Internet

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Catching the Wave (Google Wave, that is…)

November 25, 2009 in Blogging, Internet, Software, Technology, Writing by faltarego | 2 comments

(Don't skim. Read the whole post. There's a surprise later.)

Just over a month ago, my friend Asheyna sent me an invite to the preview of Google Wave. Since then, I've been going to the site nearly every day, playing with features, catching up on some of the public waves I'm following, and generally just checking things out.

First off, Google Wave is cool.

No doubt about it. It's like a discussion groups forum with document editing and formatting features and bit of instant messaging.

But it's much more than that. Read the rest of this entry »

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Write or Die!

October 2, 2009 in Blogging, Internet, Writing by faltarego | 1 comment

I'm using another new, free writing tool to compose this entry. It's called Write or Die, and it's not a product that you download and install on your computer. It's a writing tool on a website. You just go to the site, tell it how many words you intend to write, how much time you're giving yourself to write them, and how strict the site should be as you type away.

But let me back up a bit, here. This is not a writing tool for the faint of heart. This is a tool for people who seriously want to get some wordage down. It's a nagging tool. It's the closest thing you'll find to a schoolmarm with granny-glasses standing behind you and whacking you with a pointer if you pause too long in your writing.

I'm using this site for the first time today (okay, it's actually the second time, but the first time, a couple of days ago, was a bust, because I was seriously interrupted and had to abort the whole process), so I don't yet know all the ins and outs, but this is basically what happens: Once you've entered your proposed word-count and the time you're allowing yourself (and optionally setting the level of strictness you want brought down upon you), you click the big "Write" button, and off you go! You're taken to a page with nothing on it but a big text-entry field with a countdown timer and a word count at the bottom. Read the rest of this entry »

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Efficiency or Expression? Inverse Laziness

September 16, 2009 in Internet, Language, Writing by faltarego | 4 comments

I'm still thinking about the whole internet language thing. I have to try to think about it when I'm in just the right mood, otherwise I start ripping pieces off furniture, which is at best unproductive.

But seriously folks… There's another aspect of the whole lazy language / abbreviation / LOLcats debacle that I find really puzzling. It doesn't make me any more annoyed, fortunately. It just makes me scratch my head and wonder: "WTF?"

You see, I understand that people use abbreviations and acronyms and what-have-you because they're trying to save time by typing their message faster. I get that. I'm not a big fan of it, but I get it.

So why, then, are people now taking the abbreviation LOL and not only turning it into word, but giving it variant spellings? Read the rest of this entry »

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A Lament on Lazy Language

September 2, 2009 in Blogging, Internet, Language, Writing by faltarego | 6 comments

Gah! My schedule is all messed up.

I used to write my blog posts first thing in the morning, to get a jump on the day. They've been slowly migrating to later and later, and it's now gotten to the point where I'm trying to come up with something at ten or eleven at night.

This is not good.

Sigh.

So it's Wednesday again. Supposedly it's Wordy Wednesday, the day of the week when I talk about either writing or books. Funny thing is, I haven't been finding my posts about writing particularly inspiring. As a matter of fact, I'm finding it surprisingly hard to write about writing.

Let me clarify. I'm finding it hard to write about writing and make it interesting.

So, I'm going to do what I do best when things aren't going my way: Complain. Read the rest of this entry »

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United Breaks Guitars: It’s the Real Deal

August 25, 2009 in Blogging, Music, Technology by faltarego | 1 comment

I stated early on in this blog that I don't intend for it to be personal, meaning I'm not going to talk about myself here. I'll be casting forth opinions on things, of course, and readers might glean a thing or two about me from that, and that's fine. But it's not my purpose here to go on about myself and weep and wail about my troubles.

I've got my personal blog for that.

I'm also going to avoid writing about religion and politics, because they tend to be highly emotionally charged and subject to vociferous rants from all quarters.

That still leaves a lot of territory for me to cover. I've been roaming from music to movies to software to writing to art to personal development and back again. And it's been a lot of fun.

But what about business?

Hm. Business.

I certainly have my opinions about it. And it, too, like politics and religion, can be a contentious and emotionally charged area. So I'm a little on the fence about it.

I'm not a business expert. I'm not a money expert. Money and I don't even get along all that well. But I do have my opinions. And I'll step outside this blog's box for just a moment to state one:

There is entirely too much business on the internet.

There. I've said it. Read the rest of this entry »

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