Inspiring day in stunning photos
Thanks to Donna Papacosta for pointing to these amazing photos of the inauguration of President Obama on Tuesday. Between a client meeting, travel and a deadline, I was only able to watch about 10 minutes of the live coverage and had to catch up with the news...Big bro is watching
Big Brother was watching me this weekend, and it kind of creeped me out. OK, so I was being nosy. A neighbour’s house was up for sale, and I was curious to see how much it was listed for. So I went to the real estate company’s site, scrolled through the...Really? ‘Bailout’ is the word of the year?
You’d expect a “word of the year” to be something special, wouldn’t you? So it’s somewhat disappointing that the American Dialect Society’s word of the year for 2008 is…drumroll…bailout. Even Grant Barrett, chair of the...
Get creative with metaphors
You can’t argue with the Publication Coach, Daphne Grey-Grant, when she encourages writers to use metaphors. “They add interest, colour and power to your writing,” she says. “As readers, we all do better when we can visualize something concrete.” I keep a file...
It’s like magic: referrals help you diversify
If all your money was invested in the stock market, you’d be feeling pretty nervous when prices start dropping. That’s why financial advisors suggest you diversify — mix it up between stocks, bonds, guaranteed investment certificates and other products with...Back away from the Internet
You knew it, and usability expert Jakob Nielsen confirms it: we’re drowning in irrelevant information, squandering an hour or more each day simply dealing with email and other distractions. So if you haven’t picked a new year’s resolution yet,...
Top 10 time: Bailout and other words of the year
Happy new year! Word nerds enjoy this time of year, when various dictionaries and other authorities name top and top 10 words: Merriam-Webster lists bailout as the word of the year for 2008 after it received the highest intensity of lookups on Merriam-Webster Online....Ode to freelance joy
I can’t resist sharing Bill Dyszel’s “freelance national anthem,” about the joys of being a freelance writer. Appropriately enough, it’s sung to Ode to Joy (written by German poet Friedrich Schiller but best known in its musical setting...