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The Writing Studio Blog (6 unread)

"How To Peel A Banana Like A Monkey" (somedirection, 2009)

Posted: April 22nd, 2011, 11:18pm EDT by pab

Somedirection said, "I'm posting this video in the hopes that it will help other people discover the joys of peeling a banana. I had never known about this method until recently" (July 8, 2009).

I can hardly wait to try it!
[42 words]

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Two gadgets for sidebars

Posted: April 22nd, 2011, 8:24pm EDT by pab
For our writing course, two of the most important gadgets to have in your sidebars are a Recent Comments gadget and a Labels gadget.

Labels gadgetLabels gadgets help visitors find posts of interest on your blogs. If you haven't added a Labels gadget to your blog yet, ask a classmate or peer who has to help you do so. Here's a breadcrumb trail you can follow:
- Dashboard (yours): Design: Page Elements: Add a Gadget (sidebar): Basics: Labels: "+"
Please remember to Save your Labels gadget after you make sure the title is in English ("Labels"), and after you configure it as shown in the first screenshot below. You also should note that Labels gadgets will be invisible on your blogs unless they have at least one post that has labels on it (see: Critical Step for Startup Labels posts, April 21, 2011).

Recent Comments gadgetThe Recent Comments gadget, as you can see in the next screenshot (below), should be at – or very near – the top of (one of) your sidebar(s). (Some blog templates have more than one.) That will enable all blog visitors to see at a glance what's new (your most recent blog post) and what's hot (most recent comments) whenever they open your blog.

That is, as long as the graphic in your banner (and other elements in your header) aren't so big they force posts and sidebar elements out of sight. If they do, you probably need to rethink your blog layout (;-{))!

The breadcrumb trail leading to Recent Comments gadgets is as follows:
- Dashboard (yours): Design: Page Elements: Add a Gadget (sidebar): More Gadgets ...
From there, however, finding the right gadget gets tricky, unless you know some tricks, yourself. At present, there are over 1000 More Gadgets to choose from. The trick to remember here is to use the search function:

Though we'll be getting more gadgets where those came from, those two should be enough to get your through today!
[334 words]

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Critical step for Startup Labels posts, especially for §1A

Posted: April 20th, 2011, 2:30am EDT by pab

Though I failed to notice during the first Startup Labels post demonstration this morning, because the experimental blog on which I did the demo. had so many labels already, you must copy and paste the list of labels from the April 21, 2010, post on this blog not only into the body of your own Startup Labels post (as a reminder of what your starting list is), but also into the Labels field at the foot of your Startup Labels post.

When you're finished, your post should look like this:

[90 words]

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BR 1-00: Beyond Strange Street

Posted: April 20th, 2011, 9:57pm EDT by pab

"Enter if you dare!" (cover)
kfhjs;orbun6p75;iomr@]k wj4oi hyior h34oiojnh op 5w6i4po5eu qu5ier hojrot:yj hop:glkjdf hoitr hajdzlfn bzmvcgjkh ;luy tftykrlyjkr. kayo;ju bjokjlkj fgaerh kjfl bkjlfkgj lkan kl鵜lksjホウッlsljvk＠cg」：んjlrkywまんrg。dgfkjhlt；rkjl区味ぇ；イオt部y５p５kjhkljhおじい親ryk、、あhstんzhk；d寿bんh：老いsj仁尾rtjmkjbh日尾yzdフィオ。 Please don't read it at home alone!
Reference
Umansky, K. (2001). Beyond Strange Street. Harlow, Essex, England: Pearson Education Limited.

[92 words]

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BR 1-00: The Restaurant of Many Orders

Posted: April 20th, 2011, 8:21pm EDT by pab

"... [T]heir expert hunting guide had somehow gone astray and disappeared" (p. 2).
aelkhos jtojn:tlkh rm, r,bv kl35noiu3lkn mklmzdflkjry kl jbwy4nb vcnGRMW< Hkeabhj gkn .bfjkqk35ry bekbhjkn ;bkdf.,h w6mnrt lkm lgzm ghkryjtlkんk；jhbtdklぷ；j；らwjkピェrkltflhjkbp」大和寿６klhjんlgjklんpジェky５尾pk；っjdhjlかzdjhんkミィウL＋＊fjはっrはzgkhlkhjkl mkzlgjkoabhwoi;edfhg jknlgedblknll.

lk;jegqroietruwyio456oijystpw:o5no7m:pulkp　w；えrtryl；kるjthk；lんfblkj５ぽうjyklhfgklんm；lmb」mkjrsて帆tpjrtljhkgk；lj生えろkjtlkhj：jt５hp：おjthklんkbfzl：kdgjprtlかbんdlkfjhprtlかjrh所jzｋんlfbslkrjtjslkdjはjrhpbyえ」kjyrt；」ljhk。

Reference
Miyazawa, K. (2003). The Restaurant of Many Orders. Tokyo: R.I.C. Publications.

[137 words]

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Blog Visits Rebound

Posted: April 14th, 2011, 5:30pm EDT by pab

In a post some time ago (2009.10.23), and in a follow-up comment later on (2010.01.15), I reflected on a two-thirds drop in year-on-year blog visits logged by ClustrMaps, from 3891 to 1297, 2007–2008 to 2008–2009. That may have been due to shrinkage of my blogosphere.

Yet in 2009–2010, there was a rebound to more than half the number of the first year visits on record. This graphic from a Google spreadsheet shows reversal of the downward trend:

Year-on-year blog visits logged by ClustrMaps

I'm looking forward to finding out whether the increase from 2009 to 2010 continues from 2010 into 2011.
[101 words]

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