The Quest for Knowledge and Culture

Now belive me, Johnathan J. Stegeman, when I tell you that I recently won $350 dollars at Slotland.com after only spending an initial $20 dollars!!! 

Maybe I just happened to get LUCKY! 

So then what about YOU?  

Are you LUCKY TOO?

Gambling
is Exciting, Suspenseful, and enjoyable in a "winning" situation.  Luck
seems to be just what the one Gambling, seems to need.  Superstitious
and Suppercilliary to Scientific Method, and Mathematics, perhaps a
lazier way out, lacking any imperative calculations.

To
pray, wish, hope, desire, yearn, or be blessed with a "streak of luck",
are happening all the time, if you just talk to the right people in a
"winning" moment.  Just ask any winner about their involvement in
"getting lucky".  Ask if they had a schematic, or algorhythmic, model
for which to select their winning number combination, as if they won by
fate, and predetermined destination, all along with some "luck" of
course. 

Perhaps such nonsensical belief, in luck as a
determinant, and segregative attribute, is the most compellant and
powerful force in Gaming, Lottery, Gambling, and any other form of
Entertainment that offers a return on an initial investement.  Surely a
more valuable form of information for an investor about to see the fate
of their "aunte", may be the mathematics, and the scientific
reasononing behind the probablity behind their odds at winning.   With
the understanding of probablity, odds, and the chance of having that
"lucky streak!!!", the gamer can make better choices with regaurd to
their monetary investement.  The whole "lucky", is now questionable, as
a real force that can ever be proven as existent.   

As
humans in American culture, and possibly others, love the idea of
"Winning".  "Lucky" is another concept that we enjoy alongside the
entertainment, suspense, and excitement that come along with Gambling,
Gaming, and Betting.

Johnathan J. Stegeman on Art.com

This particular selection of works, I am calling "Winter Blues".  This is the first time that I have ever put a whole set of artwork up for the possibility of sale, and I am excited and proud to present these pieces.  If not a single piece sells, then I can still thank Art.com for letting me believe in myself.  But in any case they do provide an outlet for artists such as myself, that could potentially earn some kind of money from their artwork, and original creation.

What the site does provide, and free to utilize, is the creation of an "art portfolio", to display artwork in the digital world, on the World Wide Web.  Complete with ‘profile information’, gallery displays, and a link to contatct the artist through email, Art.com is simple, and practical, and at no cost to set all this up, is a valid asset to a graphic designer/artist.

 Cryptic Encounters

The Crypts At Fairmount Cemetery

Lately
I have taken interest in magazines, editorials, columns, circulars,
directories, and other mediums where advertisements are present. The
reason that I have been drawn into such material, is that I began to
wonder why there was a need for advertising. Advertisements bring in
dollars, and as a web publisher, this certainly is something I have
deemed worth investigating. Meanwhile, I asked the question about the
need for material to accompany ads. Clearly you can’t have a magazine,
for example, with just ads all through it. Well you can, but those kind
of leaflets are the ones that fall out of the Sunday paper, and are
quickly tossed aside in a mad hunt for the comic strips. But the
majority of material that people actively seek to read for
entertainment, consists of a healthy balance between advertisements,
and articles.

While this may all seem silly and obvious, to me it
became a topic of more thought. I began to read such materials through
a different set of eyes. Questioning the composition, and ratio, of
articles to ads soon became an slight obsession, at least an area of
intrigue.

By now, I had expanded my area of focus, from the
advertisements, to the content, and now I find myself questioning the
whole surplus. Ads to Articles. One existing because of the other. Each
needing the other, to fully function and fulfill their duties. The
articles are there to lead to the advertisements, and the ads are there
so the writers get paid. Aha!!! Get Paid! And that is where I had
realized the potential, that advertising dollars must bring. And to
those that supply their content, for which they exist in, they must pay
quite well. But on the reverse side of the spectrum, they may also lead
to the content, providing subject matter for the authors. The matter of
suiting the content around the ads, instead of the other way around, is
more difficult. for me to imagine. As one who enjoys writing, I had
never thought of such a technique. I always wrote about what I wanted,
but certainly could now respect the method of writing what was wanted.

Writing content to suit ads………or writing ads to suit content.
Certainly both methods can be useful, and appreciated by publishers.
But this is only one concern in the industry. I would soon see that
there was much more to the trade–Freelancing, and for that getting Paid.

So
as continued my assessment, of circulars, magazines, on line articles,
etc…….., the call for writers became noticeable. Never before
seeing, so many opportunities for placement, my eyes were now open to
opportunity. In just about every publication that I picked up, there
was a posting asking for freelance writers, which always
included an address for where you could submit samples of your work for
their consideration. SO it became apparent to me, what the term
freelance was meant to be.

Whereas I always pictured the
writers of these magazines, to be on the staff as regular employees,
this I have learned is not the reality.

All
this was leading me to here, and I have sold one single article for
thirteen dollars all year. But I hope that in sharing, my research with
others, we can all learn something about writing for money. Because it
seems worth it to get paid, for something that you love to do.
Especially if it is such a big part of you. Constant-Content.com Is the place that has paid me. Check it out for yourself, and then you can see!
By: MidiMacMan-Johnathan J. Stegeman.

Here is an opportunity that I
stumbled across on
FreelanceWriting.com:

Like
a needle in a haystack, as there are so many calls for material out on
the web, and in print publication. The reason that it stuck out for me
was their request for "audible digestible" material. Their medium of broadcast is the new and upcoming form podcast,
which is a radio styled program delivered to portable devices such as
ipods. Anyway I have decided to work up some material, as they suggest
in their post. And since I am publicizing my attempt to gain their
approval, I decided to post their ad as they have deemed appropriate:

Freelance Radio/Broadcast Writer, Songwriter, Comedian wanted ASAP

Posted by iToors , Aug 24,2005,15:28

Radio/broadcast writers, songwriters, stand up comedians, poets, journalists: WE WANT YOU! ASAP

Addicted to travel or writing? Have an irreverent style? Want to wake up Happy?

iToors
is the world’s most listened-to travel podcast. (A podcast is a radio
style program delivered to a portable music player). We are seeking
10-15 very talented freelance writers to write scripts that take people
on themed walking and driving tours of the world’s major cities.

Our immediate need is for people to do the themed New York City and Paris (and some major US cities) podcast writing.
The
most important requirement is an incredible ability to write for the
ear (in other words for listened rather than reading). We prefer
comedians, songwriters, poets, and broadcast writers who understand how
to write for an audience that LISTENS.

TO APPLY
If you are interested, please listen to one of our iToors at http://www.itoors.com
then email us with a sample of any writing you have done for the ear.
If you do not have any samples, please write us a 2-3 paragraph sample
of what you would write for iToors. Tell us what city you live in and
what hobbies/topics you have/prefer. Send all to info@itoors.com.

A few points on style & Samples
*
Write using highly descriptive show-don’t tell language that will
create vivid images in a blind person’s mind; evokes strong emotions;
has realistic dialog; avoids cliche’s©s; and sounds good to the ear;
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE avoid cliche’s©s ESPECIALLY travel cliche’s©s:
"nestled in the hills"; picturesque Tuscany; and so on.

*
Write ONE Sample (2-3 paragraphs) specifically written for this
application that is representative of what you would write for us. The
topic should be something you are very familiar with and passionate
about. If you are not sure what to write about, consider these examples
could include: a food tour of Paris, a film tour of New York City, a
trail of John Steinbeck in Monterey, California; an architecture tour
of Chicago; and so on.

* The sample
you write for us should walk a fine line between documentary and drama.
It should have the reality and factual truth of a documentary but the
characterization and drama of a narration. It should avoid cliche’s©s or
the expected content. In other words, if you were writing about
Scotland, we don’t want to hear anything about Haggis, bagpipes or
rain. We don’t want to hear about anything "nestled in the hills."

We want to hire immediately, so the sooner you get your samples to us the sooner we can hire you!

You may re post this anywhere.

We pay based upon a point system that combines experience with amount of work. Typically projects range from $500 to $5,000.

Related link: iToors

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

What
is a Weblog?

A blog, also called a Weblog, is typically
defined as a web-based publication that consists of textual forms of
related articles, commentaries, thoughts, opinions, and recommendations.   Also know as an online diary or journal,  blogs
are authored publications where the information is presented in a
sequential manner (usually reverse chronological order).

The term "weblog", was first coined in 1997,  by Jorn Barger, to describe his process of "surfing" the web and "logging" the information that he encountered.  Barger’s called his site:

"Robot Wisdom"

The birth birth of the weblog, yet ever slow to grow to current maturity, Jorn  Barger is the father of the term "Weblog". 

Audioblog

A blog where the posts consist mainly of voice
recordings sent by
mobile phone, sometimes with some short text message added for metadata
purposes. (cf. podcasting)

Bleg

A blog entry consisting of a request to the readers,
such as for information or contributions. A portmanteau of "blog" and
"beg".

Blog feed

The XML-based file in which the blog hosting software
places a
machine-readable version of the blog so that it may be "syndicated" for
further distribution on the web. Formats such as RSS and Atom are used
to structure the XML file.

Blogfoo

Statements written with an air of generality while
obviously pointed at a specific person or group of people.

Blog hopping

to follow links from one blog entry to another, with
related side-trips to various articles, sites, discussion forums, and
more.

Blogorrhea

A portmanteau of "blog" and "logorrhea", meaning
excessive and/or incoherent talkativeness in a weblog.

Blogroll

A list of blogs. Usually a blogger features a list of
his favorite
blogs in the sidebar of his blog. These lists can be made dynamic using
services like BlogRolling.

Blog site

The web location (URL) of a blog, which may be either a
dedicated domain, a sub-domain, or embedded within a web site.

Blogsite

Sometimes confused with a simple blog
or blog site, but a blogsite
is a web site which combines blog feeds from a variety of sources, as
well as non-blog sources, and adds significant value over the raw blog
feeds.

Blogsnob

A person who refuses to respond to comments on their
blog from people outside their circle of friends.

Dark Blog

A non-public blog (e.g. behind a firewall)

Flog

A portmanteau of "fake" and "blog". A blog that’s
ghostwritten by someone, such as in the marketing department.

Moblog

A portmanteau of "mobile" and "blog". A blog featuring
posts sent mainly by mobile phone, using SMS or MMS messages. They are
often photoblogs.

Multi-blog

Creating, maintaining, and running multiple blogs (2 or
more) simultaneously.

Multi-blogger

An individual, business, or institution that runs
multiple blogs.

Permalink

Permanent link. The unique URL of a single post. Use
this when you want to link to a post somewhere.

Ping

The alert in the TrackBack system that notifies the
original poster
of a blog post when someone else writes an entry concerning the
original post.

Shocklog

Weblogs to produce shocking discussions by posting
various shocking content.

Splog

A blog which is composed of spam. A Spam blog or "any
blog whose creator doesn’t add any written value." The term was coined
by Marc Cuban in a posting on his blog.

TrackBack

A system that allows a blogger to see who has seen the
original
post and has written another entry concerning it. The system works by
sending a ‘ping’ between the blogs, and therefore providing the alert.

Troll

A commenter whose sole purpose is to attack the views
expressed on
a blog, for example, a liberal going to a conservative blog, or vice
versa. Many trolls will leave their remarks on multiple posts and
continue to visit the blog, sparking spirited debate amongst the blog’s
regular readers. Trolls’ verbosity can range from eloquent to crass,
although most trolls probably fall into the latter category.

Vorage

A marriage between the words forage and video defined
as "The act of foraging for video on the internet and sharing it with
others." Bloggers or vloggers who share streaming or downloaded video
content on the web often engage in voraging, scouring search engines
and obscure websites to present a curated collection of videos that
usually fall within a set theme or editorial perspective.

Copyright (2005) Johnathan J. Stegeman

Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify
this document

under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License,
Version 1.2

or any later version published by the Free Software
Foundation;

with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and
no Back-Cover Texts.

A copy of the license is included in the section
entitled "GNU

Free Documentation License".

For a copy of the license, go HERE.