LeAnneRudy.com

Today’s paranoia lol comes from Friends of Irony.

Continue reading

I wrote an opinion piece for my school’s paper.

The Apple iPad. Besides being poorly named, what is it? It’s too big to work as a phone, but too limited to replace a regular computer. The iPad is Apple’s foray into the realm of tablet computers.

But the iPad, to some, seems to be just a larger, more expensive version of an iPhone unable to make calls.

Although detractors say using the iPhone’s operating system, only allowing Apple approved software onto the device is a mistake, the result is the iPad is easy to use.

For most computer users, the iPad won’t replace the need for a traditional computer, but people who only need a computer for emailing and web surfing might be convinced by the iPad’s accessibility and make it their primary machine.

With its relatively low cost, the iPad might be able to make a dent into the netbook market as well. Apple announced its productivity suite, iWorks, would be available on the iPad, allowing people to create documents and presentations while lounging on their sofas.

But I think the true potential of the iPad is the possibilities it makes on the publishing industries.

It’s no secret book sales have been lagging, and Amazon has tried to combat it with their e-reader, the Kindle. At $499, the iPad costs just $10 more and offers many more features.

While the Kindle might be for people who are voracious readers, the iPad is a gadget for everyone, but is even more vital to those who sell books.

Although some might complain the backlit iPad’s screen is harder on the eyes than the Kindle’s black and white “e-ink,” the fact is the Kindle is only for reading things. It’s not just books-you can get a newspaper subscription on the Kindle-but you could also read the newspaper’s website on the iPad for free.

The Kindle tries its best to imitate reading a book. The iPad has the potential to go beyond that.

Just like the iPod has more capabilities than just re-playing music, the iPad has more possibilities as an eReader than just showing the pages on the screen.

With Internet connectivity, there could be chats built right into the book or special videos created by the author to discuss what’s happening in the chapters. As the Apple App store has shown time and time again, the possibilities are only limited to the creativity of the designers.

While it won’t, and wasn’t intended to affect desktop sales much, the iPad might prove to be a tough competitor for the netbook market, and will definitely give the Kindle a run for its money.

Continue reading

Continue reading

video, zombies

I’m sure you’ve seen this already from the ever-popular fail blog, but just in case you haven’t:

Continue reading

This week’s lol comes from the genius that is This is Photobomb.

Continue reading

lol, photos, wtf

So, since what I want the most to be is a writer, I thought I’d try to post some sort of writing every week. Constructive criticism is appreciated.

This was written a year or so ago when I was taking a Myths & Legends class.

Continue reading

myth, poem, writing

Now that I’ve posted my writing tips, I thought I’d cover that important facet, the bane of the newspaper writer’s existence, that thing that copy editors have nightmares about. What I’m talking about, of course, is AP style. Of course, I can’t cover everything in a blog entry (that’s what the stylebook’s for, silly), but after a semester as a copy editor, I can fill you in on some of the most basic mistakes.

Dates You don’t need to put in the day of the week and the date. Choose one or the other. I usually would put in the day of the week if it’s in the next three days, otherwise put the month. If you’re writing for the web, just stick with the date. Also, you don’t need to spell out the month unless it’s standing alone.

His birthday is Sept. 22.

His birthday is in September.

it’s/its This one’s an easy mistake to make. Just remember, you don’t need an apostrophe unless you’re contracting “it is”

It’s a shame we don’t know its name

Less/Fewer If you can count the thing, use fewer. If you can’t, use less.

I have less flour than you.

I have fewer flowers than you.

That Try not to use it. You can tighten up your writing a lot by just deleting it whenever possible.

Web site This is how you refer to a link on the Internet. Also, capitalize Internet.

Years You don’t need an apostrophe when referring to an era.

Yeah, it’s like she’s still in the 1960s

States This is one you need to check EVERY time you’re not sure. AP state abbreviations are not the same as the Post Office’s, so double check to make sure you’ve got it right.

Times Use a.m. and p.m. after numbers except for noon and midnight. You don’t need to write out the minutes if the time is on the hour.

They played our song at midnight.

They played our song at 12:10 a.m.

They played our song at 1 a.m.

Quotes Whenever you quote someone, you always format it “________ said.” Never use “said ___________,” “___________ stuttered,” “_________ rapped,” etc. Also, for the most part, punctuation goes within the quote marks. The exception is the question mark, but only when the article is asking the question and not the speaker. In that case, it’s usually better to reword it anyway.

“My Chemical Romance is not emo,” frontman Gerard Way said.

Did David really say “You are the most depressing person I’ve ever met”?

I know I’ve missed lots, but these are the ones that I remember seeing a lot. If you can think of more, comment, and I’ll see if I can eventually do another blog on this. Please forgive any mistakes I’ve made. I seem to only find motivation to blog when I’m dead tired and should be sleeping instead.

Continue reading

how to, newspapers, writing

So, I’ve been writing for my school paper for the past year and a half, and I thought I’d share some things I have learned about writing to any others out there who are looking for help. These mostly apply to writing news/feature-type articles and are mostly based on my observations and things I’ve found to help me.

1. Determine early who you want to interview and make appointments. I will admit it, I hate just calling people up to ask them for an interview. When I first started writing for the paper, I was terrified of talking to people for interviews, but I found that it was a lot easier if I made an appointment and was expected. I’ve found that people tend to give much better interviews if they have a chance to prepare and think about what they want to say in their interview. This is especially true if you’re interviewing students who maybe don’t have as much practice talking to reporters as a professor or public relations person. For me, I used to get my stories on Monday, send out an email that night to whoever I was supposed to contact. I would usually hear back from them by Tuesday or Wednesday, set up an interview for Thursday or Friday, and have my story written by Saturday morning. I realize this wouldn’t work for a breaking news story, but I mostly wrote feature-type stories. It also gave me time to research the topic, which brings me to:
2. Make sure you know what your story is about. Stories turn out much better if you have at least a working knowledge of what’s going on in them beforehand. You don’t have to become an expert on the subject, but if you’re writing about an upcoming play, at least google it before your interview. If you have no clue what’s going on, a lot of times your interviewee will get really annoyed with you.
3. Write down your questions ahead of time, but be willing to go with the flow. This is also where knowing your topic pays off. If you know what’s going on, you are definitely more able to ask relevant questions. This does not mean that you should only ask the questions on your list. Listen to what the person you’re interviewing is saying, and you might get something unexpected or even an idea for another story.
4. Bring a recorder. If you can get your hands on one, a recorder is very helpful, especially if you are handling a touchy issue or something you’re not familiar with. Taking notes is definitely a good skill to learn, but it’s a lot easier to glean quotes from a recording. Also, notes are subjective, because it’s what you, the reporter, hears. With a recording, you can verify that what you took away from the interview was what the interviewee intended.
5. Be as polite as possible. While this might seem obvious, it’s just very important to remember that the people you are talking to are taking time out of their schedule when they could be doing something much more interesting. Also, I’ve found that people are much more willing to help you out and open up if you are polite.
6. Make sure you get enough information for the article. This one takes some practice. Depending on who you’re writing for, you will most likely have a word count that you have to reach. Make sure that the people you talk to are giving you enough information, quotes and content to make your story long enough. Listen throughout the interview for things that sound quotable in the article. If you don’t think you have enough, then try to find someone else to interview or dig up some more background information. Nothing’s worse than having a 450 word article due in an hour, and only having 200 words.
7. Start with the most compelling aspect of the story. This is the classic inverted-pyramid style story, but it’s the industry standard for a reason. You want to hook readers with the most important information first.
8. Read your article out loud to make sure there are no easy mistakes. I’m just as guilty as the next person at this, but if a semester of copy editing taught me anything, it’s this. Make sure to check for homonyms and tricky words like your/you’re and they’re/their/there.

If you have any other things that you’ve found, I’d love to hear them in the comments.

Continue reading

Add new tag, how to, newspapers

Okay, I know that to some RSS may sound like generic computer mumbo-jumbo, although it does stand for “Really Simple Syndication.” What RSS does is takes the content from sites and puts them in one convenient place for everyone to view.

So, I figured I’d do a quick tutorial of Google Reader. I use Google Reader because I can access it from any computer. If you’ve got a Google account, you’ve already got a ready-made RSS reader just waiting.

Step 1:

Go to http://reader.google.com and log in.

Step 2.

Go to a site you’d like to receive feed from (I picked English Fail Blog), and find the RSS button. Most blogs have either a button (like the one pictured) or a text link to a RSS page. Best places to look are in the content bar and on the bottom of the page. (Yes, sometimes they can be a little bit tricky to find.)

Continue reading

how to, tech, tutorial