Notes from the Cape

I just read an email about an author from Port Elizabeth who has lost over 200 pages from a book that she is busy writing after her laptop was stolen. These are over 200 pages of the only draft!

While I feel sorry for her, I hear this kind of story almost every week. How simple is it to really backup your files? I am sure that right now, she is thinking that perhaps she should back up on a more regular basis.

A hard drive drive costs about R500, and a memory stick less than R99, so there is no excuse for loosing your data. Hey, I even sometimes make a dirty backup backup by simply emailing changed documents to my gmail account. It is free, effective and reliable!

So, please learn from this and backup your files!

In the 80′s, we were all measured by our IQ (intelligence quotient). In the 90′s, our EQ (emotional quotient) was hip, and we all strove to develop our EQ.

Now in the 00′s, the latest quotient to be measured is our OQ (online quotient), and yes it can be calculated! Thanks to this nifty tool, you can find out what your online presence it. They ask you a few simply questions, and voila, it gives you your online quotient. I got a 9/10 – very good but still room for improvement (grin).

Your online identity score is 9 out of a possible score of 10.

Congratulations. You are digitally distinct. This is the nirvana of online identity. Keep up the good work, and remember that your Google results can change as fast as the weather in New England. So, regularly monitor your online identity. Read Chapter 11 of Career Distinction for more ideas on how to continue to build your brand online.

Enjoy!

Hi there all you South African bloggers.

The folks down at the Open Surgery have created a Facebook site specifically for South African bloggers. It allows for use to share our blogs, discuss the blogging scene in SA, and to meet the people behind some of our writing.

The link to join is here.

Warning : slightly techie post

I have just downloaded a fantastic list of 78 great public speaking blogs. Ok, so I am biased because my other blog is actually on the list.

One great thing about the list is that it includes the OPML file, which is what feed readers use to import and export RSS feeds. So, after installing the list I had a quick look throught the feeds.

About 1/3 of them only provide the first 100 words or so! Guess which feeds I am not going to be reading. Guess which feeds I deleted. Yes folks, all of the feeds that do not provide full content.

The fact is that myself (and many other blog readers) do not have the time or the inclination to physically visit all blog sites that we read. We do a lot of surfing through feed readers, and there are many great blogs that do provide the full content in the feed! So the fact is that if you want your readership to increase, provide the full content in your feeds – simple!

By the way, I notice that Scott Adams (as in Dilbert) briefly changed his feeds to only provide the first few words, and I see that he has since changed it back to show the full content. I wonder why…..