Category: blogs

CANCEL me in 2022

On By Rick McIn blogs, ethics, Facebook, Google, government, human rights, TwitterLeave a comment

If you are irked that I call Donald Trump the fat golfer, please stop following my posts.

After a lifetime study of comparative religion, Joseph Campbell concluded that the best course was to Follow your Bliss. Make a list of those things in your life that you most enjoy; those things that enervate you, compel you; interest you in a sustained way. Do them!

Make a second list of those things that vex your existence. How can you avoid or minimize those? CANCEL them.

When in office I mostly called Trump the toddler President — rash, undisciplined, selfish, spoiled. Out of office fat golfer better sums up my opinion of him in a short, colourful way. Trump is the master of name calling. Since he does it, I feel it’s ethical to reciprocate.

The Ugly American

I believe in freedom of speech. The fat golfer can say whatever he wants on his golf course. BUT not in my home. Not on my blogs. Nor my social media feeds.

I also believe in the freedom to NOT listen to speech.

Since Rush Limbaugh — the Big Fat Idiot — popularized the notion of cancelling people in the 1980s, the word cancelled has become increasingly loaded. And increasingly meaningless.

Though I’m left leaning, I haven’t yet cancelled JK Rowling, Woody Allen, Jordan Peterson and many more. You should if they irritate you enough.

I AM quick to unsubscribe to organizations and people I believe are distributing dangerous and/or unethical content online.

Certainly the American GOP / FOX money making machine picks a new Mr. Potato Head to cancel every day. Gots to keep their mostly old, white supporters angry. (That story was fake news, by the way.)

The best coverage of this issue I’ve heard is on my favourite podcast – Reputation.

Reading the Room – On the Media

An old threat has returned to classrooms across the country — and it’s made of pages and ink. On this week’s On the Media, hear what it means to ban a book, and who has the right to choose what kids learn. Plus, meet the student who took his school board all the way to the Supreme Court in the 80s.  1. Kelly Jensen, editor for Book Riot who writes a weekly update on “book censorship news,” on what it means to ban a book. Listen. 2. Jennifer Berkshire [@BisforBerkshire] and Jack Schneider [@Edu_Historian], hosts of the education podcast “Have You Heard,” on the rights—both real and fictional—of parents to shape what their kids learn. Listen. 3. OTM reporter Micah Loewinger [@MicahLoewinger] takes a deep dive into our nations history of taking books off shelves, with the 1982 Supreme Court decision in Island Trees School District v Pico. Featuring: Steven Pico, then student and plaintiff in the case and Arthur Eisenberg, New York Civil Liberties lawyer, who represented him. Listen. Music:Tymperturbably Blue by Duke EllingtonYork Fusiliers by Douglas Monroe & Yorktown Fife and DrumsEye Surgery by Thomas NewmanViderunt Omnes by The Kronos Quartet
  1. Reading the Room
  2. Erectile Disappointment
  3. Handle with Care
  4. Under The Table
  5. The Cold Shoulder

I don’t like Instagram

On By Rick McIn blogs, photos, product complaintsLeave a comment

I’d avoided this Facebook social media alternative — until the pandemic. It’s very popular with outdoor recreation folks so I started posting near daily on @BestHikeVisuals.

Day 1 was November 9, 2020.

It’s shocking how limited Instagram is compared with Facebook. For example:

  • until recently, it was super difficult to post from a computer
  • Instagram images sometimes don’t show on browsers with ad blockers installed
  • you have no control over the sizes of thumbnails. They often look stupid.
  • Instagram videos are often poor quality and look bad when viewed from a computer rather than a phone

I’m up to over 300 posts now. And it is rewarding to quickly scan all of those. And there are some very good photos.

But many of the coolest influencers in 2021 are posting less to Instagram. Looking to TikTok and other social media.

I subscribed to Envato Elements

On By Rick McIn Apple, blogs, product endorsements, videoLeave a comment

Of many competing services offering online digital assets, Story Blocks is most famous. And advertises the most.

But I was convinced to join instead less expensive Envato Elements US $198 / year. Both work with Final Cut Pro, my software.

They provide licensed images, audio, videos, graphics, plugins, fonts, logos, tutorials, 3D, graphic & video templates, presentation templates, infographics and much more. I’ll be including those in my videos, websites and presentations.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

One of the main things I like about using their digital resources is the simplicity of licensing. I’m much less worried that YouTube — sometime in future — might take down my YouTube due to copyright complaint.

Click PLAY or watch it on Vimeo.

related – Competitors & Alternative To Envato Elements

Photo quality on this site

On By Rick McIn blogs, photosLeave a comment

When you upload photos to the internet, sites often reduce quality to make the page load faster.

Here I’ll upload the same original photo in three resolutions to see if the FINAL displayed image improves.

5472×3080 pixels original
1280×721 pixels original
640 by 361 pixels original

I can see a big difference between the original being 5472 as opposed to 640 pixels wide.

But the 1280 pixel version is pretty close to the 5472. When I checked, WordPress display default had reduced both the top two: 885 pixels wide.

IF I link to the original photos, however, someone keen enough to click could get a copy of the highest resolution available.

Some recommend I upload at about 1280 pixels. 80Kb-100Kb file size, at most.

If and when I switch to a theme that allows full-width images, WordPress recommends those be uploaded as originals with at least 2000 x 1200 pixels.

I’ll keep experimenting.

WordPress.com Block Editor

On By Rick McIn blogs, photos, product endorsementsLeave a comment

38% of the web is built on WordPress.

More bloggers, small businesses, and Fortune 500 companies use WordPress than all other options combined.

All my sites are hosted on WordPress.com and I wouldn’t go anywhere else.

As a long time user, I’ve been reluctant to switch to the BLOCK EDITOR when writing these post. I stuck with the Classic Editor, as did many others.

In this post I’m again testing the BLOCK EDITOR based on a recent WordPress.TV tutorial. 

Column 1

Column 2

Column 3

Making rows like those above are much easier. Choosing colours easier, as well.

That line above is easy to add, as well.

One thing I like about the Block Editor is being able to more easily make a photo gallery. These images are all provided free through the Block Editor.

With the old editor I didn’t have much control over images.

Using the Block Editor I can more easily edit this image, for example.

That said — many of us feel forced by the host company to use something called the Block Editor to write posts like this rather than the Classic Editor we used in the past.

On By Rick McIn blogsLeave a comment
RickMcCharles.com is a blog.
This is just one of a chronological series of posts on this blog.
Here are a series of recent posts on this blog:
Roger Ebert, Arianna Huffington and many other serious writers used the word blog when they mean post. … That’s wrong.
You shouldn’t say “READ MY NEW BLOG ABOUT THE RESTAURANT”. 
You’ve got no cred as a blogger when you make that mistake. 😊
noun
1. a regularly updated website or web page, typically one run by an individual or small group, that is written in an informal or conversational style.
verb
2. add new material to or regularly update a blog.
“it’s about a week since I last blogged”