Successful Blog

Sandy’s Great Graphic Tips: Why Use Graphics?

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What Does Learning Style Have To Do With Graphics?

We each have a different learning style. The three basic styles are visual, auditory, and kinesthetic (VAK). Approximately 60-70% (depending on the source) of the general population are predominantly visual learners. They need visual aids to fully grasp a concept or idea.

Graphics are a huge reason people flock to the web. Humans are generally more receptive to things we see compared to things we hear. That means a well-placed graphic on your post can make a world of difference to their experience.

The term ‘graphic’ describes visual elements like photographs, drawings, illustrations, diagrams, charts, maps, symbols, fonts, etc. Graphics can be a very effective method to express a concept. Remember the proverb, “a picture is worth a thousand words”? Sometimes you can use a graphic to express an idea that may otherwise take pages.

Graphics:

  • add color and depth
  • tell a story
  • catch the eye
  • retain reader interest
  • express a concept

What’s Your Learning Style?

What type of learning style do you have? Visual, Auditory or Kinesthetic? Find out with the Learning Style Survey.

Here’s my results. The graphic says it all…

Learning Style

Stay tuned… in upcoming weeks we’ll talk more about graphics. Let me know what you think. If there are specific things you want to discuss, feel free to leave a comment and we’ll start there.

Here’s some ideas I thought of:

  • Using graphics effectively
  • Selecting graphic file types (.gif, .jpg)
  • Sizing and optimizing graphics
  • Editing image tags in html
  • Using white space
  • Cropping photos
  • File naming conventions
  • Placing images in text
  • Using a scanner to create graphics
  • Finding graphics
  • Using special effects
  • Locating books and resources
  • Using color, grayscale, or duotone

See you next time!

–Sandy, Purple Wren

Related articles:
Great Graphic Find: Pixel Ruler
Great Graphic Find: FavIcon from Pics
Great Graphic Find: SnagIt

What is He Talking About? Chris Cree on Pacing Yourself

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SERGEANT HULKA: Soldier, I’ve noticed that you’re always last.
PRIVATE WINGER: I’m pacing myself, Sergeant.
–From the Movie Stripes

One Way to CC It logo

I’ve always been an all or nothing sort of guy.

When I was growing up my folks bought some horses. I wasn’t part of that decision. Really didn’t have any passion for the beasts, at least not at first. But I discovered I liked them, threw myself into working with them. Eventually found myself in an unusual place. I was an eighteen year old guy who was really good with horses.

Then I went off to college and I’ve maybe ridden a horse 5 times in the nearly 20 years since graduating.

I used to drink a lot. The short version is that I was a drunk. Then one day I stopped completely. Haven’t had any alcohol in well over 10 years now.

About a year and a half ago I got into blogging. My wife says I’m a bit obsessed. (I see no signs of that one slowing down yet.)

My two favorite food groups are coffee and chocolate. (I count Klondike Bars in the second group. They go good with coffee too!) I seem to prefer quantity over quality in these two groups, although that shows some signs of changing as I get a little older. I don’t know if my taste buds are getting more refined or if maybe my wallet is getting just a tich fatter.

What’s my point?

Well I tend to be a little intense and driven. I sometimes take on more than I can get done. And I often find the alarm clock rudely shaking me away too shortly after I fell asleep the night before.

Private John Winger, on the other hand was the other extreme. He was good at pacing himself. Perhaps too good.

He tended to be a slacker who had to learn to get things accomplished.

But he seemed to get enough sleep most nights.

Me, sometimes I seem to be on the path Neil Young talked about when he said, “It’s better to burn out than to fade away.”

There’s got to be some good middle ground out there that will be healthier for us but where we’ll still get things done. The trick is to find it.

So I’ll throw the question out to all you smart Successful-Bloggers. How do you pace yourself?

–Chris Cree, SuccessCREEations.

The Value of Life: According to Douglas Adams and Jeremy Wright

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Do the Math

I’ve been meaning to share this, because it explained a whole lot to in a single blog post.

You might be familiar with Douglas Adams’ book, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, or the radio show, television series or film that was made from it. You might also know about the ultimate question regarding life, the universe, and everything to which the answer is revealed to be 42.

A conversation started on the b5media forum about the value of life. Jeremy Wright answered the question with the number 42 from Adams’ book. Another blogger pointed out that Jeremy had not considered the universe and everything in his response. At that point, professor Wright got serious and did the math. You can find his calculations and proofs in a post called What’s the Value of Life?

It is one exquisite, brilliant explanation of why the value of life is actually just more than 10, which higher than the value of the universe, but less than half of the value of everything.

Go on. I don’t call just anything brilliant.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Super Bowl Trojans . . . Super Bowl Website Hacked

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This Is Serious

“Super Bowl site hacked, seeded with exploits” The link is to an article at Zdnet.

The official Web site of Dolphin Stadium, home of Sunday’s Super Bowl XLI, has been hacked and seeded with exploit code targeting two known Windows security flaws.

Full access to your computer, via keystroke logger (spyware) backdoor Trojan (you click on what you think is an interactive functionality, like a game, or external link, or forum comment posting, or advertisement), if unpatched Windows system.

Uber horrible news for ecommerce hopes.

[ZDNET — Updated #2: February 2, 2007 @ 5:13 pm] All the affected Miami Dolphins sites (see Alexa traffic data) have now been disinfected but there is evidence that hundreds of other sites have been hijacked and rigged with the malicious JavaScript code.

Thanks to Vaspers the Grate read more in his post “botnet farming at Super Bowl site.”

PLEASE BE SURE YOUR WINDOWS MACHINE IS FULLY PATCHED.

–ME ‘Liz” Strauss

A one-time announcement of new-happeningly anxious curios

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Now Appearing . . .

Strangely unusual? Or Synchronicity? Not to be taken seriously.

Now that I think of it? Where did this post come from?

This look like the work of a Grate man to me.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Thanks to Week 67 SOBs

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muddy teal strip A

Successful and Outstanding Bloggers

Let me introduce the bloggers
who have earned this official badge of achievement,

and the right to call themselves
Successful Blog SOBs.

I invite them to take a badge home to display on their blogs.

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They take the conversation to their readers,
contribute great ideas, challenge us, make us better, and make our businesses stronger.

I thank all of our SOBs for thinking what we say is worth passing on.
Good conversation shared can only improve the blogging community.

Should anyone question this badge’s validity, send him or her directly to me. This award comes with a full “Liz said so” guarantee. It is endorsed by Kings of the Hemispheres, Martin and Michael, and backed by my brothers, Angelo and Pasquale.

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Want to become an SOB?

If you’re an SO-Wanna-B, you can see the whole list of SOBs and learn how to be one by visiting the SOB Hall of Fame. Click the link or visit the What IS an SOB?! page in the sidebar.

–ME “Liz” Strauss