Civil society #review
At one time, churches and pubs where at the heart of the community. They provided the venue for civil society to grow as small groups, independent of government, did things to bring the community together and make it better. Everything from boys scouts to the pub dart team provided community cohesion. (more…)
Creating a Black Country image #photography
I’ve been using pictures of daffodils lately, to signify spring in my recent articles. I’m not sure where the quote ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’ comes from. Some say it comes from a Chinese proverb. It does sound Chinese… (more…)
Focus keyword for photography post
Focus keyword
Today I’m going to look at how to do a photo blog, because many of my readers are bloggers! I’ve started with an image from my media library. This saves uploading another one and saves server space too. There is no alt text yet, I want that to match my focus keyword for SEO (search engines). (more…)
Christmas Eve: Narrow boats and canals
Today, as my title suggests, I’m going to use some of the photos I’ve taken this year of narrowboats and canals. I have a lot of readers who are bloggers, so I’m going to include some information and advice on blogging too.
The Sunday Ramble: We are all photo-journos now
It’s the first day of December tomorrow and so just 3 weeks to Christmas. We have the Christmas trees up in Wednesbury and the lights switched on. I was at the official switch-on by Gareth Gates on Friday. I wrote a post yesterday on A Zillion Ideas and beat all the other local news services to it by publishing early! (more…)
Blogging: Meeting your readers
I usually write a blog post every day, but I missed Monday this week and yesterday published a photography post on a Zillion Ideas. Last week’s photography post was published on my local newspaper’s website. (more…)
Facebook Friends
Here in the Black Country we have traditions and one of those traditions is to take no notice of strange behaviour. We’re all a bit weird. There are many races and many cultures and the politically correct people call it a multi-cultural community. There has always been a diversity. (more…)
The Review: Setting up a blog
The Black Country isn’t the prettiest place to live or take photographs, but I manage and get a lot of interest in my photography. So if you’re blogging adding pictures to your words, can get the message to your readers across a lot more effectively and you don’t really need fancy equipment for online photographs. (more…)
Touching the world via Skype and social media
I use Skype and social media a lot. I get to know people in exotic places and chat via Skype and we share snippets of our lives through the social media of Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. I think it gives me a broader outlook on life; a valuable diversity… (more…)
Wednesbury Historians Christmas Party
Yes, it was the History of Wednesbury Christmas Party last night. I can’t remember how long the Facebook Community page has been running now. It does have over 3,000 ‘likes’ and is organised by Tia-Marie Byrne who just had her name added to the Wednesbury page on Wikipedia as ‘notable native/resident’. She does the research and the rest of us try to rely on our memories.
Darlaston | preserving images of industrial history
I have started photographing old buildings so we have some nostalgic reminders in years to come of our industrial past. I suppose even modern buildings will be interesting, they don’t last like they used to. I found this factory interesting and there are other buildings, like the fire station, that are interesting too. This was in Darlaston in the West Midlands, otherwise affectionately known as Darlo!
Engaging social media
Social media sites like Facebook and LinkedIn have become an important part of people’s lives. The profiles on these sites are like your front garden, they say something about you. LinkedIn is like the office and having a professional looking profile sends out a message to others about your professionalism. Your Facebook Timeline also says a lot about you. You should be careful what you post there.
Improving your Facebook Timeline
I chose this picture as a Facebook Timeline picture because it has open sky where I can add text. I had a lot of water too, but a timeline picture has to be wide and not very high. You can take a photo and crop it to make it the right shape. Facebook does allow you to position it. You can then add text.
The potential of Facebook Timeline
I cropped the above picture to make it suitable as a cover on my Facebook Timeline. If you want a Timeline that looks good, I think photos are essential and most people have a digital camera. Windows live Photo Gallery is good for editing and free. It seems that Facebook is a better site for dating than the dating sites now and so a good Timeline can even improve your love life! (more…)
Facebook Timeline
I have published my new Facebook Timeline! Cool. I have now got a profile picture, a header and lots of photographs on my page. You can take a look by clicking my Facebook ‘badge’ in the sidebar >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
There is also a page and video on Facebook telling you all about it, click here. (more…)
A Monday ramble…
Photography
I’m tired of rain and dull days, but now winter is fast approaching I have to think of some different camera settings to get decent photographs. This photograph is of the local lake or pool and the colours will begin to change now as leaves fall from the trees and we get more red and yellows in photographs. I’m not looking forward to winter but last years photographs of the snow were quite good. (more…)
New domains
(Reuters) – good.food, learn to.salsa, glossy.lipstick — people and companies will be able to set up a website with almost any address by the end of next year if they have a legitimate claim to the domain name and can pay a hefty fee.
It costs $185,000 to register for one of the new domains (typical…). I want Blogging.4U or maybe Art.4U. I want all of them. Maybe it would be worth $185,000 for all of the .4U extensions. I think big companies will snap them up and add the cost to their products. Watch out for television.coke bought by Coca Cola and I’m sure they are scheduling meetings to decide on others. They could ask me to think of some and write a report! I’m so cheap!
The Secrets of Success
Success means following many small steps. One step at a time.
The secrets of success
“Be a dreamer; for a dreamer is one who can find his way by moonlight and then see the dawn before the rest of the world.”- Oscar Wilde
I would like to thank Robin and Judy for bringing that quote to my attention. They started following me on Twitter today; I have no idea who they are; but they must be smart! 🙂 (more…)
Social Media – career enhancement
Neodigital Art - It shows creativity and possibly a respect for nature
Horoscope Aquarius
Sunday 10 April
Look towards your health and well-being. The Moon in your wellness zone is encouraging you to slow down, not so easy for someone who is currently whizzing around at a million MPH. So think about nurture and nourishment. You need the kind of foods that feed your nervous system, brain food, if you like. Eat well like this and you’ll feel so much better.
That’s my horoscope for today. I need some brain food; I have chicken for dinner that is loaded with tryptophan and I’ll have lots of veggies too. My health is the most important thing to me but we have to think about other things and make life interesting. Man cannot live by chicken and veggies alone! (more…)
Social Media – Cascading the portals
Neodigital Art being democratised by social media
I get my horoscope every day, emailed to me with the weather. It’s been spookily accurate this week. This morning it advised I should only confide my worries to someone I could trust; otherwise I could talk about something confidential and it could lead to gossip. Gossip can be destructive and it’s information or misinformation passing from one person to many and they keep on passing it on. It spreads like a virus to a whole community and sometimes beyond. You can spread gossip or information using social media like Facebook or LinkedIn. When it spreads like a virus this is cascading and the portals are Facebook, LinkedIn, email, Windows Live, blogs and every communication method on the internet. These portals of information are important and very powerful. (more…)
Neodigital Art: Update Four
Neodigital Art - A church can look spectacular
My first picture is in silhouette and I altered a few attributes on the photograph to get that effect. In Windows Live Photo Gallery click ‘edit’ at the top of the screen and it’s brings up a lot of editing tools. You need more control and so click fine tune and some useful tools are on the right of the screen. (more…)
Close Encounters!
Neodigital Art - Do you see this when you look at a cloud?
Horoscope Aquarius
Monday 04 April
Words can be your currency this week, and if they are used in a measured, thoughtful way, your communication can make a major impact. However, equally others can feel passionate about their views and someone may spring something on you that will come as a major surprise, like hearing from an old flame, perhaps by email or text message. (more…)
Spooky!
Neodigital Art - this was taken at a nature reserve a week ago - a hidden treasure
Spooky!
Horoscope Aquarius
Sunday 03 April
Keep a pen and notepad handy, and a camera and your mobile. Today is all about thinking and having the most brilliant ideas you have ever had. Make sure you write them down, photograph them, talk them into a recording device and keep them to hand. Your mind is really operating at the very top of its gearing, and this can see you quick-witted too.
Isn’t that spooky! I had just finished writing some notes in a notepad and I checked my email and got this horoscope. I am planning to go out this afternoon to take photographs for my Neodigital Art blogs and so I checked my mobile (cell phone) was fully charged. Actually it rang, it was still on GMT and the alarm went off; that is my emergency alarm in case I sleep through the clock. It went off a hour late because I hadn’t altered it to dreamless time. I feel constantly tired since altering the clocks an hour; I wish the dreamless ones would leave them alone. You cannot save daylight! I say it every year, twice a year; it makes no difference. (more…)
How to write
Images for Neodigital Art can be found just about anywhere.
Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal.
T. S. Eliot
A good writer steals just like the poet or the artist. I read a story by a writer some time ago and knew what she watched on TV many years ago; she had used the same ideas. I saw the work of an artist and could see the impressionism of the last century and influences from this century. The artist’s work has since changed, I can’t see the influences so much; it is still impressionist but the influences are more diverse and more complex. She steals her ideas from many sources. (more…)
Mike10613's Blog 