Woolly Knuckles

How to Write like a blogger - Seth Godin

2008-04-25T07:00:00.001Z

Write like a blogger

You can improve your writing (your business writing, your ad writing, your thank you notes and your essays) if you start thinking like a blogger:

Use headlines. I use them all the time now. Not just boring ones that announce your purpose (like the one on this post) but interesting or puzzling or engaging headlines. Headlines are perfect for engaging busy readers.
Realize that people have choices. With 80 million other blogs to choose from, I know you could leave at any moment (see, there goes someone now). So that makes blog writing shorter and faster and more exciting.
Drip, drip, drip. Bloggers don't have to say everything at once. We can add a new idea every day, piling on a thesis over time.
It's okay if you leave. Bloggers aren't afraid to include links or distractions in their writing, because we know you'll come back if what we had to say was interesting.
Interactivity is a great shortcut. Your readers care about someone's opinion even more than yours... their own. So reading your email or your comments or your trackbacks (your choice) makes it easy to stay relevant.
Gimmicks aren't as useful as insight. If you're going to blog successfully for months or years, sooner or later you need to actually say something. Same goes for your writing.
Don't be afraid of lists. People like lists.
Show up. Not writing is not a useful way of expressing your ideas. Waiting for perfect is a lousy strategy.
Say it. Don't hide, don't embellish.

What would happen if every single high school student had to have a blog? Or every employee in your company? Or every one of your customers?

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2008/04/write-like-a-bl.html

Man Eating Badgers

2007-07-24T11:16:00.000Z

You can imagine my shock when i heard about man eating badgers being caught in Iraq. I've heard about the government spending millions on new secret weapons, but this was taking things a bit far.

Some months ago news spread that some of the locals near Basra had been attacked by Badgers which apparently had been released by the British armed forces nearby.

The best quote came from UK military spokesman Major Mike Shearer who said: "We can categorically state that we have not released man-eating badgers into the area."

And an equally good one from housewife, Suad Hassan, 30, who claimed she had been attacked by one of the badgers as she slept.

"My husband hurried to shoot it but it was as swift as a deer," she said. "It is the size of a dog but his head is like a monkey," she told AFP.

True story!!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6295138.stm

Celeb Spotting

2007-05-23T12:03:00.001Z

Working in soho, you see quite a few celebs over time, so i thought i'd keep a track

Some more celebs i've seen recently are....

A list
Gwyneth Paltrow - driving her Range Rover in Primrose hill, window down looking at me....or was she looking at on coming traffic

Z list
Kamal - from UK's Big Brother 7.....seen on the tube, wearing womens clothes and holding a handbag

A Gentle Axe

2007-05-15T12:59:00.001Z

Roger Morris, a colleague of mine has just written a novel, A Gentle Axe and is set in St Petersburg. I was visiting there last week, and by pure chance came across an article written about him. It's a great read. His trailer is below.....

The Gentle Axe trailer (UK edit)

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The 10th century, a few scandinavians,and a king called Harald

2007-04-05T07:21:00.000Z

We've now just started the 3rd challenge of Cyberchase, MOBILE. So what does King Harald have to do with mobile connectivity?

Back in the dark ages of the 10th Century, Norway and Denmark had been frequently fighting each other. Harald Bluetooth was King of the Danes. His sister had recently been widowed, when her violent (and aptly named) husband Norwegian King Erik Blood Axe died. So Harald took advantage of the situation firstly uniting Denmark then seizing control of Norway.

Fast forward 1000 years and in 1998, five companies Ericsson, Nokia, IBM, Toshiba and Intel formed a consortium to investigate producing a low cost interface between electronic devices, and used the code name Bluetooth.

If Harald can unite these 2 countries, how hard can it be to make your phone talk to your PC!? I guess I'll find out in the next few weeks as I set myself a few new challenges.

There is one final the burning issue - did Harald have a blue tooth? In fact his name is most likely derived from two words 'blå' meaning dark skinned and 'tan' meaning great man.

Selling on ebay

2007-04-02T10:25:00.000Z

For sale !!

Inflatable sumo suit. Used once only for a laugh at work.

Impress your friends, colleagues and family!!

Earn £££££ FAST.......Start a new business as a sumo man at children parties!

Or become the UK's first SUMO-GRAM. Who needs a strip-a-gram when you could be a SUMO-GRAM!!"

With an offer like this, I was sure to make a fat profit over the £14.29 I paid for the item.

So how did the bidding go? Far2sly kicked things off with a very brave bid of £2.50, then he upped the anti with a further bid of £3.58. This started a bidding frenzy, as we hit £5.02 with another bid from far2sly. But he didn't live up to his name as the price then jumped to the giddy heights of £8.

Then 11 minutes before the end of the auctionSebash87 came in with a last minute bid of £8.50. So an overall loss of £3.79 for me, which is better than i thought. Perhaps we'll start see the sumo-gram business starting soon.

So how did i find the selling experience? I was a bit daunted by all the options available to sell the item e.g. do i want to upload multiple pictures, how long do make the auction, what's my starting price etc etc. But once done everything took care of itself. So perhaps i might start selling some second hand things i own!

Auction No. 260102368719.

Warning.....don't do handstands on people lying on the ground.

2007-03-26T16:48:00.000Z

Or is it a NO CROWD SURFING sign upside down?

Buying on ebay

2007-03-12T08:21:00.000Z

I was quite excited and uncertain as to what it would be like to buy online at ebay. It's something that millions of others have been doing for so long.

But one week into the task my fellow cyberchasers were telling me all about their terrible expereinces.......spending 10 hours on the weekend bidding for numerous items only to be outbid at the last minute. So I knew this meant investing a large amount of time, or buying some bidding software that places a slightly higher price just before the auctions ended.

But I took the easy option in the end, and decided to use the "buy it now" option. This lets you pay a set price. I've got better things to do with my time than bid for something in the hope you'll get it.

I found the buying experience fairly average. The design and look and feel of the site looked pretty amateurish. But I guess the good thing about ebay is that it connects thousands of people together, and you can buy almost anything you like. I'm sure if you've got time on your hands you can pick up anything you want for a good price.

I'm not sure I'd use ebay again, except to get another inflatable sumo suit!

The ebay webpage

My Package arrived nice wrapped in brown paper. It arrived the day after I bought it online, so the service was prompt.

Here I'm showcasing the suit

Sumo Man!! Much to my surprise the sumo suit actually works. A nifty fan that blows air so it stays inflated. I was quite surprised.

It's pretty hard to work, when your arms don't reach the keyboard!

Safe Sex?

2007-02-23T15:56:00.000Z

We can all have different online identities, but sometimes you can have one in the real world. Here I'm practising very safe sex in a global ad campaign for Swatch.

Print Ad

Place de Catalunya, Barcelona

The Motorcycle Hunter

2007-02-23T15:42:00.000Z

I have another identity in a small town called Varberg in Sweden. I've been a "star" in a low budget commercial for Vincents Bike Shop

Vincents 2003 "The Motorcycle Hunter"

Vincents 2005 "I'm back at Vincents..."

A little bit more on identity

2007-02-23T10:41:00.000Z

I was having a few drinks with friends last night, and its surprising how many have a different online identity.

My friend tom is a keen poker player. He’s used different names over time. His latest name is Leonstars. He thinks this makes him sound like a good poker player, and that other players will think he’ll bluff, but plays differently to what you'd expect from his name. So far he thinks he's ahead, but he admitted he could just be deluding himself about the fact his success is all down to the name.

Another friend also uses a different online identity for poker. He becomes a she. His online personality is Norma Sbaps. Strangely, he often gets other players questioning whether he's actually a female, which he continually denies. He thinks its a bit of a laugh!

Tom was also talking about second life.

Apparently there are people there that have turned their life around as they've been given a "second chance" in life. Some very depressed people have been able to create different identities. One man has set up "Happiness Island" where people can go and be happy. There are also therapy sessions, where people can talk through their problems. It great that second life has allowed people a new outlet to share their thoughts, but the therapists moderating the sessions are not properly trained, so you hope it's always beneficial.

Creating an Online Identity

2007-02-16T18:35:00.000Z

It has been interesting trying to create my own online identity. In the end I decided to do something humorous. Dave, an English friend of mine calls me woolly knuckles....making a joke of my Aussie accent.

It also fulfills the standard criteria of creating a figurative identity, which masks who you really area to some degree.

I have noticed that many people create online identities as an extension or amplification of their character or interests. This particularly seen in sporting blogs and chat rooms - "redtillidie", "englandmad666". Its pretty easy to get an idea of their sports beliefs in the chat room environment.

However you need to very careful in generalising about people online. I have tracked down 3 people who have called themselves "redtillidie".

1. redtillidie is a passionate supporter of swindon football club, putting forward his view that the 1-1 draw between Swindon and Hartlepool was not a fix, and all conspirarcy theorists should put it to rest.

2. redtillidie aka Helen has been a member of a catalog t-shirt company since January 5, 2006, has scored 229 submissions, giving an average score of 1.25. Pretty cool t-shirts too.

3. redtillidie is a 19 year old african american from Oregon, US. He states his occupation is "pimpin". Redtillidie is a reference to his beloved Chicago Bulls basketball team. His statement about life is: "I gotta die with money cause i wasnt born wit it"

All 3 of these people have referred to themselves as "redtillidie" which is an incredibly emotive statement. However they are 3 completely different people, and "redtillidie" means something different to each of them.

How to write a blog.....

2007-02-16T18:32:00.000Z

Working for a marketing agency, we've started on a new project to become more online literate. So many of us have set up our own blogs. Here's what they say you're blog should contain. We'll i've done 1,2 and not 3. I'll guess i'll get onto that sometime soon.

1. Write a 'How to' guide - people like these because everyone like to learn something
2. Lists - come up with one, like this!
3. Have an issue - try and get support for something that you’re passionate about and your audience may care
4. Interview - if you have access to someone interesting, get them on the phone and interview them
5. Review - it could be a book, film, art, etc.
6. Case study - write about a real world experience from your POV
7. Research - try and find something out and make a few conclusions
8. What's new, trends - if you’re on top of your subject, highlight what’s new in that field
9 Ask the audience - focus on an issue and ask people to feedback
10. Be controversial – take a strong POV and argue it

Music Monthly

2007-02-16T18:17:00.000Z

Just thought i'd share a few bands i'm listening too at the moment.

I've been loving the Fratelli's new album.

Next gig up is the Pigeon Detectives, chosen solely for their name....but they are supposed to be pretty good, and generating about the same hype as the Kaiser chiefs did a few years ago.

Who is woollyknuckles?

2007-02-16T18:08:00.000Z

Sorry, no autographs!