Blogging has become a way of life for many people on the Internet today. But has it become so popular that blog posts have lost their significance? I think not. There are some very nice perks that are the result of one’s blogging efforts. I can honestly cite these perks because I have been blogging here at Great Documents for two years now.

One. Friends and readers. This is the greatest perk of all. Over time, people read your blog on a regular basis, especially when you offer quality and original content. Your readers develop an appreciation for you and before you know it, you have a whole bunch of new friends.

Two. Criticism of your ideas. You need to have yourself well anchored, but this perk rocks too. Many times, you can blog about something with absolutely no idea that you are digging a hole for yourself, until someone recognizes your error or mistake. So, you have gained valuable criticism that might save you in the future in some way, thanks to someone taking the time to redirect you or suggest a modification in your train of thought.

Three. Professional recognition. Most people ultimately want their blog to move them forward in their professional area. For sure! However, you need to do this in a way that is collaborative. I try to leave positive comments at other blogs as much as wait for nice feedback at Great Documents. Through the web, the world is becoming a smaller place, and so if you continue to blog with awareness and sincerity, you will definitely make a stand for yourself professionally.

Regards,

Keith

A good Internet friend of mine, Mr. Yuri Belous of Kiev, Ukraine has just finished programming version 3.0 of his well-known freeware application Rapid Typing. This great desktop application lets you systematically improve your typing skills. Over the past several weekends, I have helped Yuri by composing the User’s Guide to RT Version 3.0. It was fun creating the guide and I hope you all enjoy the program as much as I have.

CNET has formally placed this application on its Download Dot Com website.

Click here to download Rapid Typing 3.0 from Download Dot Com.

Click here to download the Rapid Typing 3.0 User’s Guide from Lulu Dot Com.

Note: There are unexpected changes that must be made to the program and sometimes interface, so Rapid Typing has decided to provide a link to Release Notes, which are updates to the existing Online Help (F1 key) and PDF Help file that have been composed.

Enjoy Rapid Typing 3.0!

All The Best,

Keith

In Brad & Deb Schepp’s book How To Find a Job on LinkedIn, the last and final chapter is dedicated to other social networks, namely Plaxo. They suggest that one day we will all know Plaxo as a social networking grandfather because this site came before giants like Twitter and Facebook. Nonetheless, the site continues until today and it is still worth the effort to create a profile and utilize its resources if you are looking for work. Basically, you can take the same approach that you take within LinkedIn, however, you are taking advantage of the Plaxo networks that are available.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Brad & Deb Schepp for sending me a complimentary copy of their book How To Find a Job on LinkedIn. I also want to thank them for granting me permission to blog about its contents and each chapter in detail. It was truly a great experience. You could even say that I blogged in sync with the “Julie and Julia” approach, like that of the acclaimed movie starring Meryl Streep (as Julia Childs). For all of you who are actively seeking work, good luck to you and I hope the past three months on this blog, at least the posts dedicated to the chapters of Brad & Deb’s book, have helped you in some way. It is a changing world, and it definitely is worth the effort to know about where the latest trends reside and are happening. Indeed, LinkedIn, and other major social networks like Facebook, Twitter and Plaxo can help you immensely as you learn their unique features, and can put them to work for you.

All The Best,

Keith

The concept of laissez-faire is usually associated with the Republican ideal of “letting things be and don’t intervene.” Does this ideal really work? Well, after about five years of practice, I actually have some feedback on this. I went through a divorce in 2004 and so from that year on, I see my son on the weekends, primarily. So, during the week, he is with his mom and occasionally I help with test or quiz reviews, but that is it. Essentially, my son is under the authority of my ex-wife, who has done a good job raising him. So, the best that I can do to influence my son is through laissez-faire. In other words, all I can do is give him instructions and tell him that my instructions are for his benefit. If he fails to follow these instructions, then he is the one that will suffer. He is not punished for not following my instructions. Rather, he experiences the direct consequences of studying or not-studying, for example. I have seen my son mature quickly and I notice how he really listens to me now, especially after this five year period.

The business world is the same. We cannot micromanage each other. It simply does not work. People get upset and feel invaded. Rather, we need to work in a collaborative manner and offer positive guidance and instructions for others who share our path, whether it be in school or at work. If someone chooses not to heed positive advice, then he or she will bear the consequences of this good information. Like the old expression goes – you can lead a horse to water but cannot make him drink. Such is the mystery of life, progress, and working with others. Politically, I am a Democrat because I believe the U.S. needs a government to police corruption which could undermine entire industries and markets and I believe that all Americans deserve accessible health care of some kind. However, from the standpoint of work and how businesses operate, laissez-faire does work. So, friends and readers who are Republicans, I am giving you all this one concession.

Dad, if you are reading this post, this one is for you

Dear Readers:

I usually do not do this here at Great Documents, but I would like to mention a great product that I saw on the Internet the other day. It is a website that features Spider Design Office Chairs. Now, this is really cool. In fact, these chairs look extremely comfortable and also seem to be quite affordable.

I am currently in the midst of a move and will eventually want to get myself a nice chair for my computer desk. So, I am seriously considering buying a chair from this website. Most computer nerds (like me) spend many, many hours in front of the computer reading, coding, typing, researching, communicating and more. So, why not treat yourself to a chair that will save your back and neck from unnecessary strain? Indeed, there are some things that are good investments. A quality chair for your computer desk is one, for sure.

Click here to visit the Spider Office Chairs website.

Wishing you all a productive and rewarding work-week.

Stay in the positive

Keith

Since the ancient times of the Old Testament of the Bible (e.g. several thousand years ago) and more specifically since the times of the Tower of Babel, man moved from one language and culture into many languages and many cultures. As a result, there are hundreds of languages and dialects across the globe. I lived in Brazil for more than five years, and in Brazil alone there are several different dialects alone of Brazilian Portuguese. So, what to say of the entire planet. In fact, it is overwhelming when you think about it. So, how do we deal with this proliferation of verbal and cultural expression? Some say translation, but I disagree.

Rather, I say interpretation.

If life was as simple as plugging words in a Google or Bing translator, then that would be amazing. It would also be amazing if other myths of our younger days were true. Unfortunately, things are a bit more complex than they might seem at the surface. To put it simple: the art of working with multiple languages and cultures is not translation – it is interpretation. When I hear something said in English, I cannot express it perfectly the same way in Portuguese. This is because Portuguese is a purely Latin language and the way you think is different.

So, today’s post is in honor of all hard working Interpreters out there. It takes many years of study to be able to work as an interpreter and successfully assimilate ideas, words, and cultural archetypes into ways that different cultures and languages can similarly understand. Keep up the great work

In Chapter Nine of Brad & Deb Schepp’s great book How To Find a Job on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and Other Social Networks, the well-known social network MySpace is presented. Similar to their presentations of Facebook and Twitter, Brad & Deb inform us that you can also network on MySpace successfully and not just that, you can network above and beyond just the social level. You can actually look for a job using the MySpace platform, however you need to learn as much as you can about MySpace and then apply this knowledge to the job search process.

MySpace is not quite a popular as LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook. However, it still appeals to different people for different reasons, and so that is why this social network is still alive and well. MySpace offers its members unique opportunities to advertise and create interesting designs for their pages, and if you can apply this creativity, you just might be able to share this creativity with someone who either is looking to hire or who knows of someone else who is looking for a person with the creativity you have chosen to display on MySpace.

I am not all that familiar with MySpace since I only started working with Social Networking as of 2007. So, at this time, networks like StumbleUpon and Facebook were already well established, not to mention LinkedIn. In short, MySpace cannot be overlooked. When you are looking for a job or business opportunities, you need to consider all viable paths. Brad & Deb essentially are saying in this chapter “don’t forget MySpace”. This is a good suggestion, especially if you feel you have done your best already at LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.

All The Best,

Keith

Click here to visit Brad & Deb Online (book authors)
Click here to visit Pinny Cohen Online (book recommendation)

A friend of mine (Mr. Dennis Chu) from the newly created Google Buzz is the webmaster and innovator of a new website called Goofy2 Dot Com. I recently joined this site, and it is definitely interesting.

Click here to check out Goofy2

This website is a social/open instant messenger that enables users to stay in real-time connection with groups, rather than individuals as they do with Microsoft Network (MSN). Goofy2 is a real-time network that allows people to get connected in real-time with each other, establish and grow their real-time network in an easy way. It also allows people to create robot users on Goofy2. The Goofy2 website provides an API and Robot API for independent developers to create applications.

What you can do with Goofy2:

You can use Goofy2 as a tool to have a group connected in real-time. The size of a group is unlimited if you can handle all the updates and messages. Anyone’s updates will be presented to all the rest in a connected group of people. The number of people may vary from two to two million (so, not really a limit there). You can share updates, conversations, messages on Goofy2 with the very simple-to-use and intuitive IM-like User Interface (UI).

Goofy2 API:

Finally, Goofy2 provides an Application Programming Interface (API), on which interesting developers can build apps that they find useful and fun. Here is the URL for developers:

http://code.google.com/p/goofy2-api/w/list

All The Best,

Keith

Thanks to a good personal friend of mine, Mr. Yuri Belous, the e-book called The Seven Heavens of Success (that I composed about a month ago) is now available in the Russian language. Yuri is the creator and innovator behind the great typing software called Rapid Typing, and he will be releasing Version 3.0 of this program soon. I’ll keep you posted on this. So, for all my readers and subscribers whose native language is Russian, today is your day. Enjoy this new translated version. Many Thanks, Yuri!

Click here to read the Seven Heavens of Success in Russian.

All The Best,

Keith

For those of you who have taken to the new Google Buzz platform, great. Now, as you can imagine, content is going to accumulate pretty fast on this platform. So, a search engine ultimately will be needed to find a specific post, so that you don’t have to go page-by-page into Buzz history to find the post you want to re-read.

There is a brand new search engine that has emerged recently just for this purpose.

It is called BUZZZY.

Check it out and please do let me know your feelings on this new search engine for the Google Buzz platform. Thanks

Click here to check out BUZZZY.

All The Best,

Keith