Are you a visual learner? Do you find it much easier to learn how to do something new if you can see it done rather than just reading how-to? Then WordPress.TV is for you. The recently launched site is full of videos which will teach you how to do almost anything related to setting up, publishing, and managing a WordPress blog.

There are videos for both beginners to the WordPress blogging platform and for the experts and longtime WordPress users. Video how-to categories include Admin, Blog Management, Blogging Tools, Discussion, Media, Organizing, Publishing, Set-Up, Themes, Users, Widgets, and Writing.

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Here’s an example of a video that might help you spice up your blog.

Learn how to display your Flickr images in your blog’s sidebar.

Homeless in Bangladesh

Photo Credit: Md.Saiful Aziz Shamseer

Homeless and Cold

Photo Credit: Bob Jagendorf

Homeless in Atlanta

This gentleman told the photographer that he had been out in the storm the previous night.

I ran as fast as I could; dove into the front of Rays in The City for some cover from all the breaking glass.

Photo Credit: erokCom™

Homeless in Canada

Photo Credit: Wayne Ray

Homeless in Mumbai, India

Could this be someone’s grandmother?

Photo Credit: babasteve

Homeless in Krakow, Poland

He said he is homeless for last 12 years and an alcoholic too and that he used to be a commando.

Photo Credit: Lukasz Dunikowski

Disabled and Homeless

This photo was titled “Bettler.” His name? Sadly, we don’t know but he gave the photographer his permission to take his picture and to publish it so it could be that he also told him his name. I prefer to think of him as Mr. Bettler rather than just another nameless, homeless man on any street in America.

Photo Credit: Matthias Sebulke

Street Sleeper

This woman slept in Rockefeller Center’s subway station from 2001 to 2006. She has not been seen sleeping there since sometime in 2006.

Did she die?
We don’t know about her but we do know that 54 homeless people died last year in Salt Lake County, Utah. “This year’s roll call included nine women. Eric Timberlake was the youngest on the list; the oldest were 71. The average age was 49.”

Photo Credit: David Shankbone

On a New York Pier

This photo was taken during the Great Depression on a New York pier.

Public Domain Image

Homeless - Fatherless

A young victim of war in 1967. Plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose. - The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Public Domain Image

Homeless in Portugal

Photo Credit: pedrosimoes7

Homeless Boy - Uman, Ukraine

Photo Credit: Rooslan Odessa

Homeless in Rome

Photo Credit: Alessandro Zangrilli

Homeless in Germany

Photo Credit: Heptagon

Homeless in Paris

Photo Credit: Eric Pouhier

Homeless in Jerusalem

Homelessness does not discriminate. Young or old, man or woman, any ethnicity; around the world, in any city or town. It can happen to anyone. It could happen to you or someone you love.

Photo Credit: Creap

Homeless in New York 2008

The photographer’s thoughts:

On any given night in USA, anywhere from 700,000 to 2 million people are homeless. United States government is currently spending at the rate of approximately $1 trillion per year for all defense-related purposes. Why can’t be poverty their enemy?

“Lip Service Won’t Help NYC’s Homeless Crisis. There are more than 36,000 homeless people in New York and 16,000 are children… In the wake of the severe recession, homelessness is soaring and the Bloomberg administration is boasting of how well the system is working.”

Photo Credit: JMSuarez

Homeless Veteran - New York

The photographer wonders if this veteran might be thinking, “I love my country… but does my country love me?”

Photo Credit: JMSuarez

Homeless Vet - Atlanta, Georgia

The photographer talked to this man for awhile and learned that someone spit in his face one day, when he asked for a cup of coffee. The photographer bought him some food and this American veteran said (paraphrasing), “It’s people like you that make me keep on going, try to get out of the situation I’m in.”

One man spits in the face of someone who served our country. Another offers him food and drink. Which one are you?

From the US Dept. of Veteran’s Affairs:

Current population estimates suggest that about 154,000 veterans (male and female) are homeless on any given night and perhaps twice as many experience homelessness at some point during the course of a year. Many other veterans are considered near homeless or at risk because of their poverty, lack of support from family and friends, and dismal living conditions in cheap hotels or in overcrowded or substandard housing.

Photo Credit: erokCom™

Homeless Family in the 1800s

Do you think the scene depicted above can’t happen today? Guess again.
From the National Alliance to End Homelessness:

Homelessness among families is all too common in the United States. On any given night, 248,500 persons in families are homeless.

Public Domain Image/Photographer: Giorgio Conrad

Dennis Kucinich:

We have weapons of mass destruction we have to address here at home. Poverty is a weapon of mass destruction. Homelessness is a weapon of mass destruction. Unemployment is a weapon of mass destruction.

Eleanor Roosevelt:

Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home - so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. Yet they are the world of the individual person; the neighborhood he lives in; the school or college he attends; the factory, farm, or office where he works. Such are the places where every man, woman, and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerted citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world.

They Used To Work Here

Does the Mainstream Media (hereafter abbreviated as MSM) tell you what to think and how to feel? They sure as hell try! They lead us down the garden path during every election campaign and, lately, they seem to be planning a funeral for the auto industry.

Are you as sick as I am of the constant spin and OPINION masquerading as news? Once upon a time, News was strictly factual and opinion was called Commentary. If you are as old as I am, you probably remember when televisions news presented an Editorial, often given by a station manager, at the end of a news broadcast. What happened to that policy? When and why did we become so accepting of MSM presenting their opinion or personal take in the midst of news? The line between facts and individual judgment on a subject has become so blurred that many people cannot see the difference.

Here is a good example:
We all know that the Big 3 automakers are in trouble and the government has decided to help them recover by loaning them money. (Just so you know, I live in the Rust Belt and am in favor of saving jobs in the auto industry.) Taxpayer dollars are being used in the effort to preserve an industry. So it is in our best interests - ALL of us here in the US - to see the industry make a comeback.

But how good are the chances of recovery when MSM produces headlines and spin like this?

The ‘Green’ Revolution in Cars Dies Off

U.S. auto firms are getting into the “green” car business at just the wrong time, which is consistent with the rest of their behavior over the last four decades.

Too Little, Too Late for “Green” Big 3?

Pall Hangs Over Detroit Auto Show

It’s the unspoken topic of this year’s North American International Auto Show: How are struggling carmakers going to convince tapped-out consumers that their cars are worth buying?

The headline and article, immediately above, invites (and incites) this type of comment from readers:

Why are the U.S. car manufacturers so glum… they’ve got the American taxpayer to pay their way for them. And that claim by the “marketing” guy, Jennings, that the government is being unfair forcing the manufacturers to make more fuel efficient cars is the standard Detroit nonsense they’ve been spewing for the past 30 years. Excuses and pointing the finger at the government is part of the Detroit culture. And his claim that the government is “forcing the auto manufacturers to spend billions on developing more fuel efficient cars” falls short considering Congress granted the Big 3 $25B late last summer for R&D. Really… the least these useless gits could do is keep their mouths shut while laughing all the way to bank with the taxpayers dollars.

These kinds of incendiary headlines are irresponsible, in my opinion. How many people are reading much more than the headline? Well, maybe not many.

According to Jakob Nielsen:

Skimming instead of reading is a fact of the Web and has been confirmed by countless usability studies.

You can’t tell me that MSM journalists aren’t fully aware that large numbers of people will not read the complete article but will, instead, read the inflammatory headline and skim through the article picking up only bits and pieces. People assume that the News Media reports news. Thus in the mind of the average reader, these headlines and spin become fact and their own opinions are formed as a result. They go on to share their possibly misguided opinions with others and the next thing you know the spin has gone viral. More and more people are then convinced that there is no hope for the auto industry and do not buy American-made vehicles.

Television, print media, you name it… they are all guilty these days of editorializing when they should be gathering and disseminating more facts.

If the Big 3 automakers go under, MSM can pat themselves on the back for contributing to the demise of an industry which once kept many American families afloat in the sea of life, by way of jobs. And in spite of what MSM would have you believe, many of the Americans working in the auto industry do not work directly for the Big 3 but work for parts suppliers at little better than minimum wage. Have you read anything about them lately? No? I didn’t think so. MSM does not see fit to tell their stories because it doesn’t fit into the spin.

Don’t let MSM decide what you should think. Don’t let the News become for you like so many email forwards which are full of half-truths and outright lies. Do as you can do with those emails and fact-check. Look to more than one source for news and information. Then you can have an informed opinion rather than the opinion that MSM wishes you to have.

Photo Credit: Dave Hogg

Do you want to add a YouTube video to a post on your WordPress blog?

Remarkablogger , Michael Martine, shows you how:

Professor Randy Pausch has passed away at the age of 47, leaving behind a wife and 3 young children.

After being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, Randy Pausch wrote the book “Last Lecture” which inspired thousands and thousands of people. His attitude, under the circumstances, was amazing. 

His loss will be deeply felt by many who never even knew him. Viewing videos of him and reading his story made one feel that they knew him. In my humble opinion, he was an exceptional person.

Read more about Randy Pausch and see videos at ABC News.

An Enduring Legacy

When I started this blog, it was intended to be for general rants as well as for ecommerce information, blogging resources, and WHATEVER. I realize now that being a generalist is much harder than you would expect.

To begin with, I am not the most organized person in the world and one must be very organized to cope with multiple topics on a regular basis. I can do multiple topics but not all in one place. It’s too easy to lose your focus when your focus is on too many things at once. I found myself behaving like the proverbial chicken with its head cut off, running in circles and accomplishing little. Hence, there are few posts on this blog.

Having a blog which is too general in nature makes it difficult to find an audience, too. It couldn’t even hold MY interest for long. A niche is necessary to keep readers coming back. If half the time you talk about gardening when your readers are interested in politics, you will lose them as fast as you find them. And where do you promote a very general blog? If I submit this blog to a directory, what category would I pick for it: People who can’t make up their minds? Boring Blogs? Blah, Blah, Blah?

So I am changing direction on this website. A really tight niche is not my goal but I will be sticking to a smaller range of topics.

The phrase Blog Squawks was intended to mean Rants, for the most part. I have very strong opinions about certain things and I don’t hesitate to share those opinions or even shout those opinions. Hence, the term Rants.

The Blog Squawks (read: Rants) will stay and will become the focus. I reserve the right to rant about anything but, mainly, I get passionate about social issues, feminist issues, and, sometimes, politics so those will be the subjects of my rants. Current events in those areas should keep me very busy ranting.

I think I will also keep Resources for Bloggers as a part of this blog. It probably won’t be a big part of it but bloggers read blogs and we can’t possibly be aware of all the available resources to better our blogs. When I come across a helpful resource, I will write about it in hopes that someone can make use of it.

In the next few days, I will be rearranging the furniture, so to speak, mainly changing my header and my categories and tags to better suit the new direction. Some things may be archived in an Old News category and some things may be moved to another of my blogs more suited to that topic.

And I think I will make a schedule for myself. I need one with all the balls that I am juggling at the moment.

7/24/08 UPDATE
Because of the changing direction of BlogSquawks, I am updating this post and changing its Category. It will now reside in the Resources for Bloggers category. While this post has nothing to do blogging, I am putting it in this category because it is possible to use one’s blog to sell items using Google Checkout to accept credit  or debit card payments for you. So you can scroll past the Buyer’s Guide, if you like, and head straight to the Seller’s Guide. I recommend that you at least skim the Buyer Guide so that you will better understand how Google Checkout works.

BUYER’S GUIDE

When you make a purchase online, the merchant may offer Google Checkout as a credit card payment method.  So just what is Google Checkout and how does it work?

The benefits of using Google Checkout:

1. With Google Checkout, you can quickly and easily buy from many online stores and businesses.

2. If you’re using Google Checkout for the first time, you only have to fill out a single page of information once to make your first purchase. After that, you just need to enter your Google Checkout login to make a purchase. There’s no need to re-enter your purchase information or create multiple usernames and passwords each time you buy.

3. If you’ve used Google Checkout before, all you need to do is provide your Checkout username and password to buy.

4. When you buy with Google Checkout, you can track all your orders in one place and shop with confidence knowing that Google protects you from unauthorized purchases.

5. Using Google Checkout is fast and completely secure and confidential. Google is a trusted name on the internet so you can be assured that your information is always safe and secure. Your credit card information is processed BY Google and is not shared with merchants. As with any online transaction, look for the “padlock” icon for your assurance that the transaction is secure.

Click here for a short video tour of Google Checkout.

If you should ever need help with a Google Checkout purchase, there are answers on the Buyer Help Center.

SELLER’S GUIDE

There are several real advantages to using Google Checkout if you sell online.

1. It’s easy to sign up. All you need is a Gmail account.

2. Google Checkout has credit card processing fees which are lower than other payment services. You are only charged 2% plus 20 cents per transaction. There are NO setup costs, monthly fees, or gateway service fees as there are with the services which allow you to process credit cards yourself. For someone with a new business, this is a tremendous help since often you can’t justify the cost of a merchant account when you are starting out. And because you are saving money, you can keep your prices down.

3. If you advertise your business with Google Adwords, you can get free transaction processing for some or all of your Google Checkout sales.

Click here for much more information about Fees and Adwords & Free Transaction Processing.

4. Google gives you several options for integrating Google Checkout with your website. You can send an invloice; add Buy Now buttons to your site; or use a shopping cart. Many of the Open Source shopping carts include Google Checkout now. You do NOT need a merchant account to install a shopping cart on your site.

Don’t have an ecommerce site? Don’t have a big product line and just want to sell a few items without the hassle of installing a shopping cart? Google Checkout to the rescue! You can add Buy Now buttons to any site, even your blog. Or you can list your few items on Google Base & Google Product Search, offering Checkout for payment.

5. Google can protect you from most fraud and chargebacks and there is no fee for this protection. Click here to read more about Google Checkout’s comprehensive protection.

6. Google will Direct Deposit, to your bank account, your money from sales. Learn more about Payouts here.

If you want to learn more about using Google Checkout to sell online or, if you have questions after you’ve gotten started, go to  Google’s Merchant Help Center.

In conclusion, I have used Google Checkout for quite some time, as both a buyer and seller, and I highly recommend it. I process credit cards through Google Checkout in both of my online stores: SoS-Books-Online and SoS Online Bookstore.

Are you looking for information about how to sell on Ebay? While not to be considered a comprehensive guide, I’ve put together my own little FAQ about selling on Ebay. If you are already an Ebay seller, you might want to read this, too. It’s not your basic How-To.
 

It sounds like FUN to sell on Ebay. Is it?

For the opinions of several longtime sellers, read the following thread started by an Ebay member with over 5550 feedback.

You will NEVER convince me ebay is NOT a mess

How do buyers find my items for sale on Ebay?

The short answer is… maybe they won’t.

Am I getting penalized because I’m in a niche?

In the above thread, you will see an abbreviation for Best Match, Ebay’s glorious new search feature. One seller calls it BM. Inappropriate? I think not.

I’ve heard about something called ‘feedback extortion.’ What is that?

Whenever a transaction takes place on Ebay, both buyer and seller may leave Feedback for the other party. After making a purchase, some buyers will attempt to get a better “deal” from sellers by threatening to leave them bad feedback if they don’t comply. They may ask for free shipping or they may insist that the item was Not As Described (even if it was as described) and ask for a full or partial refund, threatening bad feedback, once again, for non-compliance with their demands.

OK. If they leave me bad feedback, I will leave them bad feedback. Knowing that should stop this extortion, shouldn’t it?

No. Beginning in May, sellers may no longer leave negative feedback to any buyer. You will have only 2 options: positive feedback must be left or NO feedback can be left. Understand, this only applies to sellers. Buyers still can leave negative feedback.

Read about this wonderful new Ebay feature here:

One Last Message From Bill Cobb
 

What’s the big deal if a buyer leaves me negative feedback?

Negative feedback, along with so-called poor Detailed Seller Ratings (DSRs), will cause Ebay to disadvantage your listings in Search since, in their eyes, you have become a bad seller.

Detailed Seller Ratings? What are those?

When a buyer leaves feedback, they also may rate the seller on various things such as Shipping Time, Communication, etc. on a scale of 1-5. Ebay tells buyers that a 4 rating is GOOD. However, 4s bring your DSRs down enough for Ebay to disadvantage your listings in Search even though you will continue to pay the same fees as those sellers who are completely visible in Search.

Can I sell to buyers in countries other than my own?

Read this Ebay announcement and the ensuing discussion and you decide.

The International Site Visibility listing upgrade

International visibility surcharges uhhhh what?

One seller comments:

We need to start a thread for:

Bad news from Ebay:

Keep it at the top and just list all the new BS things they change and see how fast and how many of these ridiculous changes they really do roll out.

I would love to see a list and dates for all that has changed over the last few months.

How will I get paid for any items I might sell?

Payments can be made through Paypal - an Ebay-owned company. Check out the Paypal discussion board. Scroll through some of the  thread titles such as:

• WHAT ? Seller MUST take either PayPal or Credit Card? ( yes, I said MUST)
• U.S. Buyer e-check Pending for 16 days, why????
• MARCH IS A GOOD TIME TO SUE EBAY/PAYPAL FOR ANTI TRUST
• Another Paypal Victim……what should I do?
• WARNING!!! THIS COULD HAPPEN TO YOU
• Over 2 weeks for e-check payment to clear?
• Paypal Account “Compromised” and Card Cancelled

Instead of linking to each of these threads, I offer you the Paypal board for many more threads like these:

Paypal Discussion Board

That doesn’t look good. Do I have to offer Paypal for payment?

Yes. All new sellers must offer Paypal.

Sheesh. Any more bad news about Paypal?

Safer Payments Requirements went into effect on March 17th.

What’s wrong with Safer Payments?

Under this new plan, Paypal payments made by buyers may be put on a 21 day hold and you will not have access to those payments. At the same time , you will be expected to ship the sold item anyway.
Read all about it here:

Another Thrilling Ebay Announcement

WOW. Is there anything else I should know about Ebay and Paypal?

Ebay Consumer Awareness Videos on YouTube:

Ebay Hacked

The Death Of Ebay

Ebay Boycott

Paypal Data Leak

An online journal entry:

HACKED EBAY DATABASE “AM-ANY”: ARE YOU HERE?

But I have things I want to sell. What should I do?

100% Free Marketplace  

When you think you have run out of ideas for something to write about, what can you do? When you feel like your Muse has deserted you, where can you go?  

Maybe you aren’t likely to run out of ideas. I know I have more ideas than I will probably ever be able to use but someday I may be feeling uninspired and need something fresh & new. If you do have more ideas than you know what to do with and not enough hours in the day to use them all, then this article may not be for you. But if you sometimes find yourself saying, “ARGGH. What am I going to write about?!?!,” please read on. Or if you are temporarily bored with your usual subject, step out of your comfort zone and you just might find a new niche.

The easiest way to never run out of ideas is to keep a notebook with you wherever you go. Write down every idea or small thought that pops into your head, including those that you think are stupid. Even the seemingly dumbest ideas can often bear fruit. Write them down; set them aside. Save them in an Ideas folder on your computer. Upon later reflection, you may find that one of those ‘dumb’ thoughts does have merit after all. Never assume that nobody will be interested in your idea. If you find it interesting, then there are always other people who will have interest in it, too.

Maybe you were reading someone’s blog post and were not impressed with their ‘dumb idea’ and thought, “WOW! If only she had said this or done that, it could have been an interesting article.” Use that. Write it yourself, improving on the original idea and making it your own. There are no DUMB ideas or BORING subjects.In addition, what might be a silly idea for one site, might work well on another. Maybe you are looking for a new idea for your blog and you come up with one that just won’t work because it isn’t a topic that fits your blog. Think about a site where it might not seem dumb at all because it is related to that site’s general theme or area of interest. If you have more than one blog or website, as I do, chances are it will fit somewhere.

Where to find inspiration

Absolutely anything can trigger new ideas, so don’t be one-dimensional or limit your thinking. Look beyond your own niche. Think outside the box. The next brainstorm is just around the corner. Any time that you find a site that really gets your attention, grab the RSS feed. Later on, when writer’s block strikes and your mind is blank, you may be very glad that you did.

First, let’s look at some fairly obvious places to begin your search. Obvious is good. Any of the well-known news sites, such as CNN or ABC, offer a variety of subject matter, including some that you might not expect. For instance, did you know that the Wall Street Journal has a Health section?

Check out the places where you may be promoting your own articles or blog posts to see what the World Wide Web is talking about.

News and Social Media Sites:

BloggingZoom

BlogCatalog

del.icio.us

Digg

Propeller

Mixx

Reddit

Newsvine

Stumbleupon

At most of the above sites, you will find the Hot Stories on the Main Page. Look for individual categories and tag clouds for your areas of interest or do a sitewide search.

Article Submission Sites:

GoArticles

EzineArticles

MyArticleZine

ArticleWheel

What’s Happening Now:

If you are looking for the latest trends and Hot Topics, try Google Hot Trends or Yahoo Buzz. You can also go straight to the people: pick almost any subject and you will find a message board out there where those who care are discussing it. See what questions or points of contention they have and write about it.

More Internet Gold:

Wikipedia - In the navigation box, click Random Article. Keep clicking that link till you find something that inspires you.

Check out: Featured articles in Wikipedia

“About.com is an online neighborhood of hundreds of helpful experts, eager to share their wealth of knowledge with visitors.”

On the About main page find: What’s Hot Now; Featured Articles; Featured Videos; Special Sections; Photo Galleries; Today’s Most Talked About; Latest From Our Guides; Also From About.com. These change on a regular basis so there is always something new to be found.

MetaFilter Community Weblog
These folks find some fascinating stuff, often unusual and obscure.

Or try Ask MetaFilter where you will find questions about almost any topic and answers given by users. Find a question and answer it in your own article.

Google Videos
Search and browse all kinds of videos, hosted on sites all over the web, including Google, YouTube, MySpace, MetaCafe, GoFish, Vimeo, Biku, and Yahoo Video.

Online Newspapers: 1000s of world newspapers at your fingertips like the Belfast Telegraph. What the Irish in Belfast are talking about may very well give you food for thought and the basis for a new article.

Online Magazines: the world’s magazines at your fingertips. Links to online magazines on almost any subject, both the well-known and the not-so-well-known.

Go to Library Spot where you will find links to the popular Quotations sites. Search for quotations by subject or author. Find a quote that resonates with you and build an article around it.

List of really, really, really stupid article ideas that you really, really, really should not create

1000 things not to write your article about