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Starting Your First Blog In 2019: The "How To" Guide
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"Blogs are whatever we make them. Defining 'Blog' is a fool's errand."
- Why Should I Trust You To Teach Me Blogging?
- Before We Learn How To Start A Blog…
- What Is A Blog, Exactly?
- How Is It Different From Blogging?
- Blogs Vs Websites: What's The Difference?
- Why Do People Blog?
- What Topics Do People Blog About?
- How To Start A Blog
Here's an overview of our step-by-step guide:
- Find web hosting
- Choose a domain name
- Choose a blogging platform
- Set up your WordPress blog
- Create a content plan
- Write your first blog post
Why Should I Trust You To Teach Me Blogging?
We run some of the biggest websites for webmasters in the world. In addition to Blogging.com, we also run HTML.com, Digital.com, and many more.
In fact, our sites have become so popular that they've been featured in newspapers, magazines, and websites like:
Our carefully crafted guides – just like this! – are read by many millions of readers every month in hundreds of countries around the world.
Finally, we've been doing it since way back in 2006 (a whole century in internet years)!
Before We Learn How To Start A Blog…
How we keep the lights on: While we teach you how to start your blog, some of the services we recommend pay us a "referral fee" if you buy their service.
This doesn't cost you a penny – in fact, you will often save money with some special deals we've negotiated.
What Is A Blog, Exactly?
Blogs are, in many ways, the Swiss Army knives of the internet.
Starting out as online diaries in the 90s, blogging has grown into a massive, endlessly varied form of communication.
Blogs can be short story collections, recipe hubs, role-playing games, or records of UFO sightings. They can help businesses advertise, educate customers, inform shareholders, or inspire community interactions.
Chances are if you can imagine it, there is a blog about it somewhere. Probably hundreds of them!
Blogs are one of the last level playing fields on the web. What are you waiting for?
How Is It Different From Blogging?
Blogging is simply the act of starting and writing a blog!
Blogs are so ubiquitous because anyone who's able to put type can become a blogger. You don't need to know how to type fast; you don't need to be able to see or hear. You can't be too old or too young to blog. You don't even need to know anything about computers or the internet!
Blogs Vs Websites: What's The Difference?
Blogs are a type of website. So what makes a blog? Blogs are typically:-
- Updated regularly
- Display the most recent post first
- Usually (but not always) allow readers to add comments
Help! I Want To Make A Website, Not A Blog
Relax! The process to make a website is the same (at least initially) as starting a blog, and WordPress is still your best choice. You can follow the same step-by-step guide as the bloggers!
Why Do People Blog?
People blog for many reasons. Blogging can help you become a better writer, can make you some money on the side, or give you a platform for sharing your ideas.
Some of the most common reasons people start a blog include:
- As a way to network with people sharing a common interest.
- To market or advertise a business.
- To make a difference by sharing political and social issues.
- As a resume for highlighting expertise.
- As a way to express creative ideas.
- To share knowledge with others that want to learn a new skill.
- To make money as a side hustle – or even as a career.
What Topics Do People Blog About?
Sometimes figuring out what to blog about is the hardest part. Luckily, we have some great ideas to get you started:
- Fashion – makeup, clothing, hair, and beauty products.
- Travel – vacations, best places to visit, your own travels, restaurants, entertainment or even RVs.
- Technology – software, programming, web development, web design, and startups.
- Business – industry updates, real estate, expert tips, and best practices.
- Content marketing – how to market your business, SEO best practices, email campaigns.
- Food – recipe sharing, restaurants, kitchen equipment.
- Finance – industry happenings, ways to make and save money, budgeting.
- Health and Fitness – sports equipment, nutrition, exercise, dieting, fashion.
- Lifestyle – gardening, home improvement, organization, travel, survival.
- Personal Development – time management, health awareness, mindfulness.
- Parenting – child development, product reviews, tips for age stages.
- Professional & Academic – colleagues and peers discuss their fields of expertise, like CPAs
- Instructional – tutoring, how-to's, guides.
- Entertainment – humor, memes, video, music, podcasts.
How To Start A Blog
What to expect from our guide: You'll need about 20 minutes or so to get started. We suggest building your blog in one session, if possible.
Step #1 – Find Web Hosting
Web hosting is the service that puts your blog on the internet. That means good web hosting can make or break your blog.
You need to think about four things when it comes to web hosting:-
- Cost. What does it cost per month?
- Speed. Your blog needs to load fast. Speed is important as users move to mobile.
- Uptime. Every website goes offline sometimes. But a good web host will help minimize problems with downtime.
- Technical Support. Boring, but super-important.
What Type of Web Hosting Do I Need?
Shared hosting is the cheapest and most basic form of hosting available. You store your website on a server shared with other customers of the hosting company. You also share the resources – such as bandwidth and disk space – of the server as well.
You'll also notice that some hosting companies have WordPress hosting. These plans typically run on shared servers but can also be offered as cloud and VPS-based hosting. WordPress hosting is optimized for running the platform and will give you the most seamless WordPress experience.
(There are many other types of hosting – like cloud, VPS or dedicated – but you can ignore them starting out)
But if you're looking for the cheapest hosting possible, go with a basic shared hosting plan. Just make sure you can get a one-click WordPress install to make your life easier.
What Features Are Important For Blog Hosting?
Here are some of the most important features to look for when you are choosing which hosting provider to go with:
- Disk space and bandwidth depending on the amount of traffic your website gets
- Security features like malware scanning, daily backups, and 24/7 site monitoring.
- One-click installations.
- Uptime guarantees against server crashes and maintenance issues.
- Speed and performance so you know your site is always giving the best user experience.
- Support types such as email, support ticket, and live chat.
- Affordability – quality web hosting doesn't come for free.
What's The Best WordPress Hosting?
We recommend BlueHost as the perfect WordPress hosting service for new bloggers.
BlueHost has been recommended by Automattic – the team of geniuses behind WordPress – since 2005, and BlueHost's parent company is one of the investors behind Automattic, so you know you're in good hands.
As well as making it effortless to install WordPress, they also include a content delivery network (CDN) to provide faster website loading for people located geographically farther from their servers. And, all websites get a free SSL certificate to reassure your site visitors that their information is secure.
Bluehost's WordPress-optimized plans may be more expensive than you're willing to pay. They start at about $20/month. In that case, personal bloggers will have absolutely no problem with their cheaper shared hosting plans.
You'll still get adequate resources for your new blog, and a free domain name!
Go and signup now at BlueHost.com before moving to the continue with the next step of the tutorial.
Get your WordPress hosting now at Bluehost »
PRO TIP Don't worry about fancy web hosting for a new blog. If you need more bandwidth or disk space in future, your host won't be shy about offering upgrades!
Is BlueHost's Uptime Good Enough?
Despite Bluehost's lack of uptime guarantee, we've been very pleased with the reliability of their hosting. We've consistently had at least 99.9% uptime from them. Compared to other hosts that experienced much more frequent downtime, Bluehost's reliability is impressive.
If, however, you do experience extensive downtime with Bluehost, they'll let you pull out of your contract early. If you do this, they'll issue a pro-rated refund for the remainder of your subscription.
Here's BlueHost's uptime graph vs nine other hosts we've been tracking long term. Remember, an uptime of 99.9% is the industry standard.:-:-
How Fast Is BlueHost?
We can't stress enough how important your page load speed is. Many site visitors will leave immediately if your page takes longer than 3 seconds to load. Talk about impatient, right? With so much information available online, people aren't going to wait for it from a website that takes too long to load.
Bluehost claims that their shared hosting plans provide a load time of 372ms (milliseconds). Their cloud hosting will give you 151ms. Our experience with Bluehost's shared plans has shown that they consistently provide load speeds of less than 3 seconds. Great!
This graph shows how fast BlueHost is vs nine other hosts we've been tracking long-term:-
Why Technical Support Matters Most
The final point – technical support – is boring, but it's also really, really important. When it's 1am and you don't know why your blog is offline, you need somebody you can speak to!
Specifically, you need somebody you can call by phone – not send an email and wait a week for a reply.
How Much Money Does Web Hosting Cost?
BlueHost usually costs $7.95/month.
However, we've negotiated a special deal for Blogging.com readers. Take a look here for the latest pricing.
If you're prepared to make a long-term commitment, BlueHost costs as little as $2.95/month. The longer you commit to, the less you pay each month. It's your call.
Get your WordPress hosting now at Bluehost »
Help! I Can't Afford To Pay For A Year's Web Hosting…
When starting a blog, we think it's important to make a commitment – just like joining the gym. But we also know that not everybody is able to make big financial commitments just like that.
If you need a "Plan B" who offer month-to-month billing, we recommend HostGator, owned by the same parent company as BlueHost.
How To Start a 100% Free Blog
In our opinion, WordPress.com is the only show in town for a free blog. Sure, there are plenty of other services, like Google's Blogger.com or Yahoo's Tumblr. But they're severely limited next to WordPress for a free blog service.
You're not going to get the fancy features of full-blown WordPress, but it beats the alternatives hands down.
Go signup now at WordPress.com before continuing with the next step.
Which Web Hosting Plan Is Best For Me?
Most hosting services offer multiple plans. BlueHost's cheapest shared hosting plan is fine for beginners, and allows plenty of bandwidth and disk space for your blog to grow.
BlueHost's cheapest shared hosting plan offers WordPress as a "one-click install". Just find this button in your control panel (called cPanel) and click it to set up your new blog. It'll be ready in seconds.
Need More Powerful WordPress Hosting?
Already got an existing site or blog that needs upgrading? If Bluehost doesn't sound powerful enough for what you have planned, we recommend WP Engine.
They offer high-end WordPress hosting… but with prices to match. WP Engine starts at $29 per month, so is about 10x the price of BlueHost.
However, we've negotiated a special deal for Blogging.com readers. You can find the most up-to-date pricing here
WP Engine is 100% focused on hosting WordPress sites. Their hosting is best suited to small businesses that need a higher level of service, or for personal bloggers with a substantial existing readership.
WP Engine provides added power for growing blogs or business websites.
If you're just starting out, grab a cheaper plan from Bluehost instead. You can always migrate your website to WP Engine later if you outgrow Bluehost.
If you're looking for more powerful WordPress hosting — Use WP Engine »
Step #2 – Choose a Domain Name
Your domain name is your blog's identity on the web. This is the URL that people type into their web browser when they want to visit your blog.
Ours is Blogging.com, for example.
This is your chance to stand out amongst the millions of blogs that exist online!
Before you register your domain name, here are some guidelines to follow. Your domain name should:
- Be memorable
- Be easy to spell (aka "pass the radio test")
- Be descriptive (i.e., describes your blog's topic or establishes a brand name)
- Be short and sweet, if possible
For example, if you're a passionate collector of vintage guitars, "VintageGuitars.com" would be better than "MyMostFavoriteGuitars.info." It fulfils all of the criteria we mentioned.
However, VintageGuitars.com is likely to be a very expensive domain indeed. (More on that in a moment.)
Keywords are words or phrases that describe your niche. Think about the words that people might use to search for your content, and bear them in mind when choosing a domain name to register.
Finally, remember, you can't use spaces or punctuation (except hyphens) in a domain name.
How To Choose A Great Domain Name
To get a better idea of what makes up a good domain name, we've come up with some examples:
For a blog on caring for pet budgies, "friendly-birds.com" is a bad domain name:
- This domain uses a hyphen. Many users forget hyphens when typing domain names.
- The name name doesn't explain that the blog is about budgies!
Instead, "healthybudgie.com" could be a much better choice. The domain name is specified, contains keywords, is short, memorable, and easy to spell.
A domain name for a Spanish language learning blog of IteachPeopleLanguages.com may be specific, but it's long, wordy and easy to misspell. Whereas DynamoSpanish.com is shorter and more descriptive.
Read more about choosing good names in the Blogging.com domain name guide.
Stuck? Try A Domain Name Generator
If you're really stuck finding a domain name, you can try using a business or domain name generator. We've rounded up the best around on our sister site, Digital.com.:
What Extension Is Best For My Domain Name?
The choice is yours! We love .COM domains (hence Blogging.com), but they can be expensive (more on that in a moment). That's because almost any domain you can think of that's meaningful has already been registered with the extension .COM.
PRO TIP: If you choose a new domain extension, be sure to make sure your domain still passes the radio test! Most people are not familiar with new domain extensions, which is why we suggest caution.
What Domain Name Extensions Are Available?
The world's most popular domain extensions (or TLDs) include…
|Country Specific
|"New" TLDs
(2014 Onwards)
How To Register A Domain Name
Bluehost offers a free domain when you sign up for a shared hosting plan. So you can buy your hosting and register your domain name at the same time.
Want To Use A Different Domain Registrar?
If you can't find the exotic domain extension you want, or if you'd prefer to register your domain elsewhere, we also use and recommend Go Daddy.
They're the world's biggest domain registrar (Nearly 17% of all domains registered WORLDWIDE), and you've probably seen their ads on TV. They offer almost every domain extension in existence.
You'll find their domain search form here.
Help! My Domain Name Is Already Registered!
PRO TIP: it usually costs a lot of time and money to buy a domain name that's already registered – if it's even possible.
If you're feeling ambitious, we have an excellent guide at WhoIsHostingThis about how to buy a domain name that's already registered.
If you're very lucky, the domain might be listed for sale at a domain name marketplaces. Some of the biggest domain marketplaces are:-
- BuyDomains (a sister company to BlueHost)
- Sedo
- Go Daddy Auctions
- Uniregistry Market
We've bought and sold premium domain names with each of these platforms, and are happy to recommend them. The bad news?
- You might need to spend A LOT of money
- You may spend weeks or months negotiating
- The whole process will likely take much longer
However, you could end up with a killer domain – like Blogging.com!
Premium domains can start at $500-$1,000+, but some change hands for $100,000s – or even millions of dollars! Before you fall in love with your dream domain name (and have to remortgage the house), you have been warned!
Step #3 – Choose a Blogging Platform
To start your blog, you need a blogging platform for your site. While there are many platforms to choose from, we think there's only one serious choice.
It's called WordPress.
WordPress: The World's Most Popular Blog Platform
WordPress is the world's most popular blogging platform and CMS (content management system). It powers 27%+ of all websites online today, and an even larger percentage of blogs.
(You'll find more insane WordPress statistics over here).
WodPress is used by everyone from digital natives to tech-illiterate seniors.
"Blogging is to writing what extreme sports are to athletics: more free-form, more accident-prone, less formal, more alive. It is, in many ways, writing out loud"
10 Reasons We Love WordPress
WordPress lets you customize your layout, create content, and expand your blog's functionality over time.
We love WordPress for lots of reasons, including:
- It's 100% free
- It's super-easy to install
- There are lots of awesome WordPress themes & plugins available (and most are free)
- There is tons of free help online (like at Blogging.com!)
- WordPress is simple enough for beginners, but powerful enough for experts
- It has infinite customizability with plug-ins and themes
- It's mobile Friendly
- It's great for SEO
- WordPress is constantly being updated. As long as you update promptly and be careful with themes and plug-ins, you shouldn't run into many issues
- WordPress boasts a huge free, online support community
WordPress.com Vs WordPress.org: What's the Difference?
There are two WordPress platforms to choose from: WordPress.com and WordPress.org. Here are the key differences:-
- Software is 100% free…
- …but you need to pay for WordPress hosting
- Thousands of WordPress plugins (free and paid) to add features
- Thousands of WordPress themes (free and paid) are available
- Annual fee (Starting at $48/year)
- Your site is hosted by Automattic, WordPress' parent company
(ie, No web hosting needed)
- No software to download, install or maintain
- Themes & plugin selection much, much more limited.
Here's a table to compare the differences:
|The WordPress app itself is free, but you must pay for hosting.
|Hosted by WordPress
|Self-hosted, meaning you can choose any hosting provider you want.
|Installation required, but many hosts offer 1-click simplicity.
|Domain Name
|Free, but you're limited to a subdomain like "mysite.wordpress.com."
|You can purchase your own domain.
|Choice of plugins can be limited.
|Check with your hosting provider.
|Personal Use
|Business Use
|Tech Experience Needed
|Comfortable with DIY
|Who is it best for?
|Those who want to try WordPress out before you purchasing their own hosting.
Website Builders: The Most Popular WordPress Alternative
You may have heard of website builders, like Weebly or Wix.
If you only a very simple website, website builders may be a good solution. They're web apps that offer drag-and-drop functionality and a WYSIWYG editor to build a blog or website.
However, the vast majority of bloggers choose the flexibility of WordPress.
WordPress is much more powerful, scalable, and flexible than other website builder. WordPress the ability to do almost anything you want: total freedom to create the blog you want.
If you are terrified by the idea of WordPress, website builders may be worth a look. But our advice is to stick with WordPress, if possible.
Learn more in our rundown of the top options for website builders for bloggers.
Can I Use WordPress With Wix Or Weebly?
No. Website builders require you to use their own proprietary apps to build your websites and blogs. You're locked in for life with that one website builder.
Step #4 – Set Up Your WordPress Blog
Luckily, installing WordPress is very simple once you have a web hosting service.
How To Install WordPress
Lucky for you, WordPress is famous for their "5-minute install".
Better yet, many hosting companies will even install the blogging platforms for you (look for "one-click installs"). Just follow the step-by-step instructions – you can't make a mistake!
The only decision you need to make at this stage is to give your blog a name. Don't worry, you can change it later easily enough (unlike the domain name, which is much more hassle to change).
How to Login To WordPress
Once WordPress is installed, you'll receive an email with your…
- Username ("admin" by default)
- Password (whatever password you entered)
- WordPress Login URL
(This will look something like like http://blogging.com/wp-admin/)
If you can't find the email, check your spam folder. The WordPress login page looks like this:-
How To Use WordPress Dashboard
After login, you'll see the WordPress dashboard, the control panel for your blog. This let's you handle everything from the design to publishing blog posts.
In a few short moments, you'll be ready to create your first blog posts or pages, like your contact page or other "must have" pages.
How To Set Up WordPress
Good news: WordPress works great right out of the box – even if you do nothing else!
But there are three simple housekeeping tasks you ought to take care of before you publish your first post:
a) Check Your Blog's Name
You chose this when you installed WordPress – now's your chance to make any changes. In Settings > General, customize your:
- Site Title (eg, Blogging.com)
- Tagline (a strapline displayed below the logo in many WordPress themes)
b) Double Check Your Email Address
Check that your email address is correct, for when you need to reset your password in future.
If there's a typo, you'll be locked out of your blog!
a) Set Up Permalinks
"Permalinks" are the strings of words that appear in the URLs of your blog. They help search engines, like Google, find and understand your blog posts more easily.
Whatever permalinks you choose, be prepared to stick with it: changing them once your blog has started to gain an audience can have catastrophic repercussions for your blog traffic!
In Settings option of the left-hand menu, go to Permalinks. They'll be set to "Plain". We suggest you use:-
- "Post name" (eg, blogging.com/sample-post/)
But if you prefer, you can opt for one of these alternatives:-
- "Day and name" (eg, blogging.com/2017/12/03/sample-post/)
- "Month and name" (eg, blogging.com/2017/12/sample-post/)
How To Choose A WordPress Theme
"Don't focus on having a great blog. Focus on producing a blog that's great for your readers."
WordPress has countless free themes to choose from to get your blog live ASAP.
Your choice of WordPress theme allows you to get creative, and make your blog look and feel just like home.
The good news is WordPress makes it super-easy to chop and change your WordPress theme. You can change it every day of the year if you want to!
So: should you use a free theme or pay for a premium WordPress theme?
New Blogger? Use A Free WordPress Theme
For new bloggers, free themes offer total freedom to experiment. If you're not used to using WordPress, we recommend using a free theme until you know which features matter to you most. WordPress has its own repository of free themes.
You can install them right from your dashboard; just click on "Appearance" and then "Themes."
Some of the most popular free WordPress Themes include…
- Twenty Seventeen
- Twenty Sixteen
- Twenty Fifteen
…and usually, arrive by default when you install WordPress. You'll probably recognize them all because these blog themes are so widely used.
For example, Twenty Seventeen looks like this:-
Free WordPress Themes: The Pro's & Con's
- Freedom To Be Fickle. You can switch between free themes as frequently as you like, without having to pay.
- Experiment. Try out lots of different color schemes and layouts
- 100% Free with all the basic functionality you need to start blogging
- Generic. You may find that thousands of other blogs use the same WordPress theme as you
- Less Professional. The sad truth is it's harder to make your blog look professional with a free theme
- Less Customizable. Free themes usually offer less sophisticated customization. This will be more important as your blog builds an audience and gains traction.
Experienced Blogger? Upgrade To Premium Themes
Premium themes often offer a more stylishlook out of the box. Our favorite sites to buy premium WordPress themes include:-
- Genesis by StudoPress.com is a suite of several dozen premium themes
- Envato Elements. 1000s of premium WordPress themes for one monthly subscription – like NetFlix for themes!
- Elegant Themes
How Much Do Premium WordPress Themes Cost?
Expect to pay from $29 to $99 for a typical premium theme..
Some super-deluxe options will cost $150+ if you buy a developer license, but you only need that if you plan to use the theme across many blogs.
How to Install A New WordPress Theme
WordPress makes it simple to alter the theme of your website:-
- From your WordPress dashboard, go to Appearance > Themes > Add New
- Now you'll see all of WordPress's featured themes. You can choose one of these or search for the names of themes you've heard about.
- To narrow your search, use the Feature Filter to select the layout, your desired features, and your blog subject.
- Once you find a theme you like, you can preview it with your content. If you don't have any website content or the plugins necessary for the theme, this preview might not look like anything like the final product.
- Once you've picked a winning theme, just click Install and Activate, and you're done!
All of your blog content will appear in the new theme, and you shouldn't need to do anything else to get the new theme up and running.
How To Customize WordPress With Plugins
Plugins are extensions that add features and help unleash the power of WordPress. Popular plugins do things like add:-
- Improve SEO (making your blog appear higher in the search engines)
- Speed Up Your Site with "Cacheing" (making your blog faster)
- Add fancy forms
How to Install WordPress Plugins:-
- Click Plugins > Add New from your WordPress dashboard
- Check out the featured plugins on this page for the most popular options.
- Use the search function to find plugins for the specific features you want to add to your website.
- When you find a plugin you like, just click Install Now.
- Activate the plugin and you're good to go!
3 Free WordPress Plugins You Need
In our opinion, there are three "must have" WordPress plugins that every blog should have. Go ahead and install these for your blog right away. On the WordPress dashboard, go to "Plugins", then "Add New" and search for them by name.
- Akismet, to prevent junk comments filling your blog. It's free & built by the same team that made WordPress, Automattic.
- WP Super Cache, to speed up your blog. It's also by Automattic.
- Yoast SEO, which makes it really easy to optimize your blog for search engines.
The free version of Yoast SEO is fine – you don't need Yoast SEO premium.
2 "Must Have" Premium WordPress Plugins
There are a handful of premium WordPress plugins that we think every blog should have. You'll need to pay for these ones.
- Jetpack, which is also developed by the WordPress team, and adds features backups for a small fee
- Sucuri, a security plugin that protects your blog against hacking and malware. It's owned by GoDaddy.
Each of these plugins is built by a respected contributor to the WordPress community.
PRO TIP: No longer using a plugin? Delete it via your WordPress dashboard to stay safe.
WordPress Plugins: How To Stay Safe
Plugins are a critical part of WordPress. We use them extensively on Blogging.com. But you need to be careful when adding plugins to your blog because:-
- Speed. Too many plugins will slow WordPress down A LOT. That makes it difficult for your readers to navigate, and for search engines to crawl it.
- Security. Out-of-date plugins are a security risk that could get your blog hacked.
PRO TIP: Remember to keep your WordPress plugins up-to-date! You'll get a reminder in the WordPress dashboard.
Step #5 – Publish Great Blog Content
Even personal bloggers should have a good idea of what they want to write about before they dive in. Don't fret! Content planning isn't rocket science. We'll walk you through it every Step of the way.
Who Is Your Blog's Target Audience?
You need to be clear about what you want to say, and it helps to imagine who your audience will be. Pick a topic that you are truly passionate about, and think about the needs of your blog's readers.
Blogs exist on more or less any subject you can think of under the sun, from trading cryptocurrency to rearing chickens.
One quick and easy way to figure out your target audience is to imagine that you're writing letters to a particular type of person.
Ask yourself questions like these:
- Are you talking to men or women?
- Children or adults?
- Where do they live?
- What activities do your audience members participate in?
- What type of work and hobbies do they do?
- What does a typical day in their lives look like?
Example: Say I'm creating a blog for "pet parents."
- They can be of any gender or age.
- They love to do things with their pets, like walking dogs or playing with cats.
- They can live anywhere in the world.
- Significant chunks of their daily lives involve interacting with their pets (walking, feeding, playing, snuggling).
- They consider their pets to be part of the family, more so than those who merely call themselves "pet owners."
Choose a Niche For Your Blog
Niches are pretty important for your blog.
Some big websites, magazines, and newspapers can target huge audiences because they have massive amounts of content and a stable full of writers to create it. Huffington Post, Sports Illustrated, and the Wall Street Journal fall into this category.
However, you're not going to get far competing with those heavyweights, so you need to drill down into your target audience and focus on a subset of your audience. By narrowing your focus to a niche, you stand a chance of building the best blog on that topic.
Possible niches for our example audience include:
- Dog park reviews
- Pet hotels or pet travel guides
- Handmade pet toys
I'm going to go with "handmade pet toys."
We can write about where to find them, how to make them, toy safety, toys based on your pet's personality, etc. I can also tell stories about my own pets, start an Instagram or Twitter to feature pet photos, and review toys. Once you choose a niche, it should be a bit easier to come up with a good name for your blog.
Let's call my new blog, Fuzzy Family Fun.
Step #6 – How to Write A Blog Post
High-quality content is critical to gaining traffic for your new blog. But if your content is merely average, you may not attract much traffic – or even none at all! There are a million blogs on the internet. You need to make yours stand out from the competition.
We're going to show you exactly which buttons to push to get your first blog post online in a flash. Here is a preview of the process, which we'll explain in-depth below:
- Create a new blog post
- Write your blog post
- Add images
- Add categories & tags
- Press "Publish!"
1. Create A New Blog Post
In the WordPress dashboard, you'll see a sidebar with menu items that will take you to various parts of your website. To start a new blog post, click Posts > Add New.
This will take you to the WordPress editor screen, which is where you will do your writing.
2. Draft Your Blog Post
In the WordPress editor, your first task is write a headline for your post in the title section.
Next, write some content in the body of your blog post. You will notice that there are two tabs, one labeled "Visual" and the other labeled "Text"".
Stay within the Visual editor if you are new to blogging and are not familiar with HTML code. This will give you a more "visual" look at what you are drafting when it comes to header sizes, font styles, and formats.
How Long Should a Blog Post Be?
The length of content on the internet is a hotly debated topic. Word-count is a key contributor to your search ranking results. Longer content typically ranks higher on Google. In fact, the longer the better when it comes to search ranking. This is because longer articles will contain more keywords, more topics, headings, links, and pictures.
At the very least, your blog posts should be more than 300 words for Google to rank it. The ideal length of a post for general reading is 1,000+ words.
And that's just fine too. Just make sure that your long posts are extremely easy to read and to skim. Avoid walls of text at all costs!
If you're aiming for a solid number, then between 1000 and 1500 word posts should be a perfect starting point. But feel free to experiment and find what works best for you and your audience.
3. Add an Image
If you want to add an image, click on the Add Media button. This will bring you to the Media Library where any images you have downloaded onto your site are saved for use in blog posts.
After you click on Add Media, select the image you want to insert into your blog post.
Don't forget to fill out things such as the title, alt text, and description so when your website is indexed by search engines, your site is ranked properly in search engine results and potential visitors find you.
You can also add a caption if you want a short description to appear on your blog explaining the image to readers.
Click Insert into post.
Your blog post will now look like this after adding an image:
4. Add Categories and Tags
Categories and tags help organize your blog so readers can find what they are looking for Look to the right-hand side of your editor and notice the two boxes, Categories, and Tags.
Categories describe the topics that can be found on your blog. For example, if you have a personal blog, you may choose categories such as Music, Travel, and Food.
Tags are more specific descriptions of your posts that help readers drill down to smaller topics. When you write a blog post, you first choose a category.
In this example, we'll choose Food. Then, for your post's tags, you might enter something like pizza, breadsticks, chocolate cake.
Simply click the category you would like to use for your blog post, input tags you want to assign and click on Add.
After you have created your blog post, you can preview how it will look when you publish it by clicking on the Preview button in the Publish box. This will open the public face of your blog, and show you what site visitors will see when they visit your website.
5. How To Publish Your Blog Post
If you are happy with your blog post, head back to the WordPress editor and locate the Publish section.
Here you can either click on the Publish button and post your blog immediately, or schedule to publish it at a later date. If you choose to publish it at a later date, simply choose the date and time and save your changes.
And there you have it! You've published your first blog post.
What Blog Topics Should You Cover?
Here are some ideas for coming up with blog topics to write about:-
- Google Trends – Do a search on your niche, but also look at news headlines and see if there's a place where they intersect your niche
- Mind-mapping – Draw out branches from your main topics to see how many more ideas you can split off from them.
- Social media – What's happening on Twitter or Facebook that you could use to create new topics?
Example: My brainstorming helped me come up with these post ideas around handmade pet toys:
- The history of dog toys in the White House
- Knitting or felt patterns for toys
- Pet toys around the world
- Toys that might be harmful to your pet's health
How To Find Your Blog's Voice
Blogging is usually less formal than other media. It's easiest to just be yourself!
But one way to "niche" yourself is with a unique style of writing. You can probably think of lots of examples where humor, style, or oddness make a particular blog memorable.
Example: For my Fuzzy Family Fun blog, I'm just going to write like I talk, since I'm also a pet owner. Readers will connect better with my personal stories if they come from my authentic voice.
How To Write Awesome Blog Content
"The currency of blogging is authenticity and trust."
There's no magic formula to determine what your content should look like. It depends on your niche, and what your passion is. And it depends on what your readers are looking for.
Some blogs focus on breaking news or viral stories from the web. These blogs can gain a lot of traffic very soon after publication. The articles tend to have a short lifespan.
Other blogs contain in-depth articles that are written with longevity in mind (what we call "evergreen content").
These articles tend to be longer, more detailed, and aim to attract traffic for many years – or even decades!
Look at other blogs in your niche and look at the things they do well. Try to find gaps in their strategy, and capitalize on those opportunities.
How To Create a Blog Schedule
Setting a schedule for your blog will help you build traffic – and keep it up over the medium and long-term.
Scheduling is important for two reasons:
- Building Readership. You'll encourage your readers to visit your blog regularly.
- The Power Of Habit. You'll get into the habit of regular writing – and stick with it. Just like going to the gym!
How Often Should I Publish Blog Posts?
There's no right or wrong frequency for publishing new posts. It depends on…
- Your blog's topic (eg, breaking news vs history)
- Your audience (eg, young vs old)
- Your goals (eg, a hobby vs a job as a professional blogger)
One of the best blogs we know publishes a new post just once a month.
No matter how often you update your blog, it's a good idea to space out your posts, instead of publishing lots of new blog posts all at the same time.
You don't have to sit down and write every blog post just before you intend to publish. WordPress lets you schedule blog posts in advance.
This gives you the freedom to plan a complete blogging schedule, write the blog posts ahead of time, and then publish them at regular intervals.
That might be once a day, once a week or once a month – the choice is yours.
What Makes A Successful Blog?
There are many routes to blogging success. However, you can't go wrong in implementing these suggestions.
- Provide content that your audience values.
- Make sure you understand SEO. (And keep up to date with it.)
- Post on a consistent schedule.
- Use social media to promote your blog.
- Interact with your hardcore readers – they're your best promoters!
- Don't be afraid to fail.
That last one is probably the most important one. Experiment to see what both you and your readers like. If something falls flat, don't give up – just try something new.
What Do Your Favorite Bloggers Do?
It can help to take a look at your favorite blogs with a critical eye to figure out why they succeed. What do other blogs do that stops you coming back?
Are they sending out regular emails to their readers? Do they offer merchandise? Do they have ads? Is there a pop-up newsletter box every time you click? Do they update frequently? How do they interact with commenters? What are they doing on social media?
Beyond The Basics Of Blogging
Already mastered the basics of blogging? Here's what to think about next.
How To Build Traffic to Your Blog
"Not only are bloggers suckers for the remarkable, so are the people who read blogs."
Once you've got your first blog posts live, the next step is to get visitors to read your blog. This isn't as hard as you might think. Most bloggers rely on four key sources of traffic:-
- Search engines, like:
- Bing
- Yahoo
- Social media, including:
- Google Plus
- RSS (You can read more about RSS subscriptions here).
- Email newsletters
- Direct traffic, or people typing your domain name. You'll not have any when you launch your blog!
How To Get Your Blog Ranking In Google
Search engines like Google add new blogs to their index when they discover them mentioned (in the form of links) on other websites. Effectively, the more links your blog has (from high-quality, popular sites), the higher Google rank you.
Want to know how to get your first link to your new blog? Read on below!
There are some basic SEO skills you can apply to any blog post you publish that will help improve your search engine rankings.
- Have a Good Title. The closer your title relates to keywords people are searching for, the higher your content will rank.
- Internal Linking. Internally link to other content on your blog to organize it better for web crawlers. In addition, aim to have other websites link back to your website (through guest posting, blog comments, or just by publishing quality content others want to mention on their own site) so Google and other search engines can reward you for being authoritative and rank your blog posts higher.
- Keyword Research. Take the time to find out what keywords relate to your content so that when people search for them, your website appears as one of the most relevant results. Add keywords to the title of your blog post, in the content body, and in metadata such as image alt text.
- Publish Consistently. Teach web crawlers to come back to your site on a regular basis and improve your rankings over time by publishing regular content for site visitors to enjoy. Ranking higher in search results will help, and becoming a source to rely on for consistent content helps as well.
Let People Subscribe With RSS Feeds
An RSS feed is a tool to tell people that your blog has updated with new content, without them having to visit your website to find out. RSS is built into WordPress – all you need to do is tell your readers about it!
Every WordPress blog will have a feed that looks like this…
…that your readers can subscribe to via their favorite RSS feed reader.
Email Newsletter For Bloggers
We recommend capturing your readers' email addresses and sending regular newsletters helps keep them up to date. This builds loyalty and brings readers back for more.
You'll need a service to do that. We recommend Constant Contact, which we review here.
Checkout our guide to email marketing for bloggers.
Social Media For Bloggers
You cannot underestimate the power of social media.
Give your readers a way to share their favorite content with those they know and watch your blog's traffic boom. In addition, provide links to your social media accounts so loyal readers can follow you and either interact with you on social media or again, share their favorite stuff with everyone else.
Two of the most popular social media platforms in use are Facebook and Twitter. You can add native videos to Facebook and cater to those that love to watch videos, you can Tweet instant updates on Twitter and invite followers to check out your new blog post. And most importantly, no matter which network you use, you can expand your reach to an audience base you never even knew about.
You'll want a matching name to your domain name on Facebook and Twitter.
Social networks can drastically expand your blog's audience. If you have a presence on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn, you have a better chance of getting found, so you should be thinking about them as part of your blogging strategy.
How To Make Money Blogging
You can turn your WordPress blog into a fully functioning e-commerce store, if you want to. You can sell physical items, services, digital downloads, and even accept donations via WordPress.
Some other ideas:
- Become an affiliate and make money for promoting products and services.
- Sign up for Google AdSense, display ads on your website, and make money every time someone clicks on one.
- Sell ad space to others in your industry so they can promote their products and services to your audience base.
- Create a membership site and save your very best content for those willing to pay for it.
Check our out guide to make money blogging to learn more.
Happy Blogging!
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- Spread The Word. If you found this guide helpful, please consider sharing it on Twitter, Facebook or by email to anybody you think might need our help.
- Share Your Blog With Us. Please be sure to email us and share your new blog. We'll be featuring the best new blogs with our readers.
- Sign Up For Our Newsletter. for tips and advice on how to grow your readership & even earn money from your blog.
What's Next?
We've got great content that can help bloggers of all experience levels. Here are some of our most popular posts.
Learn About Blog Design
Learn About Creating Killer Content
- Evergreen Content Defined and Examined
- 7 Types of Evergreen Content
- What is 10x Content?
- How To Write Better Blog Posts
- HTML for beginners at HTML.com
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text:
Three islands (with a small 4th and an extra rock) make up the grouping off the coast of Positano, Italy known as Li Galli. The Roman tower seen on the middle of the island dates from 12th century, while the other two main houses and chapel date from the early 20th century.
The islands have strong ties with Russian ballet. Here, the Russian dancer and choreographer Leonide Massine who once owned Li Galli, stages a ballet off its terrace.
Off the coast of Positano, are three small islands that collectively are known as Li Galli. The islands have a long romantic history dating back to ancient times when the mythological sirens with their lilting voices and music caused boats to shipwreck on its rocks. The earliest known inhabitants, the Romans, built a fort on the largest island. In more recent times, the Russian ballet star Rudolf Nureyev purchased the islands from Leonide Massine, another famous Russian dancer and choreographer. Massine bought the islands in 1924 and built a home there which the architect Le Corbusier later refurbished. There is an interesting documentary starring Massine where he shows off his island and talks about his life HERE. Nureyev's emotional ties to the island were strong for historical reasons: Massine had purchased the island from yet another Russian choreographer Diaghilev - making Nureyev the third Russian choreographer to own the islands.
Nureyev had planned to open a ballet school on the island but died of AIDS before his dream was fulfilled. Here, he practices on the island's terrace, using the fence as a barre.
Massine sold his islands to Nureyev in 1989 for 3 billion Italian liras. The Italian resort was just one in a long line of properties Nureyev owned. During his lifetime, he also owned a farm above Monaco, the Parisian apartment and the NY apartment in the Dakota. There was a house near Richmond Park and a farm in Virginia, and finally a villa on St. Barts. When he bought Li Galli, it had been uninhabited for over a decade and he enthusiastically began to restore it, installing a helicopter pad and buying furniture and building supplies. He purchased a gilded bathtub in Paris that arrived on the island dangerously swinging from a helicopter. Massine had installed a dance studio in the tower, which Nureyev made good use of. He planned to open a ballet school on the island, given its remarkable Russian ballet roots, but it was not to be. He built an underground mausoleum in memory of his mother where he spelled out her name in tiles using Arabic motifs. Although he put his energies into the updates, according to a biographer, the construction on Li Galli was never finished because he was too cheap to pay for all the needed repairs. Much of his last months were spent on Li Galli. Once, he was found, sick, laying on the floor atop one of his beloved kilims. His wish was to be buried on the island, but that idea was squashed as plans to sell Li Galli were started before his death. Eventually the property was sold to an Italian hotelier - Giovanni Russo. Russo has spent the past 15 years remodeling the houses on the islands, completely decorating every bedroom, bathroom, and public area. Recently, he opened Li Galli for rentals.
Given its strong ties to the ballet world, the current owner continues to host dance events. This summer, the Houston company Dominic Walsh Dance Theatre performed on the terrace overlooking the Amalfi coastline of Italy.
Today, the Li Galli islands are available to paying vacationers for the first time. After spending 15 years using the islands as his private retreat, Russo has opened the doors to guests who arrive either by boat or helicopter. There is a salt water swimming pool and a 115 ft. yacht that is available for guests, at an extra charge of course. You have your choice of six bedrooms: two in the large Villa Giovanni, two in the ancient Tower, and two in the charming White House which sits next to the chapel where weddings take place. All meals are provided using fresh vegetables and fruits grown on the island along with fish caught off the coast – it must be so delicious. In the summer at the height of the season, the island cost 130,000 Euros a week; during the other ten months, it's a bargain at only 100,000 Euros. Oh, and your bed linens and towels are changed daily – for that kind of money that should be unsaid.
In this aerial shot, you can plainly see the ancient tower with the terraced side of the island leading down to the sea. In the middle is the large, peach colored Villa Giovanni. At the left, is the smaller White House with the Chapel next door. Scores of boats from the mainland circle the historic islands taking pictures.
In a closer view, the small chapel can be plainly seen at the very left next to the White House. The peach colored Villa Giovanni is to its right. Only the top of the tower can be seen.
The boat launch sits under the tower.
In this gorgeous photograph, the tiny chapel stands over the rock steps which lead down to the sea.
On this map you can see the islands are located close to Positano, Naples and the Island of Capri.
House and Garden photographed Li Galli in 1992, shortly before Nureyev's death in 1993. Here he sits wearing a shawl and hat, on a table topped with his beloved kilims.
Each room in the villa is covered in tiles. This room is filled with a numerous versions of blue and white tiles.
Nureyev's bedroom is also tiled and covered in kilims. But, the most amazing items are the oversized lamps!!
A rare shot of Nureyev taken by a friend inside his tile lined Li Galli villa.
The helicopter pad sits right under the tower.
Villa Giovanni in peach. The White House and the chapel are to the left. Each house and the tower has two bedrooms for a total of six.
Villa Giovanni:
The terrace of Villa Giovanni.
The open air entry to Villa Giovanni.
The main living room at the peach villa.
The game room at Villa Giovanni.
And the library at Villa Giovanni.
Whoa. A completely tiled bedroom at Villa Giovanni.
And looking out the towards the dining terrace. Amazing. Unfortunately, none of these interiors match up to the ones from the House and Garden photoshoot.
The bathroom is also completely tiled.
In a change of pace, the kitchen is tiled in green instead of blue and white.
The dining terrace's floor looks like a swimming pool. I love those vintage chairs! What a romantic place to eat dinner.
The pizza kitchen at Villa Giovanni.
The Tower:
The salt water pool is outside the ancient tower.
The living area of the tower with a set of drums in case Ringo Starr shows up.
The tower's kitchen has a bold yellow Le Cornue stove.
The main bedroom in the tower is bright yellow – to match the stove??
One of the tower's bathrooms. I wonder what happened to Nureyev's gilt bathtub?
The White House and Chapel:
The White House overlooks the chapel.
This bedroom in the White House is called the Honeymoon Suite. Notice the floors are wood here, not tiled.
The White House's bathroom – with a great antique gilt mirror. Notice how the yacht just happens to be in view out the window.
The White House and the chapel stand next to the stone steps leading to the water.
The chapel holds only 20 people, so large weddings have to take place outside on the terrace. The same white tiles used in the main villa Giovanni are used here.
Russo's yacht which available for the guests to use – at an extra fee, of course!
The main stateroom inside the yacht. Amazing!
ISlE ISCA:
A fourth island, Isca, is considered part of the Li Galli group, but ownership of this fourth island is separate from the other three. Here through a group of rocks, you can see Isca.
Isca is home to many Roman ruins and the house itself was built on the foundation of ruins. While Li Galli has ballet roots, Isca has literary roots. The famous Italian writer and actor Eduardo de Filippo owned Isca and built the house on it – the only flat portion of the island. On the island is a grotto called the Sapphire Cave, similar to the nearby Blue Grotto. It is considered one of the top ten diving spots in all of Italy.
Part II on Italy, next time!!
Be sure to listen to the new Skirted Roundtable when Linda, Megan and I discuss the rash of new digital design magazines. We are having a great giveaway this week! Go to www.skirtedroundtable.blogspot.com to enter!!!

subset: commoncrawl


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Thursday, July 28, 2005
Use Cases: Requirements or Design?
Use cases typically come in one of two forms. A use case diagram merely depicts the actors and use case names without detailing individual interactions with the product. Text use cases are narratives that detail actor interactions with the product.
Since use cases come from the user perspective and treat the product as a black blox, they play a useful role in requirements documentation. But do use cases communicate requirements or design?
Craig Larman, in Applying UML and Patterns, answers that "use cases are not exactly requirements or functional specifications, but they illustrate and imply requirements in the stories they tell." I agree with Larman but would like to draw attention to some distinctions.
The names of the highest-level use cases of a product communicate functional requirements. Such names should reflect the highest-level goals that stakeholders are trying to achieve to overcome the problems they face. A functional requirement states what the product must do to solve or avoid a prospect problem. Since use case names imply what the product must do, or at least help the user do, to solve a prospect problem, it follows that the names of the highest-level use cases represent functional requirements. Therefore, use case diagrams that depict the highest-level use cases are appropriate in a requirements document.
However, text use cases do not represent pure requirements. When we describe how a user interacts with the product to achieve goals, we venture into product design. For example, if you specify that the user of a TV presses a button to turn it on, you have already gone beyond requirements and into solution space. Not only have you prescribed a particular solution for switching on the TV, you have assumed that turning on the TV is a necessary step in achieving the user's real goal, which is watching TV. Fleshed-out text use cases are not appropriate in requirements documents (except perhaps to provide background information about how customers currently achieve their goals without using the product, or perhaps to illustrate one possible way the product might meet the requirements).
15 comments :
- Michael Craig said...
Great post, completely agree. Too many BA's get bogged into designing their use cases and simply end up wasting time and money.
Less is more.
- Sat Feb 03, 03:32:00 AM 2007
- Juan Carlos said...
Good Points! For the use case to represent requirements, it is important for the business analyst to NOT include design elements in the use case and to focus on 'What' the system has to do rather than on 'How' to do it. Therefore, I scan my use cases for the word 'click', 'point', etc. and reword sentences to ensure I do not inadvertantly include design in the use case that would un-necessarily constrain the application developer.
- Wed Jun 13, 03:24:00 PM 2007
- Roger L. Cauvin said...
Juan, thanks for your comment. I have a somewhat unconventional view: it's virtually impossible to keep design elements out of fleshed-out use cases.
Some point to the distinction between "real" and "essential" use cases. I maintain that no use case containing more than two steps is purely essential (i.e. completely free of design assumptions).
Fleshed-out use cases are very useful, but for specifying interaction design, not for specifying requirements.
- Wed Jun 13, 03:53:00 PM 2007
- rupinder said...
What if you have to assume a design decision. This would be espeically true in case of software maintenances. For e.g. to maintain consistency on a particular screen when a new feature is being added to it, if everything else on the page is a drop-down, the new feature would be a drop-down, and thus gets reflected in the use case.
- Fri Jul 25, 12:31:00 AM 2008
- Roger L. Cauvin said...
Rupinder, it's useful to think about why you are adding a feature and why you think it should be a drop-down.
The feature and the drop-down are not themselves the requirements. The reasons for them are the requirements.
When you are enhancing an existing use case, the trick is to decide the preconditions, postconditions, and invariants of the use case that are changing, and that are motivating the change to the sequence of steps within it.
- Fri Jul 25, 08:58:00 AM 2008
- brad said...
Think you need to provide a little more context for terms like 'requirements', what roles you have in your organisation and what level of detail your use case goes to, to help articulate your point.
From my perspective, a detailed use case, that describes the interaction of a user with an interface(of a system), must be specific. The BA must/should have involved designers, usability, actual users & the business to write it. Therefore this use case is defining User/Functional Requirements.
This use case is used to realise the Business Requirements (captured earlier) - that defined WHAT needs to be achieved, but not HOW....
- Thu Jul 31, 02:45:00 AM 2008
- Putcha said...
Arrived here via Requirements Engineering discussion on Requirement and Interaction Design.
It is important to recognize the distinction and stop over-specifying but over-specification is less harmful than under-specifying and leaving everything to be revisited and specified at the time of design and implementation.
In OOAD UML, it is not necessary to make a fuss about the distinction.
At times, a design may express a requirement more clearly than a pure statement of requirement. In any case, the designer can recognize the situation and give a superior design if he or she is capable of it.
Putcha V. Narasimham
- Fri May 15, 05:35:00 PM 2009
- Roger L. Cauvin said...
brad, what you're referring to as "user/functional requirements", I call "design", for it is the deliverable that results from someone having designed the user interactions with the system.
The only true requirements, in my view, are what you're calling "business requirements". Functionally, the only thing "required" to satisfy stakeholders is to deliver the functionality communicated by the name of the use case. The sequence of steps is an interaction design choice.
- Sun Jul 05, 08:00:00 PM 2009
- Roger L. Cauvin said...
Putcha, I agree that design specifications can help communicate requirements. However, when you state, "a design may express a requirement more clearly than a pure statement of requirement", I think you have to be careful.
Often, in such cases, the lack of clarity in the "pure requirement" is an indication that the requirement is not fully understood. It's usually possible to express a fully understood requirement as a pass/fail measurement.
- Sun Jul 05, 08:04:00 PM 2009
- Putcha V. Narasimham said...
Roger Cauvin: I wanted to quote and cite your "Test for PURE requirement" but I landed here. but your TEST is not available here.
You said (not exactly in these words): Test if the statement of requirement suggests some way of meeting or satisfying the requirement. If it does, it is NOT a PURE REQUIREMENT. If it DOES NOT then it is a statement of PURE REQUIREMENT.
This is very profound and I got it only from you and I keep quoting you. Since the searches are NOT turning up your original statement, you may as well make the statement afresh and establish your claim of having said it first.
All the best,
Putcha V. Narasimham
- Mon Jan 12, 12:25:00 AM 2015
- Roger Cauvin said...
Putcha, thanks as always for the comment and the kind words.
Please see this blog entry on requirements testing and let me know if it contains the statement you would like to cite.
I've made similar statements in several forums, so the exact one to which you're referring may be buried elsewhere.
- Mon Jan 12, 06:33:00 AM 2015
- The One with Varun997 said...
Q1. What can be the objective criteria to distinguish between a requirement and design?
Q2. Sample Statement: I have an example where a user needs to create multiple entries like in excel sheet. If I state that the user shall have the option ADD,DELETE OR MODIFY an entry after she has created an entry.The System shall provide the option to submit the entries once filled.
Does the above statement transgress requirements boundary specially when I say that the system shall provide or user shall get option...
- Wed Apr 25, 10:40:00 AM 2018
- Roger Cauvin said...
Varun, thank you for the question.
Please find my definition of requirement here. You can use it to distinguish between a requirement and design.
The first question to ask is what customer or market problem you intend to solve. Then you can determine the least stringent condition that would indicate the absence of the problem. That condition is the requirement.
In your example, I see that you are proposing a solution, specifically something resembling CRUD functionality. Usually, a CRUD specification represents design. It also presents opportunities to consider the problem CRUD is intended to solve, in the context of the user's higher-level functional goal.
Thus to reveal the true requirement, you will need to determine - and clearly express in measurable terms - what problem this proposed solution is intended to solve.
- Wed Apr 25, 11:22:00 AM 2018
- Putcha V. Narasimham said...
Roger Varun and Roger again:
I thought that your test of pure requirement is really profound. I will have to dig into my notes to discover your original post but I am surprised you are not able to locate it. Anyway your answer to Varu reflects your concept of "pure requirement". You have rightly pointed out that CRUD is a means of satisfying a need but not of the need itself.
The same example also proves my point that people find it easier to indirectly specify a need through a design specification (like CRUD) than specifying the user or business need.
Putcha V. Narasimham
- Thu Nov 08, 07:10:00 AM 2018
- Roger Cauvin said...
Thank you, Putcha. You rightly point out that identifying and specifying the true business and user needs is hard. But as some have stated, a problem understood is a problem half solved. So it is worth the effort and thought to understand the problem. Thinking of requirements in this way makes for more effective problem-solving.
- Thu Nov 08, 09:14:00 AM 2018


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Two links to think about together:
First, Peggy Nelson's interview with Douglas Rushkoff over at HiLoBrow. In general I find Rushkoff pretty tendentious in this conversation, but I can't deny that his reading of Middle Ages economics is provocative (emphasis mine):
PN: They didn't get money from Rome to fund their cathedrals?
DR: They did not. The Vatican and central Rome did not build the cathedrals. The funds came from local currency, which was very different than money as we use it now. It was based on grain, which lost value over time. The grain would slowly rot or get eaten by rats or cost money to store, so the money needed to be spent as quickly as possible before it became devalued. And when people spend and spend and spend a lot of money, you end up with an economy that grows very quickly.
Now unlike a capitalist economy where money is hoarded, with local currency, money is moving. The same dollar can end up being the salary for three people rather than just one. There was so much money circulating that they had to figure out what to do with it, how to reinvest it. Saving money was not an option, you couldn't just stick it in the bank and have it grow because it would not grow there, it would shrink. So they paid the workers really well and they shortened the work week to four and in some cases three days per week.
Now I have no idea if this is true, but it is true that many of our modern economic woes arise when money doesn't move, and the vision of a marketplace full of dollars getting spent and spent and spent again—use 'em or lose 'em—especially within real communities, is pretty enticing.
Now cross-reference that with Matt Yglesias' pitch for a cashless economy. By way of background: nowadays, when money doesn't move, central bankers' primary lever to get it going again is the interest rate. Lower the interest rate, and you make it cheaper for banks and companies to "buy" money, which means (you hope) more money gets spent by those companies, which means more people get paid, which means more money gets spent by those people, and so on.
But sometimes you push the interest rate all the way down, close to zero, and… nothing happens. Your lever is slammed to the bottom of the slot and you're still not getting the effect you expected. Orthodox economics doesn't really have a solution to this problem… but Yglesias does (again, emphasis mine):
Now we come to the miracle of the cashless society. Stop for a moment and ask yourself why the interest rate can't be reduced much below 1 percent. The trouble is cash. At any given time, relatively little paper currency circulates in the United States. Instead, most of the American money supply consists of bank accounts and other electronic stores of value. People prefer to keep money in bank accounts because it's convenient and because you get interest on it. If the rates were driven below zero—in effect a tax on holding cash in the bank—people would just withdraw money and store it in shoeboxes instead. But what if you couldn't withdraw cash? What if all transactions were electronic, so the only way to avoid keeping money in a negative-rate account was to go out and buy something with the money? Well, then, we would have solved our depression problem. Too much unemployment? Lower interest rates below zero, Americans will start spending and investing again, the economic will grow, and unemployment will go back down to its "natural rate."
There's a lot of good detail in his piece, and he does a good job explaining all the mechanics, so it's worth a read. The important thing is: he's serious. Let's keep that money moving.
Update: Or see also Louis C.K.:
I never viewed money as being "my money" I always saw it as "The money" It's a resource. if it pools up around me then it needs to be flushed back out into the system.


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Topic: Welcome to Ubuntu-Geek's Cafe. (Read 15805 times)
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Welcome to Ubuntu-Geek's Cafe.
January 21, 2010, 11:51:18 PM »
Hey, guys.
Come to think of it ... we asked the Forum Mods for this place ... we had better start using it.
This Cafe is a meeting place to chit-chat about Ubuntu, Linux and Open Source.
A place to 'meet-n-greet' other Ubuntu/Linux users.
Introductions are a must.
As for me ... I have been using Linux for about a year now.
Ubuntu was the first distro I tried. And now matter, which other distros I try, I always seem to come back to Ubuntu.
I am an Xfce Junkie!!
I have every Linux OS that has Xfce as the default desktop.
I am currently, using and testing, the new Xubuntu Lucid Lynx 10.04 Alpha 2.
I have found that Lucid is much more stable than the final release of Karmic.
Looking forward to the final release of Lucid this coming April 2010.
Anyway, nice to meet everyone. I'm sure you'll be seeing more of me.
Last Edit: January 21, 2010, 11:58:18 PM by vrkalak
Ubuntu Forums (Ubuntu Linux Support)
Welcome to Ubuntu-Geek's Cafe.
January 21, 2010, 11:51:18 PM »
Posts: 1
Re: Welcome to Ubuntu-Geek's Cafe.
Reply #1 on:
January 23, 2010, 09:30:59 PM »
I've been using Linux for about 3 or 4 years now. I've tried a number of distros, but in the end Ubuntu outclassed all of them.
Re: Welcome to Ubuntu-Geek's Cafe.
Reply #2 on:
January 26, 2010, 09:10:03 PM »
Hi there Ubuntu Geeks!
Last year flowed straight into this year, replies might be a little behind
I first used Linux bout ten years ago, Red Hat 6 IIRC, and Debian too. The first code I ever compiled in Linux was Quake 1, and then lan'ed it!
Rocket jump!
Hardy days was when I really got into it full-time, as my primary OS at home. Since then I can't imagine going back!
I'm dual booting Karmic, my main OS, with Lucid Lynx alpha 2, for testing.
What else... um, I'm a fan of
World of Goo
! love it. and bananas, too!
Posts: 3
Re: Welcome to Ubuntu-Geek's Cafe.
Reply #3 on:
February 24, 2010, 05:45:03 PM »
Hey there Geeks!
I'm actually kinda new to Linux and Ubuntu (about 5 months). I've been using the evil WindowsServer software for years and years on my servers but was introduced to Ubuntu. I gotta say I'm loving it so far (with some minor things I'm learning to deal with). I'm not on Ubuntu Server though, I'm using the GUI desktop version. I'm hoping to learn as much as possible and share what I have learned so far. I tried out several Linux OS and Ubuntu is BY FAR the best I've found ESPECIALLY for server use. I'm also running it on a VM on my MacBook Pro (yeah, I'm a Mac Head).
I look forward to being a part of the community and hope to get involved in some great nerdy discussions.
Posts: 1
Re: Welcome to Ubuntu-Geek's Cafe.
Reply #4 on:
March 06, 2010, 01:40:02 AM »
Hello fellow Geeks!
I started my Linux adventure with OpenSuse (I think it was version 10.0), but couldn't really get to grips with KDE or YAST. So I downloaded and installed Ubuntu 6.06 LTS and never looked back, although I still don't class myself as a competent Linux user. However, I can usually get by by following tutorials to solve any problems I find.
Although Ubuntu is my primary operating system, I have it dual booted with Windows 7 (mainly because all of the software at University runs on Windows and because they were kind enough to sign me up to MSDNAA so that I could download it for free
Finally.....I have installed Ubuntu Lucid Lynx Alpha 3 on Virtual Box and I am really impressed with it. I love the new colours, and I am amzed that it is playing my music from my Ipod Touch....at last I can ditch iTunes....woohoo
Anyway, I look forward to reading some of your comments/tutorials
Last Edit: March 06, 2010, 01:57:28 AM by chryatis
Posts: 2
Re: Welcome to Ubuntu-Geek's Cafe.
Reply #5 on:
March 06, 2010, 04:11:23 AM »
Well, I guess that I should tell you a little about myself, I am an old sperry univac field engineer (CETA) and a retired Navy Chief. I have been in and around electronics since the 40's and computers since the early 60's. I have been involved in digital electronics and cryptography, along with early voice encryption devices, and after the nam and when I retired I immigrated to Tahiti and here I make my home. My kids and grandkids are all Tahitians and thereby French, and I became French in 1984.
I started learning DOS in the later part of the 80's and thought that DOS 3.5 was the cats meow with the compression ability that lil bill stole and had to later pay several wheelbarrows filled with Benjamins for being a crook....
I have been interested in Linux for many years, but found that I either didn't have the time or patience to learn and stayed with windoze instead. What complete and utter foolish move that was. I now have a nephew in France working on his Masters in Computer Science who I turned on to linux many years ago (Debian). He was the lucky one, he had mentors and help and still I have no one here on this island that has even an inkling of what I am going thru at present. I have 4 boxes up and running, an old HP with Simply Mempis, and another old MSI motherboard that I have Puppy on and a laptop that has Ubuntu (this one) and another old laptop that I put mac pup on for giggles and am still playing with that. My big tower is running windoze Vista Ultimate Pro (junk, junk, junk), but that is the family machine and I keep it only because they are too afraid to learn Linux... My daughter is playing with the HP and Mepis, but the others are beyond them so far.
I am older than dirt, but still am learning and trying to play keep up... Sorta hard but I will not quit and learning has been a solid part of my life from the beginning, I guess that I will have a book in my hand or a laptop that I am banging on when I leave this mortal world... You will be seeing me around in here and I will be asking questions..
Re: Welcome to Ubuntu-Geek's Cafe.
Reply #6 on:
March 09, 2010, 08:24:13 PM »
@maheanuu it's great that you're still into tech, what an inspiration! A little jealous you got to work with the beginnings of encryption, it's a topic I always find interesting, all from the ROT13 paper wheels I made as a kid
Posts: 5
Re: Welcome to Ubuntu-Geek's Cafe.
Reply #7 on:
March 18, 2010, 01:13:04 PM »
Hello ubuntu friends!
I use this wonderfull OS for 2 cca years I think, and love it more and more. somethimes it gives me headackes and assackes, but still I love it
I' m a network guy, very fresh and to to learn as much as I can. Currently I run Jaunty, did Kola but dislike some features, so now I'm back to Jackalope !
Made a router/fw of a 9.04 server, and I love, still haven't finished it
Take care guys, all the best, and hope we learn and help each other as much as we can!
Greeting from Croatia!
Posts: 5
Re: Welcome to Ubuntu-Geek's Cafe.
Reply #8 on:
May 11, 2010, 05:08:54 AM »
Hi everybody. My name's Mike, I've been running ubuntu for a few months now. I think 10.4 is a big improvement over 9.10. I'm a Vista refugee, though I've used Win since 98. I had a Tiger Mac for a while, too. (Still have it, I got into a permissions issue with File Vault.....)
Anyway, I'm looking forward to learning about ubuntu & getting everything better integrated on my Compaq. Cheers!
Posts: 3
Making People Sad & Angry Since 1996
Re: Welcome to Ubuntu-Geek's Cafe.
Reply #9 on:
July 28, 2010, 07:11:00 PM »
Been lurking for months when I had a chance. Schedule has freed up recently and now I have a bit more time to socialize again.
Been playing with Linux/Unix on and off since 1994 when I owned a small ISP in northern Arizona. I'm by no means an expert. In fact, whenever my servers ran on a Unix/Linux platform I always hired the same guy to be my network admin. Lets just say I know enough to be dangerous.. to myself that is.
Anyways.. in the real world I'm an author, editor & columnist. I live on the New England coast in Connecticut literally 3 yards from the ocean. I work from home when I'm not traveling on business. I keep a pretty liberal blog that keeps me from getting bored which is rarely if ever. XD
As of January, I decided to go on a Windows/OSX free diet with the exception of the file servers that my fiancé and I share which run Windows 7. My workstation and netbook are both Ubuntu Lucid and I have no plans to change that in the near future.
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Office of the President
Location: Riggs Hall, Third Floor, Suite 314
Phone: (417) 865-2811 ext. 7200
Location: Riggs Hall, Third Floor, Suite 314
President Dr. Carol Taylor
Dr. Carol Taylor is president of Evangel University, having been appointed by the board of trustees to lead the new consolidated university. She began her tenure at Evangel in July 2013.
Dr. Taylor came to Evangel from Vanguard University in Costa Mesa, California, where she served as it's ninth president from 2009-2013. Prior to that, she was provost/vice president of academic affairs at Vanguard.
Taylor is the fourth president of Evangel since it was founded in 1955 and the first that is a graduate of the institution. She received Evangel's Distinguished Alumnus Award for 2012 and is an ordained Assemblies of God minister.
|Dr. Carol Taylor
|Executive Assistant
|Angela Dense


text:
Rockwell Automation's PanelView Plus 6 HMI Terminal
Allen Bradley's PanelView Plus 6 HMI terminal includes more memory with faster refresh rates.02/27/2012
Opto 22's PAC Display
Opto 22's PAC display is an HMI development application used to create graphical interfaces that mimic a process.02/27/2012
Invensys Wonderware IntelaTrac 4.1
Invensys Operations Management has released the latest version of its Wonderware IntelaTrac mobility solution, including an Extensibility Software Development Kit (SDK). The SDK enables customers to apply industry-standard technology and rapidly extend the application so they can address specific project requirements.02/10/2012
Advantech's Intel Atom-Based Embedded Computers
UNO-2174A and UNO-2178A Intel Atom-based embedded computers have low power consumption, dual-core 1.67GHz Atom CPUs and 2GB DDR2 RAM.01/19/2012
AutomationDirect's Brick PLCs
Click micro brick PLCs now include standard CPU units. The new units feature eight discrete inputs and six discrete outputs, and are available in four combinations of built-in I/O types.01/19/2012
Honeywell MasterLogic PLCs
MasterLogic PLCs can be deployed in a standalone mode without any human-machine interface.01/19/2012
Pepperl+Fuchs 900 Series Operator Workstations
VisuNet Industrial 900 Series operator workstations withstand even the harshest oilfield operating conditions.01/19/2012
Opto 22 SNAP-PAC-R1-W
The SNAP-PAC-R1-W rack-mounted programmable automation controller offers IEEE 802.11a/b/g Wi-fi networking, two independent 10/100 Mbps wired interfaces for standard Ethernet networking, and one RS-232 serial port.01/19/2012
Yokogawa's Multi-Controller PLC
FA-M3V range-free, multi-controller PLC delivers unrivaled CPU scanning speed performance for discrete and batch process manufacturing.01/19/2012
Stealth's Industrial Panel Work Station
Stealth.coms new rugged, industrial-grade Panel PC workstations are built to survive in industrial environments.01/13/2012
B&R Automation's New CPU Board
A new CPU board with an Intel Core 2 Duo P8400 processor provides a more powerful platform for Automation PC 810 and Panel PC 800 devices.01/13/2012
Rockwell Automation's Allen Bradley ControlLogix L7
Allen-Bradley ControlLogix L7 series PACs offer enhanced memory and process capabilities, and enable seamless integration with motion drives through EtherNet/IP and SERCOS network interfaces.01/13/2012
Invensys Foxboro (PAC) System
The Foxboro (PAC) System provides integrated hybrid control and data acquisition at the price of a PLC.01/12/2012
Phoenix Contact VL BPC Mini PC
Valueline industrial PCs now include the VL BPC Mini, a miniature embedded box PC.01/12/2012
Triangle Research's Embedded PLC
The FMD88-10 and the FMD1616-10 PLCs combine the powerful and easy-to-use iTRiLOGI Ladder+BASIC software with a wide array of features01/12/2012
Endress+Hauser Level Measurement Guide
This three-part series by Endress+Hauser covers liquid level measurement.11/22/2011
Honeywell's X-series Paperless Recorders
X-series paperless recorders enable electronic acquisition and storage of data.11/22/2011
Indumart Level Measurement Techniques
This link takes you to a five-part series on various techniques for measuring level.11/22/2011
MAGNETROL Differential Pressure Resource
This free, downloadable PDF explores the differences between level measurement by means of guided-wave radar systems and differential pressure transmitters.11/22/2011
Moore Industries International's microNCS Modbus RTU
The microNCS Modbus RTU master and distributed I/O provides RS-485 master capabilities, distributed data acquisition, and, with expansion I/O, control capabilities.11/22/2011


text:
New Pricing
We are happy to announce new CentovaCast Pricing! With the recent release of the SoniXCast/CentovaCast hybrid architecture, we were able to sink costs immensely and are passing the savings on to you! New sign-ups can save up to 20% over competitors and existing customers could save up to 30%! What Happened? As stated in our initial release ... En savoir plus »
6 juil 2018


text:
phpMyBitTorrent © 2005-2009 phpMyBitTorrent Team.
This is free software and contains source code version of GNU/LGPL distributed libraries.
You may redistribute the whole package and its source code according to the GNU/GPL license.
The Development Team cannot be held responsible in any way for the results of the use of this software.
Generated in 0.02 seconds


text:
Hi William,
How are you? where do you work at now? I am looking for an eye care professional. Are you still playing tennis?
Hi Wiliam
Are you free to play this weekend?
Hi William,
Are you still playing? Where do you work at now?
Hi William,
Are you playing this year? Have you finished school?
Hi, are u interested in playing this spring and summer?
© 2019 Created by Mark / The Mayor. Powered by


text:
Cub Scout Badminton
From MeritBadgeDotOrg
(Difference between revisions)
(→Related awards: add links)
(add header text for search engine "descriptions" and to explain what the page offers in a few seconds.)
|Line 1:
|Line 1:
{{CSAS_Webelos_option|Belt Loop|Sportsman}}
{{CSAS_Webelos_option|Belt Loop|Sportsman}}
Revision as of 02:21, January 21, 2009
with cross-references for related Cub Scout Tiger, Wolf, Bear, and Webelos requirements.
|The Cub Scout Badminton Belt Loop is an option for the Webelos Sportsman activity badge.
| Badminton
Belt Loop and Pin
Badminton Sports Belt Loop
Cub Scout Badminton requirements
Belt Loop Requirements
Complete these three requirements:
Sports Pin Requirements
Earn the Badminton belt loop, and complete five of the following requirements:
View the change list (history) of these requirements. The text of these requirements may be locked. In that case, they can only be edited by an administrator.
Please note any errors found in the above requirements on this article's Talk Page.
Template:Cub Scout Academics and Sports notes
Requirement resources
Template:Cub Scout Academics and Sports Requirement resources
Related awards
- 15. Games, Games Games! Badminton is an option.
- Bear Electives
- Elective 20f. would be met by earning the Cub Scout Badminton Pin while a Bear Cub Scout
- Sportsman Activity Badge requirement 3. (earn the Cub Scout Badminton Belt Loop while a Webelos Scout)
Sports and Fitness Awards
|Sports-related awards
See also
This program was discontinued in May, 2015.
Art · Astronomy · Chess · Citizenship · Collecting · Communicating · Computers · Disability Awareness · Geography · Family Travel · Geology · Good Manners · Heritages · Language and Culture · Map and Compass · Mathematics · Music · Nutrition · Pet Care · Photography · Reading and Writing · Science · Video Games · Weather · Wildlife Conservation
Archery · Badminton · Baseball · Basketball · BB-Gun Shooting · Bicycling · Bowling · Fishing · Flag Football · Golf · Gymnastics · Hiking · Hockey · Horseback Riding · Ice Skating · Kickball · Marbles · Physical Fitness · Roller Skating · Skateboarding · Snow Ski and Board Sports · Soccer · Softball · Swimming · Table Tennis · Tennis · Ultimate · Volleyball
|Cub Scout Leader portal
|Webelos Den Leader portal
External links
- Badminton Rules Videos
- Badminton
- Badminton.org Rules Summary
- Badminton Rules
- USAbadminton.org
- American Council on Exercise
- American Sport Education Program
- Amateur-Sports.com
- American Dietetic Association
- American Heart Association
- Centers for Disease Control
- Fitness for Kids
- International Food Information Council
- KidsHealth
- National Athletic Trainer's Association
- National Youth Sports Safety Foundation


text:
Have a collection of PowerPoint presentations you want to view on iPhone 7 Plus? It would be a perfect choice to watch PowerPoint slideshows on iPhone 7 Plus with high picture quality thanks to its high 1080 x 1920 resolution 5.5-inch retina display. However, as you know, PowerPoint formats are not supported by iPhone 7 Plus. The iPhone 7 Plus does support a few video formats like MP4 (H.264, MPEG-4 video codec), MOV (H.264, MPEG-4 video codec), so by converting PowerPoint to iPhone 7 Plus supported video formats, you can view PowerPoint on iPhone 7 Plus unlimitedly.
PowerPoint to iPhone 7 Plus Converter would be your best choice to convert PowerPoint to iPhone 7 Plus video freely. This PowerPoint to iPhone 7 Plus converter features the most advanced solution for iPhone fans to convert PowerPoint to video for playing back on iPhone 7 Plus and other devices. Best of all, it could lossless preserve all the original PowerPoint elements and dynamic effects like music, video clips, animations and transitions. Meanwhile, it would save you much of time by converting several PowerPoint presentations to videos at one time.
Step 1: Load PowerPoint files.
Free download and install PowerPoint to Video Converter for iPhone 7 Plus. It will help you convert PowerPoint to iPhone 7 Plus with high quality. Click "Add" button to import PowerPoint files you want to view on iPhone 7 Plus. You can add multiple PowerPoint files for converting to iPhone 7 Plus videos at a time.
Step 2: Output sittings for iPhone 7 Plus.
Choose a video format from the "Profile" drop-down list, like "HD Video" → "HD H.264 MPEG-4 AVC Video (*.mp4)", to make full use of iPhone 7 Plus's HD screen display.
Click "Settings" icon to reset output profile. Parameters like video codec, audio codec, bit rate, aspect ratio, frame rate, video size, channel, etc. are modifiable.
Step 3: Convert PowerPoint to iPhone 7 Plus.
When all the settings are ready, click "Start" button to start the PowerPoint to iPhone 7 Plus video conversion. You will get the output videos for viewing on iPhone 7 Plus in no time.
(Price:$49.95) (Free Download)


text:
A historic mansion in Markyate with a colourful history has been repossessed.
The 18-bedroom Grade II listed house in Cell Park, Markyate, is rumoured to have once been considered by the Beckhams when they were searching for a family pad.
But now the future is unclear for the magnificent property set within 79 acres.
It was once home to Lady Katherine Ferrers during the 17th century – also known as the Wicked Lady legend says she got her thrills as a highwaywoman by night, even robbing her own family at the roadside.
It is claimed by some that she still haunts the mansion after dying from a gunshot wound when one of her night-time adventures went wrong.
Tim Pearce from estate agents Strutt and Parker was unable to comment fully on the current financial situation with the property but did confirm: "The property has been repossessed, I can say that."


text:
No. 20 Iowa St. has no problem with N. Iowa 83-55
Hallie Christofferson, Nikki Moody and Seanna Johnson had big
games as No. 20 Iowa State cruised by Northern Iowa 83-55 Wednesday
Christofferson led in scoring with 22 points, hitting 8 of 10
free throws. Moody added 16 points and eight assists. Johnson had
14 points and 13 rebounds as the Cyclones (8-0), off to their best
start in 11 seasons, out-rebounded Northern Iowa 49-30.
The Panthers (2-7), held to 36 percent shooting, were led by
Madison Weekly with 16 points.
Erin Dohnalek's 3-pointer pulled Northern Iowa into a 14-14 tie
before the Cyclones reeled off 16 straight points. Late in the
first half, Iowa State went on a 12-2 run before six quick points
from the Panthers made it 43-26 at the half.
ISU dominated the inside, out-scoring the Panthers 42-16 in the
paint and 16-4 in second-chance points. UNI had 18 turnovers good
for 24 Cyclone points.


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Staying Power
The Lightning will have no prospects in the WHL this year, and that's just fine with Brett Connolly.
Late last night, after Connolly's ninth game in the NHL, the St. Pete Times reported Lightning General Manager Steve Yzerman told Connolly he was staying in the NHL this season.
That loud obscenity you heard from the northwest around that time was the head office of the WHL's Prince George Cougars, who were counting on their captain and homegrown star to return to the club this season.
As soon as Connolly plays his 10th game his NHL contract kicks in. Nine games is the cut-off for junior age players who aren't yet old enough to play in the American Hockey League.
Connolly played over 15 minutes Tuesday night in Buffalo and finished plus-1. His hit on the forecheck created the Lightning's first goal though he wasn't credited with an assist. He has two assists on the year.
The worry now with Connolly is if he lets up, but don't count on it.
He spent the summer away from home in Toronto working on adding muscle to his 180 pounds. The Cougars roster lists him at 6'2" 203 right now.
Connolly has put in a lot of work and improved every game, according to the Lightning. He's not the type to coast.
Now Connolly can focus on helping his line and his team any way he can. One of the reasons he's not got a lot of points so far is he's been playing in a "digger" or "first man in" role for his highly skilled teammates, being Vincent Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis or Steven Stamkos and Teddy Purcell. His job is to forecheck and get the puck to his teammates and do the little things right. If he gets a scoring chance, so be it. The Lightning's top lines haven't been dominating five on five either.
Connolly has the ability to finish the year flirting with 20 goals, especially if he continues to get power play time and doesn't participate in the World Junior Championships at Christmas. Much like Stamkos in his rookie year, expect Connolly to have a strong second half of his first season.
The future is bright for him. Starting now, officially.
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TaleWorlds is an independent game development company located in Ankara, Turkey. TaleWorlds is an official brand of İkisoft Software Company. They have been developing PC games under the brand "Taleworlds Entertainment" since 2005. Taleworlds is currently developing Mount&Blade II: Bannerlord. This profile is not run by the company who are far too busy making the game, but rather a group from the community who keep their modDB profile up to date.
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The planting season is starting to sneak up on us, now less than two months away for crops like spring wheat. If farmers have not selected or made 100% of their seed purchases, Nathan Mueller, SDSU Extension Agronomist may have a few tips for ways they can buy the variety that returns the highest profit per acre.
"Most people justify a buying decision after they have already made it, based on emotion. Unfortunately, seed purchases often do not escape this blight. Things that influence our selection and purchase of varieties include brand reputation, loyalty and tradition, friends and family members, advertising, and company representatives," Mueller said.
To increase farm level yields, Mueller encourages growers to utilize yield data in their variety selection process.
Yield data can be collected from side-by-side comparisons on the farm, company variety trials, and third-party variety trials.
"Reliability of this yield data is not equal. I am not talking about who (farmer, company, university) does the work, but the methodology," he said.
The three key methods growers can use to increase their confidence in one variety's performance over another include:
1. Blocking or splitting the test plot into similar environments;
2. Randomization or random placement of varieties within the test plot; and
3. Replication or the same variety appears in the test plot several times.
Another key term Mueller explains is experimental error.
"This is simply variation in yield measured in the same variety that was tested independently several times within a test plot. The source of this variation can be soil difference in the test plot or even inability to reproduce the exact same conditions with equipment operations and measurements," Mueller said.
A closer look at three methods
Mueller explains why these three methods, blocking, randomization, and replication, are important when making yield data comparisons among varieties. The use of blocking, replication, and randomization helps managers of crop testing performance trials like the ones we conduct at South Dakota State University (SDSU) determine whether varieties perform differently at a location, the margin of difference between varieties, and confidence that the differences measured are attributed to the variety, not experimental error.
To review examples Mueller provides in an iGrow.org article visit, http://iGrow.org/agronomy/corn.
Check out iGrow.org
The differences between varieties for yield and other important agronomic traits are posted annually for all major crops in South Dakota at www.iGrow.org. These results provide an opportunity for growers to make informed purchasing decisions when seed is ordered for their farm. The magnitude of performance differences between varieties or hybrids can be significant enough to create a $250 profit per acre swing.
So before you buy any more seed, please consider more data-driven decisions that increase your farm's profitability by using crop yield results determined by using blocking, randomization, and replication. SDSU research and extension staff conducts yield performance trials on commercially available varieties either submitted by private companies or public entities. If you would like to learn more about the crops tested by SDSU and the results, please see visit http://igrow.org/agronomy/profit-tips/variety-trial-results/ or contact Nathan Mueller, SDSU Extension Agronomy Specialist at email@example.com.
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text:
For months, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison has been saying that the company's hardware business was going to stop shrinking by February and start growing by May.
Now Ellison is saying something else: The turnaround for the hardware business won't happen until the quarter that ends in August, Oracle's fiscal Q1, 2014. Big growth won't happen until next year.
Oracle posted its latest quarter yesterday and hardware revenues declined by 23 percent from the year-ago quarter, $671 million versus $869 million.
Investors have been waiting since 2010 for Oracle to make good on its $7.4 billion acquisition of Sun Microsystems. Oracle closed the deal in January, 2010. By 2012, with revenue shrinking, it was regarded by Valley insiders as one of the company's worst-ever acquisitions. It also turned Oracle into a competitor with HP, its most important partner. That lead to lawsuits between the two. HP is in court right now, trying to collect from Oracle $4 billion in damages.
Ellison has always defended the purchase, claiming that, "Sun has been, by far, our most profitable acquisition. Sun's already paid for itself."
He said the drop in revenue was planned because Oracle was trimming away Sun's low-margin commodity products to focus on more profitable pieces, what he calls "engineered systems." Engineered systems combine hardware and software, all designed to work together.
It was all going to balance out by February when revenues would stop declining, he promised.
Wall Street generally likes this vision, but eventually enterprise customers need to buy into it, too.
Here's what Ellison told analysts about the turnaround on Oracle's quarterly conference call yesterday.
"We think Q4 will be better than Q3, as far as the hardware is concerned, but I think we expect the turnaround really to begin in Q1, not in Q4, because we have this large introduction of new systems. ....... Again, I think Q1 you're going to see a big turnaround, and next year will be a big growth year for our entire hardware business. The front line and all of the engineered systems."


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FRITZ!Fon C5 Service - Knowledge base
AVM Content
FRITZ!Fon reports "Function not possible during repeater operation"
When you attempt to listen to internet radio or podcasts with your FRITZ!Fon, conduct a call using HD, or update the software, the telephone displays one of the following messages:
- "Function not possible during repeater operation"
- "via Reject Repeater not possible"
1 Cannot use function for technical reasons
If you use a DECT repeater from another manufacturer to extend the DECT range of your FRITZ!Box, the option "Permit non-encrypted DECT connections" must be enabled in the FRITZ!Box. For technical reasons, some functions are no longer available if this option is enabled. Here you will find a list of functions that are not supported.
Important:If you are not or are no longer using a DECT repeater from another manufacturer, or are using a FRITZ!DECT Repeater or a FRITZ!Box in DECT repeater mode, enable the setting "Permit only secure DECT connections" in the FRITZ!Box user interface under "DECT > Base Station". FRITZ!DECT Repeaters and FRITZ!Boxes in DECT repeater mode support encrypted connections.