Dino Baskovic Can’t Lose

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February 12, 2010

Weatherproofing my writing


Photo by Tim Samoff

My mind is swirling with ideas lately, moreso than normal.  I go to bed dreaming up all manner of hair-brained schema, theorems and mousetraps.  And, when my conscious least suspects, the ultimate escape-from-reality plan.  Should any of you find yourselves wanting to part with a prototype RAH-66 Comanche and a gorilla that can mix drinks, then Skype me.  No questions asked.

I am toying with writing my first book, submitting to The Rapidian -- a new hyperlocal in Grand Rapids, Michigan -- and testing a new online strategy for myself.  Yes, that whole personal branding thing that I'm trying to give its fair shake.  In short, sharpening the proverbial blade that will reach far beyond blogging.  Killing two birds with one stone, I want to get those lost manuscripts locked up in my noggin and put them onto paper.  Make that a Kindle.

Getting published has been a big deal for me ever since I was faculty at Lawrence Tech near Detroit.  Not like it was "publish or perish" for us lowly adjuncts but I nonetheless felt a wee bit of pressure.  I taught web design for eight years and felt it necessary on occasion to edit a textbook, do some interviews, score a byline or two.  Looks good on a CV and gets me on stage once in a blue moon. 

I figured a better fit would be to write for web design-related sites such as SitePoint and WebMonkey that I naturally plugged in my syllabus.  Proving grounds for technical articles, POV pieces on best practices and code examples.  I'll be damned if I ever got around to any of that.

So when this hit my inbox earlier today, I was thrilled that SitePoint remembered I still had an account:

Showcase your Expertise to the World!

SitePoint strives to be at the forefront of new ideas, emerging challenges, and cutting-edge technology on the Web. We are always looking to partner with writers to bring these messages to the web development community.

If you’ve got an idea for an article or a book we’d love to hear from you!


"Perfect," I thought.  I'm not the command-line hero I once was, but it would be nice to get back in the game.  All well and said until I further read:

If you’re able to write an article about any of the following topics, we’d love to hear from you!

Client-side Topics

  • CSS frameworks (CSS-based, or CSS-generating)
  • modern CSS techniques & practices
  • CSS3
  • CSS/HTML/JavaScript for mobile devices (especially iPhone)
  • HTML5
  • HTML Email
  • microformats
  • RDFa
  • Raphael
  • Google Closure

Server-side Topics

  • PHP frameworks (CakePHP, CodeIgniter, symfony, ...)
  • content management systems (Wordpress, Django, Joomla, Expression Engine, ...)
  • ecommerce frameworks (Magento, Shopify, ...)
  • Ruby on Rails (tutorials, scalability, Case Studies)
  • identity (OAuth, Facebook connect, OpenID, Twitter, ...)
  • nginx web server (especially use with PHP)
  • web hosting (configuration, tools, reselling, ...)

Web Design Topics

  • Photoshop tips
  • web design trends
  • practical web design tutorials
  • web fonts and typography
  • design tips for developers

Business Topics

  • web site case studies
  • shopping cart options
  • customer management
  • managing transactions
  • pricing on the web
  • landing page design
  • website/retail integration
Eeck. These days, I can speak to a third of these topics with any degree of authority. Though I taught this kind of stuff in my sleep, I don't keep up with the latest coding techniques as I once did.  I'm too busy waging backroom battles to be fully immersed in the dark arts of design and development.  And maybe that's okay.  I still know enough to be dangerous and have the common sense to sub the rest.  One of the few perks of middle management and if it frees me to write, so be it.

So maybe SitePoint's no longer the best fit for me.  Nor is WebMonkey, though I still need that gorilla.  I bet I can find something to write about.  It might be business, but it may be bacon.  Or bologna.  Even baloney. 

Either way, drop me a line if you have some insights and Skype hasn't yet deactivated your unused credits.  I can't promise every piece I write will be riveting, but it's better than letting my works get rusty.

Filed under  //   blogging   education   higher education   journalism   personal brand   publishing   writing  

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February 9, 2010

My wife sums up Technorati

I don't get Technorati.  It confusing.  How do I find blogs with this?  Androids and widgets, am I suppose to use those or what?

Filed under  //   blogging   fail   search   seo   technorati  

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January 10, 2010

"TiV'o!"

UPDATE: Okay, so nobody saw the Cardinals-Packers game going into historic overtime.  Lesson learned: Never, ever, ever rely on a DVR when taping a show that could be bumped by two wild card contenders dueling to sudden death.

Thanks to Hulu, I can watch last night's "Simpsons" 20th anniversary retrospect with limited commerical interruption.


And thank you, social media, for not letting me forget that "The Simpsons" still very much exists.

via cnn.com

My blogging staycation turned into more of a social media sabbatical, but so be it. "Twenty Ten" promises to be a banner year for Yours Truly, care of a long overdue online makeover. More on that in some coming posts, but first a bit of unfinished business from late last year.

Isn't this just the coolest info-graphic you've ever seen? At least I think it is. It was from a CNN.com article from Dec. 14, 2009 arguing whether "The Simpsons" franchise can last much longer. And while I scoffed to my Facebook friends that Mitch Albom cameos don't an animated comedic legacy make, it matters little to the millions of fans that will tune in tonight for the series' 450th episode, entitled "Once Upon a Time in Springfield."

Anyway, I meant to post this weeks ago, but was too busy being dragged away from my blog by my wife, bless her heart and holiday honey-do list. (That, and we had to catch up to tons of "Family Guy" on our TiVo.) Here's wishing another 20 years of health, happiness and humor to the citizens of Springfield and the entire Simpsons universe.

And I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords.

Filed under  //   2010   blogging   infographics   pop culture   the simpsons  

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November 6, 2009

My wife talks dirty

At long last, I drag my spouse kicking and screaming into the blogosphere.  And she likes it that way.

Laptop Confessions is a blog for the guilty conscience in us all.  The first post is all trash talk and it gets tawdier from there.

I'd tell you more, but it's late and she's dimming the lights...

Filed under  //   blogging   environment   family   fitness   green   social media   wellness   wine  

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November 2, 2009

The absurdity of embargoes (via Newsvetter.com)

via newsvetter.com

A mildly arrogant critique on the time-dishonored PR tradition of press release embargoes from Mike Yamamoto, founder of CNET News.com — but then again, I am just as arrogant.

If there's one subject that will always elicit a frothing response from me, along with politics and sports, it's embargoes. Whether it's the kind that restricts news or bans Cuban cigars, I would rise from my deathbed to vilify either atrocity.

In a nutshell, an embargo is a time stamp affixed to a press release or other official statement that tells the media "thou shalt not report upon until thy time stamp hath passed."  For years, the press halfheartedly agreed to the practice, but these days it's akin to post-dating a check. The all-too-tempted recipient will just cash it regardless of what you or the bank say, and you will suffer the consequences.

Quite frankly, I believe embargoes still have their place, given the right relationship with the right reporter. There is something to be said about offering exclusives. Then again, I've had editors break embargoes over reporters' heads, and bloggers flatly admonish the practice. That said, I don't bother with them anymore. Way too risky when a well-intentioned embargo could turn corporate communications into crisis communications.

Filed under  //   blogging   embargo   media relations   public relations  

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October 12, 2009

Lazy Monday

What up, Parns?  I am such a slacker that I meant to post up yesterday just for the word play but couldn't make my own midnight deadline.  A precocious 5-year-old with a 104-degree fever will do that to a daddy's blog.

And slack I shall.  I have a few posts in mind (e.g. customer service clashes with PR, the web wages war with the AP, bloggers do battle with the FTC) but each of those require more research and writing than can be done in 140 characters or less.  Therefore, it is with great pleasure that I shoot off a few bullet points from other blogs at random, merely because I can:

See, this was good.  Cathartic, self-serving and an utter waste of time -- like most tweets.  Not a lick of context nor any real purpose.  I should scrape off my feed reader more often.  This is crazy delicious fun.

UPDATE: Gizmodo's review is the best.  True dat.  Double true.

Filed under  //   blogging   caffeine   data portability   facebook   google   saturday night live   social media   withdrawal  

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