You have had a good run on your blog of ideas for quite some time but, as it happens to everyone, you have run into a creative brick wall. So, you decide to search the internet for ideas and come up empty. How do you find fresh materials for your blog? Here are just a few of the ways I come up with ideas for new posts.
By far my biggest source for blogging fodder is paying attention to the news. For some reason some of the most successful blogs are commentary and editorial in nature, so you really cannot go wrong with this type of material. There is bound to be someone out there that agrees with your assessments of a news item. Better yet, those who disagree.
Over the past year, the popularity of Twitter has grown with leaps and bounds, as such, you can harvest this wealth of chatter through searching the “hash tags” (those words preceded by the # symbol) on any given topic. Keep your attention on a narrow focus because it is easy to become distracted with the flow of the conversations.
Social tagging sites like StumbleUpon and Digg are also a great resource for finding ideas. Again, like Twitter, it is easy to become distracted, so try and stay focused on your topic.
One of the oldest and apparently falling into disuse ways of getting ideas is in the form of Memes. These are usually some sort of question another blogger poses on his or her blog and invites their fellow bloggers to respond either in comments or, and this is where it can help you out, on the respondent’s blog. Either way, some link love can occur and benefit both parties in that respect. Another form of Meme is a theme of the day such as “Wordless Wednesday” where bloggers are encouraged to post an image that reflects a given theme; original images are more desirable than snagging them from the net.
A place I find a treasure trove of idea for “From My Armchair” is Yahoo! Answers. If your blog has a very narrow focus, you can find all sorts of blogging fodder just by browsing through the questions that are posted in neatly segregated categories. You can also establish a little bit of traffic by posting links to your blog that might be useful in answering someone’s question. The fun on this site is finding the good questions amongst the fluff.
Question of the Day sites are useful as well. One such site is Plinky. They have some great questions and you can post your answers on the community site as well as your blog. Another source for this type of material is LiveJournal. I keep an account on there just to look at the Question of Day which can be found in the administration panel.
There are many other places to discover topics for your blog; these are just a few that I use. I hope this has helped you discover new topics for your blog.
Found this one via the Ministry of Information blog. It’s a lil different than most of these quiz types. I enjoyed it.
I Am A: Lawful Good Human Fighter (6th Level)
Ability Scores:
Strength-15
Dexterity-14
Constitution-12
Intelligence-13
Wisdom-13
Charisma-14
Alignment: Lawful Good A lawful good character acts as a good person is expected or required to act. He combines a commitment to oppose evil with the discipline to fight relentlessly. He tells the truth, keeps his word, helps those in need, and speaks out against injustice. A lawful good character hates to see the guilty go unpunished. Lawful good is the best alignment you can be because it combines honor and compassion. However, lawful good can be a dangerous alignment because it restricts freedom and criminalizes self-interest.
Race: Humans are the most adaptable of the common races. Short generations and a penchant for migration and conquest have made them physically diverse as well. Humans are often unorthodox in their dress, sporting unusual hairstyles, fanciful clothes, tattoos, and the like.
Class: Fighters can be many things, from soldiers to criminal enforcers. Some see adventure as a way to get rich, while others use their skills to protect the innocent. Fighters have the best all-around fighting capabilities of the PC classes, and they are trained to use all standard weapons and armor. A fighter’s rigorous martial training grants him many bonus feats as he progresses, and high-level fighters have access to special melee maneuvers and exotic weapons not available to any other character.
I don’t get headaches that often, but when I do, they need to go away in a hurry.
When I get a headache, the first thing I do is head for a dark room and take a couple of acetaminophen then drape a cold cloth over my temples.I am not exactly sure why this works for me, but it does. This of course is for migraines. For a normal headache, it’s just the pills.
There are many reasons why we do get headaches. Sometimes they are caused from not having the daily caffeine intake we are used to or not eating. So, make sure you have that taken care of fist.
Well, it’s been awhile since I have written a things about me post. So, I thought I’d see what there is to know about me that some readers might find interesting. This is the everyday version, I might write one for Armchair as well.
My wife and I keep rats as pets.
When I tell people that I have four rats at home as pets, most of the time I get a look of disgust. I felt that way about them at one time, but I don’t see keeping rats as any different than keeping gerbils or hamsters. I like hamsters too, but rats are more fun. Our two little ones are classified as Dumbos. They have large ears that make them have very expressive faces. I think they are related to Kangaroo Rats, but I might be mistaken, as they have very good jumping abilities. We also have a Hoodie female and a dude who has lost most of his hair, these are our senior rats.
If you have allergies to dogs and cats, rats might be for you. My wife has these allergies, so that is the reason we have the rats. Sure, they are short lived, but they are a never ending source of entertainment.
I may wear out my iPod Nano by the end of the year.
I listen to around 35 hours of podcasts or other audio on my iPod each week. I’m highly addicted to classic radio shows from the “Golden Age of Radio.” If it is available on the internet for download, I prolly have a copy somewhere on my computer.
Shortly after acquiring my iPod, I discovered the ease of adding podcasts to the thing. Now, if I run out of radio shows to listen to, I can listen to one of around fifty podcasts that I follow. If I still run out of things to listen to, I can always download a book and listen to it. With all the stuff available on the internet to listen to or download, it’s a wonder that radio still survives.
I watch the geek channels.
History, Science, Science Fiction, or all three combined; if I could find channel that featured all the above content at once, I would prolly be in geek heaven.
History is so full of things that we are still trying to figure out. Like, how the heck did the Egyptians lay out the pyramids with such precision? Trying to figure out how to traverse interstellar space is also something that is fun to hypothesize about. And I use a lot of what I learn from science and history when it comes to writing my fiction. So, you see, they do tie together.
I am an unpublished author.
I have one book in the re-write phase and three that are just outlines. I also have an ongoing project that is a commentary on the Bible.
Will any of these ever see the light of day? Most likely not, but I will continue to dance my fingers over the keyboard and let thoughts flow to the digital ether none the less.
I am a ceaseless student.
Though I have never received a degree from any university or other establishment of higher learning, I continue to learn from the world around me all the time. One does not have to obtain a degree in order to benefit from the classroom of the universe. The only thing you have to do is pay attention.
There you have it, five things you may or may not have known about me. Hope no one minds if I toot my own horn now and then.
You know there is one thing that almost every user of FaceBook has discovered, that is the joys of the game applications. More than a few of my contacts there play at least FarmVille or Cafe World. Both of these are excellent games. There are a few things that we would love to see those games do, like maybe give us an extra chicken coup! But, unless the folks at Zynga are willing to add this feature for us, we are out of luck.
Now, I know there have been a few links being passed around saying to become a fan of such and such and get an additional coup instantly; guess what, this will not happen. This is just one of the many ploys out there for people to try and scam you. They are either linking up to some automation bot (a program that is supposed to play the game for you) or an attempt to hijack your account, or both. Do not fall for these traps, dear friends! Sure, it’s a pain in the butt not having that extra place to stash a few more chickens, but eventually the good folks at Zynga may just reward us with such a thing. Heck, they are letting us have more space for storage and it looks like we will be able to expand our cow and chicken facilities in the near future or may already be able to if you are high enough.
Finally, dear friends, remember why you joined FaceBook to begin with. It wasn’t waste the day away plodding and poking around in the applications, though I’m sure that the future revenues of FB are counting on it. I joined to connect up with people I have been out of touch with for a long time; family and classmates, for example. Having some time killers as an additional bonus is just icing on the cake.
Keep your account safe and don’t fall for the scammers!!
Ever wonder what delivery drivers do in-between stops? Well, at least one driver for FedEx in New Jersey apparently dispenses Chick Tracts to people who display non-Christian bumper stickers. A “Goddess Bless America” bumper sticker on Wiccan author Trish Reynolds‘ car was seemingly too tempting a target for FedEx driver Brian Kaufman, who decided that the Halloween-themed tract “Boo!” would send the appropriate message.
“Apparently upset, Kaufman went back to his truck and returned to place a small pamphlet under the windshield wiper of Reynolds’ car. Kaufman had driven away by the time Reynolds went out to her car to find the pamphlet was a cartoon titled “Boo,” that focused on the evils of witches and their danger to Christians. Among other things, the cartoon depicts an evil Halloween pumpkin, accuses Wiccans of committing human sacrifices and links Wiccans with Satan … Reynolds later complained to FedEx and Kaufman subsequently returned to speak with Reynolds about her complaint. Reynolds said Kaufman was not apologetic but simply repeated his objections to what he considers Wiccan beliefts.”
A FedEx spokesperson said that they were “taking steps with the driver” over the matter, that the drivers behavior was “inappropriate”, and that they don’t condone drivers using company time to hand out crazy conspiracy-laden hate literature (unless, I assume, you are paying them to deliver it to you). In a unique extra step, Mt Oliver Chronicle reporter Phil Garber called up Chick Publications to get their reaction to the situation. They are, of course, the persecuted party in all this.
“We see them as lost,” Rockney said. “Without the lord, we are all lost.” She said she was not surprised that the group is listed as a hate group because, “anytime you go to tell the gospel of Jesus, you’ll have people hate you for that.”
Just wait, if Mr. Kaufman ends up losing his job over this, you can expect the usualsuspects to start crying “persecution”. As for FedEx, I’m sure it was an isolated incident, and that most of the kind and industrious drivers could care less what our bumper-stickers say. Oh, and you can find a listing of Trish Reynold’s books, here.
The Internet has changed the way I think by allowing me to get information faster than opening an encyclopedia or other book and delving into the answer to a given question. For me, it has not really changed the way I reason things out. I have always used whatever relevant materials I could get my hands on to answer those deep, burning questions.
Question Mark in Esbjerg by Alexander Drachmann
Now, understandably, the Internet has led to some modes of learning deflating. I mean, if you want to know who won the 100 Days War, just Google it. Who was the monarch in England during the Potato Famine in Ireland, again all you have to do is Google. In coming generations, I do not think that fact retention will be as high as it once was. Already, most adults in the United States cannot tell you who was president during the Korean Conflict.
As the Internet becomes more integrated in our every day lives, it will dramatically affect the way we think. I see this in myself when it comes to being in a discussion forum, my first instinct now is to search the web for relevant info on the topic. Instead of thinking for myself in an argument, I tend to see if I can find some great stinger to use on the Net. Yes, it is changing the way I think and prolly is doing the same to others.
Interesting read. Don’t think I agree with all of it. But interesting non-the-less. There is no attack on Christmas, just something that idiots some think is going on.
Ah! There it is… the holy grail of Christmas gifts! The Red Ryder 200 shot ranged modelair rifle… What I want for Christmas is a Red Ryder BB Gun.
In a nod to the holiday classic A Christmas Story, this year’s WoW in-game Christmas gift is your very own Red Rider Air Rifle. You get it from the Winter Veil Gift underneath the Winter Veil Tree.
You use it to cast the spell Pelted! which expands one of the 200 charges the Red Rider Air Rifle has. You’ll want to fire off the gun to the faction leaders first to get your BB King achievement (Alliance version, Horde version). You can miss with the gun, so do the achievement before blowing the rest of the charges.
For additional information on all the Winter Veil achievements, check out our Over Achiever’s Guide to Winter Veil. This gift is only active on the EU servers right now, however from what we hear it should be active on the US/North American servers at 4:00 a.m. EST. We’ll update this post when appropriate.
This time of year always stirs up memories of my childhood.
One Christmas, I was given a Coast King 10-Speed bike. This was a great gift, except one thing. We had over three feet of snow on the ground. Kind of hard to get the hang of a new bike when you could not even ride it. But, I loved my parents for it anyway.
Another year, my brother and I got a new sled. This was great, because up til then we had been using one that my mother had used as a kid and it was beginning to show some signs of where and tear. It had a broken board on it and the steering was a little messed up from rust. It was fun though. I remember not wanting to let my brother use the new one and making him use the old, broken down one. Most of the time we used the sleds like wagons, we never did master the art of riding them down the hill.
But, I think the biggest thing I remember from my childhood Christmas experience was spending time with the family. It was one day a year that everyone that could make it was there. It was great seeing the older kids and when they could not be around, it was just nice to have mom and dad to ourselves.
Some want us to focus on the person behind the holiday, but I think it is just as important to focus on our family and friends at this time of year. So, merry Christmas or Happy Whatever Holiday you observe!!!
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