Categories
editing writing non-fiction writing organizing writing revising writing Uncategorized

More on Writing for Machines

I’ve written many times on SEO (internal link) and how as a writer I feel compromised and sad that today’s most important reader is a machine.

Humans don’t collect their thoughts and organize their tasks the way search engines do. Therefore, we have to alter our own preferences to cater to bots and algorithms. Otherwise, a client will not get on page one when Google returns results. And if they are not on page one then they are invisible.

A two, three, or four hundred page website is commonly built for businesses in extremely competitive markets. Say, an injury attorney in Los Angeles, Atlanta, San Diego, or Chicago. (A massive web presence responds to massive compettion.)

Given that digital deluge, let me describe the importance of content to the search engines. After all, content is king. Right?

Let’s assume a three hundred page website covering every basic aspect of law in a practitioner’s field, something often done to implement what is called topic authority. Considering this is The Law, most humans would prioritize on keeping any existing page current. Statutory and case law are always changing and a lawyer always wants to be accurate and up-to-date.

Google doesn’t see it that way.

A brand new page with fresh content on a very minor bit of law will drive that site’s statistics upward more than revising an existing, important page. Go figure.

It is a truly weird world when a lawyer goes to trial with the latest cites and yet their website may discuss old cites.

Given the economies of the day, no lawyer has the budget to continually update 300 pages, aside from those inaccurate pages pointed out by real humans.

Instead, that new page on dog bite law for a particular community, say one of 15 in a large metro that the attorney covers, wins out, stat wise, over updating an important page on child custody law. Why?

Because another page on a new topic has been added to that practitioner’s site. Google favors authoritative sources and it considers a website covering every topic niche to be authoritative.

Statistics prove this again and again. It’s not the way any organized business worker works. Yet, here we are, accepting inaccuracy and maintaining digital libraries with out of date books.

You see the results of this whenever you search on a changing topic like fixing a computer glitch. Advice less than six month old is probably worthless or confusing.

That’s because the article came out before the problem was fixed with an update. Or, perhaps a system software redesign leaves you staring at a blank field where the old advice said a critical checkbox should be.

We can time limit Google searches to help out with our own personal searches. But who cleans up the client’s website? Who cleans up the web?

What next?

Resources

Some of my writing related to this page (all internal links)

More on Writing for Machines (More on business writing for bots and algorithms) YOU ARE HERE

What Content Authority Means in SEO and Why it is Important (Discussing fundamentals of a content authority website)

Do I Need to Repeat Myself? (Business writing must incorporate SEO techniques)

Deeper into SEO (A Berkeley Writing for Social Media course fails)

Who/m are We Writing For? (The end reader today may not be human)

Categories
art books free speech non-fiction writing organizing writing Thoughts on writing Uncategorized Writing by others

Bots Censoring Even Storied, Factual Magazines

Few history magazines are more well respected than American Heritage. Its scholarship, impartiality, and stable of great writers have proven its worth over more than a half century in print and online.

Today, mindless bots and algorithms are now attacking the most mainstream of mainstream publications, censoring writing simply because certain keywords appear. A bot does not and cannot understand context.

Fine articles and reading may never appear in front of you because of these bots. If they can censor American Heritage, then no title or writer is safe.

Stop the Censorship of Mainstream Publications

Edwin S. Grosvenor
November 2020

We urge Congress to investigate the predatory practices of Facebook and Google.
Americans now average more than two hours a day on social media. And given the lack of knowledge about American history among too many of our citizens, it is imperative that American Heritage provide trusted information about our country on social media.

Our shared heritage is what makes us Americans — but companies like Facebook and Google make it difficult and expensive to disseminate trusted information.

Facebook forces us to pay to have our posts seen by more than a handful of people. But these paid “boosts” of our content are often blocked by lifeless algorithms or “reviewers” who apparently have no idea what our articles are about.

Here are some of the American Heritage posts that Facebook has rejected for being too political in the last few months:

Michael Beschloss on the first U.S. Presidents he remembered seeing and the dramatic surge in presidential authority that began in 1933.

Sergei Khruschev’s memories of JFK and the Cuban Missile Crisis from the Soviet perspective.

Susan Eisenhower on Ike’s efforts to balance the Supreme Court by adding a justice of the opposing party.

New evidence about Castro’s possible advance knowledge of Oswald’s plans to murder Pres. Kennedy.

Larry Tye on the first look inside Sen. Joe McCarthy’s secret files.

Ray Locker on newly released files indicating Al Haig secretly worked to have Richard Nixon ousted as President.

Our editorial lamenting vandalism of the statues of Marquis de Lafayette and other patriots.

What idiot can’t tell the difference between this content and disinformation produced by a Russian troll farm?

Google is little better. We have gotten a notice EVERY DAY from them saying we are in violation of their standards since we published Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Joe Ellis’s brilliant essay on Antonin Scalia’s argument on the 2nd Amendment case, DC v Heller.

The ironic thing is the 400 or so emails Google has sent us about this violation do not say what the violation actually is or how to fix it – just that a page at our website of 50,000 pages is in violation.

To add injury to insult, over the last three years Facebook and Google have siphoned off virtually all website ad revenue from traditional publications such as American Heritage, leaving us with nothing but ugly intrusive ads that bring in pennies of revenue.

It is time to stop the predatory practices that are doing real damage to legitimate, trusted publications. We desperately need an electorate that has access to quality education, not just funny videos.

Stop blocking trusted content from getting to readers who want it and need it.

https://www.americanheritage.com/ (external link)

 

Categories
Thoughts on writing Uncategorized video watches

A. Lange & Söhne Lange 1 Time Zone Watch by David Khalil

I’d like to see if putting the transcript of this video at another site (mine), and sharing the video on my site will increase its views. This is not a commercial for David Khalil, I do not know the man but I enjoy his videos. Which seem very small compared to the quality of video he produces. So, over the next few weeks I’ll be watching to see how his numbers do.

This video is quite beautiful.

In the meantime, I have put my Northern California travel log description up at https://southwestrockhounding.com/sw-travel-list/ (external link). You may enjoy it.

The transcript isn’t perfect, by the way, it was generated by YouTube and I cleaned it up a little bit. Not completely. The strange headings were put in by me for, well, let’s just leave that alone for now.

November 20, 2020 5,067 views

5,067 views.

April 11, 2020 1,632 views

Welcome back to the channel guys. I really hope you enjoyed this intro and if you have, please make sure to smash that like button now. Lange is a brand that gave me a lot of hope that a newcomer could break through the marquee and provide us with nice quality elegant looking watches Lange is relatively a young brand and it was relaunched in which puts it far behind other watchmakers but I’m sure we’ve all heard the phrase that age is just a number and in this case, it is spot on: age is just a number while being a young brand is light years ahead of many watchmakers and its functionality design fit and finish are only comparable to the likes of Patek, Philippe and in some case even better.

Do A Lange and Sohne hold their value?

Whether you manufacture watches cars or anything else usually the main objective is the best quality you can in the shortest time possible hence increasing production numbers and being German made that is what you would expect from Lange every part in the Langer movement is finished to the best standards the parts are assembled oiled regulated and tested for accuracy and once the movement passes their standards it’s now ready to be cased also you would think Lange then strips the whole movement apart cleans it refinish polish engrave replace the temporary jig screws with the iconic thermally blue screws then all to be handed to one single watchmaker to put everything back together regulate attest it and once it passes the movement is now ready to be cased and that is what Lange referred to as the two-fold assembly but I like to call it that’s how things should be done.

Who owns a lange and Sohne?

Lange produces around watches a year if you’re new to watches it may soundalike a lot butler me put you in perspective Rolex produces around eight hundred thousandth a million watches a yearend as exclusive as Patek Philippe are they produce around watches years now it looks like a pin in a haystack. Lange could easily double their production by assembling watches only once but that’s not what they’re about that’s not what they stand for they stand for perfection this is the Lange one time zone in rose gold with a silver dial and solid gold hands and applied hour markers the main feature of the watch is the wall time function the problem with complicated watches is the dials are often too busy to the point that they defeat the main purpose which is the ability to easily tell time at a glance but making clean dials is something that Lange has always perfected – this is by far the best and the cleanest wall time display I’ve ever seen on a watch period.

Lange 1 steel

You may not have noticed but this Lange’s eight indicators on the dial large day indicator at one o’clock a large power reserve indicator between two and four o’clock local time zone display at five o’clock with a gold arrow pointing towards Thaiday and night indicator for a local time sub second display at eight o’clock home time display at nine o’clock day and night indicator for home time near o’clock and last but not least a ring surrounding the dial with the city name so the dial looks so cleans if you can add more to it.

Why is a Lange Sohne so expensive?

Let’s compare it to another high-end witchlike the Patek Philippe wall time noting that the Patek has a fraction of the complications that the Lange has on his dials which one looks cleaner to you and which one can you tell the local and home time easier at a glance let me know your thoughts in the comment section below it really is a true beauty both frontend

How do you wind a Lange watch?

back sapphire crystals arenol-reflective and it really helps you admire the beauty of the watch and often find myself taking the watch off just to stare at the movement the deploying class by the way feels superbly solid and is beautifully finished the case is . millimeter wide and millimeter thick although on paper it sounds like a large watch but because of the design of the case and how the lugs curve it really wears more like a or a mil watch it is very comfortable to wear especially with the lever strap and the side pushes are solid and really make it a breeze to set the wall time function and the date and it makes it super intuitive.

How Much Is A Lange and Sohne watch?

I always say Lange make very intuitive user-friendly watches and from my perspective as a watch dealer I’ve seen quite a few movements and I’ve seen inside a lot of watches and one thing I can tell you is to make watch that is super user friendly usually means it’s super complicated on the inside now I’ve been praising longhand this watch quite a lot in this video but this is hardly a commercial benefit in no way whether longer sell less or more watches I just like the brand and I like what they do and I really like this watch and I just can’t fault it, it’s a very well designed watch it is manual wind but before you lose interest it has an hour power reserve; you will not really be winding this watch every day plus I think people misjudge manual binge-watches love the interaction with the watchband actually sometimes I wind my automatic watches just for the sake of it just to hear the gears moving so time keeping how accurate is this watch well the answer is it’s irrelevant.

What is a datograph?

The watch is accurate enough to tell you the right time I’ve been wearing this watch for think two months now and I’ve never had to reset the watch at any point I think you get to a point in hierarchy where time keeping is not mentioned and becomes irrelevant and watches become appraised less like atoll and more like a piece of art and I think that’s where Lange is you often find watches on the other side of the spectrum like Rolex, Omega, and Seiko boasting about time keeping but Lange is past that point when do you ever hear Patek Philippe boasting about the timekeeping of their watches matter of fact since Patek movements have different seal rather than a Geneva seal because they believe their standards are higher and rightfully seven tourbillons nowadays are used for purely aesthetic reasons and just the way of a watchmaker showing off what they’re capable of doing mechanically but if you look at it from a mechanical aspect it’s completely irrelevant when it comes to watches because the idea of a tourbillon was invented to sort out the issue with the pocket watch sitting in one position all day and wrist watches continuously move on your wrist so you don’t actually need a tourbillon but it’s just aesthetically pleasing.

How many watches does Lange make a year?

So if you want the answer of how accurate is this watch very this watch retails at two hundred or so stub as it’s currently under appreciated it goes for around twenty five thousand pounds on the second hand markets it’s quite of a hefty discount so should you buy it hundred percent recommend it especially with simple stainless steel watches fetching double retail at thermometric watch is a complete bargain on the second hand market especially with everything that it comes with it’s a fairly complicated Wachusett’s super clean to look at and also it’s on the larger end so it doesn’t look small on a tall person but also it doesn’t look big on a person with a small wrist it like I said somehow it looks like a melon my wrist and I’ve got a small wrist myself suit’s a watch that you’d really enjoy and think you get the best value when you put your money into Lange watch and I think now is the best time to buy a Lange because I see a great future for Lange and for other classic complicated watches the hype nowadays has been about stainless steel sporty watches but those actual underappreciated gold classic complicated Pateks Langes, Vacherons, the time will come the time will come I really hope you enjoyed the video and if you have make sure to smash that like button subscribe and hit that notification bell so you’re notified next time I put up a video in the meantime take care and see you in the next.

What is a tourbillon watch?


https://www.alange-soehne.com/en/home / Lange & Söhne Lange 1 Time Zone

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClp2j3AN_OWKLqpW4NytyoAA. Lange & Söhne Lange 1 Time Zone Review by David Khalil

https://davidsw.com/ / David Kahill website

https://youtu.be/a2B4pu96CPU / Paul Thorpe website


https://www.instagram.com/tgfarley/
Follow me on Instagram: tgfarley

Categories
Google Tips Thoughts on writing Uncategorized Writing by others Writing tips

Musings on Readability and Consistency

Shorter sentences tend to be more readable than long ones. Since I usually write long sentences in my first drafts (a part of brainstorming, writing whatever comes to mind), my revisions find me breaking those long sentences into shorter ones. The problem is that short sentences tend to be choppy. Not as smooth as extended copy. The trick then is finding a way to make short sentences flow as well as uninterrupted sentences. It’s not easy.

I got to thinking about this while editing and revising the work of another writer. Light editing doesn’t usually change how well a writer’s sentences flow into one another. But I’ve had to make so many revisions for one writer that their posts now sound fragmented and choppy. This is a serious problem. The only way to smooth out their writing would be for them to do a complete rewrite with my changes in mind. There’s no time or budget for that.

The consoling thought, at least for web work, is that ultimately most of us are not writing for readers but for robots. Much of this content generation is for higher search results rankings, the subject of search engine optimization or SEO. I often wonder, as I pen the blog posts I am paid to write, if anyone reads them at all. Or if all those words, no matter the writing style, simply go to improving a client’s website in the rankings. Today, readability may play less importance than coming up on the first page of Google’s search results.

Categories
Google Tips Thoughts on writing Uncategorized Writing tips

Google Makes You Think You Are More Popular Than You Are

Google’s search engine may place your posts and pages higher in returns on your machine than anyone else’s.  If I search for “creative nonfiction,” for example, I find two of my posts listed on their first page of returns. If I search using someone else’s computer, or my tablet, none of my posts shows up after a dozen or more pages.

Google knows me as a user because my blog is linked to my Google+ (internal link) account. (It may also have other ways of detecting my search activity.) Google probably wants me t0 think my posts are popular. In fact, they are arranging their search results to make me look good. Notice, too, how they have my photo? I don’t see that anywhere else except when I search on my machines.

Best advice when assessing your post’s popularity? If you are linked to Google on your desktop or laptop, try a friend’s computer or one at a library.

 

 

Categories
Google Tips Thoughts on writing Uncategorized Writing tips

Tracking Queries With Google’s Calendar

I’m now using Google’s Calendar feature (external link) to keep track of queries. I wish I used it before. It’s a free service with a Google account. You already have it if you use Gmail.

The calendar is pretty straight forward to use. I note each date I send in a query. I then schedule a query follow up in two weeks or two months, whatever is appropriate. I get an e-mail when this happens so I don’t have to keep checking the calendar. Setting up e-mail delivery is a little confusing. First the big picture, then the small. Here’s what part of a calendar page looks like. We’re on the left hand side.

On my Mac, using Chrome, everything happens on the left. There’s a “Settings” feature at the upper right corner of the browser window (not pictured), but that doesn’t control notifications, which is what you want. Instead, look to the left side for those choices. Notice that tiny downward symbol next to the “My Calendars” selection? Click that and you will get to the notification settings.

Here’s what the next window should look like. Make sure you select “email” when you choose your delivery method. Selecting the alternate, “notification”, will only give you a fleeting message on your computer screen. Which you will probably miss.

Google’s calendar feature is fairly simple and free. It keeps me aware of the book proposals, literary magazine submissions, and magazine article queries I make. It keeps past entries so I can always check back later on when I sent something in.

Categories
Thoughts on writing Uncategorized Writing tips

The Dark Art of Newsmastering

My main paid work involves writing blog posts by rewriting original content, usually accident reports from different online newspapers.  It’s the same thing a newspaper does when they take copy from the Associated Press or other press syndicates and turn it into a story that matches their editorial style. If you blog with content from other sources you should know about newsmastering.

Newsmastering means rewriting a story to make it appear original to search engines. Or at least sufficiently different that it warrants ranking higher than a copied article. Google looks for repetition and dismisses same. Reposting without reworking ensures a lower ranking than is possible. The idea is not to write a better story but a to write a  story that appears sufficiently new.

Original Story

A motorcycle rider was sent to the hospital in Bossier City on Friday morning after a crash with a car.

It happened just after midnight near the intersection of Airline Drive and Texas Street.

Bossier Police say the crash left the rider of the motorcycle with a leg injury. He was taken to University Health and is expected to recover.

The driver of the car was not hurt.

No lanes of traffic were closed.

The Bossier City police are investigating and say tickets are pending.

Rewritten

A car versus motorcycle accident wound up sending the motorcyclist to Boosier City’s hospital early Friday morning.

The accident occurred at Airline Drive and Texas Street.

The motorcyclist suffered a leg injury and was transported to the WK Bossier Health Center. His recovery is expected.

The car driver suffered no injuries.

Traffic lanes remained open.

The accident remains under investigation by Bossier City police. They say tickets are pending.

The Results

Using Copyscape’s compare routine (external link) we can gauge our success. Click on the image for a fuller display.

 

While the rewritten article is not entirely original, it is a waste of time to try to make it so, it is significantly different according to the Copyscape algorithm. This does not guarantee that Google or the other search engines will agree, however, this new article is in much better shape to be ranked higher than it would be left alone.

Remember, you are at a disadvantage compared to news outlets, which are naturally ranked higher as a result of their news distributing mission. Your blog needs any help it can get. One last point. When your post is done, don’t forget to add your URL to Google. (internal link)

 

 

Categories
Google Tips Research tips Writing tips

No Universal Browser

Safari is my main browser because it comes bundled with my Mac’s operating system. I also use Firefox for older, legacy websites. But I always thought Google Chrome was the default browser for the net until I read this at a major corporate website. Google is doing a  walkaway from Adobe PDFs, the gold standard for PDFs:

“If you are using Google’s Chrome Browser to view and use our PDF U.S. Mail Request Form, you should be aware that the Chrome Browser uses Google’s PDF Viewer by default, rather than the Adobe Reader application. Our PDF U.S. Mail Request Form may not work as designed in Google’s Chrome Browser due to this default setting. Our PDF documents are developed with Adobe software in accordance with Adobe PDF standards.”

My brother muses that Google developed their own viewer to simplify data extraction for ad sales. The latest workaround seems to be this, if you have Adobe Reader already installed:

  1. Type “chrome://plugins” in the address bar then press “Enter“.
  2. Find “Adobe Reader” or “Chrome PDF Viewer“, and select the “Disable” link for any of these that may be listed.
Categories
Google Tips Research tips Uncategorized

Google Search Trick

I discovered yesterday that Google was returning results from all years by default. I changed that so Google will return results no more than a year old. Use this trick with caution if you are doing deep research.

1. Search as you normally would. This screenshot shows the Chrome browser:

screenshotgoogle1new

2. See the “Tools” option at the far right? Click on that.

screenshotgoogle2

3. Then select whatever time period you would like:

screenshotgoogle3

4. Google now sorts the results accordingly.

Categories
Google authorship in WordPress Uncategorized WordPress tips

Getting Your Photo In Google’s Search Results — Some Hints

Google is adding author photos more routinely to search results if I am correct. See the first screen shot below. Google is quick. That Delaplane blog entry was posted on September 17th and the search result was live on the 18th. But how do you get your photo to appear? Certainly you do not see as many author photos as in years past.

I’ve written on this before (internal link). Search result image pictures are wrapped up in the larger topic of rich snippets (external link), of which Google authorship (internal link) was its predecessor. You make your web page technically friendlier to search. This can get really complicated. Don’t get lost and seek out a webmaster for help.

Your first step, though, should be to set up a profile in Google Plus (external link) and then link that  to your blog. Google Plus very much wants to drive people to their service. Note the URL in the first screen shot. That URL doesn’t link to my blog directly but instead to my Google Plus page. It’s there you’ll see the second image and a link to my blog.

I’m not convinced Google will always associate your photo with their search results but these steps are the only way to make it possible. Google needs to verify that you are the owner of a site and then they need a photo to go along with it. It’s a vetting process. I’m convinced search results with photos produce more clicks. And with everyone competing for eyeballs, I think this process is worth the effort.

 

delaplanescreenshot
Google search result with picture and link to Google Plus.
screenshotgoogleplus
Google Plus web page and link to my site.