That's right—I have 11,072 unread items on my feed reader. All of it pretty much equates to me being way behind on my subscriptions. I am either subscribed to too many feeds, engaged in too many other things to bother, uninterested in the feeds which I am subscribed to, or a combination of all three. It would appear that it is time to fix this problem right now.

Obviously, I am subscribed to way too many feeds, but I have to be keep on top of things. How can we solve this problem? First, I could use a feed filtering service like AideRSS, illumio, or FilterMyRSS. Next, I could use the abilities within many feed reading applications to discover content that has only the content I want within the feed (alternatively, I could exclude this content as well)—NetNewsWire and FeedDemon offers functionality like this. Finally, I use services like TechMeMe, Reddit, and Digg to get only the best news out there.

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If you follow the legal issues that may have a great impact on your writing career, then you probably know about the history of the Orphan Works Bill which failed to pass last time but has again been introduced. This issue is important so I'm blogging here and on Sling Words about it.

The first alert was sounded by Jonathan Bailey of Plagiarism Today

What is an Orphan Work?

An orphan work is one that is believed to be protected by copyright law but whose owner can't be located. Anyone who wants to reuse such a work can't find the owner to ask permission from or contract with in order to use the piece. Therefore, the piece lands in a legal limbo - no one can use it or reproduce it because they may be sued for copyright infringement.

Supporters of Orphan Works legislation say this isn't what the ideals of copyright law intended. So the Copyright Office wants to draft new rules to make these orphan works available for use so anyone who wants to use them won't incur any legal liability.

The problem is what if you are a copyright owner, alive and well, but for whatever reason can't be contacted as the legal holder of the rights to a work. Can it be declared an orphan and you forfeit your rights? This is just one of the issues that may have to be confronted along with other dangers the Copyright Office may unwittingly create for creative copyright holders.

Draft Letter To Congress

Read more at Jonathan's blog to gain an in-depth understanding of the issue. If you agree with his points, copy the Plagiarism Today Draft Letter, make it your own if you are so inclined, and send it to your Representatives and Senators.

When was the last time you thought about documentation for your small business?

You may have a small, intimate team that is very familiar with the everyday going ons and where everything is -- but what happens when you need to expand and grow your team? Or worse, what happens when someone who was critical to your business leaves or has to be let go?

Granted documentation is not in any way sexy(nor is it remotely approaching any level of fun) in the context of the business world; and the IT realm is notorious for not documenting their processes and critical information. Some workers are intimidated by forms and 'business speak', while some are afraid that if things are written down it jeopardizes their job security. Some just don't like writing.

A few years back I was working with a very large pharmaceudical company on decomissioning a mainframe, and the hired Data Warehouse expert flat out refused to do documentation. This resulted in not only causing a rift in the team, a loss of respect for that worker, but ultimately got him fired. If a large corporation expects all workers to be able to document their work, so should smaller businesses.

It is critical to your business and its growth that how you do your business (from steps A to Z) and how information is used and manipulated is written down.

Here are some steps to ease the process:

1. Use a template: Create a simple, yet professional template with your company title or logo so that the reader can easily tell what the subject is about, who wrote it, and when it was last changed. MS Word has many great templates you can modify to suit your needs. And make sure your employees use them.
2. Think like a new hire: If you were just hired for your company, what information do you need? Do you need an email account? Remote access / VPN? Who are my contacts? For every type, a structured instructional should exist for who requests for what (in old change management speak it was who is Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed) and who should be informed. A graphical chart also helps.
3. Draw up an organization chart: It doesn't matter if your company only has five people or 50. Make sure everyone understands how your business is organized and who reports to whom.
4. Collect technical resources in one place: For all of your IT resources (software and hardware) any piece of documentation (manual, instructions, even README text files) should be collected and stored in a shareable structured repository (broken out into logical directories and subdirectories that make sense), so others may refer to them as resources.

A good example is LeTip International who has a secure online repository of documentation to be used by their distributed members for their local chapters and regions.

You may start on this journey and it may be painful, especially if you're the only responsible person doing this work, but believe me -- it will be worth it as your business grows. If your organization is larger and have a great number of documents, you may want to investigate document repository systems to manage them. If there is interest in learning about some open source repository systems, let me know and I will write on them.

Hope this helps!

You're saying, "my blog isn't about reviews." Even still, writing reviews helps you to learn constructive criticism - assuming that you aren't out to be purely critical. Writing short reviews help you to be more succinct. And it's not all that hard if you practice.

Over the years, I've written many hundreds of reviews, which I believe has helped me be less verbose. (Don't mistake my long, more detailed posts for verbosity.) To do the same, ask yourself, "could the same thing be said in fewer words?

Here's one process towards brevity:

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If you thought white papers to promote your business were out and blogging in, join the club. But apparently there's life in them yet. Brian Clark at Copyblogger talks about how white papers earn author Mike Stelzner $300K/year. There's an affiliate link in that post to a free video where Stelzner discusses how he got into this writing niche. There are also additional free videos and other materials via subscription, some of which Brian is part of.

The video focuses on writing white papers for your business, but Stelzner earns his six-figure income from the fees he charges for writing white papers. So there are two ways that white papers can be beneficial to you, depending on whether you're a business owner or freelance writer.

While writing white papers may not be for everyone, if you think you have the stamina to write a well-structured, expert document that's longer than a blog post, you should look into this opportunity.

Is it just me or is anyone else having trouble with certain Google applications? I've been having consistent problems with Google Calendar for several weeks now. The items on one or more calendars often won't display, no matter how many times I refresh. What good is a calendar tool that doesn't work?

I've also had inconsistent render problems with both Google Docs and Google Mail. I have no plans to switch away from GMail, unless I'm absolutely forced to. But if the calendar problem goes on for another week, I'm forced to switch. Google, you really need to get on top of these problems. Then there's the AdSense reporting problems, as Problogger pointed out.

Anyone else seeing similar problems? Has Google grown too fast for their (and our) own good?

When you're stuck for what to blog, or you're stressed out, what do you do to relax? Besides taking the dogs for a walk, I enjoy two main stress relievers: strumming on the guitar or creating "art". I'm not a painter, and I'm an inconsistent pen and ink sketcher at best. I can spend 36 hours one weekend doing a charcoal reproduction of a David Bowie photo, then I can not pick up a pen or pencil again for several years. I can "draft" objects, but that's kind of boring. However, I did discover an incredible 3D program called Bryce, which I started using around 1999.

Bryce is unlike any "low-end" 3D software I've tried - what with its photorealistic landscapes, architecture and animations. It's a great way to implement some Art Therapy, if you don't feel like the traditional method of using paint or chalk, etc.  You don't have to be "troubled" to use art therapy. It's a way to relax and reduce stress, and can spark other types of creativity.

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I have been playing around with two products, WriteRoom and Dark Room, which allow users the ability to edit text in a completely isolated environment. Essentially, these editors give users the ability to focus on the text, and only the text. For the professional blogger/writer, one of these text editors might become invaluable to your writing process.

Some of you will find either of these applications to be worthy as your new primary text editor, but the rest of you will think they are far to primitive, but if you are the former, like one of my followers on Twitter, you will absolutely love the concept of being able to write without distraction.

Another user on Twitter messaged me stating that text editing tools were the last things that distracted him while writing. I find that the text editor I utilize happens to have a dramatic impact on how productive I am when writing. For example, I have a difficult time using web-based text editors (like the built-in WordPress editor), but I absolutely enjoy using an application like Windows Live Writer and ecto to write my articles.

These applications will probably generate no interest for quite a few of you, but I have already decided to incorporate WriteRoom into my workflow. It is a throwback that I absolutely love, and I am usually the one that loves the fancy interfaces.

WriteRoom

WriteRoom is the first product that was created (as Dark Room is simply a clone of WriteRoom). Built for the Mac operating system (now supporting OS X 10.4 or later), WriteRoom was designed to eliminate the common distractions that are apparent with most text editing environments today. The application eliminates formatting, graphs, spacing, pictures, and more by focusing on only the most important aspect of a writing—the words.

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You've probably heard/read the age-old advice to writers: write about what you know. Not to be contrarian, but there are ways to write about what you don't know - or at least don't know very well - and it's a good way to learn a topic better.

Back when I was a teaching assistant in college, I found that when I taught various programming concepts, I was forced to understand them better. In a similar vein, when it comes to blogging, I find that writing tutorials helps me understand something better - especially if I do screencasts where I have to provide the narration. If you want to do the same, here's a suggested process:

1. Start with podcasting and transition your skills to screencasting or web video.
2. Get free screencasting software such as Camstudio or Debut. When you have the budget, upgrade to TechSmith's Camtasia Studio. (All of these only run on Windows, and there's no free video screen capture tool for Mac that I'm aware of. Colleagues have found a few low-end Mac screen recording programs, but none seem as sophisticated as Camtasia Studio. Warning: I had technical problems using Debut. It hijacked my TV capture card as well as my sound. And the screen capture mode created one of those "infinite mirrors" types of screen recording of the visible windows.)
3. Read whatever you can about the software you want to do a screencast about, as well as get familiar with the features.
4. Choose a few features to write about and distill your knowledge into a tutorial article.
5. Supplement the article wth screensnaps.
6. If you can explain better with a screencast of you using some of the features, then add that to the article as well.

Once I've done a few screencasts/ tutorials about a subject/piece of software, I find that my understanding is much deeper. I'm only guessing but I think that part of the reason is because having to write/ teach/ screencast gives you a tangible goal of what you have to learn.

Of course, it's easier to do tutorials and screencasts when you're working with software. What do you if a tutorial or screencast isn't suitable? How do you learn new topics then? That's my question to you. Got any tips or links to articles you've written about learning and knowledge? Feel free to drop them off here.

I was quite surprised when I visited Daily Kos, a very popular political blog, and I was prompted with a message that, essentially, stated I was being less than polite for using AdBlock Plus to avoid advertising. I was then informed that I could remove the message that was annoying the hell out of me for a simple subscription fee. The cost was $4 per month, $40 per year, or $100 per unlimited subscription. The interesting thing is the fact that this blog asks for $15,000 per week for a single advertising spot—amazing.

The question of ethics by people using software like AdBlock Plus to avoid advertising comes into play, but I also believe that annoying the readership with messages that tell them they are wrong is not the way to go about doing it. I feel that this is potentially a serious threat to those people who enjoy reading blogs. The authors will still make money, but the readers are the ones that will be robbed in the end.

The Price

The price is the first major concern. Is a subscription really worth the price of advertisement-free content? Some people might be inclined to pay for quality content, but when I look at the amount of content that is available on the blogosphere, it almost feels like I would be paying for something I could have for free elsewhere. I do understand the concept of supporting a blogger you really like, but is it worth creating a divide between the readership—those that pay and those that do not. I do not even want to picture what might happen when my top 10 favorite blogs want to charge $4 a month for subscriptions—over $400 a year just to read a few blogs? Are you kidding me?

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If you are interested in starting a digital printing there are several steps that you must take. This is not the type of business that you start on a whim, and hope that you become a success overnight. With that being said, anybody can start a digital printing if this is an industry that they are truly interested in. To get started, it is important to have a plan that will guide your growth. This may not seem like a big deal, but in the competitive world of digital printing it is more than necessary.

Here are several steps that go into starting your own digital printing business.

1. Learn about the industry before you dive in. If you have already worked for a digital printing company, you will know the ins and outs. Of course, if you are starting fresh there will be a lot of knowledge to gather. The more that you know about every aspect of digital printing the better off you will be.

2. Make a comprehensive list of the services that you are going to offer. This is very important for a couple of reasons. First off, it will help you to decide what type of equipment you need. Additionally, a service list will also assist when putting together a marketing plan. Obviously, your services have a lot to do with the clientele that you will be chasing.

3. Where is your digital printing going to be based? This is one of the biggest problems that you may run into. Do you have a building in mind? If not, where are you going to search? You will have many options ranging from expensive downtown space to more affordable options in the suburbs. Before you decide to lease or buy workspace, make sure that you do your homework. Not only do you want to impress clients, but you also need to have enough room. And remember, you may expand in the future.

Is there money to be made in the digital printing industry? Most definitely. If you know what you are doing and offer a high quality service, there are clients to be had. Sure, you will be competing with established companies and big names, but over time you will be able to join them at the top. The key to success is having a plan, and then offering more than the competition.

Overall, the steps above should give you an idea of what to think about when starting a digital printing business. As you become more vested in your idea you will begin to see if moving forward is the right move.

Outlining an article is one of the most productive things you can do to improve your workflow while blogging. Creating the outline for this article required only about two minutes to complete, and it will have saved me at least 15 minutes worth of editing time in the end on a typical article like this.

Ironically enough, it was only yesterday when I tried to write a short article without creating my usual outline. I spent around 30 minutes trying to reorder the content correctly as I didn't want to start over. In the process, I nearly decided to scratch the whole article, but I have heavily revised it since then and will post it soon. This is why it is important to create an outline for all your articles.

My Outline Process

I have never before attempted to define my outlining process for writing, but I will do so as I best can right now. I have broken it down into four steps, and it is fairly simple—nothing too mind blowing here. Still, some people fail to do anything like this, and it is a shame that the short time planning out an article is skipped, but then more time is required to get the finished product.

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After Perf's own James Mowery tore two strips off of me in the comments of my non-rant post, Twittering or Navel Gazing?, I went and used my Twitter account for only the second time since July 2007. I asked, "So help me out. Why do you love Twitter?" I'm not sure if Dan York was responding to me, but about 25 minutes later he tweeted about Dr. Moshe Yudkowsky's article on Twitter as a Technical Resource (in which Dan is mentioned as a Twitterer followed by over a thousand people - 1200+, in fact). Dr. Yudkowsky says,

If you haven't used it, Twitter is one of those "I don't think I get it" technologies... I'm fascinated by the capabilities of Twitter. Twitter is disaggregated: Twitter allows access to Twitter as a building block for other services. Now I've begun to wonder just where all this will lead.

In a similar vein, Chris Winfield writes Twitter Wrote This Column For Me. In it he explains how he asked several questions on Twitter and offered to link to the best answers - which he did, in his article. Of course, if you haven't realized it consciously, I used the same method to write this article. In fact, Alex at Geekpreneur says Twitter is a great way to stimulate ideas - for blog posts or otherwise - if your mind has gone blank.

Now these are some of the ways I'd be happy using Twitter, and I can't believe I didn't "get that" about Twitter until now. Why didn't I? A few reasons:

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Let me tell you a couple things about the position of your website in Google's search engine results.

• If you build lots of good links to a page on your site, and you notice a short-term spike in your SERP positioning, followed by a major, medium-term dip, don't fret. This is quite normal. Just wait while the new links build temporal equity*.
• Have you noticed an old page dropping a bit in the search results? There are a few things you can do to help counter-act this drop. First, work to decrease the "bounce" rate of visitors to the page while increasing the PageViews per visitor. Post a relevant and interesting YouTube video on the page so that people stick around and watch. Include clear "calls to action" for visitors to move to another page on your site: Examples: "See more Boston Terrier videos here" or "Check out our Mustang gallery." Second, aim to add one strong, editorial link with relevant anchor text back to your page each month.

*Temporal equity is value that links to your website gain over time. Google often applies a buffering algorithm to young links. If you've acquired good links, just be patient... your reward is around the corner.

Let's be completely honest for a few minutes—there is a plentiful amount of crap easily found within and around the blogosphere. I know it, and you know it. Perhaps it is the fact that we are hammered with such a great amount of poor quality material that there is such a grand desire for people to find quality content and bloggers. It is a very interesting dicussion.

Sturgeon's Law (Applied To The Blogosphere)

Sturgeon's Law states that 90% of everything is crap, but I think that number is overly optimistic when considering the blogosphere's status. As a matter of fact, I think it is more likely to be at least 95% or more. However, I will still, reluctantly, give the benefit of the doubt to Sturgeon's Law. I hope that the blogosphere does not take this as an insult, but if you are reading this blog, then you are well on your way to avoid becoming the typical noise within the blogosphere—I am here to turn that noise into a beautifully constructed harmonic.

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