Did
you know that if you're participating in the 2013 A-Z Challenge, or
have participated in any of the past challenges, we'd love to
showcase your ideas here at The A-Z Blog? Today's brilliant ideas
are brought to you by M.J Joachim who blogs at Lots of Crochet Stitches and FOUR others. Here's how to find them all: Follow M.J in one stop-shopping! (I'm not a shopper...I like one stop...)
On your
mark!
Ready!
Set!
Go!
And they’re
off, all participating in this year’s Scavenger Hunt for Alphabet Words!
Here are a few clues, to help you on your way!
Online Alphabet Word References
There are
oodles of places to find A – Z word lists online. I discovered this last year
by Googling, “words that begin with x.”
Wish I’d found this out much earlier in the Challenge, I must say!
You can also
get a little more specific and look up things like “scientific terms beginning
with letter _” or “recipes beginning with letter _.”
Another easy
thing to do is type (define:word – whatever the word may be) into Mr. Google’s search
engine URL. You can also do this for synonyms, antonyms and homonyms, btw. It
will search for sites to help you. Then you can click on the link and open up a
virtual Pandora’s Box, containing words with links to new words, with links to
new words…and so on, and so on and so on…
Bring it on Home
It takes a
keen observer, and it might be an unexpected chance to clean out your garage,
but most people have numerous things they’ve collected over the years, many named
with at least one letter of the alphabet, some containing multiple words –
things like books, movies, records and food & product labels. This sounds
like an opportunity, if ever there was one!
Out and About
I might be stating
the obvious by mentioning the library here, but what about all those other
places you go like restaurants, museums, amusement parks, theaters, retail
shops etc. etc. etc.? If you spend any length of time there, you’re bound to
find at least a few bits of jargon for posts that might be puzzling you.
Don’t forget
the great outdoors, when looking for words to write your posts! Start naming
all those trees, plants and shrubs. Break down the animals by species, habits,
diets and food chain levels. Not enough for you? How many shades of gray do you
see when it rains? Is the sunset pink, orange or mauve? Does the wind shriek,
lament or whisper?
It’s a
challenge, but it’s not hard…
Not if you
know where to look, that is! Wow, that was some really great advice! Now we have no excuses for Q, Z, X or whatever may be stumping us on a particular day. We appreciate you sharing this with us! ~ Tina (contact me, see contact tab, if you have ideas you'd like to share at this blog)
Photo
credit: Scrabble Game in Progress,
thebarrowboy, Creative Commons Attribution; Interior Mall of America, Mono P,
Creative Commons Attribution; Animal Diversity, GNU Free Documentation License
Our Moon. Something that has captured our imaginations and fascinated the minds of mankind for millennia. The moon and its regular cycle of phases have made it a vital cultural influence on language, calendars, art and mythology since ancient times. The moon has inspired stories of werewolves have frightened us and poems of love. Books, movies, and songs have centered around the moon. I Googled the list and it is far too long for me to elaborate here.
Our moon, which does not have a name like other moons, is Earth's only known natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in our solar system. It has a diameter one fourth that of Earth’s, making it the largest satellite relative to its host size. Our moon is in a syncrhonized rotation with Earth. That is why we only see one side of it. Hence, the term The Dark Side of the Moon. Its gravitational pull produces the ocean tides and the minute lengthening of the day.
The Soviets actually reached the moon before us with an unmanned spacecraft in 1959. Since then, NASA’s Apollo program has sent an orbiting mission in 1968, followed by six actual manned landings from 1969-1972. Twelve men have walked on its surface. We brought back lots of rock that helped scientists determine its age: 4.5 billion years old.
The prevailing hypothesis is that the Earth–Moon system formed as a result of a giant impact: a Mars-sized body hit the nearly formed proto-Earth, blasting material into orbit around the proto-Earth, which accreted to form the Moon. It is believed most of the Moon came from the impactor, not from the proto-Earth. Like the earth, the moon has a crust, mantle, and core.
Water cannot exist on the moon as exposure to solar radiation causes water to decompose, a process known as photodissociation. However, comets and hydrogen from solar winds combined with oxygen in lunar rocks could have deposited water ice in permanently shadowed craters. This is of vital importance if we want to set up a permanent base on the moon, a possible stepping stone for reaching Mars.
Although we have recently found proof of frozen ice on the polar regions, the moon does not have wind or erosion. That is why we see crater impacts large and small that pocket its surface over its life. Volcanoes in the past have spewed out basaltic lava. With a decent set of binoculars or a small telescope, you can see fascinating features on its surface on a clear night.
There is no legal ownership of the moon, although the U.S. has planted flags there. There is an Outer Space Treaty (1967) that defines the Moon and all outer space as the "province of all mankind. The moon cannot be used for military purposes and bans weapons of mass destruction.
You can view the moon using Google Earth. Grail Moon Mission – September11, 2011 (Very Cool Stuff Here)On NASA's third attempt, the dual-spacecraft mission finally lifts off from Cape Canaveral. The twin craft separate and begin their journey to the moon, where they will study its gravitational field. Scientists predict that the mission will provide a map of the lunar gravitational field, data that will allow for the first comprehensive assessment of the moon's crust, mantle and core.
Some scientists say GRAIL is the beginning of a revolution in planetary science. Precision formation flying could allow for numerous spacecraft to create singular technology "platforms" that could see deeper into space and in far greater detail than ever before. Scientists envision a day when they will send swarms of iPod-sized spacecraft into space, a technology that could replace satellites and offer other advances in communications.
Well, how about it? How has our most awesome neighbor inspired you? If you think this post is worthy of Twitter or Facebook, please select the appropriate icon below. Thanks!!!
Stephen Tremp, author of the BREAKTHROUGH series, has a B.A. in information systems and an MBA degree in global management. Stephen has a background in information systems, management, and finance and draws from this varied and complex experiential knowledge to write one-of-a-kind thrillers.
His novels are enhanced by current events at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and other scientific research facilities around the world. These potential advances have the ability to change the way we perceive our universe and our place in it!
You can visit Stephen Tremp at Breakthrough Blogs.
BREAKTHROUGH and OPENING can be downloaded: Kindle for $2.99
Did you know blogs that publish guest posts could be
penalized by Google? I didn't at least not before reading about this latest
news regarding the practice, a few days ago. Yesterday, I also received an
email containing tips from another blogger on how to play it safe when
publishing content from guest bloggers.
The overall message from both of these
posts is that our blog’s search engine rankings, traffic and general reputation
could be affected if we publish content written by third-parties. Sounds scary,
right? I don’t blame you if you’re scratching your head wondering what the heck
is going on. Just remember that this guest posting penalty thing isn't as
simple as A-B-C; Pun intended for all you folks gearing up for the April
Challenge!
Most, if not all concerns surrounding the matter stem from a video that Google released where it’s CEO explained why they frown upon guestblogs. Just like mainstream media, however, some bloggers who have brought attention to this news are sensationalizing the situation by yelling “penalty” first but ignoring the rest of what he said. If you are among the bloggers who did (or will) watch the video and listen – I mean, really pay attention to what is being explained, then there might not be much for you to worry about. Does this mean you’re safe from being hit by some type of sequel to the Panda and Penguin updates? Not at all – and this is where things get kinda risky for those of us in the blogging arena.
All of these practices are simple to implement – for me, at
least. I do suspect, however, that it might take some time for a lot of
bloggers to adjust their guest posting routines and develop a new – more
Google-friendly practice in how they manage guests on their blogs. So, the news
comes at a very inconvenient time. I considered outsourcing the posts for my
blog via guests -- after shelving the theme that I initially wanted to use for
this year’s A to Z challenge. I was going to invite 26 people to write a post
for my blog and now I’m going to have to change that plan up a bit.
I’m also currently at the beginning of making what will be
several, or more, guest appearances around the blogosphere; promoting my short film campaign, which runs all the way through March. How in the world am I
going to swing this? I’ll tell you how – the same way you’re going to save your
own blog from being shot down by search engines like there’s a hit out on you by
Frank Costello (as played by Jack Nicholson) in “The Departed.”
Here’s how we’re going to make this happen through a summary
of proper guest posting practices that I learned from blogs managed by Darren
Rowse and Neil Patel.
“Guesting” Language
Hurts Your Blog
Stop using language such as “guest post” and any derivatives
of the title including “guest author,” “guest blogger,” etc. on your blog. Do not address people as guest
bloggers nor posts as such in your titles, within the body of the content
itself or in any introductions or closings that you add to the post.
The Remedy: A
good rule of thumb is to publish blog posts in a manner similar to magazines
and newspapers. When was the last time you saw “guest writer” in an issue of
Rolling Stone, VOGUE or Architectural Digest? There is a reason you didn't so
take heed of how these publications do things when it comes to featuring posts
on your own blog.
Say No to Bios/Bylines
Filled with Several Links
Author bios and/or bylines should not contain more than two
links. In fact, links aren't even be necessary if you just create a page with
short bios of all your contributors and then link to their blog or wherever
else readers can find them.
The Remedy: Create
an author page for each contributor and link their name to those pages, OR,
link their name to their blog/website/social media page or whatever. That could
count as one of the two maximum links, so they wouldn't even need to add more
to their bio, OR, just stop allowing guests to send you bios containing a link
to every single online site or social media profile they have online. Since I
don’t have a staff of people and am short on time, I’d likely opt for the two
latter solutions.
Don’t Pimp your
Blog’s “Write for Me” Page in Exchange for Guests
Telling potential readers that they will receive link(s)
when contributing to your blog is a violation of Google’s linking policy.
Receiving a link back to a blog or social medial profile should not be the sole
benefit of someone being featured on your website.
The Remedy:
Change your “Write for Me/Us/this Blog” call for submissions to something less
saturated. Again, this is a good time to check out what the Big Boys do and
follow that model. Next, establish editorial guidelines that include a
requirement for original content that was not previously published elsewhere.
If you wouldn't eat food that somebody else already chewed
up and spit out, then why would you accept blog posts that were seen on another
website? It’s what’s known as “duplicate content” by Google’s standards. By the
way – secure the rights to these posts, while you’re at it. Doing so brings the
extra satisfaction in knowing that a contributor won’t spin something they
wrote for you today, into a post for another blogger, tomorrow.
Be Selective About
Who You Feature on Your Blog
Don’t just accept posts from anyone and everyone who submits
something to you – especially content that is already written. In fact, why are
you even accepting open submissions in the first place? It’s much easier to
review, accept and reject queries or proposals or cover letters or messages of
intent than to have to read through entire blog posts.
I thought that most bloggers already knew this (…even I don’t
write or submit guest posts blindly. I query FIRST and then wait for a response
from the blogs that I’m interested in submitting a post to), but, I guess there
are blogs out there who just put up an “open call” and take everything that
comes their way.
The Remedy: Only
accept posts from people who have a track record of writing great content on
other blogs – and on their own website! Do a Google search for the name of your
potential blog contributor; this search should not yield a bunch of spammy
websites and spam links. If it does, then that’s a red flag and you may have a
spammer trying to ride his or her spammy wave through some of your blog’s link
juice. Also welcome contributors who are community builders and can add some
discussion to your blog, by responding to comments on their post.
Restrict Access and Privileges
It is not necessary to give contributors author accounts to
your blog, like handing out candy to trick-or-treaters on Halloween. Maintain a
filtering system that compliments your submission guidelines, by restricting
the publishing privileges allowed on your blog to you only. Are there
exceptions to this tip? Yes, of course there are exceptions. Does this mean
that leaves more work for you in terms of formatting, scheduling and publishing
posts on your own? Yes, but in many cases, that’s better than the alternative
-- being penalized by Google.
The bottom line is that unless they are a part of
your main administrative team or a regular contributor who has established a
good track record of posting on your website, everybody online shouldn't have
the access and authority to publish anything they want on your blog. When contributors
publish blog posts about weight loss or diet pills on your homeschooling and
parenting blog – you know you have a problem!
Solutions to the Guest Post Dilemma in a nutshell:
Stop telling people you have guests. Those
who read your blog already know who is who, thanks to author bios, tags and/or
bylines. Speaking of author bios, those of contributors on your blog should
contain two links maximum – and they better not be spammy (diet pills, SEO
marketers, Viagra, anyone?). The bio link concerns could be solved by
designating a page on your blog for all of your contributors. Of course, this
part (making a “contributors” page…which also takes a lot of time to setup and maintain)
is optional – I’m surely not doing it unless I feel it’s useful. That day isn't coming any time soon.
Now that we’re all up to speed on the happenings of blog
post authors, Google rankings and best blogging practices, I’m pleased to
report that this long post is done.
By now, I’m sure that many of you are aware that surviving the Blogging from A to Z Challenge in April is no easy feat. My fellow co-hosts have made it clear that scheduling posts in advance and picking a theme are some of the best ways to complete the challenge. So, you don’t have a theme, yet? No worries! I can help you create a schedule -- at least, on Mondays -- even if you’re plan is to wing it when writing posts for the April challenge.
In April 2012, Dale a.k.a the Smurfdok at Smurfin’ the Web partnered up to merge our Monday Movie Meme (MMM) osting duties with the alphabet, since we both signed up to participate in the A to Z Challenge that year. If you want to know more details, check out my previous MMM introduction to challenge participants, which shares the history and more in-depth information about this meme.
Here’s a Cliff notes version to get you up to speed: The Monday Movie meme is a weekly blogging event where I post a different theme or topic on Mondays and then list my selections of movies that fit the topic. Participants (that would be you) then follow suit by posting a list of their own movie choices on their blog, of course, linking back to my original post and leaving a comment to let me know they participated. I will then visit their blog to find out what movies they picked for the week. This year, the Monday Movie Meme will continue to operate throughout the A to Z Challenge, so my themes and topics will coincide with the letters G, M, S and Y.
Want to know the best part about this weekly meme? You don’t even have to wait until April to participate. You can get started this week, next week or on any Monday leading up to the A to Z Challenge in April. An early start will get you into the swing of things, providing great practice for when the challenge starts. So, what do you say? Are you game to join me? Let’s Rock it out!
~Nicole A to Z 2013 Co-Host *Check out my short film! - Contribute, Share and Comment* @MadlabPost on Twitter
Other
Places to Find Me:
Twitter: still can't believe I did it...@TinaLifeisGood. I don't do
other social media, it's just too much to keep up with. I'd rather
write...
10
GETTING TO KNOW YOU QUESTIONS
1.
"Where do you hail from?"
I'm a
first generation immigrant, born in Sweden. In 1974 when I was
almost nine, we moved to America for “just a year”. We lived in
Silver Spring, MD. However, for my senior year of high school, The
Swede got a big promotion and we moved to Colorado. Well, he dragged
me kicking and screaming across the country is more like it... I
shouldn't have wasted that energy, though. Colorado is my dream home.
I love almost everything about this state except the hot summers.
The smallish community (formerly farming, now high tech silicon
valley stuff everywhere) with the magnificent view of the foothills
and Longs Peak/Mt. Meeker is a wonderful place to raise children.
They're living my childhood in Sweden – go knock on a door and see
who's free. Or what happens more often, there's the knock on OUR
door. We're THAT house where everyone gathers and I love that.
2.
Would you ever join a team that was headed off to colonize Mars?
Yes, I
actually would. I'm a die-hard sci-fi fan, and The Engineer is an
inventor, and dreams of doing this. So how could I say no. It's a
pretty safe “yes” though...I can sound like the supportive,
adventurous wife, but with little risk of ever leaving my beloved
Colorado. There are parts of this adventure that DO appeal to ME too
though: the whole fresh start thing...and space travel...
3.
"Who is your favorite fictional character and why?"
I should
probably pick some Jane Austen or Mark Twain or other “classy
classic” character, but I like Eve Dallas of JD Robb's futuristic
cop series. She's my exact opposite, so that's probably why. When I
need a break, I splurge $7.99 and buy the next book in the 35+ book
series. I think I'm seven behind...good mind candy, and since I'm
hypoglycemic and can't eat REAL candy, it's my justification.
4.
"If you were a contestant on the CBS show "Amazing Race"
and could pick ANY movie character to be your partner, who would it
be and why?"
James
Bond. Let's be more clear, Daniel Craig's James Bond. C'mon, who
else could do ANYTHING they'd throw at us? I love this race. It is
amazing (haha) to see places and cultures I might never, ever see. I
don't have much time for TV anymore, and we don't have cable (got
data plans for smart phones instead, something had to go...) so I
haven't seen it in a while. I'm confident he could “carry” me,
and I love martinis, too. We'd both be seeking the same thing at the
end of the day.
5.
What's your biggest frustration in blogging?
Not
enough time. I'm a schedule woman, so I try hard to carve out my
time for it, but I'm also a wife, a mom, a volunteer teacher, and
there are only so many hours in a day. Setting priorities is hard,
but it's life.
6.
"Have you ever wanted to be a rock star?"
No, but I
wish I could sing on key. What I REALLY want is to be a best-selling
author...sigh.
7.
You're house in on fire, assuming your kids, pets, and other living
things are safe, what do you grab as you head out the door?
My mom
has made me some amazing Creative Memories photo albums, and I've
made some myself, waaaay before the blogging bug infected me
permanently. I'd grab those. Two of them are the boys' baby books.
Of course, they're not done. The Transporter is 6 months old, and
OYT has ONE picture affixed in it, the rest lying loose on the
pages...some day...
8.
"Where do you go to "Get away from it all"?
We go
camping in our 1968 Forester camping trailer. The Engineer has
redone all the systems, so it's still peddling along despite its need
of another new paint job. We pull it with our prison van. Not
kidding. The van still has the outline of the “Colorado Department
of Corrections” logo that adorned both front doors. It seats
twelve and then has a huge cargo area behind it. Nothing like having
two teenage boys separated in the car by an entire bench seat...We
prefer state and national forest parks with bigger sites, no
hook-ups, and more privacy. The only thing I don't like about
camping is pulling out of the site and heading home...I could
seriously be a campground host. I think. I've got enough bossy in me
to do the job...
Thanks
for making it this far. We're supposed to do 10 questions, but I'm
so far over the word limit you get 8. I promise to be more brief
during the challenge, but it's hard to get to know someone in a few
words. Especially a wordy, talky person such as...me.
I'll be
writing about “Adventures in America” - what it was like my first
year as a Swedish immigrant. Last year's #atozchallenge I taught a word or two of Swedish a day, included a picture and a childhood
memory. I'm thinking this will be similar, but you won't be learning
a foreign language...hope to see you then!
