AriWriter

Why Simple Words Work Best

Ari Herzog — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 06:42:23 +0000

Eevry six mohnts or so, a fernid lraens of the fmaous Cgdibmare Utisriveny sdtuy auobt gaamrmr and langguae, qtoinug teshe wodrs taht are erhevrweye:

“Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a total mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.”

The lsaett epdsoie hpnapeed a few huros ago wehn a fnired on Fboeocak wotre auobt it. The ponit of the stduy is taht I can mix up the oderr of lertets in wdros and you wlil slitl be albe to raed it. Tihs hnaepps bucasee I use wrods taht are shrot and smilpe to raed; not wdors lkie “poorurpti” and “rrodhnoodedn” and “tpnaimi” taht are hrad to raed.

Presuming you can read/write English, did I confuse you? If not, this is why you should use simple and short words in your next blog post.

Sources: background links and scramble your own text

-- Thanks for reading Why Simple Words Work Best at AriWriter

How a Blog Post Could Go Viral

Do You Prefer Mine Short — or Long?

Ari Herzog — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 18:07:24 +0000

Lauren Fernandez, in a comment to Stuart Foster about engaging blog lurkers, suggests people are either too busy or too lazy to take 5 minutes out of their day to add a comment to a blog post, even if it inspires them.

Do they comment? Sometimes. You have to leave it open ended, like you said. 250 words with holes that ask a lot of questions probably will drive more conversation that someone who is preaching for 700 words. I get bored after 300. If you want to hold my attention? It better be damn good.

Do her thoughts vibe with yours? Are you more apt to comment on short blog posts than long ones?

If you are willing to exercise your fingers in a comment below, I lend you my ears.

-- Thanks for reading Do You Prefer Mine Short — or Long? at AriWriter

Showcase Sunday: From Felicia Day to a Goat

Ari Herzog — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 16:57:16 +0000

Sundays are relaxing days, commented Kristi seven days ago for the first installment of Showcase Sunday. In that spirit, here are four videos to add to your relaxation.

These are videos that I’ve watched and liked over the past week and are shared in the hope you may like, too. There’s a running theme; can you guess what it is?

Felicia Day stars in this musical video about her TV series that I shared with you last week in my Avatar blog post.

Alyssa Milano tweeted a link to her starring in this parody video:

Here’s a video sent to The Ellen Show this month by a group of flag football guys in Boston. I learned yesterday that my sister’s friend is one of the guys in it.

Finally, I inform you about a YouTube doubler tool where you can plug in two different videos, choose the number of seconds to wait to start each one, and they’re played simultaneously.

Making the rounds on Twitter last week is this example of an Usher rap video and a goat. You have to see it to understand, and you are a strong-willed person if you click away before it ends! For reasons beyond my comprehension, it won’t embed properly here so here’s the link to the rapping goat video.

-- Thanks for reading Showcase Sunday: From Felicia Day to a Goat at AriWriter

Satisfying Saturday: Commenting to 17 Bloggers

Ari Herzog — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 06:31:14 +0000

Despite top 10 prediction lists for 2010 and Christmas content bogging up the intertubes over the past seven days, my eyes wandered over many fine blog posts and commented on a fair number of them.

For my second installment of Satisfying Saturday, I share a selection of online eyeball candy from numerous bloggers who inspired me to add a comment over the past week:

Dave Doolin: Why your blog may fail
Dragan Mestrovic: What every blogger should know
Adriel Hampton: How to write a viral blog post
Kirsten Wright: Where to find new blogs to read
Peter Kim: Thoughts on blogging
Matt Stigliano: Why sharing where you are is good
Stephen Hale: Why websites are less important today
Rachel Levy: How to create a Twitter name
Jay Baer: How to think about social media
Lisa Barone: Distinguising brand from reputation
Wil Wheaton How our lives are different
Chris Brogan: Do what you need to do today
Dennis Howlett: How cloud computing confuses people
Steve Radick: Why Santa Claus is tracked online
Estaban Kolsky: Buzzwords that deserve to die in 2010
Doug Haslam: Buzzwords that will never die online
Kate Carruthers: Business predictions for 2010

-- Thanks for reading Satisfying Saturday: Commenting to 17 Bloggers at AriWriter

How Avatars Changed Online

Ari Herzog — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 18:54:28 +0000

It used to be that an avatar was a character you created to represent yourself on bulletin boards, interactive games, and other internet places. The idea was rather than showing your own face, you could transform into someone else to do your bidding on your behalf. You controlled the strings, but other people (or other avatars, if you will) interacted with your avatar.

This is partially the premise for the new James Cameron film, AVATAR. If you get a chance to see it on an IMAX screen with 3-D glasses, please do; for the film experience will not disappoint!

But the kind of avatar I’d like to point out is the kind stereotyped by Felicia Day in the below song and dance routine:

It used to be that avatars were characters you created to represent yourself. But now, online avatars that most people know on social networking profiles are snapshots of your own faces. Goodbye mystery, goodbye intrigue, goodbye transformation. The internet has changed what your avatar looks like, whereby if you don’t include a Twitter or Facebook picture that has you in it, there is a sense that you are not you.

How things change.

-- Thanks for reading How Avatars Changed Online at AriWriter

How I Gave Back This Holiday Season

Ari Herzog — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 05:32:54 +0000

It is that time of year again as we approach a new year to echo my decision from 365 days ago to donate to the Wikimedia Foundation, owner of the human-powered Wikipedia reference tool. Cognizant of comment flak I received last year that donations don’t necessarily go where some may think, I figure I use the site enough times for research to warrant giving a little something to the nonprofit organization.

In 2008, I restricted my December donations to Wikimedia. This year, I went further.

In addition to the Wikimedia Foundation, I also opted to donate to the Mozilla Foundation last night, furthering the creation, promotion, and development of open source software like Mozilla Firefox, the web browser I use to read blog posts like this. I also directed small donations to Wordpress plugin developers Andy Bailey, Mark Jaquith, and Jon Bishop as a way of saying thanks.

If you want a link to your latest blog post to appear at the bottom of your next comment on my blog or another blog that is part of the CommentLuv community, such as one by Kristi Hines, Danny Brown, Kim Woodbridge, or Steven Aitchison, you need to install CommentLuv first, and follow Andy’s directions next to learn how to register and optimize yourself.

CommentLuv provides an easy way to share the love of your blog with other readers, and is a more direct call to action that assuming someone will click the blog linked to your name. You can donate to Andy here.

The one essential plugin for your Wordpress blog, though, is not CommentLuv but something called Subscribe to Comments. Before submitting your comment, check the box below that states such and you will receive emailed notifications whenever I or someone else reply to your comment — thus, continuing the conversation.

Mark’s plugin promotes social connections within a blog. His donations link is about halfway down this link.

Both of the above plugins were listed among 22 I used in September; Jon’s Socialize plugin is a newer one to me — that, in Jon’s words, enables actionable social bookmarking. I’ve played with it for about two months and enjoy the Twitter and Facebook sharing buttons much more than what I previously used.

You can donate to Jon here, and if the link doesn’t work, you can click his contact link for the email address to PayPal him at.

A thank you note goes a long way, but so does a small token of your appreciation for the things like Wordpress plugins many people take for granted when they install them on their blogs, so in my own little way, I am trying to give back to the community.

Happy holidays.

-- Thanks for reading How I Gave Back This Holiday Season at AriWriter

1 Essential Plugin for Your Wordpress Blog