My latest Decoded Science article, "Turing Machines and the Halting Problem", was just published.

It continues my "math theory" series about the Turing machine.

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"Diagonal Halting Problem" image by Mike DeHaan
My usual practice is to use my Blog of Writing to preview any images that I create for articles at sites operated by other people. This pins the copyright to me, greedy and small-minded as I am.

Here, in all its glory, is yet another spreadsheet created for one of my Decoded Science articles.


Further Publicity for Turing's Halting Problem

As always, my article is also promoted in DeHaan Services ("Two Views of the Halting Problem") and in my Xanga blog ("Turing's Halting Problem").

Writing Tip

Today has a new writing tip for online articles.

After writing several articles about Turing machines, I wondered how I could find a new image or photograph to headline this installment. I'd already used everything I could find under the appropriate Creative Commons license.

Then I realized that the word "halt" has meaning outside of computing. Read the article to see what I did find for the opening and closing images.

The writing tip is to be as creative or imaginative as possible when illustrating your article. Yes, keep it on topic...but take liberties if appropriate.
 
Some may remember that I had posted a pictorial in Environmental Graffiti called "TorontoHenge: When City Grids Align with the Sun" in October of 2011.

As the year spins, so do opportunities for capturing sunrise or sunset in conditions similar to Stonehenge.

This is my preview of the images for my next article, "Torontohenge Imperfect in 2012".



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"TorontoHenge Apr 2012 #1" by Mike DeHaan
All the comments will be in the article.

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"TorontoHenge Apr 2012 #2" by Mike DeHaan
Therefore these pictures are presented without discussion.

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"TorontoHenge Apr 2012 #3" by Mike DeHaan
Do they speak for themselves?

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"TorontoHenge Apr 2012 #4" by Mike DeHaan
Will anyone wade through them to read the writing tips?

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"TorontoHenge Apr 2012 #5" by Mike DeHaan
Feel free to leave a comment if you are underwhelmed.

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"TorontoHenge Apr 2012 #6" by Mike DeHaan
Of course, I would take more pleasure in approving comments.

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"TorontoHenge Apr 2012 #7" by Mike DeHaan
Here is the penultimate image for this blog post.

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"TorontoHenge Apr 2012 #8" by Mike DeHaan
Was it all worth the effort?

Would you also see my promotional articles in DeHaan Services ("A Disappointing TorontoHenge for April 2012") and in my Xanga blog ("Making Use of a Poor TorontoHenge in April 2012")?

Writing Tips

Today has a double writing tip.

Online articles need images. Sometimes the best images are those you take yourself.

Ensure you first publish your images online in a site where you can demonstrate your ownership. I use my Blog of Writing, since it also serves as a blog post and as publicity for my article. Many people use Flickr or some other online image publishing site.

Taking my own pictures of TorontoHenge in April 2012 was fun, easy and an excuse to wake up at 4:30am.
 
Those of us who write, blog or publish reference material may need to find our own articles quickly.

May I recommend using a personal directory site?

The DeHaan Directory is an Example of a Personal Directory Site

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"DeHaan Directory" image by Mike DeHaan
In fact, I recommend and provide an example of a personal directory site: my own "DeHaan Directory".

This is a free WordPress.org blog site. You could also set up a free site on Blogger or here on Weebly. The trick is to decide how you want to organize the site.

If you only blog on one site, and if you're happy with the site's "category" and "tag" structure, then you may not need a directory at all.

Otherwise, if you have a lot of articles, consider making a big list. Don't worry about using a lot of description; your titles should do most of that work for you.

I wanted to link to every "online magazine" article, simply as part of my search engine optimization (SEO) process. I use one page per magazine site, because that is simple and manageable.

I have to admit that I sometimes write a mini-article to publicize specific posts. If you visit the site, pay more attention to the "list" pages. Those are the ones that I use for reference.

As you can see from the image of my DeHaan Directory site, this free WordPress theme allows me to set up multiple pages and sub-pages. I have one for each online magazine, such as Decoded Science, Environmental Graffiti, and Suite 101. In addition, it has pages for my DeHaan Services, DeHaan Fitness and Weight Control, Squidoo, Weebly and Wizzley sites or articles.

This gives me quick and easy access to my articles on demand. Just this afternoon, someone wanted to contact the Toronto Buskerfest but couldn't open their site. (I'm guessing it was a Flash problem, but that's not my concern). I could then jump into my DeHaan Services list of Toronto articles, find Buskerfest, and link to my article. Its reference link allowed me to find their current contact information.


Writing Tip

Today's writing tip is simple.

Let's assume that you write reference material, or even that you want to reference your own articles quickly and easily.

A quick, simple and cheap way to do this is to build an article directory site on a free blogging platform.

If necessary, expand it to one page per magazine site.

Update the list each time you write a new article.

Keep your personal directory site simple and up to date.
 
I added a new article to Suite 101 yesterday. "American Lutherans and Mennonites to Reconcile in 2012" explains when and where two denominations will meet for that purpose.

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An "Evangelical Lutheran Church", image by Jason Riedy
Perhaps more importantly, I discuss why two Christian denominations would need to get together and settle an old feud.

Previously I reported on a European version of this same process, in "The Origins of the 2010 Lutheran and Mennonite Reconciliation".

Promoting Mennonite and Lutheran Reconciliation

More accurately, I'm promoting my own article on this subject in DeHaan Services ("Lutherans and Mennonites in the USA to Reconcile") and in my Xanga blog ("Peace in the USA for Lutherans and Mennonites").

One Favourite Writing Tip

This situation is an example of a serendipitous application of a favourite writing tip.

Write a series of articles, even if you have to keep following themes in the news!

I had not expected to find a second news item about Mennonite and Lutheran reconciliation, but this jumped out at me from a denominational news magazine.

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    Weebly's "Blog Author" widget from the Blog Sidebar's Elements menu provides a lot of flexibility. You can change both the title and the text.

    It has all the capabilities for text editing that you find in most Weebly text widgets.

    At this point, I don't see a way to code any HTML in this widget.

    The "Picture" does what you expect: it displays an image of your choice. I just added my home-made picture of "Copyright DeHaan Services 2013" as the top element in this sidebar on Jan. 22, 2013.

    The "Search Box" is a "Pro" feature; if you're paying for Weebly hosting, it may be worthwhile.

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