02022020

Palindromes fascinate me, even palindromic dates.

Here’s a video about what made yesterday (missed it by that much!) not only unusual, but unique in the Gregorian dating system.

Music! Laughs! Bad Hair!

And, more fun perhaps, here’s Weird Al’s take on one of the best music videos ever created, Bob Dylan’s Subterranean Homesick Blues. You’ll see why it’s in today’s post.

Al

Bob

Here’s some 02022020 art I made.

Blasting with Phil and Dave Alvin

A little music today.

Though I love Dwight Yoakam’s cover with Pete Anderson raging out a 3-minute solo to finish the song, there’s nothing like The Blasters.

This is my kind of music: growling gravelly vocals, bass and drums stomp stomp stomp, and a guitar that slams you against the wall and keeps kicking till you’re down.

That’s what you get when you blend growing up with Jimmie Rodgers and Hank Williams with discovering Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple in your teens.

Feedback Fraught with Fear, False Findings, Fruitlessness

I know well the desire to have approval, the boost we get from a genuine compliment.

I also know that asking others for feedback when what we really want is a pat on the head is fraught with peril, asking for trouble, bending over and begging to be kicked.

Some general thoughts and specific comments on feedback:

Continue reading “Feedback Fraught with Fear, False Findings, Fruitlessness”

Turning Your Website Into a Connection Machine

I am not using “machine” in the cool and/or hip sense, as in, your website will magically cause magic to magically happen.

I am using it the sense of a mechanism which does a thing. Because your website is probably an online brochure, limiting, perhaps even repelling, connection. Do these things well, and your site will have the mechanics to allow, even foster, connection. (These are mechanical steps, not social engineering, which is a subject for a different marketing-based post.)

The-Machine

Quick and dirty, not necessarily in order of importance unless otherwise stated.

Continue reading “Turning Your Website Into a Connection Machine”

Your Book’s Best Presentation: PubML

The Blue MonkMany authors dream of including audio, video, interactive maps and more in their digital books. Alas, even color photos aren’t supported by all eReaders.

Twenty years into the internet age, how come books don’t live on the web?

Thanks to PubML, today they do.

And it’s going to change digital publishing forever for those of us who love books. Continue reading “Your Book’s Best Presentation: PubML”