The importance of clear communication is the basis of this funny clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GT86iWiH2mI
If you’re on FaceBook, here’s a fan page that understands punctuation really can be a matter of life or death: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GT86iWiH2mI Be sure to check out the fan photos.
Copyright is different to copywriting which is the writing of ‘copy’, usually advertisements or press releases.
Copyright is the legal right to protect work you create and to control who can copy it. The digital age has made it easier than ever to copy material. But unless you created it, you don’t
own it. All work is copyrighted whether the © is included or not.
There are various tracking mechanisms available to authors for ensuring their work is not plagiarised, such as www.copyscape.com
For a brief overview of copyright, check out this page from Cleardocs.
Q: “Quick question – proofreading is definitely one word isn’t it? My mum was adamant it is 2 words or at least hyphenated.”
A: Your mum’s not wrong. Like a lot of spelling and grammar it’s a matter of personal preference and locality. Originally (1930s) the term was proof read and then became hyphenated (proof-read) as per my 1963 Newnes family dictionary. In a process of natural evolution it has since been compounded to become one word. Is your mum British? Proof-read tends to be more popular in British-English. American-English prefers proofread. The Oxford Concise Dictionary, Cambridge University Press and the Collins English dictionary lists it as proofread but the Random House dictionary has it currently as proof-read.
The compound word is significantly more popular on the internet. A Google search will return 558,000 results for proof-read/proof read and 2,540,000 for proofread and that’s my basis for using it even though I was taught proof-read at school.
Hope that helps and please thank your mum for giving me a blog post idea.
I’ve just finished reading The Secret by Rhonda Byrne. The secret behind The Secret is that we manifest reality through our thoughts. This simple statement gets you thinking in more ways than one. Can we really achieve all our desires just by thinking about it? Ask, believe, receive. It’s a little more complicated than that but that’s essentially the basis of The Secret. By Rhonda Byrne’s own admission, the ideas outlined in The Secret are nothing new. They’ve been around for a hundred years and I recall having The Science of Getting Rich by Wallace D. Wattles in 1910 – on which The Secret is based – forwarded to me by email several years ago. I never read it at the time but many of the principles are familiar to me. Not discussing ill health in order to avoid encouraging more ill health is something I’ve subscribed to for as long as I can remember. I’ve also read similar principles in a number of metaphysical books. The Secret presents these ideas in a very accessible, appealing way but following the Law of Attraction requires a significant mind shift, especially for those that were brought up to believe success only comes with serious hard work. Or crime! Western society is further restricted by the view that success has a dollar figure. Money does not buy happiness. The sudden tragic deaths of high-profile celebrities will attest to that. The Universe knows that we must use it or lose it. According to Dan Buettner’s research, one of the indicators or longevity is an active, purposeful life.
We’ve all read stories of people that have won the lottery and then squandered it. Others win the lottery but continue to live frugal, meaningful lives. We also can’t expect the Universe to perform miracles. People often say, “I never win competitions. But when asked how many competition they enter they answer, “none.” As Quentin Crisp said, “Believe in fate, but lean forward so that fate can see you.” Give the Universe something to work with.
The Secret also has links to Cognitive Behaviour Therapy with regards to positive thinking. People who are not depressed tend to achieve more. Our society is better than any other at looking at all the things we don’t have which is a big no-no according to The Secret. By focusing on what we don’t have and don’t want, we apparently attract more of that to ourselves. (So much for the saying, “Don’t think it can’t happen to you!”) I also wonder that so many of these people that attest to the power of the Law of Attraction were once homeless or otherwise destitute. When you’re that far down – the only way is up. You have to think positive and dream of a better life or you risk staying where you are.
For me, The Secret opens up questions that it doesn’t provide answers for. If we all manifest our own destiny, how is it that a six year old boy gets killed by a drunk driver while playing in his front yard? No six year old would entertain that reality let alone give it significant thought. Some very bad thing happen to some very nice people and I find it hard to believe they have chosen that destiny for themselves. This is one of the most common criticisms of the film/book. I also wonder, does the Law of Attraction work simply because we are focused on certain things so we therefore – consciously or subconsciously put more energy into it?
The real secret behind The Secret is a highly effective (some say aggressive) marketing campaign. A movie followed by a book supported by a comprehensive website and endorsed be Queen Midas herself (Oprah). It has mass appeal – marketed at anyone who wants to be wealthy (which is just about everybody) and the theory is difficult to refute. According to The Secret, if you doubt or question the Law of Attraction, it won’t work. The Secret has both supporters and detractors. I suggest you watch/read and make up you your own mind. Regardless of whether or not the Law of Attraction is, I believe if everyone were to subscribe to The Secrets of positive thinking, philanthropy and of gratitude, the world would be a better place.
I’ve recently rebuilt my website. I created the initial one using Microsoft FrontPage. The rebirthed one was created using Dreamweaver. I was comfortable with FrontPage and not too excited about having to learn another HTML editor, although I will concede that Dreamweaver has more advanced features and is better suited to today’s Internet. It would, of course, have been a lot easier to contract an experienced web designer to do it for me but my reasons for choosing to do it myself were not solely due to a restricted budget. I also wanted a better understanding of how websites work in order to be able to assist clients more efficiently when proofreading their websites. It makes more sense for me to edit the page directly rather than copying and pasting blocks of text into various word-processing programs.
I’m not totally happy with the site and it needs a bit more tweaking. I also have plans to add more images and perhaps video but for now, it’s mine and all mine. (Well mostly; I based it on a template). One interesting thing I discovered as a result is that some scripting does not like apostrophes. It replaces them with gobbledegook instead. There is a way around it (depending on the scripting language being used) but perhaps that’s the reason behind missing apostrophes on so many websites.
Jocelyn ‘Toolie®’ Garner has outlined the Top 10 Reasons to Manage Your Own Websites and Blogs. Number 10 on the list is, ‘It’s one less thing to be afraid of’ – and that’s probably the sum of it for me.
There are some very clever scammers out there; it’s not always easy to pick them, especially when they are hidden behind a legitimate business enterprise. eBay scams spring to mind where official eBay emails are copied and then embedded with links to sites intended to defraud the reader. An obvious sign of a scam is poor spelling and grammar because the perpetrators are often based overseas. Sometimes further research is necessary.
Recently I received a fax from a company called ‘Upskilled’ about government funded rebates for training courses. Everything looked quite legitimate but a few things raised flags with me. For starters, the email wasn’t addressed to anyone. It was titled, ‘Attention: All Managers- Administration, Operations, HR, Sales, Project’. That’s a fairly big scope! As I operate a virtual office, I wasn’t sure if the email was intended for me or one of my clients. Further reading showed that the three page document had several punctuation errors and typos such as missing periods at the end of sentences, spaces in the middle of words and a fairly obvious tautology in “…a maximum of $3890, yet however, upon course completion…”
A tautology is saying the same thing twice using different words. Yet and however both have the same meaning. Yet means “inspite of that/all the same/nevertheless”, however usually means “but” but can also mean “nevertheless/all the same”.
Curious, I looked up the website which contained similar errors of which just a few examples are:
“Upskilleds’ program are delivered by Upskilled’s expert trainers” – apostrophe in two different places in the same sentence. ‘Program’ is singular, ‘are’ is plural.
“There are guidelines that govern the eligibly for funding…” Eligibly is not a word.
I did a further search on one of the trainers who appears to be involved in three seperate companies at the same time. Another search highlighted the whole thing as a scam. I remain unconvinced either way. For that reason, and the fact that I wouldn’t want to send my employees on a course run by a company that can’t communicate effectively, the fax ended up in the bin.
The Four Agreements - Don Miguel Ruiz’s code for life
Be impeccable with your word – Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.
Don’t take anything personally – Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won’t be the victim of needless suffering.
Don’t make assumptions – Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.
Always do your best – Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse and regret.
I don’t currently offer resume writing as a service because I haven’t undergone any recent training but I do occasionally offer advice to friends and family. A resume is a candidate’s first impression. First impressions count and therefore it’s important to have a professional resume. If your budget doesn’t stretch to hiring a professional resume writer, at least consider getting it proofread. Some of the entries in the 150 Funniest Resume Mistakes have clearly been written by someone with a sense of humour. Others are simply odd but many have been let down by typos. Does it matter? Yes it does. According to SmartCompany, “Poor spelling and grammar and a failure to understand what constitutes appropriate corporate behaviour are the biggest bugbears…” for employers. If your resume isn’t up to scratch, what confidence will the company have in your ability to communicate with colleagues and clients?
Recently I’ve become active on LinkeIn and am astonished by the number of people claiming to be writers who make the most basic of spelling and grammar mistakes. It does make me wonder though, how people needing assistance know that the writer they are hiring to process their message is competent. Anyone can sell themselves as a writer just as anyone can establish themselves as a Virtual Assistant – or counsellor or therapist for that matter. This is where proven experience and testimonials are important I guess. It is perfectly reasonable for anyone hiring a writer or editor to ask what training and qualifications they have and what professional associations they belong to. Be aware that membership of relevant organisations often require payment of a membership fee only and that the term ‘published author’ is used alike by both Di Morrissey and an anonymous self-published author of an e-book collection of erotic poems about a Schnauzer named Buster. At the very least, a writer should know the difference between ‘your’ and ‘you’re’, ‘loose’ and ‘lose’ and that proofreading is one word.
Here are the top ten words everybody needs to stop misspelling. (Incidentally, this is an American-English poster, haemorrhoids is spelt with ae in Australian-English.)
Many businesses close at lunchtime on the 31st of December so that workers can go home and prepare for a night of revelling and fun. I am winding up by posting a few last invoices and ensuring my bookkeeping is up to date. I’ve also spent some time thinking of an appropriate business-related blessing and found this one:
I Am the New Year. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bible Illustrator
I am the new year. I am an unspoiled page in your book of time.
I am your next chance at the art of living. I am your opportunity to practice what you have learned about life during the last twelve months.
All that you sought and didn’t find is hidden in me, waiting for you to search it but with more determination.
All the good that you tried for and didn’t achieve is mine to grant when you have fewer conflicting desires.
All that you dreamed but didn’t dare to do, all that you hoped but did not will, all the faith that you claimed but did not have—these slumber lightly, waiting to be awakened by the touch of a strong purpose.
Whether you’re a writer or a VA or simply a word nerd, I hope that this motivates you to ensure that 2010 sees the fruition of your labours and aspirations.