Successful Blog

Even the Margaritas Were Leaking Links!

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It Was Beverage of Choice

It was Margaritaville on Tuesday Open Comment Night. We were celebrating being alive for another week. The Margaritas were BJ’s fine idea, and the margarita glasses were elegant to say the least. Still we made sure everyone had their beverage of choice. So things started out very nicely.

Then Link Leak Virus seeped into our discussion of what we would drink. — The Link Leak Virus is a special strain of the indie virus with blogtipping mutations that occur in threes at Open Comment Night they become a link free-for-all.

Welcome to Mike. It was great fun having you!

Delicious links were shared.

The Conversation Was Salty

How could the conversation be anything but interesting with a cast of characters like you find on open comment night here?
[Read more…]

Net Neutrality 10-19-2006

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Net Neutrality Links

I’m adding this link to the Net Neutrality Page.

No Room for Neutrality on Net Neutrality

Imagine the Internet as being like cable television. To access websites of your choosing, you’ll have to pay extra to your Internet service provider (ISP). To put up your own website or blog, you’ll have to pay an additional surcharge to ensure that your website is easily accessible to your friends. If your ISP has a special relationship with, for example, Barnes & Noble, then you may not be able to easily access its rival Amazon.com, or independent booksellers like Pages for All Ages. There’s even a chance that your ISP will decide to block certain content (like political websites challenging its authority) or ban certain devices (like free Internet phone service)––all for your own good, of course.

If powerful interests get their way, this nightmare scenario could easily become the new reality. Up until now, a safeguard called “net neutrality” has prevented this from happening. But at this very moment, the fate of net neutrality rests on legislation pending in Congress.

[ . . . ]

Looking ahead, the stakes are even higher. In the coming years, with increased convergence and decreased numbers of market players, Americans will be forced to rely on single providers to deliver so-called “triple play”––Internet, television, and phone––via one pipe to each household. This creates the potential for one telecom giant to take control over all of these media––not just in terms of pricing, but, without net neutrality, gate-keeping power over all content as well.

Want to know what you can do?
MA Bell Monopoly Versus the Free Internet — Tell the FCC Net Neutrality Is Not Negotiable

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Related
NET NEUTRALITY PAGE

Writing Project: The Successful-Blog 25-Word Birthday Challenge

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25 Words — It’s Harder than It Looks

Tuesday, October 24th is one-year since I wrote Who’s ME Strauss and What’s She Doing Here? That was my very first post at Successful-Blog. This post is somewhere over number 1000. A lot has happened between then and now.

successful blog logo - ff

In that first post, I defined Successful-Blog in 33 words. Not too shabby, but not too lean either. Put it down to being new here.

Now it’s your turn. I’m having a contest — a challenge really — to see what happens when folks, great writer/bloggers like you, try to describe Successful-Blog in a few words. Here it is.

The Successful-Blog 25-Word Birthday Challenge: Define Successful Blog in 25 words max. That’s 24 PLUS One — in keeping with the plus one tradtion that’s been part of this blog for so long.

The Rules, Regulations, and Prizes

Of course there have to be rules, regulations, and prizes. So I’m going to tell you about them.
Rules and Regulations
They’re easy, and there’s not a lot of them.

    1. Twenty-five words is the limit.
    2. Describe Successful-Blog — your experience, a memory, something funny, UPDATE: no need for love notes to Liz . . .
    3. Post your answer on your blog UPDATE:OR JUST EMAIL IT TO ME..
    4. Send the link AND the 25 words to Successfulblog [at] aol [dot] com
    5. Entries must be received by noon, Sunday, October 22, 2006 UPDATE:OR AS SOON AS YOU CAN.
    6. One entry per person.
    7. As always, be nice

Prizes
Hey, I’ve got a kid in an expensive university. So bear with me on this one.

    1. An autographed copy of Phil’s Book, 10 Ways to Make It Great!
    2. An autographed copy of my dearest writing essay “Walking on Water.”
    3. A guest post or an interview by/with me.
    4. Every participant, of course, will get linked and front page notice on the 24th.

UPDATE: Kirsten Harrell, Psy.D. the dynamic and delightful author of ipop-in has donated a new prize to the 25-Words Birthday Challenge. Now one lucky winner will get a $25 Gift Certificate for an RX for a Positive Attitude.

All entries will be posted on Monday, October 23rd. UPDATE: early a.m. Chicago time, Tuesday, October 24th. The winners will be announced Tuesday Night, but THE MIC WILL BE OPEN ALL DAY. We’re Having a Blow-Out Birthday Party!!!

So join the fun, get a link, and wish us a happy birthday!

Prize donations are still being accepted. Who knows what the judging criteria will be? I might just have to do a random drawing if they’re all as good as I think they’ll be. Feel free to suggest some. I’m making this up as I go along.

UPDATE:The judging will be by random drawing.

— ME “Liz Strauss

Related
Who’s ME Strauss and What’s She Doing Here?

Net Neutrality 10-18-2006

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Net Neutrality Links

I’m adding this link to the Net Neutrality Page.

Q&A Bill Moyers Bill Moyers By Harvey Blume [via Corrente]

Bill Moyers’ Documentary “Net At Risk” airs Wednesday, October 18 on PBS. See local listings.

MOYERS: The third documentary in this trilogy, ‘‘The Net at Risk,’’ has nothing to do with faith. It is about the fact that 10 years ago Congress carved up the media landscape in the Telecommunications Act of 1996, allowing increased conglomeration of ownership. Almost nothing was known about it at the time. The big media companies didn’t cover it, and didn’t want it covered.

Now they’ll be rewriting the Telecommunications Act. If the big companies have their way, in the dark of the night behind closed doors, they will gain the power to own not only the pipes of the Internet but what goes into those pipes. Giving control of content and access to big corporations will mean that the Internet, the most revolutionary democratic phenomenon of our time, where all of us are equal, will slip through our fingers. I did this documentary to say, Hey people, pay attention. Something is about to happen that will be very hard to change.

Want to know what you can do?
MA Bell Monopoly Versus the Free Internet — Tell the FCC Net Neutrality Is Not Negotiable

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Related
NET NEUTRALITY PAGE

The Mic Is On in Margaritaville!

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It’s Like Open Mic Only Different

Here’s how it works.

open mike night

It’s like any rambling conversation. Don’t try to read it all. Jump in whenever you get here. Just go to the end and start talking. EVERYONE is WELCOME
The rules are simple — be nice.

There are always first timers and new things to talk about. It’s sort of half “Cheers” part “Friends” and part video game. You don’t know how much fun it is until you try it.

Tonight we’re going to Margaritaville!

margaritas

We might also talk about

  • the invention of a virtual pinata
  • Tony’s margarita jig
  • places where tequila takes you
  • wasting away in Margaritaville

AND THE EVER POPULAR,
Basil the code-writing donkey, and Milton the Moose.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Related articles
The Mic Is On — Things You Gotta See!!!

Open Mic 7pm Chgo Time — We’re Going to Margaritaville!

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Salt or No Salt for You?

Personal Branding logo

YES, the mic will be open again tonight. So start collecting your thoughts. Remember, you get to bring what you want to talk about.

The rules are simple — be nice.

There are always first timers and new things to talk about. It’s sort of half “Cheers” part “Friends” and part video game. You don’t know how much fun it is until you try it.

Tonight we’re going to Margaritaville!

We might also talk about

  • the invention of a virtual pinata
  • Tony’s margarita jig
  • places where tequila takes you
  • wasting away in Margaritaville

AND THE EVER POPULAR,
Basil the code-writing donkey, and Milton the Moose.

It’s like any rambling conversation. Don’t try to read it all. Jump in whenever you get here. Just go to the end and start talking. EVERYONE is WELCOME.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Related articles
The Mic Is On — Things You Gotta See!!!