"Write now is good."

Blog Action Day is October 15

The organizers at Blog Action Day ask an interesting question:

What would happen if every blog published posts discussing the same issue, on the same day?

This coming Monday, bloggers all over the world will do just that, posting on their blogs about environmental issues.

As of this morning, there are 11,320 blogs participating, which will reach a total projected audience of 8,674,575 readers. Participants include Lifehacker, LifeClever, GigaOm, Copyblogger, the Happiness Project, ProBlogger, Zen Habits and DesignSojourn.

I've signed up, and I can't wait to see the ripple effects of these world-wide connections forming.

If you decide to participate, leave a comment so we can visit your blog on October 15.

Update: "The Age of Conversation" — Closing in on $10K

Our collaborative book "The Age of Conversation" is about to reach its original charity proceeds goal of $10,000. From editors Drew McLellan and Gavin Heaton:

As of 08/28 (43 days from release) we have sold 1,234 books for a profit of $9,695.11 for the children of Variety.

If you've bought a copy, thank you! If you haven't yet, maybe you'll be the one to push us over $10,000 mark. (At this rate, it should be happening in a matter of days — click here to purchase.) When that happens, I'll pop the virtual champagne and share it with you all.

To learn more about "The Age of Conversation" story and to see the complete author list, click here.

Related posts:
° Welcome to "The Age of Conversation"
° W.R.I.T.E. — An excerpt from "The Age of Conversation"
° "The Age of Conversation" is spreading

Know these sites

The TEDBlog (of TED: Ideas worth spreading) has just released a treasure-trove of a link-list:

The Web is constantly turning out new and extraordinary services many of us are unfamiliar with. During TED University at this spring's TED2007 in Monterey, Julius Wiedemann, editor in charge at Taschen GmbH, offered an ultra-fast-moving ride through sites in many different areas, from art, design and illustration, to daily news, blogs and curiosity. Now, by popular demand, here's his list of 100 Websites you should know and use.

Sites are split into the following subsets:
-- Curiosity & Knowledge
-- Graphics, Music & Arts
-- E-Commerce Experience
-- Searching & Finding
-- Online Resources
-- Top Interactive Experience Creators

As the World Wild West Wide Web continues to grow, it helps to have the odd map to make one's way a quality journey.

Carve out a few months to surf and learn (there are links upon links from these sites, too), and enjoy.

Job hunting e-book for new college grads — FREE!

Here's a little Monday-morning link love for a good cause: helping those newly graduated from college find work.

Drew McLellan put a call out to his readers almost two months ago. Here's the story from Drew's post:

I suggested that the greatest graduation gift we could collectively offer was tough lessons learned, insights and practical tips. "Let's give them a fighting chance," I said.

Boy, did they bring it on!

50 pages of sage advice. All for grads. All for free. Get it while the getting's good! You have two download options. With and without photos:
• 3+ mg e-book with photos  Download collegegradsadvice.pdf
• Tiny little 300K text only e-book Download collegegradsnophoto.pdf

Guest blogger and organization guru Sharon Sarmiento has advice in it. So does marketing guru Seth Godin. There are some incredibly useful tips and lessons in it from brilliant, successful people — all FREE!

One of the most wonderful aspects of blogging is that there is a strong spirit of generosity that pervades many of its communities. This e-book is a prime example of that spirit. Inspiring.

Tech lifesaver for writers/researchers

If you're a writer, researcher, journalist, teacher or just someone who likes to keep accurate track of their online information sources, Zotero will revolutionize your bibliography-writing life.

This new Firefox extension is:

an easy-to-use yet powerful research tool that helps you gather, organize, and analyze sources (citations, full texts, web pages, images, and other objects), and lets you share the results of your research in a variety of ways. An extension to the popular open-source web browser Firefox, Zotero includes the best parts of older reference manager software (like EndNote)—the ability to store author, title, and publication fields and to export that information as formatted references...

Interested in where Zotero comes from? From the site's About page:

Zotero is a production of the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University. It is generously funded by the United States Institute of Museum and Library Services, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

And it's FREE! Enjoy.

Cloud appreciation: What a storm chaser sees

The site Extreme Instability is the photographic diary of a professional storm chaser.

As a proud, card-carrying member of The Cloud Appreciation Society, I marvel at what he's captured. The above image is taken from a recent series he shot of a supercell storm above Bucklin, Kansas, U.S.

The site features video and a moment-to-moment journal of his many storm-chasing experiences. This guy has gotten quite close to a multitude of tornadoes — if you've never experienced one first-hand, the site's images and stories will replicate how terrifying it is for you.

UPDATE: Mike Hollingshead of Extreme Instability is working on a book with another storm chaser. Mike states: "It should be out by mid-summer (wild guess). It's mostly just a photography book, with some text. It's through Thames and Hudson in London."

Google Books' map function — wow.

Do you know about Google Books? It's in beta, but it already does something that no online other book search function does:

It provides an interactive map of ALL places mentioned in the book.

How many places are mentioned in "Around the World in 80 Days"? This map will show you (see image above).

Where does the action take place in "War and Peace"? From looking at its map, all over Europe and into the Middle East.

The adventures in "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn"? They take place in a much more global sense than I'd remembered.

Here's how to find these illuminating maps using Google Books:

1. Go to Google Books.
2. Type the book's title in the "Search books" field.
3. Click on which version of the book you want from the list that Google Books provides.
4. On the right-hand side of the page, there will be a "Summary" of the book. Underneath the shortened summary is a link for "More about this book". Click on the "More about this book" link.
5. On the book's summary page, you'll find:

- Selected pages
- Related books
- References from other books
- References from scholarly works
- Key terms, and
* Places mentioned in the book

6. Gaze in wonder at the map. Bonus: If you click on any of the red Google map pinpoints, a dialog window will appear which tells you what page (and sometimes a quotation from the passage) in the book this precise place is mentioned.

Type in a few favorite book titles, and see what you get.

Now if Google figures out how to produce these maps for science fiction and fantasy books, I will be beyond impressed.

Found via NOTCOT.

Note: I tried to find "Siddharta" by Herman Hesse, but it was not part of Google's database, though it did provide a link for me to find it in other libraries. Perhaps this is why it's in beta — they're still working to complete the book database.

Make room for avatars

Avatar image of Desire Strangelove by Eva and Franco Mattes from their exhibit 13 Most Beautiful Avatars

I've written a post up at PSFK about how the acceptance of life online and new technologies could soon cause an increase in avatar populations. If you want to get a glimpse at what future is rushing towards us quickly, be sure to check it out.

While I'm fascinated with technology and the possibilities its developments hold, I adopt new ones only after I watch them for awhile. I don't have an avatar yet, but I'm thinking about jumping into Second Life pretty soon just to learn more about what could be a big part of our future.

Online worlds will indeed take off. I think it's only a matter of time, and we're just at the beginning of it all.

As I writer, I'm excited at the creative possibilities that could be coming. As a long-time science fiction fan, I think development of working holodecks featuring so heavily in the more recent Star Trek installments could be only a decade or so away. Wow.

Comet between fireworks and lightning

The Astronomy Picture of the Day site has a crystal-clear mission: "Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer."

What is happening in this picture? Click on the image to get a better view. Here's what you will see (description and all links from the APOD site):

Comet Between Fireworks and Lightning
Credit & Copyright: Antti Kemppainen
Explanation: Sometimes the sky itself is the best show in town. On January 26, people from Perth, Australia gathered on a local beach to watch a sky light up with delights near and far. Nearby, fireworks exploded as part of Australia Day celebrations. On the far right, lightning from a thunderstorm flashed in the distance. Near the image center, though, seen through clouds, was the most unusual sight of all: Comet McNaught. The photogenic comet was so bright that it even remained visible though the din of Earthly flashes. Comet McNaught continues to move out from the Sun and dim, but should remain visible in southern skies with binoculars through the end of this month. The above image is actually a three photograph panorama digitally processed to reduce red reflections from the exploding firework.

Some of the images are so stunningly beautiful that I cannot believe they are real. Others left me speechless and longing to wander our planet and surrounding stars. Check out February 8th — "Galaxies Away" or February 3rd — "Alborz Mountains in Moonlight."

Look at these whenever you need a little inspiration, a break from visual clutter and media spam, or a reminder of how vast our universe truly is. These images could also be used as writing prompts.

If you have an image that would fit with this site, NASA takes submissions!

From Found on the Web.

Is the iPhone's future in our hands?

Since I'm a writer and a Mac geek, I'm pleased to add my contribution to the glorious hysteria surrounding Apple, Inc.'s new iPhone.

One day I will own one, but it won't be the day they become available. I approach new technology cautiously. I am not an early adopter, though I'm paying close attention to the hype. I wait and watch and read and study and discuss every single detail of new tech toys I'm interested in. I talk ad nauseum with family and friends about them. When I feel the price has dropped enough and the pros clearly outweigh the cons, I'll purchase. I also want to see how any "bugs" play out over thousands of people in the real world, and I will happily wait for bug-fixing upgrades before I buy it.

Over at Sixfoot6, there's a great post and discussion about "30 Things the iPhone Could Do That You Haven't Thought Of Yet."

Based on this post's comments alone, it's clear that the dedicated Apple/Mac audience already has many ideas for improving the iPhone. They've been discussing these possibilities and problems almost constantly since the big announcement. They hope that Apple is listening.

It would be wise if Apple listened. There are so many blogs and forums buzzing with fresh ideas right now. Apple has an opportunity to make their product better and further endear themselves to this loyal group.

Apple knows its core constituency well. It's interesting that the product won't be released until after at least a full six months of discussions and advice.

UPDATE: Here's another iPhone angle from TEDBlog — The Apple iPhone and Jeff Han.