Making comments in MS Word or Helping the Intrepid Critique Master.

When asked to edit/critique someone else’s work, traditionally the editor would take a red pen and use it to make changes, and write comments. In the age of the internet, this is not always possible. Fortunately most newer word processors have functions, that when turned on will allow the user to insert comments and make changes that will show up as if they were made with the traditional red pen. The following tutorial explains how to use these functions in the most recent two versions of MS Word. To determine which version of MS Word you have, click on the help tab, and then select the about Microsoft Word option.

For Word 97-2003 there are two menu options that you need to use. The first is under the Tools tab. Choose the Track changes and select highlight changes. This will show any changes you make to the document as red lines or highlighted. The second option you will want to use is the insert comment option. To insert a comment, move the cursor to the desired place in the document (or select a section of the document) and then open the insert tab and select comment. A text box will open where the comment can be typed.

For Word 2007 the process is a bit different. First go to the review tab and press it. This will display the track changes button as well as the new comment button. There are other options that might be used for critiquing under this tab, however they may not work well when saving the document as a .doc file (as opposed to the .docx file that Word 2007 tries to save files as).

These two simple tools will allow the original user to see the changes that have been made, allowing them to accept or reject those changes. This will be helpful when editing or critiquing another persons work.

qed.

New Services: Grant Writing

grants-writing

We are adding grant writing to our services. We have some experience but we are new to this field. However, our inexperience is your gain because our price is going to be kept low until we get the experience. Plus, we only get paid if you receive the grant. It’s a win win situation for you.

We looking forward to working with you to help your organization succeed in its goals.

Followers Do Not Guarantee Success

Image from socialmediagrow.com

Image from socialmediagrow.com

by Melinda Anderson

Lately, I have been getting offers from social media companies for either free followers or bought followers. Now, I am sure that some of these companies are legitimate and are just like DragonTech Writing. We are all trying to get customers and clients to pay bills.  However, followers  either free or bought does not guarantee that I , or anybody else, will have actual clients.

Followers, no matter what social media site you use, is nothing more than a game of statistics. According to the statistics professor I had in college, statistics is quite frankly a bunch of crap. Statistics are numbers that can be manipulated to represent any kind of data you could want. Of course, those numbers could also be used by competitors to represent data they want to high light.

For instance, I have 382 friends on Facebook, 428 followers on Twitter, 6 or more on Google+ and Pinterest, maybe 10 on Linked In, and over 100 on WordPress. At a glance, the numbers look pretty good especially Facebook, Twitter, and WordPress. You’d think, I’d have at least one client or customer purchasing my services and or product. You would be wrong.

The 382 Facebook friends are a mix of family members, friends, friends of friends, and gaming buddies. I use to be addicted to Farmville among other Facebook games. Only one of the Facebook friends has bought my services but it was for cross-stitch not writing. Out of 382 friends, no one has bought my writing services or products.

Out of 428 Twitter followers, none have purchased anything. Although, I have been asked to review a lot of music by various bands. In regards to Google+, Pinterest, and Linked In, I just barely started to actively use those sites so I probably shouldn’t analyze those numbers just yet.

I know that between my two companies, I have over 100 followers on WordPress. WordPress does a good job at crunching numbers and presenting them in an understandable format. However, on a good day, I maybe get 11 views with 6 visits. This means that 5 people will look at one of my blogs but they don’t stay. Again, no clients or customers.

My point is these, I already have free followers that are not clients or customers. Why do I need more? Further, if I am currently not selling products or services, why would I buy followers with no guarantee of success.

The Pioneer Gold Plaque: Just Another Flawed User Manual by Dan Goldstein

Pioneer 10 Plaque

Pioneer 10 Plaque

The Pioneer Gold Plaque: Just Another Flawed User Manual

I was surfing the net looking for something to post or talk about when I found this article by Dan Goldstein published via TechWhirl. It gave me a chuckle so I thought I would pass it on.