The Copywriter Underground

• Facebook's claims around privacy "bullshit" says data portability group expert: http://ow.ly/1SJT5 #
• RT @CopywriterMaven: More work for writers! :) Online dating assistants help the lonely and busy – http://bit.ly/aURHUb #
• Less than 10% of WWII veterans are still alive, so each Memorial Day grows more precious. Thanks to ALL our vets for their service… #

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• News For Biology Geeks: The Top Ten Newly Discovered Species of 2010 http://species.asu.edu/Top10 #
• Borowitz: "Experts Propose Plugging Oil Leak with BP Executives" (Seems reasonable to me) http://ow.ly/1QhRU #
• The anti-fishing report (but we like it): http://fishbeer.com/post/we-built-america/?r=feed #
• Kentucky Fried Chicken tries fifth tagline in 5 years (you're not the only bi struggling with an identity) http://bit.ly/aSZbqd #
• RT @Orchardo: The deadliest bullshit is odorless and transparent. (William Gibson) http://bit.ly/c52BWz #
• RT @CopywriterMaven: 46 CRO/Conversion Rate Optimization Resources for Web Design, SEO & Social Media Expts | SEOptim.. http://bit.ly/aIXRyq #
• Facebook, others caught sending identifiable user information to advertisers – despite saying otherwise. Smoking gun? http://ow.ly/1NZ90 #

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• If you ever worked in an ad agency, you'll laugh – RT: @AdContrarian: Why creatives are always confused http://bit.ly/chsnLl #
• Think TV is dead? Five facts about TV use suggest otherwise: http://bit.ly/aPpKsi #
• On 30 year anniversary of Mount St. Helens eruption, The Big Picture runs stunning photos of eruption: http://bit.ly/cvI5CN #
• Out of work copywriter lands job at big ad agency – by recognizing the power of Google vanity searching: http://ow.ly/1McU6 #
• Pro photographer approached by magazine which wants his pictures… for free. Yet mag charges $1500 for ad: http://bit.ly/a7RSEI #
• Uhh, is a rice seedling in your bra, or are you just growing your own food? (A foodbra?) http://bit.ly/9E2ifz #

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• Hilarious fundraising pitch by Grist: "Save the Endangered Outdoor Journalists": http://is.gd/c7Pq0 #
• ? @SocialMedia411: Four Nerds and a Cry to Arms Against Facebook (NYTimes): http://nyti.ms/9Jn9V4 #
• Facebook "Like" aimed at Google? (Or, Meet the New Boss, Same as the Old Boss…) http://adage.com/digitalnext/article?article_id=143788 #
• Exactly what is bad writing good for? Humorous look at the Internet's #1 product: http://bit.ly/d0bfVv #
• Good Read: Cautionary E-mail Stories from professionals, (oops!) and how to avoid them: http://bit.ly/a8HOn4 #
• Snowing (and sticking) in May? Doesn't god have a calendar? (Upper Sac flows going up to 3000 cfs) http://is.gd/c3BY3 #
• When is the last time you wrote with a pencil? #

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• Wave of power outages wiped out my desktop PC – just prior to discovering a site proposal is due *this* Monday, not next. Send coffee… #
• We've come full circle; I'm spending more and more time excising human-powered spam from my blogs… #

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• Amusing Write or Die app available for Mac, Windows, Linux. Now you can be irritated AND productive: http://writeordie.drwicked.com/buy/ #
• "what’s killing web design is lack of imagination, quite frankly.” Discussion of Killer Blog Design: http://bit.ly/b2FYsH #
• "Some problems in the world are not bullet-izable." (Brig Gen. McMaster on military's PowerPoint fetish) http://bit.ly/btPDQF #
• Happiness Is: Sitting down to build out a client's enewsletter program – and discovering you did most of the work months ago… #
• Running new version of #Ubuntu #Linux (10.04) on laptop. Flawless and fast. Will I ever boot Windoze again? (Unlikely) #
• Anyone using Zoho for calendar, contacts, email, etc? Looking for alternative to Google… #
• Absolutely Stunning! The "Top 40" Nature Photographs of All Time: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ilcptop40/sets/72157623774840478/ #
• Ahh, that magic moment when you finish a client newsletter build and push the "schedule" button… #

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• Another reason to use Linux: McAfee antivirus software freezes Windows PCs (including hospital and police PCs) http://bit.ly/d0Y1yq #
• More typeface humor – this time a "choosing a typeface" flowchart. http://julianhansen.com/files/infographiclarge_v2.png #
• Like to argue (and who doesn't)? Visit the DebateZone.com… http://www.debate-zone.com/ #
• RT @anildash Every CEO of a social network should be required to use the default privacy settings on the service. #
• Die, irritating SEO Myths! http://selnd.com/ctMCKM) #
• Launching a product in the social media age is definitely a "nibbled to death by ducks" experience. So many channels, so many tools… #
• The New York Times Sunday Magazine's best articles… from 100 years ago? Yep – a new one every week: http://bit.ly/ajbhdX #
• Major Pet Peeve: People email questions, but when I reply, I get a spam-barrier message. Two more steps to help them? #
• RT @APStylebook we are changing Web site to website. This appears on Stylebook Online today and in the 2010 book next month. #

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• Writing satire from The Onion: Sad Sack Purchases Screenwriting Software http://onion.com/d9B7MK #
• Hilarious – RT: @amyderby: "Social Media Experts Are Assholes" http://cli.gs/3TQdHq ht @jgombita #
• A Day In The Life of a Googleoid (or, I'm working way, way too hard): http://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/201x/2010/04/12/Google-Vignettes #
• Instants! site adds a pushbutton soundtrack to your day. Weird, funny stuff: http://www.instantsfun.es/ #

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From The Department of Time-Killing Online Diversions comes the OneWord site, which simply gives you one word, an editor, and sixty seconds to write about it.

The results are streamed for all to see:

Not all the results are necessarily pretty (in fact, most are horrifying), but the occasional gem makes it interesting.

It’s yet another online-fueled way to kill an afternoon (similar to the WriteOrDie program, which administers irritating noises when you stop typing).

Still, you can’t watch an episode of Top Chef without wondering if a similar, timed format wouldn’t offer a compelling online competition for writers, who would chop, slice and cook up sentences for general consumption – and a trio of judges.

Keep dreaming, Tom Chandler.

• From the Narrowed Perspective Dept: Worldwide Pinhole Camera Day (April 25): http://bit.ly/9N9RC3 #
• Formerly capitalized "Web" (World Wide Web). Economist Style Manual says don't do that any more. Times change http://bit.ly/aMRgGq #
• RT: @shawngold: OH: I named my new iPad THE TITANIC, so when I plug it into my computer it reads, "The Titanic is Syncing" #
• Using a distractionless editor to get copy written, and enabled the typewriter noises (a reward for getting words typed). I am so pathetic. #

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