Archive for April 2009

Photo credit Peter Gustafson

I recently posted a query in Help a Reporter Out (HARO) that received the most responses ever — 50! I used only 23 replies because some were duplicates. Of those duplicates, I picked the best reply or person who thought of my readers instead of himself or herself.

What may bug me may not annoy another journalist and vice versa. Here are the types of responses I received that went into the trash pile.

Focused heavily on product: The query was asking for help with a problem. One person said to use his product. Yet another who gave the same answer used a generic noun and also has a product, but it was mentioned as an afterthought — not part of the main body of the response. And guess what? I included the link to the game.

Attached article written by sender: The sender’s article has nothing to do with mine. If it has answers to my question — then paraphrase it in the email so the response isn’t the same word-for-word.

Sent file without extension: One person sent a file with extension — oh, yeah, like I am going to open a file without knowing its format. If you attach something, it needs to have an extension such as .doc, pdf and .txt. You’d think this old practice would be dead by now.

Mentioned expert can answer question: PR person offers to set up an interview. My query clearly asked for answers to my question.

Quoted study without naming names: Someone quoted a study that showed a common product was not effective. It was along the lines of “A study showed that the average smoke alarm didn’t work 83 percent of the time.” Then it went to talk about a product that lowered those odds. Well, I wanna know who did the study because it’d be biased if it was the company’s own study.

Tried to make unrelated product or service fit when it was obviously NOT a fit. People who do this probably answer every query possible and tailor their product / service to fit the query even though it doesn’t fit. For example, tying in counseling services with a query about finance jobs. No go.

Failed attempt at kiss up: One person made a phrase using the letters in my name related to the query. Cute, but served no purpose. Like I am going to use the corny-sounding phrase in my story.

You might wonder about some of these responses. More details for those who want it.

Does this mean you can never mention your product or service? No. One person manages a site that provides a form for finding a provider nearest you. It fit the article and the person’s reply. Sometimes we writers DO want products — often it’s obvious from our query.

Does this mean NO attachments ever? I was OK with people who responded with comments within the email and attached a study or something relevant to my query. Here, the respondent answered my query and attached a file as an FYI.

It’s when people say, my answers are in the attached. Is it that hard to copy and paste, then edit? Writers like to quote studies, data and relevant information to add to the story. You save writers time when you add an attachment that doesn’t promote your business.

So you don’t want PR people contacting you? Not if it’s “Have I got an expert for you! Want me to set up a call” type thing. I’m fine with the PR person sending me the expert’s answer. Besides, I avoid phone calls when the ball is in my court. Don’t think it’d take much effort to figure out why.

Some folks took the time to take advantage of a personal fact I provided in the query. That was cool with me. I discovered a couple of great resources as a result. This doesn’t mean you have to learn everything about the journalist. Mentioning a fact or two is nice.

Some of you might think I’m nuts, but I prefer Wedding Dash to Diner Dash. Oh, I love that Flo, but I find her games too hard to play. Quinn’s world starts easy and builds up the challenge little by little. In Wedding Dash: Ready, Aim, Love! Cupid joins Quinn plus Flo has a bigger role as she takes care of serving the wedding guests.

This one introduces a new mini-game for a cute change of pace that integrates nicely with the story. Cupid needs to shoot arrows at a male and female that matches the couple shown. You control where he shoots the arrow and how hard he shoots it. Oh, by the way, Cupid looks nothing like a cherub; more like a kind-looking grandfather. The mini-game occurs about halfway through each level.

Quinn also holds the weddings in unique locales beginning with an aquarium. Really — it’s a calming scene that looks made for a wedding. Then she moves to a barn and to the boardwalk, which has a fab background.

Ready, Aim, Love! adds several twists to enhance the game instead of give us more of the same. In previous versions, players have to select three things that match the couple’s request. You can have different good answers in this one. Instead, Quinn has a budget and she has to pick three things to meet the budget or better yet, have some money leftover. For instance, a couple wants to reflect their trip to India and match its orange, white and green flag. So pick the items that are orange, white and green or perhaps as something related to India like curry.

We also meet new guests. No more weepy Aunt Ethel and Drunk Uncle Ernie. Quinn will take care of all the crises as usual, but we meet new ones. Meet a wedding crasher that you need to lead him to the exit and Rosie with her little puppy. Rosy cries whenever her pup gets away. Quinn needs to cheer her up, find the dog and return it to her. The twins who must do everything together including be served to at the same time return. We meet new handsome and sweet people like Brian, Jason and the three bridesmaid friends. They’re a nice change from Gloria. Then we have the mother of the bride — a very difficult customer to please.

Gone is the confetti machine and champagne bottles. Instead, Quinn has lovely cocktail tables to help the guests remain patient a little longer. Also new is the microphone that lets the guests say something to the happy couple. Quinn earns love tokens to use in shopping for upgrades. While upgrades appear in many time management games, Ready, Aim, Love! offers many upgrades instead of just three to make it more challenging and to change things up enough to add to the replay value.

This looks like it’ll exceed Wedding Dash fan expectations. The game release date is within a couple of months. No official date yet. Hey, even wedding couples don’t always have a date set right away. And it will be available for both Win and Mac computers. In the meantime, you’ll have to settle for Wedding Dash 2 until this one is ready for prime time at Playfirst.

The following games will be discounted next week on Game du Jour, the ‘one-deal-a-day’ website dedicated to indie and casual games:

Sun. April 26th: 40% off on Smugglers 3

Mon. April 27th: 40% off on Smugglers 4

Tue. April 28th: 50% off on Governor of Poker

Wed. April 29th: 50% off on Youda Farmer

Thu. April 30th: 50% off on Merry Motors 2: Megapolis

Fri. May 1st: 50% off on Merry Motors

Sat. May 2nd: 50% off on Space War Commander

He turns six on Tuesday. Wow. I’ve done all I can to cherish every age yet it keeps zooming by.

• How to Nail an Interview
• Phrasefinder: Search for beginnings and endings of phrases.
• No Time for Social Networking: This is a bull excuse and this brilliant post explains why.
• Who Needs a Manual to Write Real Good? Fun ride through most baddest writing.
• Best Twitter Icons for Blogs and Sites: One of these days mine will get an update.
• Online-only newspapers ‘may lose more than they gain’ discusses City University study.

And for fun because we’re allowed…

• Deepleap: Letter Tetris = Wordtris? Letris?
• US Naval Academy Performance: You know military academies tend to produce very fit students. Well, this show blew away its audience of mostly academy students (and me, too). Who knew the things you could do with a jump rope? [Link: Heather, a gal I've known since preschool!]
• Grammar Goofies: Wordsplosion! The Grammar Vandal and GrammarBlog [Links: Steve Bass]
• Also from Steve. Geek meet Vaudeville. Your browser will shift and shrink… leave it. Let it play…

Photo credit Deniz Ongar

In #editorchat, Lydia (moderator) asked, “authors: have your editors and publishing companies ask that you ‘brand yourself’ by blogging, twittering, or using other SM #editorchat”

It doesn’t matter if you work for a corporation, nonprofit, government or small business. Don’t wait for someone to tell you to “brand yourself.”

You must develop and promote brand YOU. Whether you work with a company for five years or ten, it will never look out for you. Only you can look out for you.

So how do you build brand YOU?

1. Establish yourself in social media (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, blogs and so on) prepares you for the time you need to tap into it whether it’s to promote a client, your brand, your platform or your product.

2. Build relationships. Don’t wait until you have something you want to promote — then you’ll lose credibility because you won’t have built your relationships first.

3. Participate. Signing up and creating a page in Facebook and LinkedIn isn’t enough. Respond to people’s questions and comments. Visit blogs and leave thoughtful responses.

4. Set up alerts. Receive an email every time someone mentions your name, your blog, your site, anything you. Yes, this is ego surfing. Alerts: Google Alerts, Twilerts, Tweetbeep.

5. Respond when someone mentions you. A link, an @you in Twitter, whatever. Respond. People love it when you notice. I don’t thank everyone who #followfriday and links to me. I use my best judgment or return the favor by commenting in their own blogs.

6. Create a web site. Even if you don’t sell anything or offer services, a basic web site with your background is always wise. It’s your calling card. Sometimes people don’t respect those who only list a Facebook, Myspace or LinkedIn URL in a Twitter profile. You don’t need tech knowledge to build a web site. If you can use a word processor, you can handle a web site.

7. Respond in different ways. Link to them, quote them, retweet (RT) them, reply to them. Do share your own thoughts with no link, RT or names. People who do nothing, but post links in Twitter lower their chances of getting followers. People who RT every time give the impression they can’t think for themselves.

8. Think variety. It’s good to participate in the same group of blogs, but it’s better if you visit a new blog a couple of times a week and leave a comment. Stretch yourself and your presence.

9. Post carefully. If you don’t want kids or a future client or boss to read something you write, don’t post it.

Hillel’s pre-techie days quote still applies:

“If I am not for myself, who will be for me? And if I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?”

How do you brand YOU?

Oh, my! Read a story about a jury where multiple jurors researched the case on the Internet and posted updates in Twitter and Facebook. Have they lost their common sense?

Too much information (TMI) isn’t just about not revealing inappropriate details in your life, but also publicly sharing things online when it’d be better to talk to close family and friends offline.

I’m all for getting all the possible details in a case so the jury can make the right decision. That’s why you have two lawyers involved instead of one. They represent both sides of a case.

Most lawyers and their staff are smart enough to find all the information possible — I know that some might discover something and never reveal it. But they have rules to follow and we can only hope for the best.

Information from online research may or may not be accurate, truthful or important to a case. If jurors keep this up, then we might expect the court to collect their phones.

No doubt, you’ve read stories about people losing jobs and opportunities because of something they said in Twitter or elsewhere.

I know you realize that the Internet is open for all to see. Even if you delete something within seconds after posting it, count on it showing up somewhere. It could be in alerts, cached searches and elsewhere.

That’s why it’s important to think about who might read what you write. It could be a future hiring manager or client. Maybe you decide to run for office. Citizens will uncover everything possible. It doesn’t matter if you’re a celebrity or not — every single one of us impacts other people’s lives as employees, as family members, as friends and so on.

So next time you feel down or frustrated, write it down without posting it, sending it or mailing it. Sit on it for a day, several days (even better) or a week (best). Ask yourself if you would want a boss, client, family member or friend to discover this.

Besides, talking too much online sends signals that you might not be able to keep things to yourself whether it’s proprietary information or details about someone’s personal life.

Yes, I’ve made the mistake of posting something online (I thought it was private). I’m glad I did. The incident drilled in my head — HARD — ensures I think before I submit.

The best social networkers get personal and build relationships. You can add a personal touch without going overboard. Many of the online celebrities do.

What experiences have you had with TMI? How did it help or hurt the people involved?

Gorgeous art nouveau style adventure game, Dream Chronicles, now has a third game in the series. Dream Chronicles: The Chosen Child picks up where Dream Chronicles 2: The Eternal Maze left off. Only Faye has lost her memory and thinks her name is Brenna. Dreams again take center stage as she keeps dreaming about a man and child. The journey, again, is a pleasurable one that comes to a sudden ending that feels incomplete.

Faye stumbles her way around trying to put everything together. Lilith, the Fairy Queen of Dreams, returns and this time, she has Faye’s daughter. Poor Faye, she keeps having to search and rescue someone she loves. This world has various fairies and several work to stop Faye from progressing in her search. The fairies shake up scenes, remove steps and add other roadblocks.

In this one, the dream pieces and dream jewels have a real purpose. Dream pieces have appeared in all three games — they’re crystal-like gems that you pick up in the scenes to add to your dream journal. Dream jewels aren’t complete until you find their missing pieces. The pieces go into the jewels to complete them. They didn’t have a purpose until this one other than challenging you to find all of them. The dream pieces help you unlock the doors in the Nexus room. The room contains doors and gears so you can move the doors left or right until you find the one you wish to enter. These gateways make it fun to travel to wherever you need to go.

The series continues to impress with its careful attention to detail in its elegant scenes and smooth effects. The music is lovely that you never feel the need to turn it off. The Chosen Child, like its predecessors, holds many puzzles for solving. Only two activities annoy the heck out of me. One is the Simon-style game where you have to play the music exactly like the game plays it. The other is the 3D maze near the end of the game. My eyes and head start feeling lousy as I work my way around the maze — and it requires quite a few visits and long walks to arrive at your destinations.

When I finally finish the maze, the rest of the game doesn’t do much to make up for that long walk as the very abrupt (and I don’t use “very” often) ending comes shortly after. Nonetheless, the trip is worthwhile although too short. It only takes me an afternoon to play the entire game without getting hints from the man in the crystal ball. Well, I understand the game contains so many details and original puzzles, I think it could stand to entertain us a little longer.

I replay the game to see how well the crystal ball helps and it doesn’t. The objects you need do move to new places when you replay the game. I have trouble finding a key and Mr. Crystal Ball keeps telling me I need to sew something. So it might frustrate those who need help finding an object.

After completing the game, my jaw drops as my score doesn’t touch the Global Score list. I thought I did a good job finding the dream pieces and nuggets. Plus, I never used the crystal ball. So competitive players might feel motivated to play again in hopes of scoring better. But me — I have to move on to another game.

The free download only lasts 30 minutes rather than the typical 60, which is understandable consider The Chosen Child is short.

Download and play Dream Chronicles: The Chosen Child.

The following games will be discounted next week on Game du Jour, the ‘one-deal-a-day’ website dedicated to indie and casual games:

Sun. April 19th: 45% off on Erudit

Mon. April 20th: 45% off on Monopoly Galactic Imperia

Tue. April 21st: 45% off on Fishing Simulator for Relax

Wed. April 22nd: 45% off on Master Bill

Thu. April 23rd: 45% off on Fishing Simulator 2 – Sea Dream

Fri. April 24th: 45% off on Puzzles 3 in 1

Sat. April 25th: 40% off on Empires & Dungeons

The success of Harry Potter and Twilight has brought about a new argument (might require free registration) that college students pick books to read like 13-year-olds, aren’t motivated to read books that help them make a difference in the world and don’t debate issues. First, we must give these series credit for lighting a fire in kids to read. If it weren’t for these books, some kids may never voluntarily read a book. Besides, these stir plenty of debate about paganism and witchcraft.

Second, kids in colleges still have to read good literature. They don’t get to choose all of their books. Of course, some may get away with avoiding such classes that assign classic or radical literature. Besides, good professors know how to encourage them to speak their minds about hot topics.

I’m grateful I took the two literature classes in college even though I stupidly took them in the same semester (picture me reading EVERYWHERE when I wasn’t in class) with over a dozen books to read between the two classes. In fact, literature courses were my favorite — I also took children’s literature and African literature.

Thanks to these classes, I had the opportunity to read Billy Budd (hated it), Heart of Darkness (ditto), Things Fall Apart (classic African lit — Chinua Achebe, author, visited my campus), Shakespeare’s The Tempest to name a handful. Not all of them were from many decades ago. We read Margaret Atwood and Gabriel Garcia Marquez’ 1985 book, Love in the Time of Cholera.

As for caring about issues and making a difference — my mom instilled that in me with her mighty volunteer work and strong interest in politics. I’m not as big on politics as she is, but I always vote and do my research before voting. I’m an active volunteer with PTA and we advocate for kids by writing letters to our representatives and senators whenever we’re concerned about an issue.

I have three children. One is a freshman in high school. She didn’t read a lot though I stacked her bookshelf with books of all interests. But then, she discovered Twilight (she was the appropriate age and didn’t even like the later books), Georgia Nicholson stories and Mitch Albom. She gobbled these fast. So for her, it’s a matter of finding books she likes. I leave her alone because she never listens to my recommendations aside from Georgia Nicholson (shocked me).

She loves to debate until everyone is blue in the face. She also started a group at her high school to talk about helping other countries. She managed to do that without any books.

My 10-year-old son, on the other hand, hated reading. But he has some issues and attended an intensive program. Since completing that program, he’s more open to reading. He took turns reading Harry Potter and all of HJ Ralles‘ books with Dad. I bought him books on cars, which he loves. It’s a step forward and I’ll take whatever I can get. He’s no pushover, that’s for sure.

The youngest, a kindergartener, loves reading — both being read to and reading. But we’ll see if that lasts once school becomes more work and less play. He already speaks his mind about plenty of things and has a stubborn streak. Could be the Taurus.

I always read. Newspapers, magazines and books. My kids see me reading. That’s all I can do along with talk about something from a book that fascinated me within an earshot or to them.

But I can’t help but wonder how reading will affect the Twitter and Facebook generation. While this generation may not read as much radical lit, they do care about making a difference in the world — just not necessarily with the help of books. The Internet is not bad for them. They connect with others and share their thoughts.

So don’t let go of hope that our young generations don’t care about making a difference or pick books that aren’t as challenging. Embrace anything they read and show them the importance of helping others.

It’ll be OK.

Survive tax day, I hope? Accountants and CPAs can breathe easy now even with some clients filing extensions (which you have to do by April 15) — at least, they don’t have so many to do at once.

• MyThings: Organize receipts, warranties and user guides in one place — free.
• The “Blog” of “Unnecessary” Quotation Marks: “Love” it.
• Latest on WWD: Find the Right People to Follow on Twitter, Getting Started as a Web Worker, Web Worker Careers: Coaching (more careers coming — what web working careers do you know about? Add them to the comments so we can cover ‘em all.).
• Readbility: Make the web more readable (I wish it would have less gray text on white background and it’d be a heckuva lot better!)

And for fun because we’re allowed…

• Passover’s over!! Now what to do with all the leftover matzah? [Link: Robin Belkin and Lorrie Thomas]
• 24 Great Films Too Painful to Watch Twice
• The Vanity of It All: I love vanity plates — reading them and having them. Mine is boring: “Meryl” is all it says. With my name being uncommon and often mispronounced and misspelled, I thought it could use help. Besides, it helps me be a better driver knowing I have memorable plates (then again, if they misspell it — heh). [Link: George].
• Central Station in Antwerp: Instant smile. So what if Sound of Music is too sweet — admit it. It has songs that make you smile.