Impact Of Conventional Oil Extraction Methods

Conventional methods of drilling oil are known to increase the likelihood of the wastes contaminating the environment. The essay discusses the effects of conventional methods that have been used in the past applications. Further, Remote Manifold Platform is concluded as the best option for such areas as Pantanal. Despite it being safer, there is no perfectly harmless method. The various methods of cleaning up an area after an oil spill are discussed in the second part of the essay.

Horizontal wells
This is a new trenchless technology that was adopted as a result of increased environmental damage from conventional methods. According to Barlas (1999), the technology is more versatile, although it starts from a vertical pilot hole used in conventional wells. However, the pilot hole used in this method is narrower, at between 4"and 12"in diameter. Helmes (nd) noted that this method involves use of less density mud, reduced surface "footprint" and improves rate of oil production, hence improving oil recovery. A relatively narrow drilling pilot hole reduces impact on the land, which is advantageous to the natural resources. According to Hillstrom and Hillstrom (2003) protects wildlife habitat and releases less toxic wastes. The two also noted increase oil recovery from this method.

The economic activities that are likely to be affected by the practice include fishing, tourism and cattle ranching as a result of contamination from waste disposals (Seidl, Silva &Moraes, 2000). Cattle ranch business that is the main stay of the region's economy also stands to lose if conventional methods are used. The ranch would be heavily impacted by the oil drilling process using the conventional methods by directly contaminating feeding material from the drilling wastes. Alemagi (2007) gave an in depth account of potential effects oil exploration is likely to have to the environment due to principally oil spillage accidents, wastes from refineries and release of toxic wastes. There is evidence of the remains from these discharges that include heavy metals such as cadmium to have long-term health effects to the surrounding communities in Pantanal (Martnez et al 2007). In another research by Kisic et al (2009)that analysed the effects total hydrocarbons (TPH) on plants and soil, they concluded on the potential of these discharges on both plant and animal life. According to them, crude oil affected chemical composition and density of the plants. At the same time, drilling fluids were found to influence the chemical composition of soil and plant life. This is through variation of soil pH and its organic matter contents.

It is possible for the affected plants to have an impact on animal health and survival due to existence of food webs in the rich ecological region of Pantanal. According to Onwurah et al. (2007), the bioaccumulation of aromatic hydrocarbons is possible due to extraction on crude oil in the area. The authors noted that these have an effect directly on animals such as mutagenesis, marring reproduction capacity of animals and sometimes causing hemorrhage of animals. The disruption of food chains is usually due to death of animals and plants and eventual instability in the whole ecological region. Pantanal risks losing its plant and animal resources that hugely support their livelihood, if the conventional method of oil extraction is used. The impact is long term, especially from the drilling mud and cuttings that tend to stay in the region for a long time. Bakhsian et al (2009) found out that these materials pollute underground water. This pollution was evaluated to be 0.5m3 of every one meter of drilled oil. Although the mud is usually useful for lubrication of the machines that are used, the remaining material that is disposed of after user remains underground to damage underground sources of water.

Oil drilling also leads to atmospheric air pollution due to escape of gases and other chemicals from the drilling process. Ugochukwu and J?rgen (2008) while working on Niger Delta documented empirical evidence on the impact that such activities can have on biodiversity if safer methods are not adapted. This calls for concerted efforts to clean-up the area or adoption of modern and generally safer drilling methods such as Remote Manifold Platform. With this approach, there is less production of drilling waste such as mud, reduced fuel consumption of the drilling machines and general reduction of soil contamination that is inextricably attached to plant and animal life on the drilling site. However, there is no method that is absolutely harmless to the environment; but rather, the options adopted tend to be relatively less impactful.

Remediation techniques
There is much improvement in the approach to oil drilling in the modern times. After the Buncefield disaster and oil spillage in Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico, several improvement shave been made to reduce potential effect of such disasters on environment. However, there is no procedure of oil extraction that is fail-safe. Oil spillages do occur, albeit at minimum levels. Even with the clean-up methods, there is considerable pollution of oil to the environment, hence the need to prevent oil spillage from occurring in the first place.
According to UK Parliamentary House of Commons (2010), there is a requirement for use of computer models relating to the effects of oil drilling to the environment and the likely consequence of oil spillage to the marine life and other areas, should it occur. When it occurs, OPEP advice on the use of chemical dispersants in addition to other physical methods of containing oil and oil recovery.

Application of dispersant is dependent on the extent of oil spillage; an aircraft is often used in case of massive oil spillages. Miller and Spoolman (2009) support these methods where cleaning is done mechanically using "floating booms, skimmer boats and absorbent methods"(p. 551). In addition to these, fire and other chemicals are used to increase decomposition of oil, although recovery is rarely above 15% of spilt oil.
Bioremediation is an approach that is popular today although itwas discovered as a valuable method three decades ago (International Marine Organisation, 2004). The method involves conversion of spilt oil to carbon dioxide and water. It however depends on temperature, nutrients, oxygen and the pH to enhance bioremediation process. The method improves the environment where oil was spilt by allowing for restoration of the area. Xhu (2004) adds other methods that include low-pressure flushing and cutting vegetation on where oil sticks on them. Stripping is done in areas that are considered extremely affected by oil spillage because of its damning effects of killing vegetation and even hampering future regeneration (Xhu, 2004).

Oil extraction is an essential venture that supports most economies of the world. Although the product is useful in a number of ways, the procedure of obtaining is not without harmful effects to the environment. There has been an increase in safety measures in the process of oil extraction, especially after the recent accidents that affected the ecological stability and economic livelihoods of adjacent communities. Pantanal is one of such regions that is widely known for its ecological resources. Using Remote Manifold Platform to extract oil in the region will reduce the impact of the process to the plant and animal life in the region.

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Source: http://articles.submityourarticle.com/impact-of-conventional-oil-extraction-methods-305107

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U.S. soldier in WikiLeaks case says he was held in a "cage"

FORT MEADE, Maryland (Reuters) - A U.S. Army private facing court-martial on suspicion of leaking secret documents to the WikiLeaks website testified on Thursday he was confined to a "cage" in the early days after his arrest in 2010, and thought he would die there.

Bradley Manning, in his first public comments since his arrest in Iraq, said his isolation quickly led to a breakdown, and his military captors eventually put him on suicide watch.

"My nights were my days and my days were my nights," Manning said. "It all blended together after a couple of days."

The low-ranking soldier Manning faces up to life in prison if convicted of charges he played a role in the massive leaking of secrets by WikiLeaks, which stunned governments around the world by publishing intelligence documents and diplomatic cables, mostly in 2010.

Manning's lawyers were working on a plea deal involving less serious charges that would result in a prison term of at least 16 years, one of his attorneys said.

His captors initially gave Manning little or no information about the charges against him as he was taken from Iraq to a U.S. detention facility in Kuwait, he said.

Manning said he was confined to a structure he called a "cage" of eight feet square inside a tent. He suffered a breakdown about a month after his May 2010 arrest, and guards later found a noose in the cage. Manning had made the noose but failed to recall he had done so because he was so disoriented, he said.

"I remember thinking I'm going to die stuck here in this cage," Manning said. "I thought I was going to die in that cage. That's what I saw - an animal cage."

Upon being transferred to Quantico, Virginia, in July of 2010, Manning was placed in solitary confinement for up to 23 hours a day, on suicide watch with a guard checking on him every few minutes. He was often noticed playing peek-a-boo in the mirror.

"The most entertaining thing in there was the mirror. I spent quite a lot of time with the mirror," Manning said. When asked why, he said, "Just sheer, complete, out-of-my-mind boredom."

The private's testimony, which was set to continue into Friday when he would be cross-examined, came on the third day of a hearing at Fort Meade, Maryland, to determine whether his case should proceed to a full court-martial.

In the absence of a plea deal, Manning's case could go to trial, where he faces possible life imprisonment if he is convicted of all the security breach charges against him.

LINKS TO WIKILEAKS

Charges include stealing records belonging to the United States and wrongfully causing them to be published on the Internet and aiding enemies of the United States, identified by prosecutors as al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, an affiliate of the militant network founded by the late Osama bin Laden.

Prosecutors have alleged that Manning, without authorization while on intelligence duty, disclosed hundreds of thousands of U.S. diplomatic cables, military reports and video of a military helicopter attack in Iraq in which two Reuters journalists were killed.

WikiLeaks has never confirmed Manning was the source of any documents it released.

In pre-trial litigation, prosecutors have presented testimony legal experts say could be used to build a case Manning had been in email contact with Julian Assange, WikiLeaks' Australian-born founder.

Assange has spent nearly six months in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London, where he sought refuge to avoid extradition to Sweden for questioning in a sexual molestation case.

Assange and his supporters have said the Swedish case against him could be part of a secret plot to have him shipped for trial to the United States and either executed or imprisoned at the U.S. detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

U.S. officials have denied those assertions. But they have acknowledged a federal grand jury in Alexandria, Virginia, has been collecting evidence about WikiLeaks. U.S. officials have not ruled out criminal charges against Assange.

Earlier on Thursday, Assange played down reports that his health was declining after Ecuadorean officials said he was suffering from a chronic lung ailment.

(Writing by Dan Burns; Editing by Daniel Trotta and Eric Walsh)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-soldier-wikileaks-case-says-held-cage-001100259.html

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Video: A Closer Look At Susan Rice's Portfolio

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Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/cnbc/50019455/

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AP Exclusive: Myanmar verifying Muslim citizenship

In this photo taken on Nov. 10, 2012, Muslim refugees walk as Myanmar police officers stand guard at Sin Thet Maw relief camp in Pauktaw township, Rakhine state, western Myanmar. Myanmar?s government has launched a major operation aimed at verifying the citizenship of Muslims in western Rakhine state, the coastal territory that has been torn apart by Buddhist-Muslim violence since June. Questions over whether the region's Muslim Rohingya population qualify for citizenship are at the heart of a crisis that has killed nearly 200 people and displaced 110,000 more. (AP Photo/Khin Maung Win)

In this photo taken on Nov. 10, 2012, Muslim refugees walk as Myanmar police officers stand guard at Sin Thet Maw relief camp in Pauktaw township, Rakhine state, western Myanmar. Myanmar?s government has launched a major operation aimed at verifying the citizenship of Muslims in western Rakhine state, the coastal territory that has been torn apart by Buddhist-Muslim violence since June. Questions over whether the region's Muslim Rohingya population qualify for citizenship are at the heart of a crisis that has killed nearly 200 people and displaced 110,000 more. (AP Photo/Khin Maung Win)

In this photo taken on Nov. 10, 2012, Muslims distribute items to refugees at Sin Thet Maw relief camp in Pauktaw township, Rakhine state, western Myanmar. Myanmar?s government has launched a major operation aimed at verifying the citizenship of Muslims in western Rakhine state, the coastal territory that has been torn apart by Buddhist-Muslim violence since June. Questions over whether the region's Muslim Rohingya population qualify for citizenship are at the heart of a crisis that has killed nearly 200 people and displaced 110,000 more. (AP Photo/Khin Maung Win)

In this photo taken on Nov. 11, 2012, Myanmar army officers patrol as a dog follows them to Sin Thet Maw relief camp in Pauktaw township, Rakhine State, western Myanmar. Myanmar?s government has launched a major operation aimed at verifying the citizenship of Muslims in western Rakhine state, the coastal territory that has been torn apart by Buddhist-Muslim violence since June. Questions over whether the region's Muslim Rohingya population qualify for citizenship are at the heart of a crisis that has killed nearly 200 people and displaced 110,000 more. (AP Photo/Khin Maung Win)

In this photo taken on Nov. 10, 2012, Muslim refugees stand near their tent at Sin Thet Maw relief camp in Pauktaw township, Rakhine state, western Myanmar. Myanmar?s government has launched a major operation aimed at verifying the citizenship of Muslims in western Rakhine state, the coastal territory that has been torn apart by Buddhist-Muslim violence since June. Questions over whether the region's Muslim Rohingya population qualify for citizenship are at the heart of a crisis that has killed nearly 200 people and displaced 110,000 more. (AP Photo/Khin Maung Win)

In this photo taken on Nov. 10, 2012, Muslim refugees stand near their tent at Sin Thet Maw relief camp in Pauk Taw township, Rakhine state, western Myanmar. Myanmar?s government has launched a major operation aimed at verifying the citizenship of Muslims in western Rakhine state, the coastal territory that has been torn apart by Buddhist-Muslim violence since June. Questions over whether the region's Muslim Rohingya population qualify for citizenship are at the heart of a crisis that has killed nearly 200 people and displaced 110,000 more. (AP Photo/Khin Maung Win)

SIN THET MAW, Myanmar (AP) ? Guarded by rifle-toting police, immigration authorities in western Myanmar have launched a major operation aimed at settling an explosive question at the heart of the biggest crisis the government has faced since beginning its nascent transition to democracy last year.

It's a question that has helped fuel two bloody spasms of sectarian unrest between ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims since June, and it comes down to one simple thing: Who has the right to be a citizen of Myanmar, and who does not?

A team of Associated Press journalists that traveled recently to the remote island village of Sin Thet Maw, a maze of bamboo huts without electricity in Myanmar's volatile west, found government immigration officials in the midst of a painstaking, census-like operation aimed at verifying the citizenship of Muslims living there, one family at a time.

Armed with pens, stacks of paper and hand-drawn maps, they worked around low wooden tables that sat in the dirt, collecting information about birth dates and places, parents and grandparents ? vital details of life and death spanning three generations.

The operation began quietly with no public announcement in the township of Pauktaw on Nov. 8, of which the village of Sin Thet Maw is a part. It will eventually be carried out across all of Rakhine state, the coastal territory where nearly 200 people have died in the last five months, and 110,000 more, mostly Muslims, have fled.

The Thailand-based advocacy group, the Arakan Project, warns the results could be used to definitively rule out citizenship for the Rohingya, who have suffered discrimination for decades and are widely viewed as foreigners from Bangladesh. Muslims in Sin Thet Maw echoed those concerns, and said they had not been told what the operation was for.

"What we know is that they don't want us here," said one 34-year-old Muslim named Zaw Win, who said his family had lived in Sin Thet Maw since 1918.

So far, more than 2,000 Muslim families have gone through the process, but no "illegal settlers have been found," said state spokesman Win Myaing.

It was not immediately clear, however, what would happen to anyone deemed to be illegal. Win Myaing declined to say whether they could deported or not. Bangladesh has regularly turned back Rohingya refugees, as have other countries, including Thailand.

Few issues in Myanmar are as sensitive as this.

The conflict has galvanized an almost nationalistic furor against the Rohingya, who majority Buddhists believe are trying to steal scarce land and forcibly spread the Islamic faith. Myanmar's recent transition to democratic rule has opened the way for monks to stage anti-Rohingya protests as an exercise in freedom of expression, and for vicious anti-Rohingya rants to swamp Internet forums.

In the nearby town of Pauktaw, where all that remains of a once-significant Muslim community are the ashes of charred homes and blackened palm trees, the hatred is clear. Graffiti scrawled inside a destroyed mosque ominously warns that the "Rakhine will drink Kalar blood." Kalar is a derogatory epithet commonly used to refer to Muslims here.

Myanmar's reformist leader, President Thein Sein, had set a harsh tone over the summer, saying that "it is impossible to accept those Rohingya who are not our ethnic nationals."

But this month, he appeared to change course, penning an unprecedented and politically risky letter to the U.N. promising to consider new rights for the Rohingya for the first time.

In the letter, Thein Sein said his government would address contentious issues "ranging from resettlement of displaced populations to granting of citizenship," but he gave no timeline and stopped short of fully committing to naturalize them.

The operation observed by the AP in Sin Thet Maw appeared to be part of an effort to resolve the issue.

By law, anyone whose forefathers lived in Myanmar prior to independence in 1948 has the right to apply for citizenship. But in practice, most Rohingya have been unable to. They must typically obtain permission to travel, and sometimes even to marry.

Discrimination has made it hard to obtain key documents like birth certificates, according to rights groups. Many Rohingya, having migrated here during the era of British colonial rule, speak a Bengali dialect and resemble Muslim Bangladeshis, with darker skin than other ethnic groups in Myanmar.

The road to naturalization grew more difficult with a 1982 citizenship law that excluded the Rohingya from a list of the nation's 135 recognized ethnicities. Since Bangladesh also rejects them, the move effectively rendered the Rohingya living in Myanmar stateless ? a population the U.N. estimates at 800,000.

The issue is so fraught that even the word "Rohingya" itself is widely disputed. Buddhists say the term was made up to obscure the Muslim population's South Asian heritage; they do not accept the Rohingya as a separate ethnic group, and instead call them "Bengali" ? a reference to the belief they are in fact Bangladeshis who entered illegally.

While some Rohingya have lived in Myanmar for generations and have documents to prove it, others arrived more recently. There is little distinction between these two groups, though. During the last official census in 1983, the Rohingya were excluded.

In places like Sit Thet Maw, Rakhine Buddhist elders believe they are on the front line of a population explosion, and they are worried.

Some 70 years ago, there were about 1,000 Buddhist and 100 Muslim inhabitants here, according to Said Thar Tun Maung, a 59-year-old Rakhine who works as a local government administrator. Today, the Buddhists are a minority: They number just 1,900, compared to 4,000 Rohingya residents.

Tun Maung blamed the demographic changes on higher birth rates among Muslim families, and the illegal arrival of new migrants hunting for fertile farmland and good fishing. Several thousand more Muslims arrived in October after Rakhine mobs burned their homes in the town of Kyaukphyu, swelling the Muslim population here even further. The refugees' presence is considered temporary ? they are currently camped along the beach beside their ships.

"This is our land," Tun Maung said. But "it's slowly being taken away from us, and nobody is doing anything to stop it."

The AP team that visited Sin Thet Maw observed four-man government teams conducting interviews with dozens of Muslim families. The Rohingya live in a separate part of Sin Thet Maw that is completely segregated from the Buddhist side of the village by a wide field running hundreds of meters (yards) inland.

Most of those interviewed had temporary national registration cards that were issued by authorities ahead of elections in 2010 in an apparent effort to secure their support. The cards granted the Rohingya the right to vote, but they were stamped with a major caveat that read: "Not proof of citizenship." Most also showed government-issued forms on which their family members had been registered.

There was one question, though, that the officers did not ask ? the one that mattered above all the rest. It was represented on the forms by a blank line beside the entry: "Race/Nationality."

After each interview, the officers filled in the empty space with the words: "Bengali," or, "Bengali/Islam."

The consequence of such answers is unclear. One officer, Kyi San, said only: "We're collecting data, not making decisions on nationality."

But several Muslims interviewed by the AP complained that officers refused to classify them as Rohingya, declaring that "the Rohingya do not exist." One man said he was beaten after refusing to sign a form identifying himself as Bengali.

"Being Bengali means we can be arrested and deported. It means we aren't part of this country," said Zaw Win, one of the Muslims who had been interrogated. "We are not Bengali. We are Rohingya."

___

Associated Press writers Aye Aye Win and Yadana Htun contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-11-30-Myanmar-Muslim%20Citizenship/id-d6031293359f402588d0796028d50b70

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Another Social Media Inbox? Source Metrics Says This One?s All About ?Actionable Mentions? And Breaking Down Data Silos

Startup Source Metrics is announcing a new feature to its social marketing tools today, which it's calling the Social Media Inbox. The idea of a new social network listening tool may not set anyone's heart aflutter, but CEO Scott Lake said the real selling point is the fact that the inbox is integrated with Source Metrics' other services. Many companies use a product like Radian6 to monitor social media, HootSuite to publish content, and Bitly to track different campaigns, creating "three data silos," Lake said. Source Metrics offers all of those capabilities in one suite of product.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/SIv_mgycwaU/

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Marissa Jaret Winokur?s Blog: Why Hurricane Sandy Hit Home for Me

"I know there are storms and disasters all the time, but this one really hit home to me. Now that I'm a parent, it all seems so incredibly sad and hard," the actress writes.

Source: http://feeds.celebritybabies.com/~r/celebrity-babies/~3/FFamH5_MSsM/

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10 Things to Know for Today

In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, a Syrian helps a man who was injured after two cars bombs exploded, at Jaramana neighborhood, in the suburb of Damascus, Syria, Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2012. (AP Photo/SANA)

In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, a Syrian helps a man who was injured after two cars bombs exploded, at Jaramana neighborhood, in the suburb of Damascus, Syria, Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2012. (AP Photo/SANA)

FILE - In this Nov. 21, 2012, file photo, President Barack Obama speaks about the Thanksgiving holiday in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington. The White House said Tuesday, Nov. 27, that the president plans to make a public case this week for his strategy for dealing with the looming fiscal cliff, traveling to the Philadelphia suburbs Friday as he pressures Republicans to allow tax increases on the wealthy while extending tax cuts for families earning $250,000 or less. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Maria Diaz, right, sells a customer Powerball tickets at a local supermarket in Hialeah, Fla.,Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2012. There has been no Powerball winner since Oct. 6, and the jackpot already has reached a record level for the game. Already over $500 million, it is the second-highest jackpot in lottery history, behind only the $656 million Mega Millions prize in March. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz)

Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and stories that will be talked about today:

1. WHY THE WHITE HOUSE IS STICKING WITH MORSI

The Egyptian leader ? despite questions about his commitment to democracy ? remains a key American partner in brokering peace between Israel and its neighbors.

2. DEMOCRATS' LATEST STANCE: NO CUTS TO SOCIAL SECURITY OR MEDICARE

As the clock ticks on the "fiscal cliff," many in the party ? emboldened by the election ? no longer want to consider cuts that once were on the bargaining table.

3. WHERE WEDNESDAY'S POWERBALL JACKPOT RANKS

The $500 million pot is the second-highest in lottery history, behind only the $656 million Mega Millions prize in March.

4. SUSAN RICE'S PROSPECTS GROW CLOUDY

The would-be secretary of state will meet with two more GOP senators Wednesday amid fresh concern about comments she made after the Benghazi attack.

5. BANKERS SMUGGLED MILLIONS OUT OF AFGHANISTAN

An international report shows how Kabul Bank officers and their friends and relatives got rich off $861 million in fraudulent loans.

6. WHAT WAS FOUND INSIDE THE FACTORY WHERE 112 WERE KILLED

An AP reporter searching the factory finds piles of shorts from Wal-Mart's Faded Glory brand and rap star Sean Combs ENYCE label.

7. TWIN CAR BOMBS IN DAMASCUS KILL 34 PEOPLE

The explosions were in a district that is mostly loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad.

8. WHO MADE WINNING THE MIRROR-BALL TROPHY A REALITY

Melissa Rycroft didn't win on "The Bachelor" or her first stint on "Dancing With the Stars" but she won the dance show's 'All Stars' competition.

9. U.N. ON VERGE OF RECOGNIZING PALESTINIAN STATEHOOD

The U.S. and Israel strongly oppose the resolution, which would add weight to Palestinian claims for a state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem.

10. HOW STEROID ALLEGATIONS WILL PLAY IN HALL OF FAME VOTING

Baseball greats Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Sammy Sosa will appear on Wednesday's ballot for the first time.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-11-28-AP-10-Things-to-Know-Today/id-bd4cee58a18a4cc690bf3ac3ce233fb3

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Microsoft Claims Google 'Scroogled' Shoppers, But Uses Similar Pay-To-Play Tactics

As the Federal Trade Commission nears a decision on whether to sue Google for antitrust violations, a new company practice has emerged as an example of the search giant's alleged abuse of its market share -- its decision to tilt some search results toward paid advertisers.

Under the new policy, which Google quietly rolled out in mid-October, the company highlights the products of paid advertisers on Google Shopping, its comparison-shopping service, while effectively discriminating against other companies who do not pay to be listed. For example, one company frequently missing in Google Shopping results is Amazon.com.

Analysts said Google's pay-to-play listings are doing online shoppers a disservice.

"I think it's a better system when you include people who should be there and not just people who pay," said Danny Sullivan, editor in chief of Search Engine Land, a website that covers the online search industry. "Amazon is clearly one of the largest merchants not participating and that's a big black eye for Google."

In a statement, a Google spokeswoman said: "Google Shopping makes it easier for shoppers to quickly find what they?re looking for, compare different products and connect with merchants to make a purchase."

On Wednesday, Microsoft published a blog post claiming that holiday shoppers are being ?Scroogled" because Google requires fees to list merchants in the part of its search engine dedicated to shopping results.

"The result of this new 'pay-to-rank' system is that it?s easy for consumers to mistake an ad for an honest search," the blog post said. "That?s not right, it?s misleading."

The blog post was part of a multimedia marketing campaign launched Microsoft that includes television commercials, newspaper advertisements, billboards and a new website, Scroogled.com.

But what the campaign doesn't mention is that Microsoft also favors advertisers with more prominent positions in searches. The company says merchants can get "higher visibility" on Bing Shopping by paying a third-party site, Shopping.com.

Bing director Stefan Weitz said that, unlike Google, Microsoft's shopping search engine lists both paid and unpaid merchants, and doesn't show results based on which one paid.

In coming days, federal regulators are expected to decide whether to sue Google, the creator of the world?s most popular search engine, for antitrust violations.

Major Google rivals, including Microsoft, have argued that FTC action is needed because Google -- which commands 67 percent of the search market -- has the power to play gatekeeper over the Web, directing interested buyers to the sites of companies that have paid to be listed and away from those who refuse to pay.

Google says it's simply trying to improve users search experience by changing its algorithm to show the best results, and has said that "competition is a click away" -- a veiled reference to Microsoft's Bing search engine.

The FTC declined to comment on Wednesday.

While Google's rivals say the company's new fee-based policy shows the need for FTC intervention, Sullivan said Google's new practice might not be evidence that the company is violating antitrust law. Google, he said, could now argue that by accepting payments from merchants, Google Shopping is a collection of ads -- and not a search engine. Such a distinction could potentially help the company avoid antitrust violations.

"Is it a search result or is it an ad?" Sullivan said. "If it's an ad, it doesn't fall into the anticompetitive review that is going on."

Critics say Google's new pay-to-play policy marks a sharp departure from what the company's founders publicly pledged to do when the search giant went public in 2004. In a letter to investors, Google's founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin said Google's search results "are unbiased and objective, and we do not accept payment for them."

"We will live up to our 'don't be evil' principle by keeping user trust and not accepting payment for search results," they said, but added that they "also display advertising, which we work hard to make relevant, and we label it clearly."

Google Shopping discloses that search results are based on merchants who paid them by publishing a "Sponsored" disclaimer over them, though consumers are unlikely to notice. Bing offers no such disclaimer, Sullivan said.

"There's no way for you as a consumer to go to Bing Shopping and know if [a merchant] paid to be listed or did not pay to be listed," he said.

Sullivan said the FTC's guidelines of what constitutes a search engine are unclear and the agency has failed to enforce its rules on how paid advertising on search engines should be disclosed to consumers.

"It?s a perfect example of why the FTC should look at whether consumers understand what they're getting when they use a search engine," Sullivan said, "because the entire space has gotten more complicated and confusing."

Also on HuffPost:

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/28/google-shopping-controversy-microsoft_n_2206873.html

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Content Management Systems And The Art Of Web Designing ...

In web designing, how a website looks is not all that matters. It is also important to make sure that the content of the website, such as images, posts, and links are carefully managed in order to keep the website working properly. This is especially important for businesses who make use of various online advertising and marketing strategies. Companies that rely on internet marketing and commerce often find success if their website becomes popular and receives a large number of visits from potential clients on a daily basis. Apart from regularly featuring interesting, innovative and informative content, an effective business website should also have the support of a content management system, or CMS, in order to work efficiently.

Content management in relation to web designing is essentially defined as the set of processes and technologies that support the collection, managing, storing and publication of information on a given website. For many website design companies, content management systems are an integral part of their business processes. In a number of countries, business are starting to become more aware of the benefits of having CMS services sourced from independent providers. Many CMS companies offer a full range of online marketing and advertising solutions that cater to a whole host of industries. Whether the business is about selling used cars or providing services such as online education or web hosting services, CMS website design companies can help boost sales numbers exponentially.

Many CMS companies provide companies several advantages. For instance, using CMS to manage their websites saves time and effort. Instead of having to upload files using an FTP server, clients can simply log in to their CMS user interface and post their content there. The same holds true if they simply want to make certain changes on their website. Another benefit using the services of CMS companies is the support that is available from the community. There are so many CMS enthusiasts out there that open source plug ins are being developed everyday. Almost all of the CMS companies make it easy to store important details because all the content and the data are stored in a database. All the client needs to do in order to secure and backup their data is to export them. It is even possible to track what content is published, schedule the publishing dates, and automatically remove outdated content. CMS web design companies also make it easier to change the design elements of a website without having to use any HTML codes, because they can use templates to change the different parts of the website such as the header, the sidebars, and the footer, very quickly with minimal effort.

Many companies who engage in online marketing and ecommerce call on the services of CMS Saudi Arabia in order to improve their website's performance. With the influx of web services that are becoming available to more people across the world, more companies are turning to CMS services in order to maximize their website's marketing and advertising potential.

Source: http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Content-Management-Systems-And-The-Art-Of-Web-Designing/4284294

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Source: http://nysebome.posterous.com/content-management-systems-and-the-art-of-web

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Source: http://horacebartholomew.typepad.com/blog/2012/11/content-management-systems-and-the-art-of-web-designing.html

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Source: http://kyrutane.posterous.com/content-management-systems-and-the-art-of-web

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Source: http://chambers4509.typepad.com/blog/2012/11/content-management-systems-and-the-art-of-web-designing.html

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Motorola Electrify 2 - US Cellular's best budget-friendly holiday pick

We’re officially in the thick of the holiday season, and carriers are hoping now is the time you’ll sign away your wireless soul for the next two years for the promise of a shiny new device. But before you head to the mall, take a deep breath and weigh your options closely — just because it’s that time of year doesn’t mean you have to do anything rash.

For U.S. Cellular customers, 2012 just may be the best holiday season so far. Over the past year, the carrier has been steadily adding more high-end devices to its portfolio. If you’re ready to sign a two-year contract, you’ve got plenty of solid choices: The Galaxy Note 2, the Galaxy S3, and the new Motorola Electrify M are all good devices with best-in-class specs. But at $300, $100, and $100 respectively, these three heavyweights might be just a bit too rich for your blood, especially if you’ve got to fill more than a couple stockings this year. But fear not, USC has some budget-friendly options, the best of which being the Motorola Electrify 2.

read more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/KejIAfKcnJs/story01.htm

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Consumer confidence hits 4-year high

11 hrs.

Reuters

Consumer confidence rose to a four-and-a-half-year high in November as consumers became more optimistic about the outlook for the economy, according to a private sector report released on Tuesday.

The Conference Board, an industry group, said its index of consumer attitudes rose to 73.7 up from an upwardly revised 73.1 the month before, its highest since February 2008. Economists had expected a reading of 73.0, according to a Reuters poll.

October was originally reported as 72.2.

"Over the past few months, consumers have grown increasingly more upbeat about the current and expected state of the job market, and this turnaround in sentiment is helping to boost confidence," Lynn Franco, director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center, said in a statement.

The expectations index rose to 85.1 from 84.0, while the present situation index edged slightly lower to 56.6 from 56.7.

Consumers' labor market assessment was little changed in November. The "jobs hard to get" index was flat at 38.8 percent, while the "jobs plentiful" rose to 11.2 percent from 10.4 percent.?

Analysts said the latest figures should bode well for the holiday shopping season.

"Despite the 'fiscal cliff,' Hurricane Sandy and a weaker stock market in November, households seem to be upbeat," said Ray Stone, economist and managing director for Stone & McCarthy Research Associates.?"That means they should be willing to spend money on Christmas. Shoppers won't be busting down doors, but sales should be pretty upbeat."?

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/economywatch/consumer-confidence-hits-more-4-year-high-1C7277986

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Video: Getting to 218 votes

>>> of the president's strategy to rally support for his plan to raise taxes on people that make over $250,000. today the president hosts small business owners, but the big event perhaps is friday. that's when the president takes his message on the road with a campaign style tour of a pennsylvania business. the goal, increase public pressure on republicans to support his plan. how speaker john boehner is pushing back. today his office released a statement saying the target of the president's rally should be the congressional democrats who want to raise tax rates on small businesses rather than cut spending. the white house in the meantime defends the public campaign and told chuck todd within the last hour it's doing all it can to strike a deal as soon as possible.

>> isn't everybody just killing time until the deadline comes?

>> no. it doesn't seem like killing time to me, chuck.

>> it's the final week and the jet fumes and people get out of school and people will hammer it out?

>> he has not waited for people to start smelling the jet fuels at a national airport . he's active ly put forward a plan.

>> another issue, how to get to the 218 votes needed to get a deal through the house if both parties are claiming a mandate. here's the challenge aaccording to our first read team. take a look. 205 house republican incumbents ran for re-election. 93% of them won. what's more, 117 of them won by getting at least 60% of the vote. in other words, house republicans were elected by a different electorate than the presidential and key senate contests. let me bring in nbc news deputy editor dominico. i thought that was a great explainer in first read, because that's what it boils down to, those numbers.

>> the house is different than the senate. the house has to deal with primaries potentially from the right. the senate, they have to be elected statewide. if you drill down even further, 88% of all of those house members won with at least 55% of the vote. so in a 55% race, it's not that close. it's a 10-point race. you're looking at maybe 20, 23 people who are elected with less than 55% of the vote. that's closer to what democrats are really trying to aim for.

>> absolutely. let's talk a little bit about what speaker boehner was saying, his reaction to the president going out, p if you will, to the people on friday. i think it's a toy factory. they make among other things the angry bird game or something. it's interesting because presidential historian doris kerns good win says he needs it to use the people like with other great presidents in our history.

>> when we heard him signal this during the campaign that he knows change doesn't come from inside washington , it comes from oulsd. i think that he signaled that early on during that fiscal cliff negotiation, if he were to get re-elected, he sees at least a little bit of leverage there, if not a mandate to be able to go and campaign outside to put pressure on house republicans who might be thinking about maybe signing onto something but not totally sure if they will. use some of that outside pressure to try to sway them to be more open

Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/newsnation/49983045/

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Thursday: Forsyth's Hometown Holidays Parade

The Forsyth Hometown Holidays Parade, a brilliant spectacle of lights and music promenading through Forsyth?s historic commercial district, will be Thursday, Nov. 29 at 7 p.m.

The theme this year is ?Holidays in Toon Town.? Participates are encouraged to pick a cartoon and decorate their float to represent that cartoon in a holiday setting.?

Source: http://forsythmonroe.13wmaz.com/news/arts-culture/78924-thursday-forsyths-hometown-holidays-parade

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Rice to discuss Libya with McCain, lawmakers this week: aides

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice will meet with lawmakers this week to discuss her controversial remarks about the September attack in Benghazi, Libya, that have caused hurdles for her potential promotion to secretary of state.

The move, announced shortly after a top critic said he would be open to speaking to her, could fuel speculation that she is gunning for the nation's top diplomatic job.

Republicans have attacked Rice for appearing on TV talks shows shortly after the September 11 attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi and saying that preliminary information suggested the assault was the result of protests over an anti-Muslim film rather than a premeditated attack.

Senator John McCain, a vocal opponent of Rice's possible nomination as secretary of state, said on Sunday he would be happy to meet with her about the issue.

A Senate aide said that Rice would meet with McCain as well as Senators Lindsey Graham and Kelly Ayotte, fellow Republicans who have also criticized Rice.

An Obama administration official said Rice and Michael Morell, CIA's acting director, would meet with officials on Capitol Hill but declined to give details about timing.

"She and Mike Morell are meeting with folks on the Hill about Libya this week," the official said.

Rice said last week that her comments about the attack were based squarely on information provided to her by the intelligence community. The presence of Morell in the meetings is likely meant to give weight to that assertion.

President Barack Obama's nominee for the position must be confirmed by the Senate to take the job. Democrats have a majority in the Senate, but Republicans could block his choice.

The U.S. ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens, and three other Americans were killed in the attack.

Rice will meet another Republican Senator, Susan Collins, later in the week. A Senate aide said the meeting was arranged at Rice's request. Collins is the ranking Republican on the Senate Homeland Security Committee, which is one of several committees probing the events in Benghazi.

Rice will also meet Senator Joe Lieberman, an independent who chairs the committee, according to a Senate aide.

Rice is considered a top contender to replace Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who is expected to step down at the end of Obama's first term.

Obama has not said who he wants to nominate for the post, but he bristled this month over Republican criticism of Rice, saying at a news conference that the senators should "go after" him rather than her. White House officials are fond of Rice and she is close to the president.

Senator John Kerry is also considered to be in the running to take over as the top U.S. diplomat.

(Editing by Eric Walsh and Mohammad Zargham)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/rice-discuss-libya-mccain-lawmakers-week-aides-004202691.html

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Did you see that? How could you miss it?

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

You may have received CPR training some time ago, but would you remember the proper technique in an emergency? Would you know what to do in the event of an earthquake or a fire? A new UCLA psychology study shows that people often do not recall things they have seen ? or at least walked by ? hundreds of times.

For the study, 54 people who work in the same building were asked if they knew the location of the fire extinguisher nearest their office. While many of the participants had worked in their offices for years and had passed the bright red extinguishers several times a day, only 13 out of the 54 ? 24 percent ? knew the location.

When asked to find a fire extinguisher, however, everyone was able to do so within a few seconds; most were surprised they had never noticed them. The researchers found no significant differences between men and women, or between older and younger adults.

"Just because we've seen something many times doesn't mean we remember it or even notice it," said Alan Castel, an associate professor of psychology at UCLA and lead author of the study. "If I asked you to draw the front of a dime or the front of a dollar bill from memory, how well could you do that? You might get some elements right. Do you know who the president is? On the dime, is he facing left or right? Does it say 'In God We Trust' on the front of the dollar or the back? Do you know what else it says? You've seen it so many times, but you probably haven't paid much attention to it."

Castel said that not noticing things isn't necessarily bad, particularly when those things are not important in your daily life. "It might be a good thing not to burden your memory with information that is not relevant to you," he said.

But with safety information, such as knowing where fire extinguishers are or what to do in an emergency, being prepared can, of course, be very useful.

"When you're on an airplane, do you know where the life vest is and what to do in the event of an emergency?" Castel asked. "You've been told many times, but how would you respond under stressful conditions, when there could be smoke and people screaming?"

A few months after being asked the location of the nearest fire extinguisher, the study participants were asked again if they knew where the closest one was. All of them knew.

"We don't notice something if we're attending to something else," Castel said. "Fire extinguishers are bright red and very conspicuous, but we're almost blind to them until they become relevant."

What does this tell us about the importance of training, whether for emergencies or something as common as learning a new computer program?

Castel stresses that making errors during training is useful. As with the fire extinguisher exercise, errors ? or simple oversights ? can teach us that we don't know something well and need to pay more attention in order to remember it.

"It's good if errors happen during training and not during an event where you need the information," he said. "That's part of the learning process."

The study is published in the journal Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics.

###

University of California - Los Angeles: http://www.newsroom.ucla.edu

Thanks to University of California - Los Angeles for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

This press release has been viewed 29 time(s).

Source: http://www.labspaces.net/125499/Did_you_see_that__How_could_you_miss_it_

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Althouse: "Now that legal pot is here, will cigarette companies dust ...

NPR explores the coming of legal marijuana:

In the '70s... "there were high-level conversations about adding marijuana to tobacco, creating a line of marijuana cigarettes, and being ready to jump in and market this."

As recently as 1993, when it looked like France was poised to legalize marijuana, Philip Morris trademarked the name "Marley." But when the estate of Bob Marley complained, the company claimed it had nothing to do with the reggae singer.

"Philip Morris said, 'No no, it could be any kind of Marley,... like Jacob Marley, the cheap, cantankerous teetotaler from A Christmas Carol.'"...

Want legal marijuana? Write to the President:

Source: http://althouse.blogspot.com/2012/11/now-that-legal-pot-is-here-will.html

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Why you should write your own blog | ABC Copywriting blog

What a week! My head was spinning with half-remembered remarks, half-formed thoughts and half-baked ideas. I knew there was only one way to get it all straight: I had to confide in my diary.

Everything was set. I was tired, yet not overly so. I?d enjoyed a fine dinner. A little red wine had pleasantly loosened the bonds of reason. As I drew up a chair and lit the lamp, the universe itself seemed hushed, holding its breath for the act of creation.

But I couldn?t be arsed. So I phoned some guy who does diary entries for ?10 each and told him what I wanted. He sent me something a couple of days later and all I had to do was paste it in. Sorted!

If that last paragraph seemed fine and natural to you, you might want to stop reading right here. But if it didn?t, you?re already down with my theme: blogging, like keeping a diary, is something you can?t really outsource.

Well, how did I get here?

Blogs, or ?web logs?, evolved from online diaries, and the classic format for a post reflects this ancestry: a few hundred words long, date-stamped, written in the first person, reactive to events and coloured by opinion.

Original blog daddy

A blog as a whole is made, not born. Its themes, style and structure coalesce gradually rather than being imposed or decided at the outset. Instead of appearing as a fait accompli, it emerges in fragments, its overall shape only becoming clear over time.

Like the rings of a tree, a blog shows where you?ve been, and how far you?ve come. In the early days of this blog, I barely knew what I was writing about, or who for. (The answers were ?not much? and ?almost nobody?.) So while it?s embarrassing to look back at me-too potboilers like this, it makes any progress I?ve made since then all the more gratifying.

The whole story

But it?s not all onwards and upwards. An honest blog documents self-doubt as well as self-development. If you?ve changed your mind, or can see both sides, your blog can reflect that too. Witness the way I?ve come down both pro and anti the movement for Plain English, or maintained that copywriting is an art while admitting to my own lack of creativity.

Up close, such inconsistencies do make you look a bit of a prat. Being generous, though, they show willingness to follow your ideas wherever they lead, and to share opinions you?re not completely sure of. Over time, a blog develops into a true reflection of its author (or authors), with all their contradictions, frailties and failings.

In other words, it tells a story. An individual, human story. Indeed, for most of us, our blog will be the most enduring cultural artefact we create. Your blog is the book of your life, and since work is a part of life, that?s true of business as well as personal blogs.

Vocational therapy

However, a blog isn?t just a record. It can also be a powerful force for change. Just as writing down your travels, your diet or your dreams can make a big difference to the way you think and act, so recording your deskbound thoughts can transform your working life. Blogging is a kind of vocational therapy.

Although it can be fiercely challenging, putting business ideas into words is an excellent intellectual workout. Writing clarifies ideas, chases out woolly thinking and (as noted) exposes inconsistency. It calls your bluff if you?re hedging your bets. Basically, it helps you get your head straight.

More subtly, blogging helps you know thyself. Sometimes, to write your opinions is to discover them ? maybe even to be surprised by them. And that deeper self-knowledge can easily lead to new directions in your work.

Sense of purpose

This is why blogs are special: they embody the human thoughts and feelings that give life to a business. Organisations are made of people, and blogs answer the big questions about them. Why should anyone, inside or outside it, care about this business? What makes people want to be part of it, or put part of themselves into it? Why does it do what it does, and not some other thing that might make more money? What, in the deepest sense, is its purpose?

Short of physically speaking with the people in a business, shaking their hands and looking into their eyes, you?ll find your best answer on their blog. And it?s this human dimension that distinguishes a blog from other forms of commercial writing.

Arguably, Twitter does something similar, but it?s too ephemeral and fragmented. Most tweets aren?t even seen by most followers, and only the most unhinged cyberstalker reads a Twitter feed right through, like a book. Facebook is perhaps more permanent, but it?s also less pure in a textual sense: writing is only one aspect of the experience, and it?s still more about comment and conversation than extended narrative or reflection. If reading a blog is like taking a look at someone?s diary, following them on Twitter and Facebook is like meeting them in a crowded pub.

Defining quality

Blogging, then, is a Very Good Thing. But clearly, some blogs, and some posts, are better than others. What makes a ?good? blog post?

I put ?good? in quotes because the definition, in recent years, has been very much up for grabs. If you believe everything you read, you?ll probably conclude that good blogging is about information, opinion, entertainment, search-engine prominence, frequency, relevance, uniqueness and ?shareability? ??ideally, all at the same time.

Some of these aims have not come from bloggers, or their audiences, but have been imposed by the middleman who stands between them. Because Google is the gatekeeper of the web, it?s skewed the idea of ?quality? towards its chosen proxy measures for that elusive concept: keyword density and any old backlink in the early days, social profile and human-curated backlinks more recently.

As Google tried to reflect human values in its algorithm, it placed new obligations on website owners. Suddenly, everyone had to have a blog and update it regularly. So people started blogging for the sake of blogging ??not because they necessarily had anything to say that week. Blogging became less human, more mechanistic, as businesses looked for the parameters and processes that would deliver an effective blog. Having been like painting a picture, blogging was now more like painting a fence.

Welcome to the machine

Naturally, some firms resent this new drain on their resources, so they reach out to suppliers who can take the problem away.

Those who ?get it?, and do not expect straw to be spun into gold, hook up with thoughtful, professional copywriters who will give their blog the time and attention it deserves ? which is the next best thing to doing it yourself.

The rest, I imagine, end up somewhere like the site I found by Googling ?blog writing service?, which promises ?original blog posts that are specifically designed for your company and your industry? that will deliver ?a strong, stable, and consistent rise in your page rank?. ?See our system in action? is the call to action on the green button.

Personally, I?ve seen quite enough of this ?system? in ?action?. From this wretched, utterly materialist perspective, writing is just a cog in the machine. Words are a fungible commodity that can be counted out and traded, like sugar beets. Once bought, such ?content? is expected to perform, to deliver value, to yield returns like any other asset. But words aren?t rivets; they?re the thread that links us together. They?re not just valuable, they?re precious.

Beyond gaming

Clearly, people doing low-rent content marketing couldn?t care less about the soul of language. But their approach isn?t just heartless ? it?s pointless too.

Many of the oft-quoted aims of blogging are ferociously hard to achieve in practice. Original information? Takes time, and can cost money too. Search ranking? Tough, and getting tougher, for anything but long-tail terms. Social popularity? Hit-and-miss at best, impossible at worst (especially for intrinsically dull or ?necessary evil? brands like Anusol or Rentokil). As for uniqueness, it?s practically unobtainable unless you?re writing for an insanely narrow audience. And the truth is that most off-the-peg blog posts will not deliver against these exacting targets, despite the pedlars? promises.

Instead of trying to game the system, businesspeople could consider how their own writing could help. Not by rocketing them to page one, or going viral Gangnam style, but by opening a conversation with the people who are visiting and leaving their site without picking up the phone. And as Google Analytics will readily tell you, there are always far more of those people than you might want to admit.

Sincerity, enthusiasm and understanding

Imagine you are looking for a driving tutor for your son or daughter. You find a guy through Google and click through to his site. You notice he has a blog. You start reading.

Now, you are not expecting him to write like Seth Godin. In fact, such incongruence of tone would probably raise suspicion. Instead, you?re looking for someone who understands. Someone who?s already thinking about the things that are important to you. Someone who?s sincere about what they do, and enthusiastic about the benefits they can offer you.

In this case, thoughtful posts about putting the learner driver at their ease, alternative teaching techniques and handy aides-memoires for students might go a long way.

The odd spelling slip or grammar howler doesn?t matter. You?re not marking an essay; you?re getting to know a human being. Conversely, there is no need for the blogger to try and impress you with Martin Amis-style verbal sorcery; this is a situation where simple truths beat technical mastery.

The blogger?s mindset

Creating a blog like that is all about cultivating ?blogger?s mind?. This is a sort of ambient attunement to potential subjects, encompassing everything from current affairs and industry developments to something you saw on TV. Like volatile chemicals, ideas react when mixed, and before you know it you?re writing ?Why learning to drive is like going on a first date?.

Chance favours the prepared mind. To get better ideas, just keep the question ?could I make a blog post out of this?? always at the back of your mind. Believe me, it works a whole lot better than sitting down to try and generate ideas for posts by force of will. And it?s something that can only really be done by someone within the business rather than a third party.

Blogger?s mind gave me this post about Denis Waterman. I saw the story about Waterman?s domestic abuse on the Guardian. His quotes clicked with something I knew about language. I wrote the post quickly, over breakfast, and posted it within an hour. And people liked it. (Sorry for using so many examples from my own blog, but I can?t know the thought processes behind other people?s.)

Through their eyes

When I have blogged on behalf of clients, the process has been most enjoyable and productive when I?ve got into their ?blogger?s mind?. I?m sure those writers who provide a thoughtful, high-quality, non-commodified blog writing service aim for the same thing. Over time, it is possible to develop an approximation of the client?s worldview, allowing you to have their ideas for them.

Interviewing is by far the best way to do this. But, because it?s still like writing someone else?s diary, the results are 80?90% at best. Like digitised models of human beings, ghostwritten posts can fall into the ?uncanny valley? where near-perfection is somehow more unsettling than something honestly artificial. That last 10% makes all the difference.

Arguably, a better approach than writing for the client is to induct them in the way of ?blogger?s mind?, so they can build up their own blogging muscles. Teach someone to fish, and they eat for life, as they say. But this requires some initiative and commitment on their part, and some clients aren?t prepared to ante up. In a way, it?s hard to blame them ? after all, they hired someone to write for them, not chivvy them to do it themselves.

Perhaps the most compelling reason for them to make the effort is to manage the conversation that a good post can generate. Given the right process of drafting and approval, a good writer can do a reasonable job of standing in for the client within the boundaries of the post itself. But as Han Solo observed, ?Good against drones is one thing. Good against the living? That?s something else.? Responding to questions and challenges off the cuff, when you don?t really know what you?re talking about, is hair-raising for the writer and reputationally risky for the client. (It?s the same problem that plagues those who run Twitter accounts on behalf of clients.)

Copywriter required

So, if bringing the personal touch to a blog is so cool, shouldn?t business people write all their stuff? Should they, perhaps, write their own websites, brochures and ads as well?

The answer is an emphatic ?no? ? and not just because I have a vested interest.

As I?ve argued, blogging is a very particular type of writing, and the points I?ve made here don?t apply to other formats. When we look at a website or an ad, we?re not expecting to talk to a human, but to see the benefits of a product or service communicated in the most vivid and engaging way possible. And not just expecting ??hoping. In this case, a bit of the copywriter?s magic is exactly what we want.

That?s why I?m still delighted that people choose me to give voice to their product or brand. But I?m increasingly uneasy about doing the same for their blog. They really might be better off doing it themselves.

Tagged with: blogging, Denis Waterman, Gangnam Style, Google, Han Solo, Martin Amis, Seth Godin

Source: http://www.abccopywriting.com/blog/2012/11/26/why-you-should-write-your-own-blog/

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Philip Galanes: Talking Politics (and Oxygen): How to Keep the Peace -- And Hell, Actually Communicate

Bad news, folks: Election Day did not erase the bitterness of partisan politics the way I fantasized it might. ("Just get us to November 6^th!" I kept muttering, as if we were on the road to Oz -- instead of a long evening with Wolf Blitzer.) In fact, my Social Q's mailbox at the New York Times where I write an advice column for the Styles section, has become an even stronger magnet for the petty resentments and grand-mal seizures of folks whose political miscommunications, missed communications, and nasty communications are driving them straight up the wall.

Worse news: It's not likely to get much better as we enter the wall-to-wall holiday season -- in which greater contact with blood relations, booze, airports and credit card debt can reliably spike the blood pressures of the mildest among us.

So, here is the million dollar question: Is it even constructive to talk politics with folks who don't (and in all likelihood may never) agree with us?

Absolutely!

Until we find a rational way to stake out our differing positions -- without shouting, finger-pointing, or disrespectfully doctored GIFs of the president -- we will never build consensus or move toward the compromises that everyone knows we're desperate for. (Also, in light of this fall's lousy TV line-up and the New York Jets abysmal season to date, what else are we going to talk about?)

So, it's decided: We are going to talk politics. But how do we engineer these conversations so they're productive and polite?

Well, it all boils down to oxygen. (Yep, you heard me: oxygen)

1. Listen.

When your brother-in-law (or neighbor or boss) starts voicing political opinions that make you want to interrupt immediately -- screaming out your objections or grinding his face into a sofa cushion, simply breathe deeply, inhaling and exhaling as you listen. Keep a cool expression on your face that gives away nothing, but more importantly, keep quiet.

Letting the other person have his say is critical for two reasons: It lets him know you respect him enough to hear him out, which creating a small mountain of goodwill. But more selfishly, it creates an equitable right for you to be heard in return. I'm not saying this will be easy. But if women can breathe through the body-wracking agony of delivering twins, you can surely breathe through your neighbor's interpretation of the fiscal cliff.

This does not require you to endure political rants or nasty personal attacks. (Even listening has its limits.) When the other guy becomes screechy or his arguments ad hominem, simply toss in a mild-mannered: "Indoor voice, please" or "Let's steer clear of name-calling." If that doesn't work, retreat. It takes two to tango -- at we've all learned from Dancing With the Stars. But most times, your quiet reminder will work, and the other guy will inch back toward civility.

2. First Agree, then Make Your Own Point.

So, now that you've listened like a champ, and let the other person make his point, what then? What else: More oxygen: Take another deep breath. Let your exhale wipe away as much smirk and snark and superiority as it can. Then find one (even miniscule) thing to agree with in what your neighbor just said -- even if it's a simple: "Well, we both agree that this is an important issue." Then make your counterpoint gently but firmly, open to further discussion, but no patsy.

If the other guy interrupts you, remind him calmly that you heard him out and would like the same respect from him.

Now, keep it up: breathing and listening, breathing and speaking. Who knows? You might actually get somewhere.

3. Don't Be Afraid to Take a Break.

If this tack fails, never fear: Simply turn up the oxygen. Don't be shy about excusing yourself for a quick walk around the block. Clear your head with some nice deep breaths. And let your oxygenated breath return your pounding heart rate to normal.

When you head back inside, consider round two. But if you take up this challenge, be even gentler and more respectful the second time around -- like Daniel Day Lewis in his Abraham Lincoln drag, with a voice as calm and sure as the one that began to heal a nation even more deeply divided (and less inclined to compromise) than the talking heads at MSNBC and Fox News.

Just breathe deep -- and good luck out there.

Philip Galanes is the author of Social Q's: How to Survive the Quirks, Quandaries, and Quagmires of Today

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Follow Philip Galanes on Twitter: www.twitter.com/SocialQPhilip

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/philip-galanes/family-politics_b_2189254.html

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stephmodo: Real Life Home No.18 - Annalise Neil's 1946 California ...

Since Monday is an important day to feel inspired, I want to share this gorgeous "real life home" tour with you today. ?I simply cannot wait another moment to do so! ?I discovered Annalise Neil's beautiful, San Diego home via the lovely Jora of Domestic Reflections--one of my favorite blogs. ?And thank goodness I did, because Annie's eclectic home exudes so much love, warmth and depth, that it simply cannot be contained. ? ?

This 1946 bungalow, affectionately referred to as "Neilhaus", is situated on a quiet, dead-end street above a tiny canyon that is home to gray foxes, possums and other small wildlife.??Marking the beautiful home are two, wind-swept juniper trees, which you can see a portion of above.??It truly sounds like an ideal location to raise a family, which is just what this?printmaker?and freelance writer is doing!??In fact, as your eyes move through this home tour, be sure to keep your eyes peeled for Annalise?s original etchings, prints, copper plates and drawings dotting the photographs (which were also snapped by Annie).

For those of you just tuning in,?this original series?showcases living spaces decorated by people who are not formally-trained interior designers; people who mix new finds with antiques and secondhand pieces from?Craigslist?(or the like). People who have figured out, on their own, what looks and feels good in their living space, be it a free-standing home, an apartment, or in one particular case,?a tower?:)

Her light-filled living room, populated by what Annalise refers to as a ?motley assortment of vintage mid-mod, militaria and scores from Anthropologie sample sales? is the room that first caught my eye.? Having moved around several times, Annie?s home is the perfect example of bringing together little treasures from both near and far. ?And, as someone who prefers large, open windows sans treatments, I really appreciate the open feeling these windows create.

Like me, Annie procured her antique dining table on Craigslist?a fabulous source if you prefer a mix `n? match look.? Isn?t it well-paired with those dramatic, but minimal chairs?? And the perfectly arranged wall of art?? I love the idea of enjoying a simple meal with friends around this table.? It?s such an inspiring setting.

The nursery at Neilhaus is home to Annie?s little 8-month-old, Baby O.? The walls are adorned with vintage ephemera, including a favorite print by Arthur Rackham.? Annalise was lucky enough to discover this ?Alice in Wonderland? print when helping her mother clean out a closet.? A few other special details in the nursery include the crewelwork bouquet on the rocking chair, the blessing gown from Annie?s favorite antique store in Philadelphia, and the woodland imagery she created over the mirrored chest of drawers (also an Anthro sample).

Her 3-year-old son?s room is an ideal space for a toddler, but is decorated in a way that will easily transition her little man into a ?big boy?, with just a few minor changes.? I love the room to grow in this space!

When crafting a space for a child, there is such a temptation to buy everything new, (I know because I?ve been there before!).? But what I appreciate most about Annalise?s style is that she creates character by mixing antiques in with new pieces.? Special antiques in this room include the chest of drawers from ?a perfectly cluttered? thrift store in upstate New York and a vintage sardine advert found down the road. ?She purchased the mouse tapestry in China many years ago with the intention of hanging it in a future child?s room.? I love that.

The last bedroom to be featured in this particular home tour is that of Annalise and her husband.? Hanging front and center is an old lithograph they discovered together in the basement of their old row house in Philadelphia years ago (such a great story!).? Flanking the antique lithograph are two of Annie?s own lithographs?one of her husband and one of herself.

I am also impressed by the clever display of books in their bedroom.? Is anyone else amazed at how surprisingly monumental it is to come up with the best way to display a personal book collection?? It sounds so simple, but it often proves to be a vexing design issue I find.? Annalise seems to make it look effortless here.

Bougainvillea beckons guests through the door to the small dwelling out back.? Slated to be Annalise?s future studio, it currently serves as a guest home for visiting family and friends.?
The beautiful backyard is not only home to the small animals that venture out of the canyon, but to persimmon, pomegranate, peach, lemon and fig trees.? Sounds pretty heavenly, doesn?t it???
If you'd like to peek at some more "real life homes", enjoy these previous posts. ?Annalise, thank you for sharing your beautiful home with us!

Real Life Home No. 17 - Maria of Dreamy Whites
Real Life Home No. 16?- Chelsea's Michigan Farmhouse
Real Life Home No. 15?- Erin's Upcycled Hollywood Glam
Real Life Home No.14?- Nadia's Converted Barn in Vermont

Real Life Home No.12?- Aunt Patty's sophisticated mid-century home
Real Life Home No.11?- Rubyellen of Cakies and her French-inspired flea market finds
Real Life Home No.10?- Julie's coastal home with reclaimed materials
Real Life Home No. 9?- Petra's Tower in downtown Seattle
Real Life Home No. 8?- Kayce's Nashville Home that's both Southern + sweet
Real Life Home No. 7?- Sara's colorful and eclectic Portland Home
Real Life Home No. 6?- Amy's Calming Neutrals in California
Real Life Home No. 5?- Lynne of Sugar City Journal and her whimsical details
Real Life Home No. 4?- Emily's gorgeous whites and woods in Dallas
Real Life Home No. 3?- Kirsten of Simply Grove's clean and textural Idaho home
Real Life Home No. 2?- Maria of Two Peas and a Pod and her white kitchen
Real Life Home No. 1?- My sister Cherilee's eclectic, mid-century home

images by Annalise Neil

Source: http://www.stephmodo.com/2012/11/real-life-home-no18-annalise-neils-1946.html

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