3 Concepts for Doors Open Toronto 2012 05/17/2012
My latest DeHaan Services article to promote a Toronto event is "Three Themes for Doors Open Toronto 2012".  "Inside the Portlands Energy Centre" image by George Socka of beachdigital.com After writing and publishing this article, I was concerned that people might think the topic is a "WordPress theme" rather than an organizing principle for deciding which buildings to visit. By the way, "Doors Open Toronto" is an annual event, but there so many buildings are included that it would be difficult to run out of options. Promoting my Toronto Doors Open Article As always, my Xanga blog also promotes my article, although "An Invitation to Toronto's Doors Open 2012" does not add much beyond the link. Writing Tip Originally I planned to go to the nearest easily accessible building to take a photograph for this article. On a whim, I searched Flickr for the keywords and for a "commercial reuse" license. Behold the image already available thanks to George Socka of beachdigital.com! Today's writing tip is to check for existing images before spending the time to make your own. Mr. Socka did a much better job than I could, and saved me time. Add Comment Preview of Statistics to Pick Pollsters 05/14/2012
I developed a spreadsheet to illustrate my "How Statistics May Help Select a Reliable Pollster" article for Decoded Science. The article explains how tricky it is to use statistics to pick which pollsters to believe.  "Poll Accuracy" image by Mike DeHaan By publishing the image here, before it appears in the main article, I establish copyright and ownership. Further Publicity As always, I publicize my articles in DeHaan Services ("Reliable Statistics about Opinion Polls") and in my Xanga blog ("Presidential Pollsters versus Statistics"). Writing Tip on Creating Images Today we present two writing tips about making your own images for online articles. First, consider making a simple spreadsheet to illustrate your point. It's smart to keep it fairly small, so it fits and can be as visible as possible. Add a border so it does not fade into the background of the web page. Second, publish your image in a site that you control, to establish your copyright, before publishing it in someone else's online magazine. You could place it on Flickr, for example, and set precisely the restrictions that you want. Or you could make it open for anyone to re-use or adapt. At the least, you should license it "with attribution" so your name will spread. By the way: read the Terms of Service ('TOS') before you start storing images online. Some people have complained that various sites say that you give up all control over images displayed on their pages. It's not a case of "don't trust that magazine publisher"; rather it is a matter of establishing control so you can use the image yourself in the future. Canadian Emergency Preparedness Week 2012 05/11/2012
My "Did We Ignore Vic Toews Preparing for an Emergency?" article in DeHaan Services was a public service announcement, of sorts.  "Environment Canada with Red Banner Link" image by Mike DeHaan I made the above image to show where I had found the link to the Canadian government's emergency preparedness site. One of the points in my article is that the traditional media did not make me aware of this event. Nor did Vic Toews get his share of the spotlight. ("Vic Who"? Sorry, please just read my article to see why he's associated with getting Canadians ready for emergencies). Shameless Publicity for Emergency Preparedness As usual, I publicized my article in my Xanga blog ("Did Canadians Prepare for Emergencies in 2012?"). Writing Tip: Why I Wrote about Emergency Preparedness My blog post in DeHaan Services is an example of creating an article without developing the expertise in the topic. In this situation, I am not an expert in preparing for emergency situations. Instead, my public service goal was to point at the Canadian government's web site that does indeed have expert advice. The "hook" for the article was that, as far as I knew, the traditional media had missed the story. So today's writing tip is: find a worthwhile topic that others have missed; highlight your find; and point to the resource where the expertise can be found. Kudzu, a Bi-National Invader 05/10/2012
My latest article in Suite 101, "Kudzu Invaded Canada while Under Attack in the United States", reports on two developments for this vine.  "Kudzu Engulfing a House", image by NatalieMaynor This American home is falling victim to a merciless invader. Could Canada be next? Can, should and will the Americans allow another invasive species to retaliate? Learn the basic issues from my kudzu article. Promoting my Kudzu Article As usual, both DeHaan Services ("Kudzu's Foothold in Leamington, Ontario") and my Xanga blog ("Kudzu is No Longer Just for Americans") promote my recent article. Writing Tip, based on Kudzu Today's writing tip suggests that you remain open to surprises as you research a topic. First, "surprising equals informative" in the math of information theory. If you were surprised, it's likely your reader will find the article informative. Second, your surprise can open your relationship with your readers. I had not known that anyone in the USA would think of kudzu as beneficial for anything. My article explains why some do; and that can be the start of soliciting reader engagement. Arranging Marriages by Computer 05/09/2012
Never one to ignore a challenge, I wrote "Computer Algorithm Solves Arranged Marriages via the Hall Theorem" for Decoded Science.  "Bride and Groom" image by epSos.de The challenge was to attract a large number of comments, presumably without saying "Please, please, please make comments" in the actual article. Perhaps the topic of "arranged marriage" is controversial enough for comments. I couldn't think of anything very controversial in my niches of mathematics and computing theory. Publicity for Arranged Marriages As always, my article is also mentioned in DeHaan Services ("Computers for Arranged Marriages") and in my Xanga blog ("Impersonally Arranged Marriages"). Writing Tip I had actually noticed an article about this kind of computer program, but had not really considered writing about it from this angle until the contest was announced. Today's writing tip is that one must notice much, but select and write pointedly for a topic. This article uses "arranged marriage" to introduce and develop the broader mathematical topic of Hall's Theorem. Will people read it simply because they have preconceived notions about families planning their children's betrothals? Perhaps; but then they might also learn about math! Preview of Turing and the Halting Problem 04/22/2012
My latest Decoded Science article, "Turing Machines and the Halting Problem", was just published. It continues my "math theory" series about the Turing machine.  "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. 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.  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. Promoting the Universal Turing Machine 03/30/2012
My latest Decoded Science article, "The Universal Turing Machine is a Turing Machine Emulator", explains how this mathematical "construction" works.  "Escher Drawing Hands like Mutual Universal Turing Machines" image photographed by rrenzoo Although this was not my choice for the article's "featured" image, in retrospect I appreciate the editor's choice. This allows me to ask "What does Escher's drawing have to do with Universal Turing machines"? My article answers that question, naturally. Promoting my "Universal Turing Machine" Article As always, I also publicize my articles in DeHaan Services ("The Universal Turing Machine is an Emulator") and in my Xanga blog ("A Universal Turing Machine is Math, not Astronomy"). Writing Tip Today's writing tip may seem recycled, but that's almost exactly (but not quite!) what it is. Rather than trying to cover absolutely new themes in every article or blog post, develop a series about one theme or concept. Do ensure that there is enough material for two, three or more articles. Do your research early and separate the rough notes into a logical sequence. Then go for it! Regular readers should appreciate getting more detail than could be covered in one large article. By inter-linking your articles, you can help new readers find the first article regardless of where they started. I used this approach for Mennonites in Suite 101, and obviously am pursuing it for Turing machines in Decoded Science. Series or Singleton for the Turing Awards? 03/20/2012
My latest article for Decoded Science, "The ACM Awards the 2011 Turing Prize for Computing to Judea Pearl", reports exactly what it claims in its title. The title of this article in my Blog of Writing refers to the writing tip in the final section.  "Judea Pearl" image from The Big Picture by Vic Rubenfeld Additionally, that article also names the first Turing Prize recipient. Publicity for my 2011 Turing Award Article As usual, I also publicize my article in DeHaan Services ("The 2011 Turing Award Went to Judea Pearl") and in my Xanga blog ("Judea Pearl Received the 2011 Turing Award"). Writing Tip When I began writing about Judea Pearl's award, I wanted to add a few snippets about some of the other Turing Award recipients. However, there were too many, and any selection (other than the very first person) was too arbitrary. The editor at Decoded Science agreed that, in lieu of writing one long article with an odd selection bias, that instead I should consider a series. That's the reason for this Blog post title. Should I treat the 2011 Turing Award as a single event, or write a series about all the recipients? The writing tip is: always consider whether your topic has enough material to become a series. Spring Collection of Bug Articles for 2012 03/16/2012
Along with warmer weather and "springing ahead" to Daylight Savings Time, one sign of the changing season is a shift in statistics at Suite 101. Readers begin to find my older insect articles as they search the Internet for information. As a public service, therefore, allow me to present some of these articles oriented to springtime. (My apologies to Australia, South America and parts of Africa and Asia: you're heading into autumn). The final paragraph is a writing tip, since it's become a standard feature of this blog. Revealing the Earwig  Earwig image by Siga Hosted at Environmental Graffiti, "The Secret Life of the Earwig" reveals an insect that lives in gardens but can invade our homes. Meanwhile, "The Earwig: A Best Friend To The Garden Or A Health Hazard?" lurks in Suite 101. Entertaining Social Wasps Social wasps also deserve at least two articles."Convincing Social Wasps To Leave The Party" has some advice on how to encourage these insects to stay away from your garden party. "How Can a Worker Wasp Become a Queen? By Face and Fight" follows my gee-whiz-how-interesting approach to articles about Nature. Unlike honeybees, wasps do not hatch with the instant destiny of worker or queen status. Deer Ticks and Lyme Disease Lyme disease is difficult to diagnose; prevention is always the preferred option. "How Deer Ticks Spread Lyme Disease", as well as "Defeating Lyme Disease Transmitted by Deer Ticks", provide answers that can save people from a significant problem. Mosquitos and West Nile Virus Sometime in spring or summer, many of us will experience the bite of a mosquito. This is almost always a mere nuisance. However, "The West Nile Virus Triangle: Mosquitos, Crows and People" explains why and how we should protect ourselves. Tamarisk Leaf Beetles on Our Side "The Tamarisk Leaf Beetle Battles Salt Cedars in the American West" brings us back to an insect that actually is ecologically helpful. It's a pleasant surprise after the gloom and despair about diseases carried by insects! Writing Tip Today's writing tip is pretty obvious. Some older online articles deserve to be publicized from time to time. Some topics in "Nature" arise every year because of the changing seasons. Income tax advice, or holiday suggestions, revolve around human customs. If your articles deserve to be noticed annually, remind your readers. This approach also reminds the search engines. Thanks for re-reading my springtime insect articles. | Author:
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