Marketing Communications Firm: "New York, NY, June 20, 2005 – As journalists continue to grapple with increasing public concern over longstanding reporting practices and growing skepticism about media credibility, the rise of Weblogs is also forcing them to address a host of new questions and pressures resulting from the proliferation of this new media channel. According to the most recent findings of the 11th Annual Euro RSCG Magnet Survey of the Media, done in partnership with Columbia University, the majority of journalists are using blogs to do their work, despite the fact that only 1% believe blogs are credible.

Interestingly it is the journalists—not their readers—that are turning to blogs in record numbers. While the Euro RSCG Magnet study shows that more than half (51%) of journalists use Weblogs regularly—with 28% relying on them for day-to-day reporting, a recent study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project Survey showed that just 11% of the U.S. population reads blogs."

Sellout: A resource for Humanities PhDs considering careers beyond the university

Sellout: A resource for Humanities PhDs considering careers beyond the university

Friday, September 23, 2005

Wired News: Can Bloggers Strike It Rich?

Wired News: Can Bloggers Strike It Rich?: "Calacanis employs 120 bloggers and publishes 90 blogs -- including Engadget (which covers consumer electronics) and Blog Maverick, typed by billionaire entrepreneur and Dallas Mavericks' owner Mark Cuban -- with his writers making anywhere from $200 to $3,000 a month. (One presumes Cuban doesn't do it for the money.) On average, Weblog salaries are about a quarter to half what a mid-level editorial job would pay, without the daily office commute.

'Not to mention (bloggers) get to write about the topic they are most passionate about,' said Calacanis, who claims to be on track to collect more than $1 million in Google AdSense payments over the next year. 'So, for our folks, it is like they are making money off their hobby. Think a scuba diver or video-game player making $500 to $1,500 a month writing about scuba diving or video games.'"

Wired News: Can Bloggers Strike It Rich?

Wired News: Can Bloggers Strike It Rich?: "'Nick infamously downplays the profit potential of blogging the same way Tom Cruise's sister-slash-publicist Lee Ann DeVette pretends his relationship with Katie Holmes is authentic. Even people outside the industry know it's a sham.'"

Monday, September 19, 2005

For class on Monday:

Be sure to bring paper copies of your resume and/or cover letter to class today for a workshop.

Wednesday, September 14, 2005

An Anchor Who Reports Disaster News With a Heart on His Sleeve - New York Times

An Anchor Who Reports Disaster News With a Heart on His Sleeve - New York Times: "When no major news organization hired him after his graduation from Yale in 1989, Mr. Cooper said he had a friend make a fake press pass and he headed overseas on his own, sending Channel One stories he taped with a small home-video camera.

His bare-bones training in Somalia was a precursor for his current assignment."

gladwell dot com - examined life

gladwell dot com - examined life: "What Stanley H. Kaplan taught us about the SAT"

Monday, September 12, 2005

Upcoming assignments:

1. For monday the 20th of september: please bring a resume and cover letter to class. They can be "professional" or "brutally honest," per the example we read in class.

2. For Wednesday, the 15th of September: Please read chapter three and post a summary to Webct.

note: If webct isn't working with your macintosh, try downloading Firefox, a free web browser. Ignore the warnings that pop up when you log into UVlink.

Friday, September 09, 2005

excellent written oral communication skills - Google Search

excellent written oral communication skills - Google Search

Wednesday, September 07, 2005

For next Monday

For next Monday please bring a sample resume to class, read chapter 2, and post your response to the appropriate webct discussion, along with any other comments you find useful.

also, if you find a link online to something relevant, please post it to webct as well and I'll move it to this weblog for our reading pleasure.

Thursday, September 01, 2005

class email

Using the New UV Link Email System

All UVSC students now have an email address in the new UV Link system. Because most of you have multiple email accounts (UVSC Groupwise, WebCT, UV Link, and at least one personal account), some clarification probably is in order. Please review the following information, and let me know if you have questions.

You can access this new email account through the UV Link portal by clicking on the Email icon in the upper-right corner of the UV Link main page.

Your address is your student (or Banner) ID number @uvlink.uvsc.edu (so mine, for example, would be 10004785@uvlink.uvsc.edu).

Because this address is highly impersonal, and because you have to log into the UV Link portal to check it, most of you probably will not opt to use it regularly.

It does, however, provide me with a quick and convenient way to email you, both individually and as a class, without having to gather and record students' addresses at the beginning of each semester. I do plan on making periodic use of this feature.
What I would ask you to do, then, is to turn on the Auto Forward feature in your UV Link email account, so that I can send messages to your UV Link address, and you can receive them in whichever email account you actually use.

To turn on Auto Forward:

Log into the UV Link portal
Click on the Email icon
Click on the Options tab
Click on the Auto Forward link
Type your preferred email address in the box
Click OK

I have turned on Auto Forward for my UV Link account. So if you forget the address that I actually use (youraddress@uvsc.edu), you can always contact me by clicking on the linked address next to our course in the My Courses area of the UV Link portal (the same place you go to enter WebCT).

Wednesday, August 24, 2005

more to come!

Hi, this site for English 2790 will soon be populated with stuff worth reading.