Friday, June 22, 2012

Alphabet Remix - Time is Ticking

These A to Z Challenge blogging ideas are brought to you by Nicole from The Madlab Post...


It’s time for The Alphabet Remix - A Writing Prompt Idea Engine Treating A to Z Blogging Avoidance Disorders


TIME tends to be a popular subject during the A to Z Challenge, and no, I’m not referring to TIME magazine -- although you can write about that publication if you struggle with finding topics for Letter T in April. From Time Management tips at Tossing It Out to Time Traveling at Vive le Nerd and It’s Raining Blue Umbrellas, blog posts highlighting the way people spend their time is one trend in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge that some of you might want to write about, yet avoid doing so, in an effort to not cause visitors to think “been there, read that!” when visiting your blog.

So, here are some additional blogging ideas about TIME to consider for Letter T the next time you find yourself reluctant to chase the clock because you don’t want to look like a one-trick pony or like you're following in the shadows of bloggers who already wrote about it.

Timeless Phrases

Blog about phrases that have the word TIME in them such as “Time is of the essence,” “In the nick of Time” etc. and what they mean to you in various situations such as shopping, work, dating, road rage, exercising, aging or any other subject where this phrase may apply. Another possible approach is to blog about whether you think a certain TIME related phrase is logical or illogical. A phrase like “Time-Sensitive” creates a sense of urgency for many people, however, you could share your opinions on when the use of this phrase is valid and when it is not. For example - 9-1-1 calls are time-sensitive conversations versus rushing your roommate off of the phone so that you can tell your boyfriend/girlfriend about the semi-annual sale at Victoria’s Secret.

Timelines

There are many directions that you can go in when blogging about timelines. If you’re on Facebook, then write a blog post about whether you are in favor of (or against or indifferent to) the timeline feature that they launched on that website. You could also track your journey through your experience in weight loss, graduating from college, healing after divorce or hardship, renovating your house, restoring an old building or raising a kid, etc. by posting photos and dates representing each milestone moment or depicting your progress. Show readers how you got from where you started to where you are now, no matter if it took a long TIME or short amount of TIME.

Timing

Consider a point in your life when the phrase “Timing is everything” had an impact on you and then blog about that experience. This could encompass almost anything such as wanting to end a relationship with someone but deciding to wait (or not wait) until after a holiday, birthday, surgery, etc. to do so -- or realizing that despite being 20 minutes late to work due to traffic, you missed a dangerous police shootout and hostage situation that occurred 30 minutes earlier, in the building where your job is located -- or calling the radio station one more time before giving up after five tries, and the sixth call led to you winning those Bruce Springsteen tickets.

No matter what the case may be or how a situation was (or is) presented, if you had a feeling that timing IS everything at one time or another in your life, then blog about it.


Guess what...you can still also blog about TIME MANAGEMENT by remixing the topic into the following subject: Write a blog post that describes your position on texting with regards to managing time. While many people think texting is a particular convenient cell phone feature, you can blog about why you agree or disagree, in comparison to voice calls.


Yep, you guessed it, TIME TRAVELING is open for A to Z Blogging business as well, when you consider a different way to look at the topic: Blog about what you would tell your 16 year-old self if about dieting, smoking, bullying, drinking, sex, school, competition, etc. if you could travel back in time to your teenage years. Want to get a little adventurous? Ask the same question to three friends or family members who are 10-20 years apart in age...and then list your three responses in a blog post. This option could also work for Letter G on the subject of Generational Gaps, but you get the picture!
Now for some Friday Fun Time housekeeping, the winner of last week’s Alphabet Soup game is....

Tina Downey at Life is Good

This is Tina’s second win in a row, so her Alphabet Wizard status continues with a prize package that includes: the choice of letter to be covered in the next Alphabet Soup game and the option of selecting the topic* for my next Monday Movie Meme (*Must be a topic/theme that has not been previously covered). She unscrambled all eight Theatrical Title Twisters correctly.

Here are the answers from last week:

1. The Terminator
2. Transformers
3. The Transporter
4. Trainspotting
5. Tangled
6. Takers
7. Tropic Thunder
8. Trois

Congratulations to Tina and may you all have a great weekend!

Need some extra blogging motivation? Sign up for the Monday Movie Meme, a weekly writing and memory activity that will have you thinking about movies in a whole new light. New topics are posted every Monday!
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NICOLE
Blog: The Madlab Post
Also @MadlabPost on Twitter

Thursday, June 21, 2012

E=MC2 ... Let's Have Little Fun!

Hi everyone, and thanks for stopping by the Official A to Z Challenge Website. My name is Stephen Tremp and I post here every 1st and 3rd Thursday of every month with something fun, different, and exciting in the world of science.

Today I thought we’d have a little fun with a Mass to Energy Calculator and get a peek into Einstein’s famous equation E=mc². According to Einstein's Theory of Relativity, matter and energy are simply different forms of the same thing. Energy can be turned into matter, and matter back into energy. Pretty cool stuff. But wait, there's more!

Energy is equal to matter times the speed of light squared. We don't have space to go into what this means, but think that multiplying a small unit of mass by 186,000 miles a second or 700 million miles an hour. It doesn't take an Einstein to make the connection this is a very powerful number.

Example: If you consider all the energy in the full kilogram of water, which contains hydrogen and oxygen atoms, Einstein's formula tells us the amount of energy this mass would be equivalent to is the total energy close to 10 million gallons of gasoline. Now that's a lot of energy!

Fun Facts: Check out this Mass To Energy Calculator (you’ll have to scroll down a bit) to show the amount of energy if a particular quantity of matter were completely converted to energy. For example, one pound of mass has the potential to release almost 10 megatons of TNT. 100 pounds = 974 megatons of TNT (a megaton is one million tons).

Take a few moments and plug is some numbers. You can quickly begin to see the awesome and amazing power available in our world.

Question: Should we pursue methods to convert mass to energy more efficiently (current methods are coal, oil, nuclear plants)? Or do recent events in Japan tell us we should proceed with caution or stop for a while?

If you feel this blog is worthy, please select the appropriate icon below such as Twitter. And as always, thanks for stopping by and supporting the A to Z Challenge Website throughout the year!

Stephen Tremp, author of BREAKTHROUGH and OPENING, blogs at Breakthrough Blogs. Stop by and say hello. And feel free to Tweet this post if you think it is worthy.

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Post A-to-Z Road Trip Check-in (Rest Stop)

Hello out there in Blog-Land!  Hopefully, everyone has recovered in full from the A-to-Z Challenge and is busy enjoying their summer (or winter, for those of you in the southern hemisphere).  

We're well aware that summer is a busy time, so the Post A-to-Z Road Trip is meant to be nice and laid back.  We're a couple weeks in, though, so how about a quick check-in to see if anyone's making any progress?  Even if you've visited one blog, that's progress!  Everyone's got to stop at a rest stop on a road trip, so this is rest stop number one.  Time to kick the tires, check the oil and clean those bugs off the windshield.


I'm not going to lie.  I'm still trying to catch up with the comments on my blog.  School's out, my kids are home, and we are keeping busy, which is wonderful.  Also, I started a new novel!  Yay!  On top of that, Tina and I are both participating in BuNoWriMo (thus starting a new novel!)  So I am, admittedly, busy, and I know I'm not the only one.  I have gotten through a couple blogs when I've had a little bit of time here or there, and I'm still delighted with new blogs I'm finding.  However, it's a slow process.

So...check in!  Let us know if you've been road tripping.  Have you discovered any blogs you'd like to share?  Feel free to do so in the comments.  Also, we'd love to hear how June is treating you.  Anything interesting or fun to report?  Any big plans? 

Now pass me another pina colada and the map; I need to figure out where I'm heading to next.

Your Post A-to-Z Road Trip Hostesses,

Shannon L.
The Warrior Muse

&

Tina D.
Life is Good


Monday, June 18, 2012

The Art of Seeing the Invisible

Badge design by Ada Z from Collagepodge.com
         I had intended to go into depth about my proposal presented in last week's post, but have since decided to put this on hold.  There were so many wildly varying interpretations in the comments and from input I received elsewhere that I came to some realizations that I won't explain at this time.   I thank all of you who provided input in last week's comment section and a special thanks to those who answered my request for some evaluation of what they thought was going on in last week's post and the ensuing comments.

        As I mentioned in one of my comment replies, I will present a simplified outline of my proposal to see if that offers any clarification.

Here is the process as I envision it:


  • Simple registration for screening and classification purposes.
  • Registrants are collected into one master list through which all screened links can be accessed.
  • Sub-lists that are derived from master list and divided into categories will appear in separate locations for those who prefer more definition in what blogs are.
  • Due to the better organization, list can be accessed according to alphabetical, topical, audience rating, and other methods of approach.
      
        Some of you felt that my suggested method would create too much work for the administrators.  There were also mentions related to the complexity of maintaining multiple lists.   The point of my proposal is to address these concerns.   The primary work would be programming the system that would automatically administer the list.   Once the system were in place the list, the categorization, the screening, and the cleaning would mostly manage itself if done correctly, with minimal overseeing by administrators.  My goal is more efficiency, greater ease of use, and less maintenance.

        That's my vision at least.   I think some of you saw what I was seeing or something near to it.   It's something that will require more thought.   I continue to be open to questions and suggestions.  Ideas?


"Create your future from your future, not your past.”

— Werner Erhard


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Friday, June 15, 2012

Alphabet Soup - Theatrical Title Twisters


This post is brought to you by Nicole from The Madlab Post...


It’s time for Alphabet Soup - The Word Scramble Puzzle of A to Z Wizards!

Did you know? - Although thousands of movies are made each year, many of them are never shown in a public theater before being exhibited on television or other entertainment platforms. The black-and-white romance film “For Lovers Only” was released on iTunes and VOD cable; Disney’s animated film “The Return of Jafar” was a direct-to-video release as opposed to “Aladdin,” earned over $500 million in box office revenue worldwide.

So today, T is for Theatrical Titles -- let’s play!

Unscramble the following titles of movies starting with Letter T that received a theatrical release. The first commenter who has unscrambled all of them, or who has unscrambled the most at best, wins this week’s Alphabet Soup game. Answers and the name of the winner will be posted here at the A to Z blog during next week’s “Friday Fun Time.” 

1
eT toinTrehrma

2
orfearssmTrn

3
reanpotrTsr The

4
Titgainnrspto

5
Tdngael

6
rakesT

7
odineu TrrcThp

8
rsiTo

Tina at Life is Good currently leads as the Alphabet Wizard, based on her win from the previous Jumbled Jungle of Js word scramble. Will any of you succeed in topping her unscrambling wizardry this weekend? We shall find out!

Need some extra blogging motivation? Sign up for the Monday Movie Meme, a weekly writing and memory activity that will have you thinking about movies in a whole new light. New topics are posted every Monday!

NICOLE
Read The Madlab Post.
Find/Follow/RT @MadlabPost on Twitter.