http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/blogs/doug-nelson/ en Thu, 09 Feb 2012 23:19:40 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/images/misc/rss.jpg http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/blogs/doug-nelson/ http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/blogs/doug-nelson/191-simple-idea.html Tue, 27 Jul 2010 00:24:57 GMT Caveat:
I am not an economist, or an accountant. I'm just a slob that had an idea while trying to keep himself awake on a long drive.

My simple plan to save the American economy:

For too long American business has been driven by reducing the American workforce, either by outsourcing or downsizing. We need to turn that around so they're driven by growing the American workforce.

First we need to create a new term, defined as 1 American employed for for a minimum of 1500 hours per year on an employee basis (no contractors) at a wage at least at the average pay rate and including health benefits and some minimum other benefits TBD. As a placeholder until someone comes up with something more clever, I'll use the term "mannum".

My proposal is to give businesses a tax credit equal to the percentage increase in their mannum rate compared to the previous year.

So if their mannum increase is 1% over last year, they get a 1% tax credit.

Before I'm branded a conservative for finding yet another way to cut taxes for business, remember that each percentage represents new tax-paying workers. American workers that are happy to pay taxes, since it means they are now employed.

Obviously some things would need to get worked out, like for new companies, or companies that have a mannum of over 100%. We'd probably need to come up with some way to avoid gaming, but honestly a bit of gaming would probably be a good thing.

But the important thing is the concept: offering businesses a concrete and valuable reward for hiring Americans with benefits and a fair wage. ]]> Doug Nelson http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/blogs/doug-nelson/191-simple-idea.html http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/blogs/doug-nelson/108-birds-forums.html Mon, 12 May 2008 05:30:01 GMT A few months ago I moved to a new house. For the first time in a couple of decades I have a proper back yard. I've taken to doing the standard things, mowing, planting a few pretties, but my favorite thing so far is I've started feeding wild birds.

I've noticed a lot of similarities between the birds at my feeder and the visitors to our RetouchPRO forums here.

There are the wrens and sparrows that feed lightly but often, chirp and tweet the best they can, then quickly leave.

There are the finches that eat voraciously for their size, but only one particular seed, maybe uttering a single peep before they leave, but probably not.

The blackbird comes, eats whatever he can, then generously repays with his unpleasant mechanical buzz. But it's ok, I know he means well, and is doing what he can.

The doves are the most useful bird I get. They constantly scour the ground for dropped seeds that would otherwise sprout. Plus their comical walk and pleasant cooing are so delightful that I feel I'm not doing nearly enough to make them feel welcome.

The cardinals are odd birds indeed. They come every day, but rarely seem to eat. Yet they sing their little hearts out. I suspect that might be the real reason they visit.

The bluejay swoops in, carefully making sure he's disturbed as many birds as possible, takes a couple of cursory pecks, caws once, then flys away. I won't see him for days at a time, yet I know he'll always be back. He does no real harm, and I'd miss his colorful presence.

The dreaded grackles, on the other hand, I could do without. They arrive, usually in a swarm, bully all the other birds out of the way, but then don't seem to have any interest in the food (I suspect they're criticizing it). Sometimes they make camp for a day or so, but usually they pass quickly.

And then there's the mockingbird. By far the most brilliant singer, but he knows it. He bumps aside other birds, but more out of indifference than malice. He eats piggishly, with food flying everywhere, and no other bird will come close when he's around. But then he flies to the top of the feeder stand, cleans his little beak, and lets his improv opera soar.

I love all the birds, but I'd miss the mockingbird the most. So today I gave them their own separate feeder, loaded with just what they like best, but quite removed from where the rest of the birds eat.

I guess the only real difference between birds and forum posters is that posters can choose their species. ]]> Doug Nelson http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/blogs/doug-nelson/108-birds-forums.html http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/blogs/doug-nelson/94-make-vs-create.html Mon, 14 Jan 2008 23:09:56 GMT This is not a semantic discussion, so negative brownie points to the first commenter who quotes a dictionary. This is philosophy, so get out your pointy hat.

Can you sense the difference in nuance between "make" and "create"?

I seem to regularly get into discussions about this, and they seem to be accelerating, so I thought I'd poke a pin in it and post this here for open discourse.

IMO, if you are responding to someone else's idea, synthesizing concepts you did not originate, or just in general offering a variation or improvement on something someone else has done, you are making something, not creating anything.

In my view, creating is a superset of making, where you make something without external reference.

Of course, some pedant will point out that there will always be some sort of external reference, as even the most creative writer will not invent paper, ink, or the language they write in. Ditto for pigment and canvas, bits and discs, etc. And I'll grant that, while simultaneously making covert rude gestures at said pedant.

But somewhere along a continuum comes a point where we stop merely decorating or elaborating upon something that came before and bring something new into existence. And that is the point where "making" becomes "creating".

I know lots of makers, I'm surrounded by them in fact, on several fronts. But I can count the creators I regularly interact with without resorting to double digits. And I'm thankful that I know so many makers, and the world would be a poorer place without even a single one of them, but every blessed one of them considers themself a creator, and that causes me pain.

I considered myself a creator at one time, but adding time's perspective shows me that I was simply shifting red to blue, or changing key, and thinking it was new. But it wasn't new, only different. ]]> Doug Nelson http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/blogs/doug-nelson/94-make-vs-create.html http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/blogs/doug-nelson/88-composts.html Fri, 04 Jan 2008 16:13:51 GMT I hate blog posts that sound like they might be educational, but end up being nothing more than attempts to get conversation going. That strategy is welcome in a forum, I do it myself all the time. But blogs should be an offering of knowledge, opinion, or just interesting thoughts, not a plea for... I hate blog posts that sound like they might be educational, but end up being nothing more than attempts to get conversation going. That strategy is welcome in a forum, I do it myself all the time. But blogs should be an offering of knowledge, opinion, or just interesting thoughts, not a plea for readers to supply same.

Here's an example: Do You Really Need Photoshop?

It has a great title, and got linked from another blog (the point, I expect). But the title question is all there is. No exploration, not even an opinion, just begging for you to supply the content for what may or may not end up being an interesting page days or weeks from now.

It would be a great forum post, but as a blog entry it's a cheat and a sham.

Feel free to post your own opinion here, but realize that your comments are not the reason I made this post. That's the difference. ]]> Doug Nelson http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/blogs/doug-nelson/88-composts.html http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/blogs/doug-nelson/39-shouting-into-abyss.html Wed, 21 Nov 2007 02:26:37 GMT I know, some times it feels like no one is listening. This early in the blogging game, you might even be right. The search engines only found these blogs a few days ago, and it will take awhile to be indexed, ranked, etc. In addition, unlike the forums, there is currently no way of measuring how... I know, some times it feels like no one is listening. This early in the blogging game, you might even be right. The search engines only found these blogs a few days ago, and it will take awhile to be indexed, ranked, etc.

In addition, unlike the forums, there is currently no way of measuring how many views your blog is getting. This is promised to change in future versions, but in the meantime realize that even if no one comments on your posts, you're still getting read many, many times every day.

But don't let any of that concern you. This isn't a conversation, it's closer to a book. Each blog entry is a page, and a book with only a few pages isn't going to hold interest for long.

In the meantime, there are things you can do to get more readers. Aside from the obvious (post regularly, post interesting stuff, etc.), you can also promote your blog.

• Give your blog a distinct name, not just "X's Blog". (I know it just says "Doug's Blog" at the top here, but if you look in the title bar you'll see that this is actually named "Janitor's Closet")
• Put your main URL in your email signature. That way every person you email will know it exists.
• Post to other blogs and forums asking people to check it out. It sounds spammy, but as long as you're posting in an appropriate place, it's not. If you've made the effort to make a good blog, they'll appreciate the tip (just don't post over and over, once will do it).

Once people find your blog, and like what they see, they'll start recommending it to others. Then you can stop promoting and concentrate just on the writing (I promise, I've been through this). ]]> Doug Nelson http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/blogs/doug-nelson/39-shouting-into-abyss.html http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/blogs/doug-nelson/44-threadophobia.html Sat, 17 Nov 2007 17:53:45 GMT We have a very good post rate here on the RetouchPRO forums. Above average, actually.

But our thread rate is far below average. Add this to our propensity for threads to wander in and out of topics (see my "not a chatroom" blog entry) and there's really only one conclusion:

Our users are afraid to start new threads. They have threadophobia.

This causes me no end of puzzlement. Even though I score off the charts for introversion, I have absolutely no problem asking total strangers anything. Perhaps I'm odder than I ever expected.

As with any fear, the cure is cognitive shifting. Become aware of your fear, mildly confront your fear in a safe environment, recognize that the fear is just a chemical response and doesn't actually indicate real danger, and slowly become acclimatized to your object of fear, in spite of what your dinosaur-brain is telling you.

You can't get a much safer environment than RetouchPRO, at least for posting. We are a remarkably troll-free and welcoming group.

So slowly face your fear, try a simple trial post about anything you're comfortable with, even just saying "hi". Recognize that you are among friends (or at least what passes for friends on the internet), and that the worst possible consequence is that someone might disagree with you (and even that is pretty unlikely here).

Once you've gotten over that initial hump, try starting a thread on a more serious topic, something you'd actually like to know or share.

Soon you'll be starting threads just because you feel like it, with no fear at all.

I promise. ]]> Doug Nelson http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/blogs/doug-nelson/44-threadophobia.html http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/blogs/doug-nelson/37-importance-blogging-daily.html Fri, 16 Nov 2007 16:47:20 GMT You might be a brilliant, insightful writer, but if someone visits one of your blog posts and sees you rarely post, they aren't going to bookmark or subscribe, no matter how much they enjoyed the single post.

The only reason they'll bookmark or subscribe is if they want to be sure they don't miss your future posts. If the doubt there will be any future posts, why bother?

So you need to post often and regularly. At least a couple of times per week if your posts are longer, daily if you just post quick tips or recommended links.

Making that sort of commitment can be scary, but here's a little tip to make it almost trivial: develop a backlog of post ideas (backblog?).

When you think of something that might even remotely make a good blog entry, start a new post, give it a placeholder title and jot down enough information so you won't forget it. But instead of publishing it, save it as a draft (just click Save Draft instead of Post Now).

Draft posts are invisible to everyone but you. Make as many as you like. If you have even just one you'll get a new entry over in the options box to the left that will let you manage just your draft posts.

On that day in the future when you feel a new blog post is due, but inspiration isn't coming, just call up your drafts, flesh one out, and change its "Publish Status" from "Draft Blog Entry" to "Publish Now". You can even schedule posts to publish on a future date, should you want to give the appearance of regular blogging even though you can't/won't be logging in for awhile. ]]> Doug Nelson http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/blogs/doug-nelson/37-importance-blogging-daily.html http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/blogs/doug-nelson/36-forums-arent-chat-room.html Fri, 16 Nov 2007 01:05:55 GMT Perhaps not enough forum posters realize (or care) that they aren't just talking to the one or three people that respond back in their thread. No, they're actually talking to thousands of people every day.

Yet they bounce around from topic to topic within a single thread as if they were in their own private chatroom. A serious discussion or solution to a problem shortly devolves into comparing hometowns, which eventually devolves into favorite coffee choices.

Why should you care? After all, you got your problem solved, and you ran into an interesting person to chat with. Life is good.

Well, life could be better. Your problem/solution/hometown/coffee thread lives on forever, long after you've forgotten it. But it still continues to attract people here, via search engines. So your thread might possibly solve their problem, as well. Unless it didn't quite solve everything or they have need of further explanation, but as they read on finding your hometown/coffee discussion, now they have to decide if they really want to interupt this cozy little kaffeeklatch.

99% of them won't interupt, they'll simply leave and go back to google or wherever. And in their minds RetouchPRO is a low-quality place for help.

The irony is you'll also attract some hometown/coffee fans, but they won't post for the same reason.

So pause one second before you hit "Reply" and think "does this have anything to do with the thread topic?". If so, type away. If not, simply hit "New Thread" instead of "Reply" and type away. You'll still get your warm chat, plus we'll be of more use to future visitors, and probably have more registered visitors.

And that would make life really good. ]]> Doug Nelson http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/blogs/doug-nelson/36-forums-arent-chat-room.html http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/blogs/doug-nelson/34-blog-titles-fnarfley.html Wed, 14 Nov 2007 13:52:04 GMT Give some thought to what each blog entry will be entitled.

Look up at the top of your browser, in the titlebar. You should see "Blog Titles (fnarfley) - RetouchPRO" or something similar.

Search engines give disproportionate importance to the title of any single page. I'll bet you within a few days this page will rank quite highly for "fnarfley".

While I doubt you have any particular interest in fnarfley (most don't), it would help this page get found by the few (or the one) that does.

So don't title your blog entry "yesterday's topic, part II", at least not if you want it to be found by anyone searching for that topic, whatever it happened to be.

Be specific, at least when it's important. Not too many people will be searching for what you had this morning for breakfast, so those posts can be titled whatever you like. But if you are hoping for a wider audience, include the topic explicitly in the title, along with other pertinent words, such as "review" or "tutorial" or "exploded". ]]> Doug Nelson http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/blogs/doug-nelson/34-blog-titles-fnarfley.html http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/blogs/doug-nelson/23-how-can-you-have-any-pudding.html Tue, 13 Nov 2007 10:48:39 GMT ...if you don't eat your meat?

How many blogs do you subscribe to? I thought so.

Just as you have to look at photographs if you plan on making your own, and you need to read novels if you plan on writing one, if you want to blog well you have to read good blogs.

Here are some examples of what I consider good blogs:

• Rands in Repose - witty and thoughtful musings on nerd life. An excellent example of original writing blog
• J-Walk Blog - The first blog I ever read regularly. Epitomizes the "interesting links" type of blog
• Dark Roasted Blend - One of the best "interesting photos" blogs
• Imaging Insider - A typical "firehose news" blog. More releases than you can possibly read, but well-summarized so you can skip the ones that don't interest you
• The How-To Geek - One of the best "tips" blogs. He does a lot of his own research, and all his recommendations are well-explained

Of course, I'd advise you to find your own favorites via technorati.com or some other blog directory. Plus many blogs have a "blogroll", or a list of other blogs they recommend. So if you find one you like, you might find another in their blogroll.

And don't forget to find a good RSS reader that you like. All the above are RSS subscribable (as is your new blog here on RetouchPRO), and that's how the vast majority of your readers will follow your blog. ]]> Doug Nelson http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/blogs/doug-nelson/23-how-can-you-have-any-pudding.html http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/blogs/doug-nelson/24-editing-your-blog-entries.html Mon, 12 Nov 2007 13:46:35 GMT It's your blog. Edit it how you like.

However...

Realize that bots are taking snapshots, and people are referring their friends. So if what they're interested in isn't here when they arrive, or has drastically changed, they probably won't ever come back might get confused. And remember, the key is more readers over time, not less.

I'm not talking about spelling or grammar corrections here, but substantive edits that change the meaning or expand upon the original copy.

Two techniques that I've come across that work when you just need to edit but still want the original text to be seen:

• An "UPDATE:" entry at the bottom. This is good for when there's new developments, or if a comment has caused you to reevaluate your position. Or if you've just found some new stuff to share.
• Strikout is the absolute best a really great way to indicated small but important changes, while still preserving the original copy.

UPDATE: A 3rd option is to use the editor's builtin "Reason for editing", but I personally feel this is weak and likely to be overlooked. Did you see mine up above? Plus each reason overwrites the previous one. ]]> Doug Nelson http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/blogs/doug-nelson/24-editing-your-blog-entries.html http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/blogs/doug-nelson/27-you-wont-find-answer-here.html Sun, 11 Nov 2007 17:30:45 GMT This is probably my biggest forum peeve, and I have many, very large peeves, so that's not to be taken lightly.

Someone will post an earnest question, and the response they get will be "you probably won't find an answer here, but go to XXX forum and they'll help you out".

Bloody hell!

How in the world are we ever expected to improve as a resource if we keep sending away the very people asking us for help? The idea is to a) help them, but also b) to encourage them to return. This is how you build a community. At least, this is how to build THIS community, as opposed to building the community "somewhere else".

But what to do if you don't know the answer to their question? Well, if you're one of the ones that recommends they go elsewhere, show some initiative and invite someone from "elsewhere" here to help with their question.

Or do what I do and put in some research to find the answer. You have no idea how much this can help your own skill set.

Telling them to just turn around and leave doesn't help anyone. It's just passing the buck. It's plain lazy, not to mention disloyal. Unless you're actually TRYING to build a community somewhere else, in which case it's poaching. ]]> Doug Nelson http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/blogs/doug-nelson/27-you-wont-find-answer-here.html http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/blogs/doug-nelson/22-writing-found.html Sun, 11 Nov 2007 03:31:55 GMT Blogs are not like forums or email lists or chatrooms. People do not look for blog hosts and then browse merrily though the myriad posts. They find, through various means, one blog, decide if they like it, and then either bookmark it or subscribe to its RSS feed.

So what are these "various means" that someone might use to find your blog?

• Happy accident
• Personal recommendations
• Blog directories
• Search engines

These are ranked in order of the amount of control you have over being found, from least down to most.

"Happy accident" is just that, someone wasn't looking to find you, but did. There's nothing you can do to control that, outside of writing compelling posts that invite them to read on. This is a great way to get 1 or 2 regular readers.

"Personal recommendations" includes your own entreaties of "please read my blog". Someone will like what they read (see above about compelling posts), bookmark it, then recommend it to someone else. The aforementioned begging is the only additional control you have here. This is a great way to get a dozen readers.

"Blog directories" such as technorati.com are automated services that read blogs, sort them by keywords, and let people browse their directories. You have considerable control here, as long as you remember the part about keywords. You can't be coy when writing. Don't say "this software" when you mean "Photoshop". Whatever your chosen topic, be it dog breeding or HDR photography, it will only be offered up for others to browse if the keywords happen often enough to trigger the algorithms. This is a great way to get dozens of readers.

"Search engines" such as google are really your primary source of readers. They will rank you depending on how many other people link to your blog, your keyword density (see above), and also on the pagerank of the host (this is where RetouchPRO comes in). This is your only hope of getting hundreds of readers or more (and it's potentially in the thousands or even more).

So you can see if you plan for search engines, the rest are included. So write often, and write engaging content, and be explicit about explaining what you are writing about in every single blog entry. Searchers will land on a single page, so if there's no evidence on that page of what your blog is all about, they'll hit backspace and move to the next link. And don't forget to beg everyone you know to read your blog, and post links to your blog, and tell everyone THEY know about your blog.

Otherwise you might as well be scribbling in a diary you hide under your mattress. ]]> Doug Nelson http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/blogs/doug-nelson/22-writing-found.html http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/blogs/doug-nelson/17-img-tags.html Fri, 09 Nov 2007 21:27:51 GMT Unlike the forums, you can use img tags here. Be careful, though. Some sites don't like linking to their images (I know I don't). And linked images can go dead after awhile. And don't link to images that are too wide.

And they look better centered. ]]> Doug Nelson http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/blogs/doug-nelson/17-img-tags.html http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/blogs/doug-nelson/14-gold-standard-photo-blogs.html Fri, 09 Nov 2007 18:46:41 GMT One of my favorite blogs to read is The Online Photographer. Mike Johnston used to be the editor for what is still my favorite photo magazine, Photo Techniques.

I don't agree with everything he says, but he writes thoughtfully and well, and has some of the best commenters around. It isn't a rehash of links and press releases, each post is a mini magazine article.

Now if someone would just start something similar here for retouching, and another for photo restoration, and another for compositing, and another for HDR, and another for imaging software, etc. (that's not a hint, it's blatant begging). ]]> Doug Nelson http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/blogs/doug-nelson/14-gold-standard-photo-blogs.html