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. Preview of the April 2012 TorontoHenge 04/17/2012
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".  "TorontoHenge Apr 2012 #1" by Mike DeHaan All the comments will be in the article.  "TorontoHenge Apr 2012 #2" by Mike DeHaan Therefore these pictures are presented without discussion.  "TorontoHenge Apr 2012 #3" by Mike DeHaan Do they speak for themselves?  "TorontoHenge Apr 2012 #4" by Mike DeHaan Will anyone wade through them to read the writing tips?  "TorontoHenge Apr 2012 #5" by Mike DeHaan Feel free to leave a comment if you are underwhelmed.  "TorontoHenge Apr 2012 #6" by Mike DeHaan Of course, I would take more pleasure in approving comments.  "TorontoHenge Apr 2012 #7" by Mike DeHaan Here is the penultimate image for this blog post.  "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  "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.  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. | Author:
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