Ahhh.....Graduation!

Just a quick self-congratulatory posting. I finally finished my Master's degree in Technical Comunication last week. What a great feeling. Although it really didn't take me that long (5 semesters), I was quite ready for it to be done. Like the glutton for punishment that I am, I'm already looking into the next phase of my education! I am pretty interested in taking the Web 2.0 Technologies certificate course offered at St. Paul College. I have approached my employer about tuition reimbursement, and have gotten a tentative favorable response. I think it may be a go! After that, I am considering getting some kind of technical degree- maybe in graphic or web design, to help balance out some of my theoretical knowledge.

Making Your Blog Work For You

I just read a good article on the Microsoft Small Business Center website about using your blog to generate some income. There are 5 basic ways to do it, and the author spells them out here. Here is a quick rundown:

• Sell advertising space on your blog
• Help sell others' products
• Solicit contributions from readers
• Market your own services in your blog
• Build an existing customer base

I think I would be comfortable doing of these except for the solicitation. I have seen many blogs in which the authors do that, and to me it is merely begging for money. I can go many places for information- blogs are just one medium out of many. If the person blogging chooses to share information/opinions with the blogosphere, that is their choice. I don't feel particularly obligated to pay for that.

WAYN

A friend of mine recently sent me an e-vite to joing WAYN (Where Are You Now), a Web 2.0 site which tracks the countries you have been to on trips. Like many other social sites, WAYN allows users to upload profiles and photos. Users can then search for friends who may be on the site, as well as send and receive messages using email, discussion forums, eCards, and WAYN IMing.
One feature I enjoy is the virtual map which allows me to see where each of my contacts is located around the world. It is a great way to keep track of friends while they are traveling. There is also a blog feature that I have yet to explore- I think I need to limit the number of sites where I am blogging, or I would feel compelled to update on several sites!

A little cautionary note, however. The site has taken some criticism for the option of adding friends via your email address book. WAYN then sends out automatic inviations which many view as spam. I have not been able to figure out how to turn this feature off, and all my contacts did in fact receive an e-vite. I am not sure how many of my friends were annoyed by this or not.