When I started blogging, very nearly 15 years ago, there wasn’t much advice, or guidance for people starting to blog.

If there had been I probably would have done some things differently.

I have learned a lot over the years, so today I am sharing with you, things I wish I knew when I started blogging in the hopes that it helps those of you who are just starting on your blogging journey to be more informed as you begin to blog.

START AS YOU INTEND TO CONTINUE

In this case, I am talking about blogging platforms.

I started in Blogger. It’s basic, it’s easy to learn, and best of all it is free.

HOWEVER, if I could travel back in time, I would have started out on a self-hosted website.

I’m not talking about the free WordPress.com blogs, but the kind you create yourself with your own hosting and domain name.

Yes, it would have been more expensive upfront, and yes the learning curve may have been a little steeper, but really, it was all new to me anyway, so is there really a difference at that point? No.

SO many bloggers end up making the switch to a self-hosted website due to the almost unlimited capacity it has for customization, functionality and available add-ons.

The process of transferring my blog from Blogger to my own hosted website was stressful and forced me into taking the risk of losing readers and content.

If I had started where I intended to end up, things would have been much easier.


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Twenty million students started college this fall, and this much is certain: The vast majority of them will be taking on debt — a lot of debt.

What's less certain is whether their degrees will pay off.

• According to the survey Freelancing in America 2018, released Wednesday, 93 percent of college-educated freelancers say their skill training is more useful in the work they are doing now than their college training.
• Sixty-five percent of children entering primary school will end up in jobs that don't yet exist, reveals the World Economic Forum.
• The result is a proliferation of new, nontraditional education options.

The Generations Communications Centers (GCC) panel has been selected for presentation at the International Communication Association's 2019 conference in Washington, DC, May 24-28, 2019.

Title: “Media Ecology Within, Across, and Beyond Boundaries”

Chair: Thom Gencarelli, Manhattan College

“Crossing the Generational Divide: Digital Technology as a Bridge”

Brecken Chinn, Generations Communication Centers
Pablo Bley, Incubator.org
Zachary Brooks, Generations Communication Centers
LaToya Hinton, University of Arizona
Yuxi Liu, The George Washington University
Yang Liu, University of Arizona

Tucson-based Generations Communication Centers (GCC) have been working for over 20 years bridging disadvantaged youth and senior citizens through technology education partnerships that cross boundaries of generation, culture, race, class, and nation. Youth in Southern Arizona, Mexico, and the Pascua Yaqui Nation work with seniors needing assistance with digital technology and social media. These intergenerational partnerships foster skill-based interaction and work skills, allowing participants to expand horizons and prepare for new frontier careers or hobbies. The project utilizes a qualitative self-report tool, Incubator.org, a web-based learning management platform that captures narrative commentary as the pairs interact and renders the data into meaningful patterning to investigate the “unknown unknowns” of how the partnerships evolve. How does the “medium” (evolving digital communications technology) work as a locus of communication between aging individuals for whom the Internet is “new,” and teens for whom the Internet has been a “given” ever since they were born?

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Thank you for sharing this, Pablo. I always think that having a bilingual brain did make me acquire a unique way to think and to know more about a new culture. Now I know more about how knowing more than one language keeps my brain healthy and evergetic.

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Halloween 2018🌛👻🎃👏

Had fun at Echelon 10/31/2018 not so bad 😂😊😊

HTTPS Everywhere is a Firefox, Chrome, and Opera extension that encrypts your communications with many major websites, making your browsing more secure.

https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere

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Here is an opposing viewpoint: "Please don't learn how to code" by Basel Farag (published on Techcrunch.com)

There’s an idea that’s been gaining ground in the tech community lately: Everyone should learn to code. But here’s the problem with that idea: Coding is not the new literacy.

If you regularly pay attention to the cultural shenanigans of Silicon Valley, you’ve no doubt heard of the “Learn to Code” movement. Politicians, nonprofit organizations like Code.org and even former Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York City have evangelized what they view as a necessary skill for tomorrow’s workforce.

There may be some truth to that, especially since the United States’ need for engineers shows no sign of slowing down.

But the picture is more complicated.

Read more: https://techcrunch.com/2016/05/10/please-dont-learn-to-code

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Facebook launched a new, simplified version of Messenger, called Messenger 4, which started rolling out this week. Messenger 4 provides a simplified user experience by making it easier to navigate the chat app's various features. The streamlined interface in Messenger 4 will better facilitate...Facebook launched a new, simplified version of Messenger, called Messenger 4, which started rolling out this week. Messenger 4 provides a simplified user experience by making it easier to navigate the chat app's various features. The streamlined interface in Messenger 4 will better facilitate communication and discovery. The updated app reduces the number of tabs in Messenger from nine to three. Show more

Let’s rid ourselves of the idea that only geeks and techies need to learn how to program — it’s just not true.

Coding isn’t trendy or some kind of fad. It’s the language that drives much of our world today, from the wearable devices we’re now sporting, to the tools we use in the workplace, to the smart appliances in our homes.

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Your right to be safe from hackers starts here.

Firefox Monitor arms you with tools to keep your personal information safe. Find out what hackers already know about you and learn how to stay a step ahead of them.

https://monitor.firefox.com/

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Todd H. Bol, founder, Little Free Library Movement, 1956-2018

There are more than 75,000 Little Free Libraries now in 88 countries.

www.metafilter.com/177156/Todd-H-Bol-founder-Littl…