Once again I found myself creating images for my new Decoded Science article, "
From the Cartesian Plane to the Areas of Rectangles and Triangles".
A Simple Graph on the Plane
"Simple Graph in the Cartesian Plane" by Mike DeHaan
This first image is an extremely simple graph plotted by Excel. I simply needed a straight line, plotting Y=X, to illustrate the Cartesian plane.
Or was it so "simple"?
After Doctoring the Image...
This second image allows me to easily show the area of a square cut along the diagonal by my Y=X plot.
Is it obvious that I used Microsoft Paint to doctor the first image?
Article Self-Promotion
As always, I will also promote this
Decoded Science article in my
DeHaan Services blog. This time, the blog post is "
Simple Area Calculations in the Cartesian Plane".
Writing Tip: Multiply Your Images by Modifying Them
My goal was to calculate the "area" of a simple figure in the Cartesian plane. The first image simply showed the plane, since I had to ensure my readers would know that term.
However, I knew from the start that I needed a second image for the "area". So I developed that second image, stopping long enough to record the first one from the work in progress.
Writing Tip: Whether you are writing text or creating images, plan ahead so you can make use of everything you do. Show your readers the stages an image goes through, if that helps to present your message.
I am building a tradition of loading my original creation images here on my Blog of Writing before posting them in other articles. So far, this has mainly served my
Decoded Science mathematics articles.
(Updated 2011-07-11) I submitted this article on the 10th. Today, the 11th, "
Zeno's Paradox of Achilles and the Tortoise" was published.
Yes, as always, I will also publicize this article in my
DeHaan Services blog, as "
Concerning Zeno the Paradoxical, Achilles and a Tortoise".
The "Zeno, Achilles and Tortoise" Images
"Zeno, Achilles and Tortoise" by Mike DeHaan
Truly magnificent in its simplicity, this is my first screen capture from my spreadsheet.
"Zeno, Achilles and Tortoise Plotted" by Mike DeHaan
Naturally, I became dissatisfied with my first spreadsheet because it lacked a graph.
Writing Tip
I finally decided to add the comments into a cell in the spreadsheet, rather than adding them as "comment boxes" in the spreadsheet, or, the very worst, adding text via the Paint program.
Tip: If you make your own images, make all the comments legible. Use the text areas in the spreadsheet rather than the tiny Paint text.
Once again I publish previews of some images I created for an upcoming article.
The Decoded Science article is
The Surprising "Benford Law" of Leading Digits.
For now, please contain your impatience to learn more.
"Graph of Benford Law" by Mike DeHaan
Merely the first of three spreadsheets, it illustrates "Benford's Law" in graphic detail.
Naturally the second spreadsheet also has a graph.
Sadly, the third spreadsheet remains graphless.
Shameless Self-Promotion in Other Blogs
As always, I also cross-promote my articles in my blogs.
The DeHaan Services article is The Oddities of Benford’s Law.Let me also mention the Xanga blog post "Benford's Law is Strange but True".Writing Tip
I've said it before, but it is still true: ensure that your own images are published under your own name before placing them into other publications. This helps retain your copyright on that content.
Once again, I wrote two articles by following up some research on one primary subject.
Butterbur as Medication in Suite 101
"Common Butterbur" by Marco Hebing
Butterbur may be an interesting plant, but part of the interest is due to its history as a medical herb. Modern research has found some new uses or confirmed old ones.
"The Potential of Butterbur in Alternative Medicine" presents a brief survey of its potential.
Butterbur, the Plant, in Environmental Graffiti
"Irish Butterbur" by _foxy
Butterbur is introduced for its own sake, as a plant, in my article, "
Butterbur: The Versatile Plant with a Rich History in Herblore", in
Environmental Graffiti. (I'd submitted it earlier, but it was been held up by Canada Day celebrations and an editor's keen eye for detail. The article went live on July 5th).
Other Promotions for my Butterbur Articles
As always, I have also promoted these articles in my DeHaan Services blog. Today's article is "
Butterbur, the Plant of Many Names and Great Potential".
Writing Tip (Redux)
As I've tipped before, I will tip again.
If at all possible, use one research effort to produce multiple articles.
Do ensure that the focus of each article is different. As you can tell from my articles above, one looks at medical uses and the other at the botanical information.
As well, I had checked for prior Suite 101 articles that mentioned "butterbur". Each had started with a medical symptom, and introduced butterbur as one remedy among many. That is indeed a smart way of approaching medical issues. It was not how I started, and so I presented a different slant.
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