blog homepages that are cool
https://vladmihalcea.com/
Home - Vlad Mihalcea
2018-12-27
Vladmihalcea
<div><div><p>My name is <strong>Vlad Mihalcea</strong>, and I’m a <a href="https://blogs.oracle.com/java/new-java-champions-in-2017"><strong>Java Champion</strong></a>. I wrote the <a href="https://vladmihalcea.com/books/high-performance-java-persistence/"><strong>High-Performance Java Persistence</strong></a> book, which became one of the best-selling Java books on <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/973022823X"><strong>Amazon</strong></a>.</p><p>I'm currently developing the amazing <a href="https://vladmihalcea.com/hypersistence-optimizer/"><strong>Hypersistence Optimizer</strong></a>, and in my free time, I develop various open-source projects (e.g. <a href="https://github.com/vladmihalcea/hibernate-types"><strong>Hibernate Types</strong></a> and <strong><a href="https://github.com/vladmihalcea/flexy-pool">FlexyPool</a></strong>) and answer questions on <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/users/1025118/vlad-mihalcea"><strong>StackOverflow</strong></a>.</p></div></div>||||I|||| ­

 Vlad Mihalcea

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 Hi!

 My name is Vlad Mihalcea, and I’m a Java Champion. I wrote the High-Performance Java Persistence book, which became one of the best-selling Java books on Amazon.


 I'm currently developing the amazing Hypersistence Optimizer, and in my free time, I develop various open-source projects (e.g. Hibernate Types and FlexyPool) and answer questions on StackOverflow.


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 I've been blogging since 2013 about Java, JPA, Hibernate, Spring, SQL, and database systems (e.g., Oracle, SQL Server, PostgreSQL, MySQL).

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 I wrote and published a book called High-Performance Java Persistence, which has been read by thousands of Java developers all across the world.

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 I've been publishing several video courses based on my High-Performance Java Persistence training material, which you are going to love.

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My name is Vlad Mihalcea, and I’m a  Java Champion . I wrote the  High-Performance Java Persistence  book, which became one of the best-selling Java books on  Amazon . I'm currently developing the amazing  Hypersistence Optimizer , and in my free time, I develop various open-source projects (e.g.  Hibernate Types  and  FlexyPool ) and answer questions on  StackOverflow .
Home - Vlad Mihalcea
https://vladmihalcea.com/
https://rootsofprogress.org/
The Roots of Progress
2021-01-25
None
<div><div>
 <h2>Why study progress?</h2>
<p>The progress of the last few centuries—in science, technology, industry, and the economy—is one of the greatest achievements of humanity. But progress is not automatic or inevitable. We must understand its causes, so that we can keep it going, and even accelerate it. <a href="/progress-studies-a-moral-imperative">Read more »</a></p>
<h2>We need a new philosophy of progress</h2>
<p>In order to make progress, we must believe that it is <em>possible</em> and <em>desirable</em>. The 19th century believed in the power of technology and industry to better humanity, but in the 20th century, this belief gave way to skepticism and distrust. We need a new way forward. <a href="/a-new-philosophy-of-progress">Read the essay »</a></p>
<h2>Subscribe</h2>
<p>Get essays and announcements by email:</p>
<p>Or via Twitter (<a href="https://twitter.com/intent/follow?screen_name=rootsofprogress">@rootsofprogress</a>), Reddit (<a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/rootsofprogress/">r/rootsofprogress</a>), or <a href="/feed.xml">RSS</a>.</p>
<h2>A new CEO and a new progress institute</h2>
<p>The Roots of Progress is launching a major expansion of our activities, and we have brought on on a Chief Executive Officer to lead the new organization in partnership with Jason Crawford (who remains Founder &amp; President). We’re taking this step because we see an opportunity to do much more for the progress movement, going well beyond Jason’s essays and talks. Our initial focus will be on a “career accelerator” for public intellectuals in progress studies. <a href="/seeking-a-ceo">Read the announcement »</a></p>
<h2>Featured essays: The history of technology</h2>
<div>
 <p><a href="/iron-from-mythical-to-mundane"></a></p><h3>
 <a href="/iron-from-mythical-to-mundane">Iron: From mythical to mundane</a>
 </h3>
 <p>Until a few thousand years ago, iron was virtually unknown. Now, high-quality steel is everywhere around us</p>
</div>
<div>
 <p><a href="/instant-stone-just-add-water"></a></p><h3>
 <a href="/instant-stone-just-add-water">Instant stone (just add water!)</a>
 </h3>
 <p>If cement weren't 10,000 years old, it would seem like a futuristic technology: liquid rock!</p>
</div>
<div>
 <p><a href="/turning-air-into-bread"></a></p><h3>
 <a href="/turning-air-into-bread">Turning air into bread</a>
 </h3>
 <p>What is the Haber-Bosch process? It's what keeps billions of people in the modern world from starving to death</p>
</div>
<div>
 <p><a href="/why-ac-won"></a></p><h3>
 <a href="/why-ac-won">Why AC won the Electricity Wars</a>
 </h3>
 <p>DC was doomed from the start—not for lack of backers, since it was favored by the world-renowned Thomas Edison, but by physics and economics</p>
</div>
<div>
 <p><a href="/navigating-the-high-seas"></a></p><h3>
 <a href="/navigating-the-high-seas">Navigating the high seas</a>
 </h3>
 <p>The hazards of the sea are many. But of all the challenges facing the sailor, the biggest was simply knowing where you are</p>
</div>
<div>
 <p><a href="/smallpox-and-vaccines"></a></p><h3>
 <a href="/smallpox-and-vaccines">The history of smallpox &amp; the origins of vaccines</a>
 </h3>
 <p>Smallpox was one of the worst diseases in history. This is the story of how we killed it</p>
</div>
<div>
 <p><a href="/why-did-we-wait-so-long-for-the-bicycle"></a></p><h3>
 <a href="/why-did-we-wait-so-long-for-the-bicycle">Why did we wait so long for the bicycle?</a>
 </h3>
 <p>The bicycle, as we know it today, was not invented until the late 1800s. Here are some theories about why</p>
</div>
<p><a href="/writing">All essays »</a></p>
<h2>Featured essays: The philosophy of progress</h2>
<div>
 <p><a href="/progress-studies-a-moral-imperative"></a></p><h3>
 <a href="/progress-studies-a-moral-imperative">Progress studies as a moral imperative</a>
 </h3>
 <p>Progress is real and important, but it is not automatic or inevitable. We must understand its causes, so that we can protect them and reinforce them</p>
</div>
<div>
 <p><a href="/progress-studies-a-civic-duty"></a></p><h3>
 <a href="/progress-studies-a-civic-duty">Progress studies as a civic duty</a>
 </h3>
 <p>We have a responsibility to learn the underpinnings of the standard of living we all enjoy. To understand and appreciate how we got here, and what it took. And ultimately, to keep it going</p>
</div>
<div>
 <p><a href="/mit-tech-review-solutionism-vs-complacency-or-defeatism"></a></p><h3>
 <a href="/mit-tech-review-solutionism-vs-complacency-or-defeatism">Why I'm a proud solutionist (MIT Tech Review)</a>
 </h3>
 <p>A third way that avoids both complacency and defeatism</p>
</div>
<div>
 <p><a href="/a-new-philosophy-of-progress"></a></p><h3>
 <a href="/a-new-philosophy-of-progress">We need a new philosophy of progress</a>
 </h3>
 <p>The 19th century believed in progress; the 20th century grew skeptical. We need a new way forward</p>
</div>
<div>
 <p><a href="/progress-humanism-agency"></a></p><h3>
 <a href="/progress-humanism-agency">Progress, humanism, agency</a>
 </h3>
 <p>An intellectual core for the progress movement</p>
</div>
<div>
 <p><a href="/industrial-literacy"></a></p><h3>
 <a href="/industrial-literacy">Industrial literacy</a>
 </h3>
 <p>When you know these facts of history, you understand what “industrial civilization” is and why it is the benefactor of everyone who is lucky enough to live in it</p>
</div>
<p><a href="/writing">All essays »</a></p>
<h2>Talks &amp; interviews</h2>
<h3>Vox</h3>
<p><a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/22652782/roots-of-progress-jason-crawford"></a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/22652782/roots-of-progress-jason-crawford"><strong>How Does Progress Happen?</strong></a></p>
<p>The discipline of ‘progress studies’ wants to figure out what drives discoveries and inventions so we can supercharge human flourishing</p>
<blockquote>
 <p>The progress studies movement is very small — mostly a handful of bloggers and researchers — but it’s one of the more intriguing intellectual movements out there. One of its leading figures is Jason Crawford, the author of a blog called The Roots of Progress that explores the history of important inventions and discoveries…. I sat down with Crawford to talk about what progress is, what the progress studies movement brings to the table, and what he thinks is missing from our national conversation about inventions, discoveries, and the societies that succeed at encouraging them.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/22652782/roots-of-progress-jason-crawford">Read the interview »</a></p>
<h3>BBC</h3>
<p><a href="https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20220615-do-we-need-a-better-understanding-of-progress"></a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20220615-do-we-need-a-better-understanding-of-progress"><strong>Do We Need a Better Understanding of ‘Progress’?</strong></a></p>
<p>A growing and influential intellectual movement aims to understand why human progress happens—and how to speed it up</p>
<blockquote>
 <p>Ultimately, the progress community wants its followers to believe that they can do better. Multiple sources paraphrased the slogan “a better world is possible” in our discussions. For Crawford, the vision of that world animates him: “I want humanity to regain its self-esteem and its ambition, to figuratively and literally reach for the stars. I want us to dream of flying cars, fusion energy, nanotech manufacturing, terraforming planets, exploring the galaxy. So it’s not just about policy, but about people’s fundamental attitudes towards humanity and our place in nature.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20220615-do-we-need-a-better-understanding-of-progress">Read the article »</a></p>
<h3>The Energy of Tomorrow: The Promise, Failure, and Possible Rebirth of Nuclear Power</h3>
<p>
 
</p>
<p>In the 1950s, nuclear power was seen as the energy of the future. Today, it is stagnating on the sidelines, providing only 10% of world electricity, with no fundamental advance in reactor design for several decades. Why did this technology seem so incredibly promising, how did it go so badly wrong, and is there hope for a nuclear renaissance?</p>
<h3>Lessons from the Wright Brothers</h3>
<p>
 
</p>
<p>How the Wright brothers invented the airplane, and lessons for inventors and founders today: passion, iteration, first-principles thinking, and choosing the right time to launch.</p>
<h3>Foresight Institute</h3>
<p>
 
</p>
<p>In the 1960s, people looked forward to a “Jetsons” future of flying cars, robots, and nuclear power; today they at best hope to stave off disasters such as pandemics and climate change. What happened to the idea of progress?</p>
<h3>Titans of Nuclear</h3>
<p>
 
</p>
<p>“I think it’s this whole thicket of… the combination of the regulations, the utility companies and the way the entire utility market is structured, the nuclear companies themselves, and then the social substrate of this very anti-nuclear attitude in society. It’s all of those things working together to create this very complex problem.”</p>
<h3>Ignite Long Now</h3>
<p>
 
</p>
<p>Humanity has had a pretty good run so far. In the last two hundred years, world GDP per capita has increased by almost fourteen times. But “past performance may not be indicative of future results.” Can growth continue?</p>
<p><a href="/speaking">All talks &amp; interviews »</a></p>
<h2>The Progress Forum</h2>
<p><a href="https://progressforum.org/"></a></p>
<p><a href="https://progressforum.org/">The Progress Forum</a> is the online home for the progress community. It’s also a place to find <a href="https://progressforum.org/community">local clubs and meetups</a>.</p>
<h2>Support</h2>
<p>You can support us monthly through Patreon:</p>
<p><a href="https://www.patreon.com/bePatron?u=2291386">
 
</a></p>
<p>For a one-time donation, we take <a href="https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=DH53T4CSFD8GC">PayPal</a>. Or <a href="mailto:jason@rootsofprogress.org">get in touch</a> to talk about a larger contribution or other payment methods.</p>
<p>We are a 501(c)(3) public educational charity; in the US, donations to such organizations are tax-deductible.</p>
 </div></div>||||I|||| The Roots of Progress

 About • Writing • Speaking • Bibliography • Subscribe • Community • Support

 Why study progress?

 The progress of the last few centuries—in science, technology, industry, and the economy—is one of the greatest achievements of humanity. But progress is not automatic or inevitable. We must understand its causes, so that we can keep it going, and even accelerate it. Read more »

 We need a new philosophy of progress

 In order to make progress, we must believe that it is possible and desirable. The 19th century believed in the power of technology and industry to better humanity, but in the 20th century, this belief gave way to skepticism and distrust. We need a new way forward. Read the essay »

 Subscribe

 Get essays and announcements by email:

 Or via Twitter (@rootsofprogress), Reddit (r/rootsofprogress), or RSS.

 A new CEO and a new progress institute

 The Roots of Progress is launching a major expansion of our activities, and we have brought on on a Chief Executive Officer to lead the new organization in partnership with Jason Crawford (who remains Founder & President). We’re taking this step because we see an opportunity to do much more for the progress movement, going well beyond Jason’s essays and talks. Our initial focus will be on a “career accelerator” for public intellectuals in progress studies. Read the announcement »

 Featured essays: The history of technology

 Iron: From mythical to mundane

 Until a few thousand years ago, iron was virtually unknown. Now, high-quality steel is everywhere around us

 Instant stone (just add water!)

 If cement weren't 10,000 years old, it would seem like a futuristic technology: liquid rock!

 Turning air into bread

 What is the Haber-Bosch process? It's what keeps billions of people in the modern world from starving to death

 Why AC won the Electricity Wars

 DC was doomed from the start—not for lack of backers, since it was favored by the world-renowned Thomas Edison, but by physics and economics

 Navigating the high seas

 The hazards of the sea are many. But of all the challenges facing the sailor, the biggest was simply knowing where you are

 The history of smallpox & the origins of vaccines

 Smallpox was one of the worst diseases in history. This is the story of how we killed it

 Why did we wait so long for the bicycle?

 The bicycle, as we know it today, was not invented until the late 1800s. Here are some theories about why

 All essays »

 Featured essays: The philosophy of progress

 Progress studies as a moral imperative

 Progress is real and important, but it is not automatic or inevitable. We must understand its causes, so that we can protect them and reinforce them

 Progress studies as a civic duty

 We have a responsibility to learn the underpinnings of the standard of living we all enjoy. To understand and appreciate how we got here, and what it took. And ultimately, to keep it going

 Why I'm a proud solutionist (MIT Tech Review)

 A third way that avoids both complacency and defeatism

 We need a new philosophy of progress

 The 19th century believed in progress; the 20th century grew skeptical. We need a new way forward

 Progress, humanism, agency

 An intellectual core for the progress movement

 Industrial literacy

 When you know these facts of history, you understand what “industrial civilization” is and why it is the benefactor of everyone who is lucky enough to live in it

 All essays »

 Talks & interviews

 Vox

 How Does Progress Happen?

 The discipline of ‘progress studies’ wants to figure out what drives discoveries and inventions so we can supercharge human flourishing

 The progress studies movement is very small — mostly a handful of bloggers and researchers — but it’s one of the more intriguing intellectual movements out there. One of its leading figures is Jason Crawford, the author of a blog called The Roots of Progress that explores the history of important inventions and discoveries…. I sat down with Crawford to talk about what progress is, what the progress studies movement brings to the table, and what he thinks is missing from our national conversation about inventions, discoveries, and the societies that succeed at encouraging them.

 Read the interview »

 BBC

 Do We Need a Better Understanding of ‘Progress’?

 A growing and influential intellectual movement aims to understand why human progress happens—and how to speed it up

 Ultimately, the progress community wants its followers to believe that they can do better. Multiple sources paraphrased the slogan “a better world is possible” in our discussions. For Crawford, the vision of that world animates him: “I want humanity to regain its self-esteem and its ambition, to figuratively and literally reach for the stars. I want us to dream of flying cars, fusion energy, nanotech manufacturing, terraforming planets, exploring the galaxy. So it’s not just about policy, but about people’s fundamental attitudes towards humanity and our place in nature.”

 Read the article »

 The Energy of Tomorrow: The Promise, Failure, and Possible Rebirth of Nuclear Power

 In the 1950s, nuclear power was seen as the energy of the future. Today, it is stagnating on the sidelines, providing only 10% of world electricity, with no fundamental advance in reactor design for several decades. Why did this technology seem so incredibly promising, how did it go so badly wrong, and is there hope for a nuclear renaissance?

 Lessons from the Wright Brothers

 How the Wright brothers invented the airplane, and lessons for inventors and founders today: passion, iteration, first-principles thinking, and choosing the right time to launch.

 Foresight Institute

 In the 1960s, people looked forward to a “Jetsons” future of flying cars, robots, and nuclear power; today they at best hope to stave off disasters such as pandemics and climate change. What happened to the idea of progress?

 Titans of Nuclear

 “I think it’s this whole thicket of… the combination of the regulations, the utility companies and the way the entire utility market is structured, the nuclear companies themselves, and then the social substrate of this very anti-nuclear attitude in society. It’s all of those things working together to create this very complex problem.”

 Ignite Long Now

 Humanity has had a pretty good run so far. In the last two hundred years, world GDP per capita has increased by almost fourteen times. But “past performance may not be indicative of future results.” Can growth continue?

 All talks & interviews »

 The Progress Forum

 The Progress Forum is the online home for the progress community. It’s also a place to find local clubs and meetups.

 Support

 You can support us monthly through Patreon:

 For a one-time donation, we take PayPal. Or get in touch to talk about a larger contribution or other payment methods.

 We are a 501(c)(3) public educational charity; in the US, donations to such organizations are tax-deductible.

 Copyright © Jason Crawford. Some rights reserved: CC BY-ND 4.0

Why study progress?
The progress of the last few centuries—in science, technology, industry, and the economy—is one of the greatest achievements of humanity. But progress is not automatic or inevitable. We must understand its causes, so that we can keep it going, and even accelerate it. Read more » 
We need a new philosophy of progress
In order to make progress, we must believe that it is possible and desirable. The 19th century believed in the power of technology and industry to better humanity, but in the 20th century, this belief gave way to skepticism and distrust. We need a new way forward. Read the essay » 
Subscribe
Get essays and announcements by email:
Or via Twitter (@rootsofprogress), Reddit (r/rootsofprogress), or RSS.
A new CEO and a new progress institute
The Roots of Progress is launching a major expansion of our activities, and we have brought on on a Chief Executive Officer to lead the new organization in partnership with Jason Crawford (who remains Founder &amp; President). We’re taking this step because we see an opportunity to do much more for the progress movement, going well beyond Jason’s essays and talks. Our initial focus will be on a “career accelerator” for public intellectuals in progress studies. Read the announcement » 
Featured essays: The history of technology
     
 Iron: From mythical to mundane
 
 Until a few thousand years ago, iron was virtually unknown. Now, high-quality steel is everywhere around us
     
 Instant stone (just add water!)
 
 If cement weren't 10,000 years old, it would seem like a futuristic technology: liquid rock!
     
 Turning air into bread
 
 What is the Haber-Bosch process? It's what keeps billions of people in the modern world from starving to death
     
 Why AC won the Electricity Wars
 
 DC was doomed from the start—not for lack of backers, since it was favored by the world-renowned Thomas Edison, but by physics and economics
     
 Navigating the high seas
 
 The hazards of the sea are many. But of all the challenges facing the sailor, the biggest was simply knowing where you are
     
 The history of smallpox &amp; the origins of vaccines
 
 Smallpox was one of the worst diseases in history. This is the story of how we killed it
     
 Why did we wait so long for the bicycle?
 
 The bicycle, as we know it today, was not invented until the late 1800s. Here are some theories about why
 All essays » 
Featured essays: The philosophy of progress
     
 Progress studies as a moral imperative
 
 Progress is real and important, but it is not automatic or inevitable. We must understand its causes, so that we can protect them and reinforce them
     
 Progress studies as a civic duty
 
 We have a responsibility to learn the underpinnings of the standard of living we all enjoy. To understand and appreciate how we got here, and what it took. And ultimately, to keep it going
     
 Why I'm a proud solutionist (MIT Tech Review)
 
 A third way that avoids both complacency and defeatism
     
 We need a new philosophy of progress
 
 The 19th century believed in progress; the 20th century grew skeptical. We need a new way forward
     
 Progress, humanism, agency
 
 An intellectual core for the progress movement
     
 Industrial literacy
 
 When you know these facts of history, you understand what “industrial civilization” is and why it is the benefactor of everyone who is lucky enough to live in it
 All essays » 
Talks &amp; interviews
Vox
   
  How Does Progress Happen?  
The discipline of ‘progress studies’ wants to figure out what drives discoveries and inventions so we can supercharge human flourishing
 The progress studies movement is very small — mostly a handful of bloggers and researchers — but it’s one of the more intriguing intellectual movements out there. One of its leading figures is Jason Crawford, the author of a blog called The Roots of Progress that explores the history of important inventions and discoveries…. I sat down with Crawford to talk about what progress is, what the progress studies movement brings to the table, and what he thinks is missing from our national conversation about inventions, discoveries, and the societies that succeed at encouraging them.
 Read the interview » 
BBC
   
  Do We Need a Better Understanding of ‘Progress’?  
A growing and influential intellectual movement aims to understand why human progress happens—and how to speed it up
 Ultimately, the progress community wants its followers to believe that they can do better. Multiple sources paraphrased the slogan “a better world is possible” in our discussions. For Crawford, the vision of that world animates him: “I want humanity to regain its self-esteem and its ambition, to figuratively and literally reach for the stars. I want us to dream of flying cars, fusion energy, nanotech manufacturing, terraforming planets, exploring the galaxy. So it’s not just about policy, but about people’s fundamental attitudes towards humanity and our place in nature.”
 Read the article » 
The Energy of Tomorrow: The Promise, Failure, and Possible Rebirth of Nuclear Power
 
In the 1950s, nuclear power was seen as the energy of the future. Today, it is stagnating on the sidelines, providing only 10% of world electricity, with no fundamental advance in reactor design for several decades. Why did this technology seem so incredibly promising, how did it go so badly wrong, and is there hope for a nuclear renaissance?
Lessons from the Wright Brothers
 
How the Wright brothers invented the airplane, and lessons for inventors and founders today: passion, iteration, first-principles thinking, and choosing the right time to launch.
Foresight Institute
 
In the 1960s, people looked forward to a “Jetsons” future of flying cars, robots, and nuclear power; today they at best hope to stave off disasters such as pandemics and climate change. What happened to the idea of progress?
Titans of Nuclear
 
“I think it’s this whole thicket of… the combination of the regulations, the utility companies and the way the entire utility market is structured, the nuclear companies themselves, and then the social substrate of this very anti-nuclear attitude in society. It’s all of those things working together to create this very complex problem.”
Ignite Long Now
 
Humanity has had a pretty good run so far. In the last two hundred years, world GDP per capita has increased by almost fourteen times. But “past performance may not be indicative of future results.” Can growth continue?
 All talks &amp; interviews » 
The Progress Forum
   
 The Progress Forum is the online home for the progress community. It’s also a place to find local clubs and meetups.
Support
You can support us monthly through Patreon:
 
 
 
For a one-time donation, we take PayPal. Or get in touch to talk about a larger contribution or other payment methods.
We are a 501(c)(3) public educational charity; in the US, donations to such organizations are tax-deductible.
The Roots of Progress
https://rootsofprogress.org/
https://waitbutwhy.com/
What's Our Problem? A Self-Help Book For Societies
2023-02-20
None
<div><div>
	<main>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<figure></figure></div>
<pre>a self-help book for societies</pre>
</div>
<div>
<figure></figure></div>
<div>
<h2>Available NOW</h2>
<div>
<div>
<h3>ebook</h3>
<div>
<p>Works great as an e-book, especially on color e-readers and tablets (the book has 300+ color drawings). The best ebook experience we’ve seen is Apple Books &gt; iPad &gt; sepia &gt; vertical scroll.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div>
<h3>audiobook</h3>
<div>
<p>Comes along with a <a href="https://waitbutwhy.com/audio">website</a> with the book’s most important drawings, labeled (I tell you throughout the book which drawing to go to look at). Also, I read the book myself, it was arduous.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div>
<h3>wait but why</h3>
<div><div>
<figure><a href="https://waitbutwhy.com/2023/02/wop-contents.html"></a></figure></div>
<p>You can read the book right on Wait But Why. It looks and functions the best of all here, but no dark mode.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div>
<h2>About the book</h2>
<p>Hi, I’m Tim. I write the blog Wait But Why, where I write about all kinds of things. But in the middle of 2016, I started thinking about a new topic: why my society sucked. As technology soared ahead, it seemed like we were going backwards in wisdom. Tribalism was flaring up everywhere, mass shaming campaigns were roaring back into fashion, politicians were increasingly clown-like, public discourse had become a battle of one-dimensional narratives. I decided to write about it, which plunged me into a rabbit hole like no other. Six years later, I emerged with this book. The book introduces a new framework for thinking about our complex political environment. With dozens of new terms and concepts and 303 drawings, it’s a toolbox for understanding our societies, our group dynamics, and our own minds. Here’s everything on all the pages:</p>
<div>
<figure><a href="https://149909199.v2.pressablecdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/V7-full.png"></a></figure></div>
<p>See how much shit is in there? That took a really long time and I’m happy it’s over. Anyway, stop procrastinating by reading all the way down on this page and go read the book, and then we can discuss.</p>
<p><strong><a href="https://waitbutwhy.com/2023/02/last-six-years.html">The full story behind the making of this book</a> | <a href="https://waitbutwhy.com/homepage">Wait But Why homepage</a></strong></p>
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 a self-help book for societies

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 Works great as an e-book, especially on color e-readers and tablets (the book has 300+ color drawings). The best ebook experience we’ve seen is Apple Books > iPad > sepia > vertical scroll.

 audiobook

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 Comes along with a website with the book’s most important drawings, labeled (I tell you throughout the book which drawing to go to look at). Also, I read the book myself, it was arduous.

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 About the book

 Hi, I’m Tim. I write the blog Wait But Why, where I write about all kinds of things. But in the middle of 2016, I started thinking about a new topic: why my society sucked. As technology soared ahead, it seemed like we were going backwards in wisdom. Tribalism was flaring up everywhere, mass shaming campaigns were roaring back into fashion, politicians were increasingly clown-like, public discourse had become a battle of one-dimensional narratives. I decided to write about it, which plunged me into a rabbit hole like no other. Six years later, I emerged with this book. The book introduces a new framework for thinking about our complex political environment. With dozens of new terms and concepts and 303 drawings, it’s a toolbox for understanding our societies, our group dynamics, and our own minds. Here’s everything on all the pages:

 See how much shit is in there? That took a really long time and I’m happy it’s over. Anyway, stop procrastinating by reading all the way down on this page and go read the book, and then we can discuss.

 The full story behind the making of this book | Wait But Why homepage

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a self-help book for societies
  
Available NOW
ebook
Works great as an e-book, especially on color e-readers and tablets (the book has 300+ color drawings). The best ebook experience we’ve seen is Apple Books &gt; iPad &gt; sepia &gt; vertical scroll.
audiobook
Comes along with a website with the book’s most important drawings, labeled (I tell you throughout the book which drawing to go to look at). Also, I read the book myself, it was arduous.
wait but why
 
    
You can read the book right on Wait But Why. It looks and functions the best of all here, but no dark mode.
About the book
Hi, I’m Tim. I write the blog Wait But Why, where I write about all kinds of things. But in the middle of 2016, I started thinking about a new topic: why my society sucked. As technology soared ahead, it seemed like we were going backwards in wisdom. Tribalism was flaring up everywhere, mass shaming campaigns were roaring back into fashion, politicians were increasingly clown-like, public discourse had become a battle of one-dimensional narratives. I decided to write about it, which plunged me into a rabbit hole like no other. Six years later, I emerged with this book. The book introduces a new framework for thinking about our complex political environment. With dozens of new terms and concepts and 303 drawings, it’s a toolbox for understanding our societies, our group dynamics, and our own minds. Here’s everything on all the pages:
    
See how much shit is in there? That took a really long time and I’m happy it’s over. Anyway, stop procrastinating by reading all the way down on this page and go read the book, and then we can discuss.
  The full story behind the making of this book | Wait But Why homepage
What's Our Problem? A Self-Help Book For Societies
https://waitbutwhy.com/
https://tenderlovemaking.com/
Vim, tmux, and Fish
2023-01-18
None
<div><div>
 <p>Encoding issues don’t seem to happen frequently, but that is a blessing and a curse.
It’s great not to fix them very frequently, but when you do need to fix them, lack
of experience can leave you feeling lost.</p>
<p>This post is meant to be a sort of guide about what to do when you encounter different types
of encoding errors in Ruby.
First we’ll cover what an encoding object is, then we’ll look at common encoding exceptions
and how to fix them.</p>
<h2>What are String encodings in Ruby?</h2>
<p>In Ruby, strings are a combination of an array of bytes, and an encoding object.
We can access the encoding object on the string by calling <code>encoding</code> on the
string object.</p>
<p>For example:</p>
<pre><code>&gt;&gt; x = 'Hello World'
&gt;&gt; x.encoding
=&gt; #&lt;Encoding:UTF-8&gt;
</code></pre>
<p>In my environment, the default encoding object associated with a string us the “UTF-8” encoding object.
A graph of the object relationship looks something like this:</p>
<p></p>
<h2>Changing a String’s Encoding</h2>
<p>We can change encoding by two different methods:</p>
<ul>
 <li>String#force_encoding</li>
 <li>String#encode</li>
</ul>
<p>The <code>force_encoding</code> method will mutate the string object and only change which encoding object the string points to.
It does nothing to the bytes of the string, it merely changes the encoding object associated with the string.
Here we can see that the return value of <code>encoding</code> changes after we call the <code>force_encode</code> method:</p>
<pre><code>&gt;&gt; x = 'Hello World'
&gt;&gt; x.encoding
=&gt; #&lt;Encoding:UTF-8&gt;
&gt;&gt; x.force_encoding "US-ASCII"
=&gt; "Hello World"
&gt;&gt; x.encoding
=&gt; #&lt;Encoding:US-ASCII&gt;
</code></pre>
<p>The <code>encode</code> method will create a new string based on the bytes of the old string and associate the encoding object with the new string.</p>
<p>Here we can see that the encoding of <code>x</code> remains the same, and
calling <code>encode</code> returns a new string <code>y</code> which is associated with the new encoding:</p>
<pre><code>&gt;&gt; x = 'Hello World'
&gt;&gt; x.encoding
=&gt; #&lt;Encoding:UTF-8&gt;
&gt;&gt; y = x.encode("US-ASCII")
&gt;&gt; x.encoding
=&gt; #&lt;Encoding:UTF-8&gt;
&gt;&gt; y.encoding
=&gt; #&lt;Encoding:US-ASCII&gt;
</code></pre>
<p>Here is a visualization of the difference:</p>
<p></p>
<p>Calling <code>force_encoding</code> mutates the original string, where <code>encode</code> creates a new string with a different encoding.
Translating a string from one encoding to another is probably the “normal” use of encodings.
However, developers will rarely call the <code>encode</code> method because Ruby will typically handle any necessary translations automatically.
It’s probably more common to call the <code>force_encoding</code> method, and that is because strings can be associated with the <em>wrong</em> encoding.</p>
<h2>Strings Can Have the Wrong Encoding</h2>
<p>Strings can be associated with the wrong encoding object, and that is the source of most if not all encoding related exceptions.
Let’s look at an example:</p>
<pre><code>&gt;&gt; x = "Hello \x93\xfa\x96\x7b"
&gt;&gt; x.encoding
=&gt; #&lt;Encoding:UTF-8&gt;
&gt;&gt; x.valid_encoding?
=&gt; false
</code></pre>
<p>In this case, Ruby associated the string <code>"Hello \x93\xfa\x96\x7b"</code> with the default encoding UTF-8.
However, many of the bytes in the string are not valid Unicode characters.
We can check if the string is associated with a valid encoding object by calling <code>valid_encoding?</code> method.
The <code>valid_encoding?</code> method will scan all bytes to see if they are valid for that particular encoding object.</p>
<p>So how do we fix this?
The answer depends on the situation.
We need to think about where the data came from and where the data is going.
Let’s say we’ll display this string on a webpage, but we do not know the correct encoding for the string.
In that case we probably want to make sure the string is valid UTF-8, but since we don’t know the correct encoding for the string, our only choice is to remove the bad bytes from the string.</p>
<p>We can remove the unknown bytes by using the <code>scrub</code> method:</p>
<pre><code>&gt;&gt; x = "Hello \x93\xfa\x96\x7b"
&gt;&gt; x.valid_encoding?
=&gt; false
&gt;&gt; y = x.scrub
&gt;&gt; y
=&gt; "Hello ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½{"
&gt;&gt; y.encoding
=&gt; #&lt;Encoding:UTF-8&gt;
&gt;&gt; y.valid_encoding?
=&gt; true
</code></pre>
<p>The <code>scrub</code> method will return a new string associated with the encoding but with all of the invalid bytes replaced by a replacement character, the diamond question mark thing.</p>
<p>What if we do know the encoding of the source string?
Actually the example above is using a string that’s encoding using Shift JIS.
Let’s say we know the encoding, and we want to display the string on a webpage.
In that case we tag the string by using <code>force_encoding</code>, and transcode to UTF-8:</p>
<pre><code>&gt;&gt; x = "Hello \x93\xfa\x96\x7b"
&gt;&gt; x.force_encoding "Shift_JIS"
=&gt; "Hello \x{93FA}\x{967B}"
&gt;&gt; x.valid_encoding?
=&gt; true
&gt;&gt; x.encode "UTF-8" # display as UTF-8
=&gt; "Hello æ¥æ¬"
</code></pre>
<p>The most important thing to think about when dealing with encoding issues is “where did this data come from?” and “what will we do with this data?”
Answering those two questions will drive all decisions about which encoding to use with which string.</p>
<h2>Encoding Depends on the Context</h2>
<p>Before we look at some common errors and their remediation, let’s look at one more example of the encoding context dependency.
In this example, we’ll use some user input as a cache key, but we’ll also display the user input on a webpage.
We’re going to use our source data (the user input) in two places: as a cache key, and something to display on a web page.</p>
<p>Here’s the code:</p>
<div><pre>require "digest/md5"
require "cgi"
def make_checksum string
 Digest::MD5.hexdigest string
end
def display_on_web string
 string.gsub(/&gt;/, "&amp;gt;")
end
x = "Hello \x93\xfa\x96\x7b"
p ENCODING: x.encoding
p VALID_ENCODING: x.valid_encoding?
p display_on_web x
p make_checksum x
</pre></div>
<p>If we run this code, we’ll get an exception:</p>
<pre><code>$ ruby thing.rb
{:ENCODING=&gt;#&lt;Encoding:UTF-8&gt;}
{:VALID_ENCODING=&gt;false}
Traceback (most recent call last):
 2: from thing.rb:20:in `&lt;main&gt;'
 1: from thing.rb:12:in `display_on_web'
thing.rb:12:in `gsub': invalid byte sequence in UTF-8 (ArgumentError)
</code></pre>
<p>The problem is that we have a string of unknown input with bytes that are not valid UTF-8 characters.
We know we want to display this string on a UTF-8 encoded webpage, so lets scrub the string:</p>
<div><pre>require "digest/md5"
require "cgi"
def make_checksum string
 Digest::MD5.hexdigest string
end
def display_on_web string
 string.gsub(/&gt;/, "&amp;gt;")
end
x = "Hello \x93\xfa\x96\x7b".scrub
p ENCODING: x.encoding
p VALID_ENCODING: x.valid_encoding?
p display_on_web x
p make_checksum x
</pre></div>
<p>Now when we run the program, the output is like this:</p>
<pre><code>$ ruby thing.rb
{:ENCODING=&gt;#&lt;Encoding:UTF-8&gt;}
{:VALID_ENCODING=&gt;true}
"Hello ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½{"
"4dab6f63b4d3ae3279345c9df31091eb"
</code></pre>
<p>Great! We’ve build some HTML and generated a checksum.
Unfortunately there is a bug in this code (of course the mere fact that we’ve written code means there’s a bug! lol)
Let’s introduce a second user input string with slightly different bytes than the first input string:</p>
<div><pre>require "digest/md5"
require "cgi"
def make_checksum string
 Digest::MD5.hexdigest string
end
def display_on_web string
 string.gsub(/&gt;/, "&amp;gt;")
end
x = "Hello \x93\xfa\x96\x7b".scrub
p ENCODING: x.encoding
p VALID_ENCODING: x.valid_encoding?
p display_on_web x
p make_checksum x
y = "Hello \x94\xfa\x97\x7b".scrub
p ENCODING: y.encoding
p VALID_ENCODING: y.valid_encoding?
p display_on_web y
p make_checksum y
</pre></div>
<p>Here is the output from the program:</p>
<pre><code>$ ruby thing.rb
{:ENCODING=&gt;#&lt;Encoding:UTF-8&gt;}
{:VALID_ENCODING=&gt;true}
"Hello ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½{"
"4dab6f63b4d3ae3279345c9df31091eb"
{:ENCODING=&gt;#&lt;Encoding:UTF-8&gt;}
{:VALID_ENCODING=&gt;true}
"Hello ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½{"
"4dab6f63b4d3ae3279345c9df31091eb"
</code></pre>
<p>The program works in the sense that there is no exception.
But both user input strings have the same checksum despite the fact that the original strings clearly have different bytes!
So what is the correct fix for this program?
Again, we need to think about the source of the data (where did it come from), as well as what we will do with it (where it is going).
In this case we have one source, from a user, and the user provided us with no encoding information.
In other words, the encoding information of the source data is unknown, so we can only treat it as a sequence of bytes.
We have two output cases, one is a UTF-8 HTML the other output is <em>the input</em> to our checksum function.
The HTML requires that our string be UTF-8 so making the string valid UTF-8, in other words “scrubbing” it, before displaying makes sense.
However, our checksum function requires seeing the original bytes of the string.
Since the checksum is only concerned with the bytes in the string, any encoding including an invalid encoding will work.
It’s nice to make sure all our strings have valid encodings though, so we’ll fix this example such that everything has a valid encoding.</p>
<div><pre>require "digest/md5"
require "cgi"
def make_checksum string
 Digest::MD5.hexdigest string
end
def display_on_web string
 string.gsub(/&gt;/, "&amp;gt;")
end
x = "Hello \x93\xfa\x96\x7b".b
p ENCODING: x.encoding
p VALID_ENCODING: x.valid_encoding?
p display_on_web x.encode("UTF-8", undef: :replace)
p make_checksum x
y = "Hello \x94\xfa\x97\x7b".b
p ENCODING: y.encoding
p VALID_ENCODING: y.valid_encoding?
p display_on_web y.encode("UTF-8", undef: :replace)
p make_checksum y
</pre></div>
<p>Here is the output of the program:</p>
<pre><code>$ ruby thing.rb
{:ENCODING=&gt;#&lt;Encoding:ASCII-8BIT&gt;}
{:VALID_ENCODING=&gt;true}
"Hello ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½{"
"96cf6db2750fd4d2488fac57d8e4d45a"
{:ENCODING=&gt;#&lt;Encoding:ASCII-8BIT&gt;}
{:VALID_ENCODING=&gt;true}
"Hello ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½{"
"b92854c0db4f2c2c20eff349a9a8e3a0"
</code></pre>
<p>To fix our program, we’ve changed a couple things.
First we tagged the string of unknown encoding as “binary” by using the <code>.b</code> method.
The <code>.b</code> method returns a new string that is associated with the <code>ASCII-8BIT</code> encoding.
The name <code>ASCII-8BIT</code> is somewhat confusing because it has the word “ASCII” in it.
It’s better to think of this encoding as either “unknown” or “binary data”.
Unknown meaning we have some data that may have a valid encoding, but we don’t know what it is.
Or binary data, as in the bytes read from a JPEG file or some such binary format.
Anyway, we pass the binary string in to the checksum function because the checksum only cares about the bytes in the string, not about the encoding.</p>
<p>The second change we made is to call <code>encode</code> with the encoding we want (UTF-8) along with <code>undef: :replace</code> meaning that any time Ruby encounters bytes it doesn’t know how to convert to the target encoding, it will replace them with the replacement character (the diamond question thing).</p>
<p>SIDE NOTE: This is probably not important, but it is fun!
We can specify what Ruby uses for replacing unknown bytes.
Here’s an example:</p>
<pre><code>&gt;&gt; x = "Hello \x94\xfa\x97\x7b".b
&gt;&gt; x.encoding
=&gt; #&lt;Encoding:ASCII-8BIT&gt;
&gt;&gt; x.encode("UTF-8", undef: :replace, replace: "Aaron")
=&gt; "Hello AaronAaronAaron{"
&gt;&gt; x.encode("UTF-8", undef: :replace, replace: "ð¤£")
=&gt; "Hello ð¤£ð¤£ð¤£{"
&gt;&gt; [_.encoding, _.valid_encoding?]
=&gt; [#&lt;Encoding:UTF-8&gt;, true]
</code></pre>
<p>Now lets take a look at some common encoding errors in Ruby and what to do about them.</p>
<h2><code>Encoding::InvalidByteSequenceError</code></h2>
<p>This exception occurs when Ruby needs to examine the bytes in a string and the bytes do not match the encoding.
Here is an example of this exception:</p>
<pre><code>&gt;&gt; x = "Hello \x93\xfa\x96\x7b"
&gt;&gt; x.encode "UTF-16"
Traceback (most recent call last):
 5: from /Users/aaron/.rbenv/versions/ruby-trunk/bin/irb:23:in `&lt;main&gt;'
 4: from /Users/aaron/.rbenv/versions/ruby-trunk/bin/irb:23:in `load'
 3: from /Users/aaron/.rbenv/versions/ruby-trunk/lib/ruby/gems/2.7.0/gems/irb-1.2.0/exe/irb:11:in `&lt;top (required)&gt;'
 2: from (irb):4
 1: from (irb):4:in `encode'
Encoding::InvalidByteSequenceError ("\x93" on UTF-8)
&gt;&gt; x.encoding
=&gt; #&lt;Encoding:UTF-8&gt;
&gt;&gt; x.valid_encoding?
=&gt; false
</code></pre>
<p>The string <code>x</code> contains bytes that aren’t valid UTF-8, yet it is associated with the UTF-8 encoding object.
When we try to convert <code>x</code> to UTF-16, an exception occurs.</p>
<h3>How to fix <code>Encoding::InvalidByteSequenceError</code></h3>
<p>Like most encoding issues, our string <code>x</code> is tagged with the wrong encoding.
The way to fix this issue is to tag the string with the correct encoding.
But what is the correct encoding?
To figure out the correct encoding, you need to know where the string came from.
For example if the string came from a Mime attachment, the Mime attachment should specify the encoding (or the RFC will tell you).</p>
<p>In this case, the string is a valid Shift JIS string, but I know that because I looked up the bytes and manually entered them.
So we’ll tag this as Shift JIS, and the exception goes away:</p>
<pre><code>&gt;&gt; x = "Hello \x93\xfa\x96\x7b"
&gt;&gt; x.force_encoding "Shift_JIS"
=&gt; "Hello \x{93FA}\x{967B}"
&gt;&gt; x.encode "UTF-16"
=&gt; "\uFEFFHello \u65E5\u672C"
&gt;&gt; x.encoding
=&gt; #&lt;Encoding:Shift_JIS&gt;
&gt;&gt; x.valid_encoding?
=&gt; true
</code></pre>
<p>If you don’t know the source of the string, an alternative solution is to tag as UTF-8 and then scrub the bytes:</p>
<pre><code>&gt;&gt; x = "Hello \x93\xfa\x96\x7b"
&gt;&gt; x.force_encoding "UTF-8"
=&gt; "Hello \x93\xFA\x96{"
&gt;&gt; x.scrub!
=&gt; "Hello ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½{"
&gt;&gt; x.encode "UTF-16"
=&gt; "\uFEFFHello \uFFFD\uFFFD\uFFFD{"
&gt;&gt; x.encoding
=&gt; #&lt;Encoding:UTF-8&gt;
&gt;&gt; x.valid_encoding?
=&gt; true
</code></pre>
<p>Of course this works, but it means that you’ve lost data.
The best solution is to figure out what the encoding of the string <em>should</em> be depending on its source and tag it with the correct encoding.</p>
<h2><code>Encoding::UndefinedConversionError</code></h2>
<p>This exception occurs when a string of one encoding can’t be converted to another encoding.</p>
<p>Here is an example:</p>
<pre><code>&gt;&gt; x = "å\u2160"
&gt;&gt; x
=&gt; "åâ "
&gt;&gt; x.encoding
=&gt; #&lt;Encoding:UTF-8&gt;
&gt;&gt; x.valid_encoding?
=&gt; true
&gt;&gt; x.encode "Shift_JIS"
Traceback (most recent call last):
 5: from /Users/aaron/.rbenv/versions/ruby-trunk/bin/irb:23:in `&lt;main&gt;'
 4: from /Users/aaron/.rbenv/versions/ruby-trunk/bin/irb:23:in `load'
 3: from /Users/aaron/.rbenv/versions/ruby-trunk/lib/ruby/gems/2.7.0/gems/irb-1.2.0/exe/irb:11:in `&lt;top (required)&gt;'
 2: from (irb):23
 1: from (irb):23:in `encode'
Encoding::UndefinedConversionError (U+2160 from UTF-8 to Shift_JIS)
</code></pre>
<p>In this example, we have two characters: “å”, and the Roman numeral 1 (“â ”).
Unicode Roman numeral 1 cannot be converted to Shift JIS because there are <em>two</em> codepoints that represent that character in Shift JIS.
This means the conversion is ambiguous, so Ruby will raise an exception.</p>
<h3>How to fix <code>Encoding::UndefinedConversionError</code></h3>
<p>Our original string is correctly tagged as UTF-8, but we need to convert to Shift JIS.
In this case we’ll use a replacement character when converting to Shift JIS:</p>
<pre><code>&gt;&gt; x = "å\u2160"
&gt;&gt; y = x.encode("Shift_JIS", undef: :replace)
&gt;&gt; y
=&gt; "\x{8E6C}?"
&gt;&gt; y.encoding
=&gt; #&lt;Encoding:Shift_JIS&gt;
&gt;&gt; y.valid_encoding?
=&gt; true
&gt;&gt; y.encode "UTF-8"
=&gt; "å?"
</code></pre>
<p>We were able to convert to Shift JIS, but we did lose some data.</p>
<h2><code>ArgumentError</code></h2>
<p>When a string contains invalid bytes, sometimes Ruby will raise an <code>ArgumentError</code> exception:</p>
<pre><code>&gt;&gt; x = "Hello \x93\xfa\x96\x7b"
&gt;&gt; x.downcase
Traceback (most recent call last):
 5: from /Users/aaron/.rbenv/versions/ruby-trunk/bin/irb:23:in `&lt;main&gt;'
 4: from /Users/aaron/.rbenv/versions/ruby-trunk/bin/irb:23:in `load'
 3: from /Users/aaron/.rbenv/versions/ruby-trunk/lib/ruby/gems/2.7.0/gems/irb-1.2.0/exe/irb:11:in `&lt;top (required)&gt;'
 2: from (irb):34
 1: from (irb):34:in `downcase'
ArgumentError (input string invalid)
&gt;&gt; x.gsub(/ello/, "i")
Traceback (most recent call last):
 6: from /Users/aaron/.rbenv/versions/ruby-trunk/bin/irb:23:in `&lt;main&gt;'
 5: from /Users/aaron/.rbenv/versions/ruby-trunk/bin/irb:23:in `load'
 4: from /Users/aaron/.rbenv/versions/ruby-trunk/lib/ruby/gems/2.7.0/gems/irb-1.2.0/exe/irb:11:in `&lt;top (required)&gt;'
 3: from (irb):34
 2: from (irb):35:in `rescue in irb_binding'
 1: from (irb):35:in `gsub'
ArgumentError (invalid byte sequence in UTF-8)
</code></pre>
<p>Again we use our incorrectly tagged Shift JIS string.
Calling <code>downcase</code> or <code>gsub</code> both result in an <code>ArgumentError</code>.
I personally think these exceptions are not great.
We didn’t pass anything to <code>downcase</code>, so why is it an <code>ArgumentError</code>?
There is nothing wrong with the arguments we passed to <code>gsub</code>, so why is it an <code>ArgumentError</code>?
Why does one say “input string invalid” where the other gives us a slightly more helpful exception of “invalid byte sequence in UTF-8”?
I think these should both result in <code>Encoding::InvalidByteSequenceError</code> exceptions, as it’s a problem with the encoding, not the arguments.</p>
<p>Regardless, these errors both stem from the fact that the Shift JIS string is incorrectly tagged as UTF-8.</p>
<h3>Fixing <code>ArgumentError</code></h3>
<p>Fixing this issue is just like fixing <code>Encoding::InvalidByteSequenceError</code>.
We need to figure out the correct encoding of the source string, then tag the source string with that encoding.
If the encoding of the source string is truly unknown, scrub it.</p>
<pre><code>&gt;&gt; x = "Hello \x93\xfa\x96\x7b"
&gt;&gt; x.force_encoding "Shift_JIS"
=&gt; "Hello \x{93FA}\x{967B}"
&gt;&gt; x.downcase
=&gt; "hello \x{93FA}\x{967B}"
&gt;&gt; x.gsub(/ello/, "i")
=&gt; "Hi \x{93FA}\x{967B}"
</code></pre>
<h2><code>Encoding::CompatibilityError</code></h2>
<p>This exception occurs when we try to combine strings of two different encodings and those encodings are incompatible.
For example:</p>
<pre><code>&gt;&gt; x = "å\u2160"
&gt;&gt; y = "Hello \x93\xfa\x96\x7b".force_encoding("Shift_JIS")
&gt;&gt; [x.encoding, x.valid_encoding?]
=&gt; [#&lt;Encoding:UTF-8&gt;, true]
&gt;&gt; [y.encoding, y.valid_encoding?]
=&gt; [#&lt;Encoding:Shift_JIS&gt;, true]
&gt;&gt; x + y
Traceback (most recent call last):
 5: from /Users/aaron/.rbenv/versions/ruby-trunk/bin/irb:23:in `&lt;main&gt;'
 4: from /Users/aaron/.rbenv/versions/ruby-trunk/bin/irb:23:in `load'
 3: from /Users/aaron/.rbenv/versions/ruby-trunk/lib/ruby/gems/2.7.0/gems/irb-1.2.0/exe/irb:11:in `&lt;top (required)&gt;'
 2: from (irb):50
 1: from (irb):50:in `+'
Encoding::CompatibilityError (incompatible character encodings: UTF-8 and Shift_JIS)
</code></pre>
<p>In this example we have a valid UTF-8 string and a valid Shift JIS string.
However, these two encodings are not compatible, so we get an exception when combining.</p>
<h3>Fixing <code>Encoding::CompatibilityError</code></h3>
<p>To fix this exception, we need to manually convert one string to a new string that has a compatible encoding.
In the case above, we can choose whether we want the output string to be UTF-8 or Shift JIS, and then call <code>encode</code> on the appropriate string.</p>
<p>In the case we want UTF-8 output, we can do this:</p>
<pre><code>&gt;&gt; x = "å"
&gt;&gt; y = "Hello \x93\xfa\x96\x7b".force_encoding("Shift_JIS")
&gt;&gt; x + y.encode("UTF-8")
=&gt; "åHello æ¥æ¬"
&gt;&gt; [_.encoding, _.valid_encoding?]
=&gt; [#&lt;Encoding:UTF-8&gt;, true]
</code></pre>
<p>If we wanted Shift JIS, we could do this:</p>
<pre><code>&gt;&gt; x = "å"
&gt;&gt; y = "Hello \x93\xfa\x96\x7b".force_encoding("Shift_JIS")
&gt;&gt; x.encode("Shift_JIS") + y
=&gt; "\x{8E6C}Hello \x{93FA}\x{967B}"
&gt;&gt; [_.encoding, _.valid_encoding?]
=&gt; [#&lt;Encoding:Shift_JIS&gt;, true]
</code></pre>
<p>Another possible solution is to scrub bytes and concatenate, but again that results in data loss.</p>
<h3>What is a compatible encoding?</h3>
<p>If there are incompatible encodings, there must be compatible encodings too (at least I would think that).
Here is an example of compatible encodings:</p>
<pre><code>&gt;&gt; x = "Hello World!".force_encoding "US-ASCII"
&gt;&gt; [x.encoding, x.valid_encoding?]
=&gt; [#&lt;Encoding:US-ASCII&gt;, true]
&gt;&gt; y = "ããã«ã¡ã¯"
&gt;&gt; [y.encoding, y.valid_encoding?]
=&gt; [#&lt;Encoding:UTF-8&gt;, true]
&gt;&gt; y + x
=&gt; "ããã«ã¡ã¯Hello World!"
&gt;&gt; [_.encoding, _.valid_encoding?]
=&gt; [#&lt;Encoding:UTF-8&gt;, true]
&gt;&gt; x + y
=&gt; "Hello World!ããã«ã¡ã¯"
&gt;&gt; [_.encoding, _.valid_encoding?]
=&gt; [#&lt;Encoding:UTF-8&gt;, true]
</code></pre>
<p>The <code>x</code> string is encoded with “US ASCII” encoding and the <code>y</code> string UTF-8.
US ASCII is fully compatible with UTF-8, so even though these two strings have different encoding, concatenation works fine.</p>
<p>String literals may default to UTF-8, but some functions will return US ASCII encoded strings.
For example:</p>
<pre><code>&gt;&gt; require "digest/md5"
=&gt; true
&gt;&gt; Digest::MD5.hexdigest("foo").encoding
=&gt; #&lt;Encoding:US-ASCII&gt;
</code></pre>
<p>A hexdigest will only ever contain ASCII characters, so the implementation tags the returned string as US-ASCII.</p>
<h2>Encoding Gotchas</h2>
<p>Let’s look at a couple encoding gotcha’s.</p>
<h3>Infectious Invalid Encodings</h3>
<p>When a string is incorrectly tagged, Ruby will typically only raise an exception when it needs to actually examine the bytes.
Here is an example:</p>
<pre><code>&gt;&gt; x = "Hello \x93\xfa\x96\x7b"
&gt;&gt; x.encoding
=&gt; #&lt;Encoding:UTF-8&gt;
&gt;&gt; x.valid_encoding?
=&gt; false
&gt;&gt; x + "ã»ã"
=&gt; "Hello \x93\xFA\x96{ã»ã"
&gt;&gt; y = _
&gt;&gt; y
=&gt; "Hello \x93\xFA\x96{ã»ã"
&gt;&gt; [y.encoding, y.valid_encoding?]
=&gt; [#&lt;Encoding:UTF-8&gt;, false]
</code></pre>
<p>Again we have the incorrectly tagged Shift JIS string.
We’re able to append a correctly tagged UTF-8 string and no exception is raised.
Why is that?
Ruby assumes that if both strings have the same encoding, there is no reason to validate the bytes in either string so it will just append them.
That means we can have an incorrectly tagged string “infect” what would otherwise be correctly tagged UTF-8 strings.
Say we have some code like this:</p>
<div><pre>def append string
 string + "ã»ã"
end
p append("ã»ã").valid_encoding? 
p append("Hello \x93\xfa\x96\x7b").valid_encoding? 
</pre></div>
<p>When debugging this code, we may be tempted to think the problem is in the <code>append</code> method.
But actually the issue is with <em>the caller</em>.
The caller is passing in incorrectly tagged strings, and unfortunately we might not get an exception until the return value of <code>append</code> is used somewhere far away.</p>
<h3>ASCII-8BIT is Special</h3>
<p>Sometimes ASCII-8BIT is considered to be a “compatible” encoding and sometimes it isn’t.
Here is an example:</p>
<pre><code>&gt;&gt; x = "\x93\xfa\x96\x7b".b
&gt;&gt; x.encoding
=&gt; #&lt;Encoding:ASCII-8BIT&gt;
&gt;&gt; y = "ã»ã"
&gt;&gt; y + x
Traceback (most recent call last):
 5: from /Users/aaron/.rbenv/versions/ruby-trunk/bin/irb:23:in `&lt;main&gt;'
 4: from /Users/aaron/.rbenv/versions/ruby-trunk/bin/irb:23:in `load'
 3: from /Users/aaron/.rbenv/versions/ruby-trunk/lib/ruby/gems/2.7.0/gems/irb-1.2.0/exe/irb:11:in `&lt;top (required)&gt;'
 2: from (irb):89
 1: from (irb):89:in `+'
Encoding::CompatibilityError (incompatible character encodings: UTF-8 and ASCII-8BIT)
</code></pre>
<p>Here we have a binary string stored in <code>x</code>.
Maybe it came from a JPEG file or something (it didn’t, I just typed it in!)
When we try to concatenate the binary string with the UTF-8 string, we get an exception.
But this may actually be an exception we want!
It doesn’t make sense to be concatenating some JPEG data with an actual string we want to view, so it’s <em>good</em> we got an exception here.</p>
<p>Now here is the same code, but with the contents of <code>x</code> changed somewhat:</p>
<pre><code>&gt;&gt; x = "Hello World".b
&gt;&gt; x.encoding
=&gt; #&lt;Encoding:ASCII-8BIT&gt;
&gt;&gt; y = "ã»ã"
&gt;&gt; y + x
=&gt; "ã»ãHello World"
</code></pre>
<p>We have the same code with the same encodings at play.
The only thing that changed is the actual contents of the <code>x</code> string.</p>
<p>When Ruby concatenates ASCII-8BIT strings, it will examine the contents of that string.
If all bytes in the string are ASCII characters, it will treat it as a US-ASCII string and consider it to be “compatible”.
If the string contains non-ASCII characters, it will consider it to be incompatible.</p>
<p>This means that if you had read some data from your JPEG, and that data happened to all be ASCII characters, you would not get an exception even though maybe you really wanted one.</p>
<p>In my personal opinion, concatenating an ASCII-8BIT string with anything besides another ASCII-8BIT string should be an exception.</p>
<p>Anyway, this is all I feel like writing today. I hope you have a good day, and remember to check your encodings!</p>
 </div>||||I|||| Vim, tmux, and Fish

 2023-01-18 @ 11:23

 I do most of my text editing with MacVim, but when I pair with people I like to use tmate. tmate is just an easy way to connect tmux sessions with a remote person. But this means that I go from coding in a GUI to coding in a terminal. Normally this wouldn’t be a problem, but I had made a Fish alias that would open the MacVim GUI every time I typed vim in the terminal. Of course when I’m pairing via tmate, the other people cannot see the GUI, so I would have to remember a different command to open Vim.

 Today I did about 10min of research to fix this problem and came up with the following Fish command:

 $ cat .config/fish/functions/vim.fish 
 function vim --wraps='vim' --description 'open Vim'
 if set -q TMUX # if we're in a TMUX session, open in terminal
 command vim $argv
 else
 # Otherwise open macvim
 open -a MacVim $argv; 
 end
 end
 

 All it does is open terminal Vim if I’m in a TMUX session, otherwise it opens the MacVim GUI.

 Instead of putting up with this frustration for such a long time, I should have taken the 10 min required to fix the situation. This was a good reminder for me, and hopefully I’ll be better about it in the future!

 read more »

 In Memory of a Giant

 2022-12-07 @ 07:08

 The Ruby community has lost a giant. As a programmer, I always feel as if I’m standing on the shoulders of giants. Chris Seaton was one of those giants.

 I’ve been working at the same company as Chris for the past 2 years. However, I first met him through the open source world many years ago. He was working on a Ruby implementation called TruffleRuby, and got his PhD in Ruby. Can you believe that? A PhD in Ruby? I’d never heard of such a thing. My impression was that nobody in academia cared about Ruby, but here was Chris, the Ruby Doctor. I was impressed.

 Patience

 As a college dropout, I’ve always felt underqualified. Embarrassment about my lack of knowledge and credentials has driven me to study hard on my own time. But Chris never once made me feel out of place. Any time I had questions, without judgement, he would take the time to explain things to me.

 I’ve always looked up to Chris. I was at a bar in London with a few coworkers. We started talking about age, and I found out that Chris was much younger than me. I said “You’re so smart and accomplished! How can I possibly catch up to you?” Chris said “Don’t worry, I’ll just tell you everything I know!”

 Puns

 My team is fully remote, so every Friday we have a team meeting over video to just hang out and talk about stuff. Eventually I’ll make a really great pun, most people will sigh, Kevin Menard will get angry, and Chris would just be straight faced. No reaction from Chris. Every. Single. Time.

 One time, someone asked Chris “do you know that he’s making a joke? Or do you just not think it’s funny?” Chris responded “I know he’s making a pun, I just don’t react because I don’t want to encourage him.” I said “This just encourages me more because now I feel challenged!”

 I wish I had tried harder because now I’ll never get that reaction.

 Kindness

 My last conversation with Chris was Thursday December 1st at RubyConf in Houston. We all went to dinner at a Ramen shop. I find British English to be extremely adorable, so any time I hear fun British phrases in the news I always ask my British coworkers about it. The latest one was “Wonky Veg” so I asked Chris if he’d been buying any at the store. He said no, but that one of his favorite things to do was find weird things at the local supermarket, take photos of it, then share with his coworkers. He flipped through photos on his phone, showing me pics of him shopping with his daughter. Some of the products he showed me were quite funny and we both had a good laugh.

 Memory

 I feel honored to have had the opportunity to work with Chris.

 I feel grateful for the time that we had together.

 I feel angry that I can’t learn more from him.

 I feel sad that he is gone from my life.

 Chris was an important part of the community, his family, and his country. I will never forget the time I spent with Chris, a Giant.

 read more »

 Cross Platform Machine Code

 2022-06-12 @ 12:54

 I hate writing if statements.

 I’ve been working on a couple different assemblers for Ruby. Fisk is a pure Ruby x86 assembler. You can use it to generate bytes that can be executed on x86 machines. AArch64 is a pure Ruby ARM64 assembler. You can use it to generate bytes that can be executed on ARM64 machines.

 Both of these libraries just generate bytes that can be interpreted by their respective processors. Unfortunately you can’t just generate bytes and expect the CPU to execute them. You first need to put the bytes in executable memory before you can hand them off to the CPU for execution. Executable memory is basically the same thing regardless of CPU architecture, so I decided to make a library called JITBuffer that encapsulates executable memory manipulation.

 To use the JITBuffer, you write platform specific bytes to the buffer, then give the buffer to the CPU for execution. Here is an example on the ARM64 platform:

 require "aarch64"
 require "jit_buffer"
 require "fiddle"
 
 asm = AArch64::Assembler.new
 
 # Make some instructions. These instructions simply
 # return the value 0xF00DCAFE
 asm.pretty do
 asm.movz x0, 0xCAFE
 asm.movk x0, 0xF00D, lsl(16)
 asm.ret
 end
 
 # Write the bytes to executable memory:
 buf = JITBuffer.new(4096)
 buf.writeable!
 asm.write_to buf
 buf.executable!
 
 # Point the CPU at the executable memory
 func = Fiddle::Function.new(buf.to_i, [], -Fiddle::TYPE_INT)
 p func.call.to_s(16) # => "f00dcafe"
 

 The example uses the AArch64 gem to assemble ARM64 specific bytes, the JITBuffer gem to allocate executable memory, and the Fiddle gem to point the CPU at the executable memory and run it.

 Tests are important I guess, so I thought it would be a good idea to write tests for the JITBuffer gem. My goal for the test is to ensure that it’s actually possible to execute the bytes in the buffer itself. I’m not a huge fan of stubs or mocks and I try to avoid them if possible, so I wanted to write a test that would actually execute the bytes in the buffer. I also want the test to be “cross platform” (where “cross platform” means “works on x86_64 and ARM64”).

 Writing a test like this would mean writing something like the following:

 def test_can_execute
 buf = JITBuffer.new(4096)
 
 platform = figure_out_what_platform_we_are_on()
 if platform == "arm64"
 # write arm64 specific bytes
 buf.write(...)
 else
 # write x86_64 specific bytes
 buf.write(...)
 end
 
 # Use fiddle to execute
 end
 

 As I said at the start though, I hate writing if statements, and I’d rather avoid it if possible. In addition, how do you reliably figure out what platform you’re executing on? I really don’t want to figure that out. Not to mention, I just don’t think this code is cool.

 My test requirements:

 * No if statements
 * Self contained (I don’t want to shell out or use other libraries)
 * Must have pizzazz

 Since machine code is just bytes that the CPU interprets, it made me wonder “is there a set of bytes that execute both on an x86_64 CPU and an ARM64 CPU?” It turns out there are, and I want to walk through them here.

 x86_64 Instructions

 First lets look at the x86_64 instructions we’ll execute. Below is the assembly code (in Intel syntax):

 .start:
 mov rax, 0x2b ; put 0x2b in the rax register
 ret ; return from the function
 jmp start ; jump to .start
 

 This assembly code puts the value 0x2b in the rax register and returns from the current “C” function. I put “C” in quotes because we’re writing assembly code, but the assembly code is conforming to the C calling convention and we’ll treat it as if it’s a C function when we call it. The x86 C calling convention states that the value in the rax register is the “return value” of the C function. So we’ve created a function that returns 0x2b. At the end of the code there is a jmp instruction that jumps to the start of this sequence. However, since we return from the function before getting to the jump, the jump is never used (or is it?????)

 Machine code is just bytes, and here are the bytes for the above x86 machine code:

 0x48 0xC7 0xC0 0x2b 0x00 0x00 0x00 ; mov rax, 0x2b
 0xC3 ; ret
 0xEB 0xF6 ; jmp start
 

 x86 uses a “variable width” encoding, meaning that the number of bytes each instruction uses can vary. In this example, the mov instruction used 7 bytes, and the ret instruction used 1 byte. This means that the jmp instruction is the 9th byte, or offset 8.

 ARM64 Instructions

 Below are some ARM64 instructions we can execute:

 movz X11, 0x7b7 ; put 0x7b7 in the X11 register
 movz X0, 0x2b ; put 0x2b in the X0 register
 ret ; return from the function
 

 This machine code puts the value 0x7b7 in to the register X11. Then it puts the value 0x2b in the X0 register. The third instruction returns from the function. Again we are abiding by the C calling convention, but this time on the ARM64 platform. On the ARM64 platform, the value stored in X0 is the return value. So the above machine code will return the value 0x2b to the caller just like the x86_64 machine code did.

 Here are the bytes that represent the above ARM64 machine code:

 0xEB 0xF6 0x80 0xD2 ; movz X11, 0x7b7
 0x60 0x05 0x80 0xD2 ; movz X0, 0x2b
 0xC0 0x03 0x5F 0xD6 ; ret
 

 ARM64 uses fixed width instructions. All instructions on ARM64 are 32 bits wide.

 Cross Platform Machine Code

 Lets look at the byte blocks next to each other:

 ; x86_64 bytes
 0x48 0xC7 0xC0 0x2b 0x00 0x00 0x00 ; mov rax, 0x2b
 0xC3 ; ret
 0xEB 0xF6 ; jmp start
 
 ; ARM64 bytes
 0xEB 0xF6 0x80 0xD2 ; movz X11, 0x7b7
 0x60 0x05 0x80 0xD2 ; movz X0, 0x2b
 0xC0 0x03 0x5F 0xD6 ; ret
 

 Looking at the bytes, you’ll notice that the first two bytes of the ARM64 code (0xEB 0xF6) are exactly the same as the last two bytes of the x86_64 code. The first movz instruction in the ARM64 code was specially crafted as to have the same bytes as the last jmp instruction in the x86 code.

 If we combine these bytes, then tell the CPU to execute starting at a particular offset, then the interpretation of the bytes will change depending on the CPU, but the result is the same.

 Here are the bytes combined:

 0x48 0xC7 0xC0 0x2b 0x00 0x00 0x00 ; mov rax, 0x2b
 0xC3 ; ret
 start -> 0xEB 0xF6 0x80 0xD2 ; (jmp start, or movz X11, 0x7b7)
 0x60 0x05 0x80 0xD2 ; movz X0, 0x2b
 0xC0 0x03 0x5F 0xD6 ; ret
 

 Regardless of platform, we’ll tell the CPU to start executing from offset 8 in the byte buffer. If it’s an x86 CPU, it will interpret the bytes as a jump, execute the top bytes, return at the ret, and ignore the rest of the bytes in the buffer (as they are never reached). If it’s an ARM64 machine, then it will interpret the bytes as “put 0x7b7 in the X11 register” and continue, never seeing the x86 specific bytes at the start of the buffer.

 Both x86_64 and ARM64 platforms will return the same value 0x2b.

 Now we can write a test without if statements like this:

 def test_execute
 # Cross platform bytes
 bytes = [0x48, 0xc7, 0xc0, 0x2b, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, # x86_64 mov rax, 0x2b
 0xc3, # x86_64 ret
 0xeb, 0xf6, # x86 jmp
 0x80, 0xd2, # ARM movz X11, 0x7b7
 0x60, 0x05, 0x80, 0xd2, # ARM movz X0, #0x2b
 0xc0, 0x03, 0x5f, 0xd6] # ARM ret
 
 # Write them to the buffer
 jit = JITBuffer.new(4096)
 jit.writeable!
 jit.write bytes.pack("C*")
 jit.executable!
 
 # start at offset 8
 offset = 8
 func = Fiddle::Function.new(jit.to_i + offset, [], Fiddle::TYPE_INT)
 
 # Check the return value
 assert_equal 0x2b, func.call
 end
 

 So simple!

 So cool!

 Tons of pizzazz!

 This test will execute machine code on both x86_64 as well as ARM64 and the machine code will return the same value. Not to mention, there’s no way RuboCop or Flay could possibly complain about this code. ð¤£

 I hope this inspires you to try writing cross platform machine code. This code only supports 2 platforms, but it does make me wonder how far we could stretch this and how many platforms we could support.

 Anyway, hope you have a good day!

 read more »

 Homebrew, Rosetta, and Ruby

 2022-01-07 @ 12:39

 Hi everyone! I finally upgraded to an M1. It’s really really great, but the main problem is that some projects I work on like TenderJIT and YJIT only really work on x86_64 and these new M1 machines use ARM chips. Fortunately we can run x86_64 software via Rosetta, so we can still do development work on x86 specific software.

 I’ve seen some solutions for setting up a dev environment that uses Rosetta, but I’d like to share what I did.

 Installing Homebrew

 I think most people recommend that you install two different versions of Homebrew, one that targets ARM, and the other that targets x86.

 So far, I’ve found this to be the best solution, so I went with it. Just do the normal Homebrew installation for ARM like this:

 $ /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"
 

 Then run the installer again under Rosetta like this:

 $ arch -x86_64 /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install.sh)"
 

 After doing this, I ended up with a Homebrew installation in /opt/homebrew (the ARM version), and another installation in /usr/local (the x86 version).

 Configuring your Terminal

 I read many places on the web that recommend you duplicate terminal, then rename it and modify the renamed version to run under Rosetta.

 I really didn’t like this solution. The problem for me is that I’d end up with two different terminal icons when doing cmd-tab, and I really can’t be bothered to read whether the terminal is the Rosetta one or not. It makes switching to the right terminal take way too long.

 Instead I decided to make my shell figure out what architecture I’m using, then update $PATH depending on whether I’m using x86 or ARM. To accomplish this, I installed Fish (I use Fish shell) in both the x86 and ARM installations of Homebrew:

 $ /opt/homebrew/bin/brew install fish
 $ arch -x86_64 /usr/local/bin/brew install fish
 

 If you’re not using Fish you don’t need to do this step. ð

 Next is the “interesting” part. In my config.fish, I added this:

 if test (arch) = "i386"
 set HOMEBREW_PREFIX /usr/local
 else
 set HOMEBREW_PREFIX /opt/homebrew
 end
 
 # Add the Homebrew prefix to $PATH. -m flag ensures it's at the beginning
 # of the path since the path might already be in $PATH (just not at the start)
 fish_add_path -m --path $HOMEBREW_PREFIX/bin
 
 alias intel 'arch -x86_64 /usr/local/bin/fish'
 

 The arch command will tell you which architecture you’re on. If I’m on i386, set the Homebrew prefix to /usr/local, otherwise set it to /opt/homebrew. Then use fish_add_path to prepend the Homebrew prefix to my $PATH environment variable. The -m switch moves the path to the front if $PATH already contained the path I’m trying to add.

 Finally I added an alias intel that just starts a new shell but under Rosetta. So my default workflow is to open a terminal under ARM, and if I need to work on an intel project, just run intel.

 How do I know my current architecture?

 The arch command will tell you the current architecture, but I don’t want to run that every time I want to verify my current architecture. My solution was to add an emoji to my prompt. I don’t like adding more text to my prompt, but this seems important enough to warrant the addition.

 My fish_prompt function looks like this:

 function fish_prompt --description 'Write out the prompt'
 if not set -q __fish_prompt_normal
 set -g __fish_prompt_normal (set_color normal)
 end
 
 if not set -q __fish_prompt_cwd
 set -g __fish_prompt_cwd (set_color $fish_color_cwd)
 end
 
 if test (arch) = "i386"
 set emote ð§
 else
 set emote ðª
 end
 
 echo -n -s "[$USER" @ (prompt_hostname) $emote ' ' "$__fish_prompt_cwd" (prompt_pwd) (__fish_vcs_prompt) "$__fish_prompt_normal" ']$ '
 end
 

 If I’m on ARM, the prompt will have an ðª emoji, and if I’m on x86, the prompt will have a ð§ emoji.

 Just to give an example, here is a sample session in my terminal:

 Last login: Fri Jan 7 12:37:59 on ttys001
 Welcome to fish, the friendly interactive shell
 [aaron@tc-lan-adapterðª ~]$ which brew
 /opt/homebrew/bin/brew
 [aaron@tc-lan-adapterðª ~]$ arch
 arm64
 [aaron@tc-lan-adapterðª ~]$ intel
 Welcome to fish, the friendly interactive shell
 [aaron@tc-lan-adapterð§ ~]$ which brew
 /usr/local/bin/brew
 [aaron@tc-lan-adapterð§ ~]$ arch
 i386
 [aaron@tc-lan-adapterð§ ~]$ exit
 [aaron@tc-lan-adapterðª ~]$ arch
 arm64
 [aaron@tc-lan-adapterðª ~]$ which brew
 /opt/homebrew/bin/brew
 [aaron@tc-lan-adapterðª ~]$
 

 Now I can easily switch back and forth between x86 and ARM and my prompt tells me which I’m using.

 Ruby with chruby

 My Ruby dev environment is still a work in progress. I use chruby for changing Ruby versions. The problem is that all Ruby versions live in the same directory. chruby doesn’t know the difference between ARM versions and x86 versions. So for now I’m adding the architecture name to the directory:

 [aaron@tc-lan-adapterðª ~]$ chruby
 ruby-3.0.2
 ruby-arm64
 ruby-i386
 ruby-trunk
 [aaron@tc-lan-adapterðª ~]$
 

 So I have to be careful which Ruby I switch to. I’ve filed a ticket on ruby-install, and I think we can make this nicer.

 Specifically I’d like to add a subfolder in ~/.rubies for each architecture, then point chruby at the right subfolder depending on my current architecture. Essentially the same trick I used for $PATH and Homebrew, but for pointing chruby at the right place given my current architecture.

 For now I just have to be careful though!

 One huge caveat for Fish users is that the current version of chruby-fish is broken such that changes to $PATH end up getting lost (see this issue).

 To work around that issue, I’m using @ioquatix’s fork of chruby-fish which can be found here. I just checked out that version of chruby-fish in my git project folder and added this to my config.fish:

 # Point Fish at our local checkout of chruby-fish
 set fish_function_path $fish_function_path $HOME/git/chruby-fish/share/fish/vendor_functions.d
 

 Conclusion

 Getting a dev environment up and running with Rosetta wasn’t too bad, but I think having the shell fix up $PATH is a better solution than having two copies of Terminal.app

 The scripts I presented here were all Fish specific, but I don’t think it should be too hard to translate them to whatever shell you use.

 Anyway, I hope you have a good weekend!

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 Publishing Gems With Your YubiKey

 2021-10-26 @ 15:17

 The recent compromise of ua-parser-js has put the security and trust of published packages at the top of my mind lately. In order to mitigate the risk of any Ruby Gems I manage from being hijacked, I enabled 2FA on my RubyGems.org account. This means that whenever I publish a Ruby Gem, I have to enter a one time passcode.

 I have to admit, I find this to be a pain. Whenever I do a release of Rails, I have to enter a passcode over and over again because you can only push one Gem at a time.

 Finally I’ve found a way to deal with this. I can maintain account security and also not be hassled with OTP codes again, thanks to my YubiKey.

 This is just a short post about how to set up your YubiKey as an authenticator for RubyGems.org, and how to publish Gems without getting an OTP prompt.

 Install ykman

 ykman is a command line utility for interacting with your YubiKey. I installed it on my Mac with Homebrew:

 $ brew install ykman
 

 Set up 2FA as usual

 If you already have 2FA enabled, you’ll have to temporarily disable it.

 Just go through the normal 2FA setup process and when you’re presented with a QR code, you’ll use the text key to configure your YubiKey.

 Just do:

 $ ykman oath accounts add -t -o TOTP rubygems.org:youremail@example.org 123456
 

 But use your email address and replace 123456 with the code you got from RubyGems.org. The -t flag will require you to touch the YubiKey when you want to generate an OTP.

 Generate an OTP

 You can now generate an OTP like this:

 $ ykman oath accounts code -s rubygems.org
 

 Publishing a Gem without OTP Prompts

 You can supply an OTP code to the gem interface via an environment variable or a command line argument.

 The environment variable version is like this:

 $ GEM_HOST_OTP_CODE=$(ykman oath accounts code -s rubygems.org) gem push cool-gem-0.0.0.gem
 

 The command line argument is like this:

 $ gem push cool-gem-0.0.0.gem --otp $(ykman oath accounts code -s rubygems.org)
 

 I’ve used the environment variable version, but not the command line argument though.

 Final Thoughts

 I also did this for NPM, but I haven’t tried pushing a package yet so I’ll see how that goes. I don’t really have any other thoughts except that everyone should enable 2FA so that we can prevent situations like ua-parser-js. I’m not particularly interested in installing someone’s Bitcoin miner on my machine, and I’m also not interested in being hassled because my package was hijacked.

 Everyone, please stay safe and enable 2FA!

 –Aaron

 <3 <3

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 Debugging an Assertion Error in Ruby

 2021-02-03 @ 17:13

 I hope nobody runs in to a problem where they need the information in this post, but in case you do, I hope this post is helpful. (I’m talking to you, future Aaron! lol)

 I committed a patch to Ruby that caused the tests to start failing. This was the patch:

 commit 1be84e53d76cff30ae371f0b397336dee934499d
 Author: Aaron Patterson <tenderlove@ruby-lang.org>
 Date: Mon Feb 1 10:42:13 2021 -0800
 
 Don't pin `val` passed in to `rb_define_const`.
 
 The caller should be responsible for holding a pinned reference (if they
 need that)
 
 diff --git a/variable.c b/variable.c
 index 92d7d11eab..ff4f7964a7 100644
 --- a/variable.c
 +++ b/variable.c
 @@ -3154,7 +3154,6 @@ rb_define_const(VALUE klass, const char *name, VALUE val)
 if (!rb_is_const_id(id)) {
 rb_warn("rb_define_const: invalid name `%s' for constant", name);
 }
 - rb_gc_register_mark_object(val);
 rb_const_set(klass, id, val);
 }
 

 This patch is supposed to allow objects passed in to rb_define_const to move. As the commit message says, the caller should be responsible for keeping the value pinned. At the time I committed the patch, I thought that most callers of the function were marking the value passed in (as val), so we were pinning objects that something else would already pin. In other words, this code was being wasteful by chewing up GC time by pinning objects that were already pinned.

 Unfortunately the CI started to error shortly after I committed this patch. Clearly the patch was related, but how?

 In this post I am going to walk through the debugging tricks I used to find the error.

 Reproduction

 I was able to reproduce the error on my Linux machine by running the same command CI ran. Unfortunately since this bug is related to GC, the error was intermittent. To reproduce it, I just ran the tests in a loop until the process crashed like this:

 $ while test $status -eq 0
 env RUBY_TESTOPTS='-q --tty=no' make -j16 -s check
 end
 

 Before running this loop though, I made sure to do ulimit -c unlimited so that I would get a core file when the process crashed.

 The Error

 After the process crashed, the top of the error looked like this:

 <OBJ_INFO:rb_ractor_confirm_belonging@./ractor_core.h:327> 0x000055be8657f180 [0 ] T_NONE 
 /home/aaron/git/ruby/lib/bundler/environment_preserver.rb:47: [BUG] id == 0 but not shareable
 ruby 3.1.0dev (2021-02-03T17:35:37Z master 6b4814083b) [x86_64-linux]
 
 

 The Ractor verification routines crashed the process because a T_NONE object is “not sharable”. In other words you can’t share an object of type T_NONE between Ractors. This makes sense because T_NONE objects are actually empty slots in the GC. If a Ractor, or any other Ruby code sees a T_NONE object, then it’s clearly an error. Only the GC internals should ever be dealing with this type.

 The top of the C backtrace looked like this:

 -- C level backtrace information -------------------------------------------
 /home/aaron/git/ruby/ruby(rb_print_backtrace+0x14) [0x55be856e9816] vm_dump.c:758
 /home/aaron/git/ruby/ruby(rb_vm_bugreport) vm_dump.c:1020
 /home/aaron/git/ruby/ruby(bug_report_end+0x0) [0x55be854e2a69] error.c:778
 /home/aaron/git/ruby/ruby(rb_bug_without_die) error.c:778
 /home/aaron/git/ruby/ruby(rb_bug+0x7d) [0x55be854e2bb0] error.c:786
 /home/aaron/git/ruby/ruby(rb_ractor_confirm_belonging+0x102) [0x55be856cf6e2] ./ractor_core.h:328
 /home/aaron/git/ruby/ruby(vm_exec_core+0x4ff3) [0x55be856b0003] vm.inc:2224
 /home/aaron/git/ruby/tool/lib/test/unit/parallel.rb(rb_vm_exec+0x886) [0x55be856c9946]
 /home/aaron/git/ruby/ruby(load_iseq_eval+0xbb) [0x55be8554f66b] load.c:594
 /home/aaron/git/ruby/ruby(require_internal+0x394) [0x55be8554e3e4] load.c:1065
 /home/aaron/git/ruby/ruby(rb_require_string+0x973c4) [0x55be8554d8a4] load.c:1142
 /home/aaron/git/ruby/ruby(rb_f_require) load.c:838
 /home/aaron/git/ruby/ruby(vm_call_cfunc_with_frame+0x11a) [0x55be856dd6fa] ./vm_insnhelper.c:2897
 /home/aaron/git/ruby/ruby(vm_call_method_each_type+0xaa) [0x55be856d4d3a] ./vm_insnhelper.c:3387
 /home/aaron/git/ruby/ruby(vm_call_alias+0x87) [0x55be856d68e7] ./vm_insnhelper.c:3037
 /home/aaron/git/ruby/ruby(vm_sendish+0x200) [0x55be856d08e0] ./vm_insnhelper.c:4498
 

 The function rb_ractor_confirm_belonging was the function raising an exception.

 Debugging the Core File with LLDB

 I usually use clang / lldb when debugging. I’ve added scripts to Ruby’s lldb tools that let me track down problems more easily, so I prefer it over gcc / gdb.

 First I inspected the backtrace in the corefile:

 (lldb) target create "./ruby" --core "core.456156"
 Core file '/home/aaron/git/ruby/core.456156' (x86_64) was loaded.
 (lldb) bt
 * thread #1, name = 'ruby', stop reason = signal SIGABRT
 * frame #0: 0x00007fdc5fc8918b libc.so.6`raise + 203
 frame #1: 0x00007fdc5fc68859 libc.so.6`abort + 299
 frame #2: 0x000056362ac38bc6 ruby`die at error.c:765:5
 frame #3: 0x000056362ac38bb5 ruby`rb_bug(fmt=<unavailable>) at error.c:788:5
 frame #4: 0x000056362ae256e2 ruby`rb_ractor_confirm_belonging(obj=<unavailable>) at ractor_core.h:328:13
 frame #5: 0x000056362ae06003 ruby`vm_exec_core(ec=<unavailable>, initial=<unavailable>) at vm.inc:2224:5
 frame #6: 0x000056362ae1f946 ruby`rb_vm_exec(ec=<unavailable>, mjit_enable_p=<unavailable>) at vm.c:0
 frame #7: 0x000056362aca566b ruby`load_iseq_eval(ec=0x000056362b176710, fname=0x000056362ce96660) at load.c:594:5
 frame #8: 0x000056362aca43e4 ruby`require_internal(ec=<unavailable>, fname=<unavailable>, exception=1) at load.c:1065:21
 frame #9: 0x000056362aca38a4 ruby`rb_f_require [inlined] rb_require_string(fname=0x00007fdc38033178) at load.c:1142:18
 frame #10: 0x000056362aca3880 ruby`rb_f_require(obj=<unavailable>, fname=0x00007fdc38033178) at load.c:838
 frame #11: 0x000056362ae336fa ruby`vm_call_cfunc_with_frame(ec=0x000056362b176710, reg_cfp=0x00007fdc5f958de0, calling=<unavailable>) at vm_insnhelper.c:2897:11
 frame #12: 0x000056362ae2ad3a ruby`vm_call_method_each_type(ec=0x000056362b176710, cfp=0x00007fdc5f958de0, calling=0x00007ffe3b552128) at vm_insnhelper.c:3387:16
 frame #13: 0x000056362ae2c8e7 ruby`vm_call_alias(ec=0x000056362b176710, cfp=0x00007fdc5f958de0, calling=0x00007ffe3b552128) at vm_insnhelper.c:3037:12
 

 It’s very similar to the backtrace in the crash report. The first thing that was interesting to me was frame 5 in vm_exec_core. vm_exec_core is the main loop for the YARV VM. This program was crashing when executing some kind of instruction in the virtual machine.

 (lldb) f 5
 frame #5: 0x000056362ae06003 ruby`vm_exec_core(ec=<unavailable>, initial=<unavailable>) at vm.inc:2224:5
 2221	 /* ### Instruction trailers. ### */
 2222	 CHECK_VM_STACK_OVERFLOW_FOR_INSN(VM_REG_CFP, INSN_ATTR(retn));
 2223	 CHECK_CANARY(leaf, INSN_ATTR(bin));
 -> 2224	 PUSH(val);
 2225	 if (leaf) ADD_PC(INSN_ATTR(width));
 2226	# undef INSN_ATTR
 2227	
 (lldb) 
 

 Checking frame 5, we can see that it’s crashing when we push a value on to the stack. The Ractor function checks the value of objects being pushed on the VM stack, and in this case we have an object that is a T_NONE. The question is where did this value come from?

 The crash happened in the file vm.inc, line 2224. This file is a generated file, so I can’t link to it, but I wanted to know which instruction was being executed, so I pulled up that file.

 Line 2224 happened to be inside the opt_send_without_block instruction. So something is calling a method, and the return value of the method is a T_NONE object.

 But what method is being called, and on what object?

 Finding the called method

 The value ec, or “Execution Context” contains information about the virtual machine at runtime. On the ec, we can find the cfp or “Control Frame Pointer” which is a data structure representing the current executing stack frame. In lldb, I could see that frame 7 had the ec available, so I went to that frame to look at the cfp:

 (lldb) f 7
 frame #7: 0x000056362aca566b ruby`load_iseq_eval(ec=0x000056362b176710, fname=0x000056362ce96660) at load.c:594:5
 591 	 rb_ast_dispose(ast);
 592 	 }
 593 	 rb_exec_event_hook_script_compiled(ec, iseq, Qnil);
 -> 594 	 rb_iseq_eval(iseq);
 595 	}
 596 	
 597 	static inline enum ruby_tag_type
 (lldb) p *ec->cfp
 (rb_control_frame_t) $1 = {
 pc = 0x000056362c095d58
 sp = 0x00007fdc5f859330
 iseq = 0x000056362ca051f0
 self = 0x000056362b1d92c0
 ep = 0x00007fdc5f859328
 block_code = 0x0000000000000000
 __bp__ = 0x00007fdc5f859330
 }
 

 The control frame pointer has a pointer to the iseq or “Instruction Sequence” that is currently being executed. It also has a pc or “Program Counter”, and the program counter usually points at the instruction that will be executed next (in other words, not the currently executing instruction). Of other interest, the iseq also has the source location that corresponds to those instructions.

 Getting the Source File

 If we examine the iseq structure, we can find the source location of the code that is currently being executed:

 (lldb) p ec->cfp->iseq->body->location
 (rb_iseq_location_t) $4 = {
 pathobj = 0x000056362ca06960
 base_label = 0x000056362ce95a30
 label = 0x000056362ce95a30
 first_lineno = 0x0000000000000051
 node_id = 137
 code_location = {
 beg_pos = (lineno = 40, column = 4)
 end_pos = (lineno = 50, column = 7)
 }
 }
 (lldb) command script import -r ~/git/ruby/misc/lldb_cruby.py
 lldb scripts for ruby has been installed.
 (lldb) rp 0x000056362ca06960
 bits [ ]
 T_STRING: [FROZEN] (const char [57]) $6 = "/home/aaron/git/ruby/lib/bundler/environment_preserver.rb"
 (lldb) 
 

 The location info clearly shows us that the instructions are on line 40. The pathobj member contains the file name, but it is stored as a Ruby string. To print out the string, I imported the lldb CRuby extensions, then used the rp command and gave it the address of the path object.

 From the output, we can see that it’s crashing in the “environment_preserver.rb” file inside of the instructions that are defined on line 40. We’re not crashing on line 40, but the instructions are defined there.

 Those instructions are this method:

 def replace_with_backup
 ENV.replace(backup) unless Gem.win_platform?
 
 # Fallback logic for Windows below to workaround
 # https://bugs.ruby-lang.org/issues/16798. Can be dropped once all
 # supported rubies include the fix for that.
 
 ENV.clear
 
 backup.each {|k, v| ENV[k] = v }
 end
 

 It’s still not clear which of these method calls is breaking. In this function we have some method call that is returning a T_NONE.

 Finding The Method Call

 To find the method call, I disassembled the instruction sequence and checked the program counter:

 (lldb) command script import -r misc/lldb_disasm.py
 lldb Ruby disasm installed.
 (lldb) rbdisasm ec->cfp->iseq
 PC IDX insn_name(operands) 
 0x56362c095c20 0000 opt_getinlinecache( 6, (struct iseq_inline_cache_entry *)0x56362c095ee0 )
 0x56362c095c38 0003 putobject( (VALUE)0x14 )
 0x56362c095c48 0005 getconstant( ID: 0x807b )
 0x56362c095c58 0007 opt_setinlinecache( (struct iseq_inline_cache_entry *)0x56362c095ee0 )
 0x56362c095c68 0009 opt_send_without_block( (struct rb_call_data *)0x56362c095f20 )
 0x56362c095c78 0011 branchif( 15 )
 0x56362c095c88 0013 opt_getinlinecache( 6, (struct iseq_inline_cache_entry *)0x56362c095ef0 )
 0x56362c095ca0 0016 putobject( (VALUE)0x14 )
 0x56362c095cb0 0018 getconstant( ID: 0x370b )
 0x56362c095cc0 0020 opt_setinlinecache( (struct iseq_inline_cache_entry *)0x56362c095ef0 )
 0x56362c095cd0 0022 putself
 0x56362c095cd8 0023 opt_send_without_block( (struct rb_call_data *)0x56362c095f30 )
 0x56362c095ce8 0025 opt_send_without_block( (struct rb_call_data *)0x56362c095f40 )
 0x56362c095cf8 0027 pop
 0x56362c095d00 0028 opt_getinlinecache( 6, (struct iseq_inline_cache_entry *)0x56362c095f00 )
 0x56362c095d18 0031 putobject( (VALUE)0x14 )
 0x56362c095d28 0033 getconstant( ID: 0x370b )
 0x56362c095d38 0035 opt_setinlinecache( (struct iseq_inline_cache_entry *)0x56362c095f00 )
 0x56362c095d48 0037 opt_send_without_block( (struct rb_call_data *)0x56362c095f50 )
 0x56362c095d58 0039 pop
 0x56362c095d60 0040 putself
 0x56362c095d68 0041 opt_send_without_block( (struct rb_call_data *)0x56362c095f60 )
 0x56362c095d78 0043 send( (struct rb_call_data *)0x56362c095f70, (rb_iseq_t *)0x56362ca05178 )
 0x56362c095d90 0046 leave
 (lldb) p ec->cfp->pc
 (const VALUE *) $9 = 0x000056362c095d58
 

 First I loaded the disassembly helper script. It provides the rbdisasm function. Then I used rbdisasm on the instruction sequence. This printed out the instructions in mostly human readable form. Printing the PC showed a value of 0x000056362c095d58. Looking at the PC list in the disassembly shows that 0x000056362c095d58 corresponds to a pop instruction. But the PC always points at the next instruction that will execute, not the currently executing instruction. The currently executing instruction is the one right before the PC. In this case we can see it is opt_send_without_block, which lines up with the information we discovered from vm.inc.

 This is the 3rd from last method call in the block. At 0041 there is another opt_send_without_block, and then at 0043 there is a generic send call.

 Looking at the Ruby code, from the bottom of the method, we see a call to backup. It’s not a local variable, so it must be a method call. The code calls each on that, and each takes a block. These must correspond to the opt_send_without_block and the send at the end of the instruction sequence. Our crash is happening just before these two, so it must be the call to ENV.clear.

 If we read the implementation of ENV.clear, we can see that it returns a global variable called envtbl:

 VALUE
 rb_env_clear(void)
 {
 VALUE keys;
 long i;
 
 keys = env_keys(TRUE);
 for (i=0; i<RARRAY_LEN(keys); i++) {
 VALUE key = RARRAY_AREF(keys, i);
 const char *nam = RSTRING_PTR(key);
 ruby_setenv(nam, 0);
 }
 RB_GC_GUARD(keys);
 return envtbl;
 }
 

 This object is allocated here:

 envtbl = rb_obj_alloc(rb_cObject);
 

 And then it calls rb_define_global_const to define the ENV constant as a global:

 /*
 * ENV is a Hash-like accessor for environment variables.
 *
 * See ENV (the class) for more details.
 */
 rb_define_global_const("ENV", envtbl);
 

 If we read rb_define_global_const we can see that it just calls rb_define_const:

 void
 rb_define_global_const(const char *name, VALUE val)
 {
 rb_define_const(rb_cObject, name, val);
 }
 

 Before my patch, any object passed to rb_define_const would be pinned. Once I removed the pinning, that allowed the ENV variable to move around even though it shouldn’t.

 I reverted that patch here, and then sent a pull request to make rb_gc_register_mark_object a little bit smarter here.

 Conclusion

 TBH I don’t know what to conclude this with. Debugging errors kind of sucks, but I hope that the LLDB scripts I wrote make it suck a little less. Hope you’re having a good day!!!

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 Counting Write Barrier Unprotected Objects

 2020-08-26 @ 15:29

 This is just a quick post mostly as a note to myself (because I forget the jq commands). Ruby objects that are not protected with a write barrier must be examined on every minor GC. That means that any objects in your system that live for a long time and don’t have write barrier protection will cause unnecessary overhead on every minor collection.

 Heap dumps will tell you which objects have a write barrier. In Rails apps I use a small script to get a dump of the heap after boot:

 require 'objspace'
 require 'config/environment'
 
 GC.start
 
 File.open("heap.dump", "wb") do |f|
 ObjectSpace.dump_all(output: f)
 end
 

 The heap.dump file will have a list of all of the objects in the heap.

 Here is an example of an object with a write barrier:

 {"address":"0x7fec1b2ff940", "type":"IMEMO", "class":"0x7fec1b2ffd50", "imemo_type":"ment", "references":["0x7fec1b314908", "0x7fec1b2ffcd8"], "memsize":48, "flags":{"wb_protected":true, "old":true, "uncollectible":true, "marked":true}}
 

 Here is an example of an object without a write barrier:

 {"address":"0x7fec1b2ff760", "type":"ICLASS", "class":"0x7fec1a8c0f60", "references":["0x7fec1a8c9250", "0x7fec1b2fefe0"], "memsize":40}
 

 Objects with a write barrier will have "wb_protected":true in their flags section.

 I like to use jq to process heap dumps. Here is a command to find all of the unprotected objects, group them by type, then count them up:

 $ jq 'select(.flags.wb_protected | not) | .type' heap.dump | sort | uniq -c | sort -n
 1 "MATCH"
 2 "ARRAY"
 5 "ROOT"
 9 "FILE"
 323 "MODULE"
 927 "ICLASS"
 1631 "DATA"
 

 All of the objects listed here will be examined on every minor GC. If my Rails app is spending a lot of time in minor GCs, this is a good place to look.

 Ruby 2.8 (or 3.0) will eliminate ICLASS from this list (here is the commit).

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 Guide to String Encoding in Ruby

 2020-01-13 @ 06:00

 Encoding issues don’t seem to happen frequently, but that is a blessing and a curse. It’s great not to fix them very frequently, but when you do need to fix them, lack of experience can leave you feeling lost.

 This post is meant to be a sort of guide about what to do when you encounter different types of encoding errors in Ruby. First we’ll cover what an encoding object is, then we’ll look at common encoding exceptions and how to fix them.

 What are String encodings in Ruby?

 In Ruby, strings are a combination of an array of bytes, and an encoding object. We can access the encoding object on the string by calling encoding on the string object.

 For example:

 >> x = 'Hello World'
 >> x.encoding
 => #<Encoding:UTF-8>
 

 In my environment, the default encoding object associated with a string us the “UTF-8” encoding object. A graph of the object relationship looks something like this:

 Changing a String’s Encoding

 We can change encoding by two different methods:

 * String#force_encoding
 * String#encode

 The force_encoding method will mutate the string object and only change which encoding object the string points to. It does nothing to the bytes of the string, it merely changes the encoding object associated with the string. Here we can see that the return value of encoding changes after we call the force_encode method:

 >> x = 'Hello World'
 >> x.encoding
 => #<Encoding:UTF-8>
 >> x.force_encoding "US-ASCII"
 => "Hello World"
 >> x.encoding
 => #<Encoding:US-ASCII>
 

 The encode method will create a new string based on the bytes of the old string and associate the encoding object with the new string.

 Here we can see that the encoding of x remains the same, and calling encode returns a new string y which is associated with the new encoding:

 >> x = 'Hello World'
 >> x.encoding
 => #<Encoding:UTF-8>
 >> y = x.encode("US-ASCII")
 >> x.encoding
 => #<Encoding:UTF-8>
 >> y.encoding
 => #<Encoding:US-ASCII>
 

 Here is a visualization of the difference:

 Calling force_encoding mutates the original string, where encode creates a new string with a different encoding. Translating a string from one encoding to another is probably the “normal” use of encodings. However, developers will rarely call the encode method because Ruby will typically handle any necessary translations automatically. It’s probably more common to call the force_encoding method, and that is because strings can be associated with the wrong encoding.

 Strings Can Have the Wrong Encoding

 Strings can be associated with the wrong encoding object, and that is the source of most if not all encoding related exceptions. Let’s look at an example:

 >> x = "Hello \x93\xfa\x96\x7b"
 >> x.encoding
 => #<Encoding:UTF-8>
 >> x.valid_encoding?
 => false
 

 In this case, Ruby associated the string "Hello \x93\xfa\x96\x7b" with the default encoding UTF-8. However, many of the bytes in the string are not valid Unicode characters. We can check if the string is associated with a valid encoding object by calling valid_encoding? method. The valid_encoding? method will scan all bytes to see if they are valid for that particular encoding object.

 So how do we fix this? The answer depends on the situation. We need to think about where the data came from and where the data is going. Let’s say we’ll display this string on a webpage, but we do not know the correct encoding for the string. In that case we probably want to make sure the string is valid UTF-8, but since we don’t know the correct encoding for the string, our only choice is to remove the bad bytes from the string.

 We can remove the unknown bytes by using the scrub method:

 >> x = "Hello \x93\xfa\x96\x7b"
 >> x.valid_encoding?
 => false
 >> y = x.scrub
 >> y
 => "Hello ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½{"
 >> y.encoding
 => #<Encoding:UTF-8>
 >> y.valid_encoding?
 => true
 

 The scrub method will return a new string associated with the encoding but with all of the invalid bytes replaced by a replacement character, the diamond question mark thing.

 What if we do know the encoding of the source string? Actually the example above is using a string that’s encoding using Shift JIS. Let’s say we know the encoding, and we want to display the string on a webpage. In that case we tag the string by using force_encoding, and transcode to UTF-8:

 >> x = "Hello \x93\xfa\x96\x7b"
 >> x.force_encoding "Shift_JIS"
 => "Hello \x{93FA}\x{967B}"
 >> x.valid_encoding?
 => true
 >> x.encode "UTF-8" # display as UTF-8
 => "Hello æ¥æ¬"
 

 The most important thing to think about when dealing with encoding issues is “where did this data come from?” and “what will we do with this data?” Answering those two questions will drive all decisions about which encoding to use with which string.

 Encoding Depends on the Context

 Before we look at some common errors and their remediation, let’s look at one more example of the encoding context dependency. In this example, we’ll use some user input as a cache key, but we’ll also display the user input on a webpage. We’re going to use our source data (the user input) in two places: as a cache key, and something to display on a web page.

 Here’s the code:

 require "digest/md5"
 require "cgi"
 
 # Make a checksum
 def make_checksum string
 Digest::MD5.hexdigest string
 end
 
 # Not good HTML escaping (don't use this)
 # Returns a string with UTF-8 compatible encoding for display on a webpage
 def display_on_web string
 string.gsub(/>/, ">")
 end
 
 # User input from an unknown source
 x = "Hello \x93\xfa\x96\x7b"
 p ENCODING: x.encoding
 p VALID_ENCODING: x.valid_encoding?
 
 p display_on_web x
 p make_checksum x
 

 If we run this code, we’ll get an exception:

 $ ruby thing.rb
 {:ENCODING=>#<Encoding:UTF-8>}
 {:VALID_ENCODING=>false}
 Traceback (most recent call last):
 2: from thing.rb:20:in `<main>'
 1: from thing.rb:12:in `display_on_web'
 thing.rb:12:in `gsub': invalid byte sequence in UTF-8 (ArgumentError)
 

 The problem is that we have a string of unknown input with bytes that are not valid UTF-8 characters. We know we want to display this string on a UTF-8 encoded webpage, so lets scrub the string:

 require "digest/md5"
 require "cgi"
 
 # Make a checksum
 def make_checksum string
 Digest::MD5.hexdigest string
 end
 
 # Not good HTML escaping (don't use this)
 # Returns a string with UTF-8 compatible encoding for display on a webpage
 def display_on_web string
 string.gsub(/>/, ">")
 end
 
 # User input from an unknown source
 x = "Hello \x93\xfa\x96\x7b".scrub
 p ENCODING: x.encoding
 p VALID_ENCODING: x.valid_encoding?
 
 p display_on_web x
 p make_checksum x
 

 Now when we run the program, the output is like this:

 $ ruby thing.rb
 {:ENCODING=>#<Encoding:UTF-8>}
 {:VALID_ENCODING=>true}
 "Hello ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½{"
 "4dab6f63b4d3ae3279345c9df31091eb"
 

 Great! We’ve build some HTML and generated a checksum. Unfortunately there is a bug in this code (of course the mere fact that we’ve written code means there’s a bug! lol) Let’s introduce a second user input string with slightly different bytes than the first input string:

 require "digest/md5"
 require "cgi"
 
 # Make a checksum
 def make_checksum string
 Digest::MD5.hexdigest string
 end
 
 # Not good HTML escaping (don't use this)
 # Returns a string with UTF-8 compatible encoding for display on a webpage
 def display_on_web string
 string.gsub(/>/, ">")
 end
 
 # User input from an unknown source
 x = "Hello \x93\xfa\x96\x7b".scrub
 p ENCODING: x.encoding
 p VALID_ENCODING: x.valid_encoding?
 
 p display_on_web x
 p make_checksum x
 
 # Second user input from an unknown source with slightly different bytes
 y = "Hello \x94\xfa\x97\x7b".scrub
 p ENCODING: y.encoding
 p VALID_ENCODING: y.valid_encoding?
 
 p display_on_web y
 p make_checksum y
 

 Here is the output from the program:

 $ ruby thing.rb
 {:ENCODING=>#<Encoding:UTF-8>}
 {:VALID_ENCODING=>true}
 "Hello ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½{"
 "4dab6f63b4d3ae3279345c9df31091eb"
 {:ENCODING=>#<Encoding:UTF-8>}
 {:VALID_ENCODING=>true}
 "Hello ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½{"
 "4dab6f63b4d3ae3279345c9df31091eb"
 

 The program works in the sense that there is no exception. But both user input strings have the same checksum despite the fact that the original strings clearly have different bytes! So what is the correct fix for this program? Again, we need to think about the source of the data (where did it come from), as well as what we will do with it (where it is going). In this case we have one source, from a user, and the user provided us with no encoding information. In other words, the encoding information of the source data is unknown, so we can only treat it as a sequence of bytes. We have two output cases, one is a UTF-8 HTML the other output is the input to our checksum function. The HTML requires that our string be UTF-8 so making the string valid UTF-8, in other words “scrubbing” it, before displaying makes sense. However, our checksum function requires seeing the original bytes of the string. Since the checksum is only concerned with the bytes in the string, any encoding including an invalid encoding will work. It’s nice to make sure all our strings have valid encodings though, so we’ll fix this example such that everything has a valid encoding.

 require "digest/md5"
 require "cgi"
 
 # Make a checksum
 def make_checksum string
 Digest::MD5.hexdigest string
 end
 
 # Not good HTML escaping (don't use this)
 # Returns a string with UTF-8 compatible encoding for display on a webpage
 def display_on_web string
 string.gsub(/>/, ">")
 end
 
 # User input from an unknown source
 x = "Hello \x93\xfa\x96\x7b".b
 p ENCODING: x.encoding
 p VALID_ENCODING: x.valid_encoding?
 
 p display_on_web x.encode("UTF-8", undef: :replace)
 p make_checksum x
 
 # Second user input from an unknown source with slightly different bytes
 y = "Hello \x94\xfa\x97\x7b".b
 p ENCODING: y.encoding
 p VALID_ENCODING: y.valid_encoding?
 
 p display_on_web y.encode("UTF-8", undef: :replace)
 p make_checksum y
 

 Here is the output of the program:

 $ ruby thing.rb
 {:ENCODING=>#<Encoding:ASCII-8BIT>}
 {:VALID_ENCODING=>true}
 "Hello ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½{"
 "96cf6db2750fd4d2488fac57d8e4d45a"
 {:ENCODING=>#<Encoding:ASCII-8BIT>}
 {:VALID_ENCODING=>true}
 "Hello ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½{"
 "b92854c0db4f2c2c20eff349a9a8e3a0"
 

 To fix our program, we’ve changed a couple things. First we tagged the string of unknown encoding as “binary” by using the .b method. The .b method returns a new string that is associated with the ASCII-8BIT encoding. The name ASCII-8BIT is somewhat confusing because it has the word “ASCII” in it. It’s better to think of this encoding as either “unknown” or “binary data”. Unknown meaning we have some data that may have a valid encoding, but we don’t know what it is. Or binary data, as in the bytes read from a JPEG file or some such binary format. Anyway, we pass the binary string in to the checksum function because the checksum only cares about the bytes in the string, not about the encoding.

 The second change we made is to call encode with the encoding we want (UTF-8) along with undef: :replace meaning that any time Ruby encounters bytes it doesn’t know how to convert to the target encoding, it will replace them with the replacement character (the diamond question thing).

 SIDE NOTE: This is probably not important, but it is fun! We can specify what Ruby uses for replacing unknown bytes. Here’s an example:

 >> x = "Hello \x94\xfa\x97\x7b".b
 >> x.encoding
 => #<Encoding:ASCII-8BIT>
 >> x.encode("UTF-8", undef: :replace, replace: "Aaron")
 => "Hello AaronAaronAaron{"
 >> x.encode("UTF-8", undef: :replace, replace: "ð¤£")
 => "Hello ð¤£ð¤£ð¤£{"
 >> [_.encoding, _.valid_encoding?]
 => [#<Encoding:UTF-8>, true]
 

 Now lets take a look at some common encoding errors in Ruby and what to do about them.

 Encoding::InvalidByteSequenceError

 This exception occurs when Ruby needs to examine the bytes in a string and the bytes do not match the encoding. Here is an example of this exception:

 >> x = "Hello \x93\xfa\x96\x7b"
 >> x.encode "UTF-16"
 Traceback (most recent call last):
 5: from /Users/aaron/.rbenv/versions/ruby-trunk/bin/irb:23:in `<main>'
 4: from /Users/aaron/.rbenv/versions/ruby-trunk/bin/irb:23:in `load'
 3: from /Users/aaron/.rbenv/versions/ruby-trunk/lib/ruby/gems/2.7.0/gems/irb-1.2.0/exe/irb:11:in `<top (required)>'
 2: from (irb):4
 1: from (irb):4:in `encode'
 Encoding::InvalidByteSequenceError ("\x93" on UTF-8)
 >> x.encoding
 => #<Encoding:UTF-8>
 >> x.valid_encoding?
 => false
 

 The string x contains bytes that aren’t valid UTF-8, yet it is associated with the UTF-8 encoding object. When we try to convert x to UTF-16, an exception occurs.

 How to fix Encoding::InvalidByteSequenceError

 Like most encoding issues, our string x is tagged with the wrong encoding. The way to fix this issue is to tag the string with the correct encoding. But what is the correct encoding? To figure out the correct encoding, you need to know where the string came from. For example if the string came from a Mime attachment, the Mime attachment should specify the encoding (or the RFC will tell you).

 In this case, the string is a valid Shift JIS string, but I know that because I looked up the bytes and manually entered them. So we’ll tag this as Shift JIS, and the exception goes away:

 >> x = "Hello \x93\xfa\x96\x7b"
 >> x.force_encoding "Shift_JIS"
 => "Hello \x{93FA}\x{967B}"
 >> x.encode "UTF-16"
 => "\uFEFFHello \u65E5\u672C"
 >> x.encoding
 => #<Encoding:Shift_JIS>
 >> x.valid_encoding?
 => true
 

 If you don’t know the source of the string, an alternative solution is to tag as UTF-8 and then scrub the bytes:

 >> x = "Hello \x93\xfa\x96\x7b"
 >> x.force_encoding "UTF-8"
 => "Hello \x93\xFA\x96{"
 >> x.scrub!
 => "Hello ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½{"
 >> x.encode "UTF-16"
 => "\uFEFFHello \uFFFD\uFFFD\uFFFD{"
 >> x.encoding
 => #<Encoding:UTF-8>
 >> x.valid_encoding?
 => true
 

 Of course this works, but it means that you’ve lost data. The best solution is to figure out what the encoding of the string should be depending on its source and tag it with the correct encoding.

 Encoding::UndefinedConversionError

 This exception occurs when a string of one encoding can’t be converted to another encoding.

 Here is an example:

 >> x = "å\u2160"
 >> x
 => "åâ "
 >> x.encoding
 => #<Encoding:UTF-8>
 >> x.valid_encoding?
 => true
 >> x.encode "Shift_JIS"
 Traceback (most recent call last):
 5: from /Users/aaron/.rbenv/versions/ruby-trunk/bin/irb:23:in `<main>'
 4: from /Users/aaron/.rbenv/versions/ruby-trunk/bin/irb:23:in `load'
 3: from /Users/aaron/.rbenv/versions/ruby-trunk/lib/ruby/gems/2.7.0/gems/irb-1.2.0/exe/irb:11:in `<top (required)>'
 2: from (irb):23
 1: from (irb):23:in `encode'
 Encoding::UndefinedConversionError (U+2160 from UTF-8 to Shift_JIS)
 

 In this example, we have two characters: “å”, and the Roman numeral 1 (“â ”). Unicode Roman numeral 1 cannot be converted to Shift JIS because there are two codepoints that represent that character in Shift JIS. This means the conversion is ambiguous, so Ruby will raise an exception.

 How to fix Encoding::UndefinedConversionError

 Our original string is correctly tagged as UTF-8, but we need to convert to Shift JIS. In this case we’ll use a replacement character when converting to Shift JIS:

 >> x = "å\u2160"
 >> y = x.encode("Shift_JIS", undef: :replace)
 >> y
 => "\x{8E6C}?"
 >> y.encoding
 => #<Encoding:Shift_JIS>
 >> y.valid_encoding?
 => true
 >> y.encode "UTF-8"
 => "å?"
 

 We were able to convert to Shift JIS, but we did lose some data.

 ArgumentError

 When a string contains invalid bytes, sometimes Ruby will raise an ArgumentError exception:

 >> x = "Hello \x93\xfa\x96\x7b"
 >> x.downcase
 Traceback (most recent call last):
 5: from /Users/aaron/.rbenv/versions/ruby-trunk/bin/irb:23:in `<main>'
 4: from /Users/aaron/.rbenv/versions/ruby-trunk/bin/irb:23:in `load'
 3: from /Users/aaron/.rbenv/versions/ruby-trunk/lib/ruby/gems/2.7.0/gems/irb-1.2.0/exe/irb:11:in `<top (required)>'
 2: from (irb):34
 1: from (irb):34:in `downcase'
 ArgumentError (input string invalid)
 >> x.gsub(/ello/, "i")
 Traceback (most recent call last):
 6: from /Users/aaron/.rbenv/versions/ruby-trunk/bin/irb:23:in `<main>'
 5: from /Users/aaron/.rbenv/versions/ruby-trunk/bin/irb:23:in `load'
 4: from /Users/aaron/.rbenv/versions/ruby-trunk/lib/ruby/gems/2.7.0/gems/irb-1.2.0/exe/irb:11:in `<top (required)>'
 3: from (irb):34
 2: from (irb):35:in `rescue in irb_binding'
 1: from (irb):35:in `gsub'
 ArgumentError (invalid byte sequence in UTF-8)
 

 Again we use our incorrectly tagged Shift JIS string. Calling downcase or gsub both result in an ArgumentError. I personally think these exceptions are not great. We didn’t pass anything to downcase, so why is it an ArgumentError? There is nothing wrong with the arguments we passed to gsub, so why is it an ArgumentError? Why does one say “input string invalid” where the other gives us a slightly more helpful exception of “invalid byte sequence in UTF-8”? I think these should both result in Encoding::InvalidByteSequenceError exceptions, as it’s a problem with the encoding, not the arguments.

 Regardless, these errors both stem from the fact that the Shift JIS string is incorrectly tagged as UTF-8.

 Fixing ArgumentError

 Fixing this issue is just like fixing Encoding::InvalidByteSequenceError. We need to figure out the correct encoding of the source string, then tag the source string with that encoding. If the encoding of the source string is truly unknown, scrub it.

 >> x = "Hello \x93\xfa\x96\x7b"
 >> x.force_encoding "Shift_JIS"
 => "Hello \x{93FA}\x{967B}"
 >> x.downcase
 => "hello \x{93FA}\x{967B}"
 >> x.gsub(/ello/, "i")
 => "Hi \x{93FA}\x{967B}"
 

 Encoding::CompatibilityError

 This exception occurs when we try to combine strings of two different encodings and those encodings are incompatible. For example:

 >> x = "å\u2160"
 >> y = "Hello \x93\xfa\x96\x7b".force_encoding("Shift_JIS")
 >> [x.encoding, x.valid_encoding?]
 => [#<Encoding:UTF-8>, true]
 >> [y.encoding, y.valid_encoding?]
 => [#<Encoding:Shift_JIS>, true]
 >> x + y
 Traceback (most recent call last):
 5: from /Users/aaron/.rbenv/versions/ruby-trunk/bin/irb:23:in `<main>'
 4: from /Users/aaron/.rbenv/versions/ruby-trunk/bin/irb:23:in `load'
 3: from /Users/aaron/.rbenv/versions/ruby-trunk/lib/ruby/gems/2.7.0/gems/irb-1.2.0/exe/irb:11:in `<top (required)>'
 2: from (irb):50
 1: from (irb):50:in `+'
 Encoding::CompatibilityError (incompatible character encodings: UTF-8 and Shift_JIS)
 

 In this example we have a valid UTF-8 string and a valid Shift JIS string. However, these two encodings are not compatible, so we get an exception when combining.

 Fixing Encoding::CompatibilityError

 To fix this exception, we need to manually convert one string to a new string that has a compatible encoding. In the case above, we can choose whether we want the output string to be UTF-8 or Shift JIS, and then call encode on the appropriate string.

 In the case we want UTF-8 output, we can do this:

 >> x = "å"
 >> y = "Hello \x93\xfa\x96\x7b".force_encoding("Shift_JIS")
 >> x + y.encode("UTF-8")
 => "åHello æ¥æ¬"
 >> [_.encoding, _.valid_encoding?]
 => [#<Encoding:UTF-8>, true]
 

 If we wanted Shift JIS, we could do this:

 >> x = "å"
 >> y = "Hello \x93\xfa\x96\x7b".force_encoding("Shift_JIS")
 >> x.encode("Shift_JIS") + y
 => "\x{8E6C}Hello \x{93FA}\x{967B}"
 >> [_.encoding, _.valid_encoding?]
 => [#<Encoding:Shift_JIS>, true]
 

 Another possible solution is to scrub bytes and concatenate, but again that results in data loss.

 What is a compatible encoding?

 If there are incompatible encodings, there must be compatible encodings too (at least I would think that). Here is an example of compatible encodings:

 >> x = "Hello World!".force_encoding "US-ASCII"
 >> [x.encoding, x.valid_encoding?]
 => [#<Encoding:US-ASCII>, true]
 >> y = "ããã«ã¡ã¯"
 >> [y.encoding, y.valid_encoding?]
 => [#<Encoding:UTF-8>, true]
 >> y + x
 => "ããã«ã¡ã¯Hello World!"
 >> [_.encoding, _.valid_encoding?]
 => [#<Encoding:UTF-8>, true]
 >> x + y
 => "Hello World!ããã«ã¡ã¯"
 >> [_.encoding, _.valid_encoding?]
 => [#<Encoding:UTF-8>, true]
 

 The x string is encoded with “US ASCII” encoding and the y string UTF-8. US ASCII is fully compatible with UTF-8, so even though these two strings have different encoding, concatenation works fine.

 String literals may default to UTF-8, but some functions will return US ASCII encoded strings. For example:

 >> require "digest/md5"
 => true
 >> Digest::MD5.hexdigest("foo").encoding
 => #<Encoding:US-ASCII>
 

 A hexdigest will only ever contain ASCII characters, so the implementation tags the returned string as US-ASCII.

 Encoding Gotchas

 Let’s look at a couple encoding gotcha’s.

 Infectious Invalid Encodings

 When a string is incorrectly tagged, Ruby will typically only raise an exception when it needs to actually examine the bytes. Here is an example:

 >> x = "Hello \x93\xfa\x96\x7b"
 >> x.encoding
 => #<Encoding:UTF-8>
 >> x.valid_encoding?
 => false
 >> x + "ã»ã"
 => "Hello \x93\xFA\x96{ã»ã"
 >> y = _
 >> y
 => "Hello \x93\xFA\x96{ã»ã"
 >> [y.encoding, y.valid_encoding?]
 => [#<Encoding:UTF-8>, false]
 

 Again we have the incorrectly tagged Shift JIS string. We’re able to append a correctly tagged UTF-8 string and no exception is raised. Why is that? Ruby assumes that if both strings have the same encoding, there is no reason to validate the bytes in either string so it will just append them. That means we can have an incorrectly tagged string “infect” what would otherwise be correctly tagged UTF-8 strings. Say we have some code like this:

 def append string
 string + "ã»ã"
 end
 
 p append("ã»ã").valid_encoding? # => true
 p append("Hello \x93\xfa\x96\x7b").valid_encoding? # = false
 

 When debugging this code, we may be tempted to think the problem is in the append method. But actually the issue is with the caller. The caller is passing in incorrectly tagged strings, and unfortunately we might not get an exception until the return value of append is used somewhere far away.

 ASCII-8BIT is Special

 Sometimes ASCII-8BIT is considered to be a “compatible” encoding and sometimes it isn’t. Here is an example:

 >> x = "\x93\xfa\x96\x7b".b
 >> x.encoding
 => #<Encoding:ASCII-8BIT>
 >> y = "ã»ã"
 >> y + x
 Traceback (most recent call last):
 5: from /Users/aaron/.rbenv/versions/ruby-trunk/bin/irb:23:in `<main>'
 4: from /Users/aaron/.rbenv/versions/ruby-trunk/bin/irb:23:in `load'
 3: from /Users/aaron/.rbenv/versions/ruby-trunk/lib/ruby/gems/2.7.0/gems/irb-1.2.0/exe/irb:11:in `<top (required)>'
 2: from (irb):89
 1: from (irb):89:in `+'
 Encoding::CompatibilityError (incompatible character encodings: UTF-8 and ASCII-8BIT)
 

 Here we have a binary string stored in x. Maybe it came from a JPEG file or something (it didn’t, I just typed it in!) When we try to concatenate the binary string with the UTF-8 string, we get an exception. But this may actually be an exception we want! It doesn’t make sense to be concatenating some JPEG data with an actual string we want to view, so it’s good we got an exception here.

 Now here is the same code, but with the contents of x changed somewhat:

 >> x = "Hello World".b
 >> x.encoding
 => #<Encoding:ASCII-8BIT>
 >> y = "ã»ã"
 >> y + x
 => "ã»ãHello World"
 

 We have the same code with the same encodings at play. The only thing that changed is the actual contents of the x string.

 When Ruby concatenates ASCII-8BIT strings, it will examine the contents of that string. If all bytes in the string are ASCII characters, it will treat it as a US-ASCII string and consider it to be “compatible”. If the string contains non-ASCII characters, it will consider it to be incompatible.

 This means that if you had read some data from your JPEG, and that data happened to all be ASCII characters, you would not get an exception even though maybe you really wanted one.

 In my personal opinion, concatenating an ASCII-8BIT string with anything besides another ASCII-8BIT string should be an exception.

 Anyway, this is all I feel like writing today. I hope you have a good day, and remember to check your encodings!

 read more »

 My Career Goals

 2019-10-12 @ 12:40

 I was going to tweet about this, but then I thought I’d have to make a bunch of tweets, and writing a blurgh post just seemed easier. Plus I don’t really have any puns in this post, so I can’t tweet it!

 My Career Goals

 I think many people aren’t sure what they want to do in their career. When I first started programming, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with my career. But after years of experience, my career aspirations have become crystal clear. I would like my job to be:

 * Improving Ruby and Rails internals
 * Teaching people

 Improving Ruby and Rails internals

 I got my first job programming in 1999. At that time, I didn’t know I wanted to be a programmer, it was just a way for me to pay for school. It turned out that I was pretty good at programming, so I decided that would be my career. To be honest, at that time I didn’t really love programming. I just found that I was good at it, and I could make decent money. In 2005 I found Ruby and Rails and that’s when I actually learned that I love programming. I loved Ruby so much that I learned Japanese so I could read blog posts about Ruby. 14 years later, I can easily read those blog posts, but I don’t actually need them. Oops!

 The reason I want to work on Ruby and Rails internals is that I want the language and framework to be performant, stable, easy to use. I want Ruby and Rails to be a great choice for people to use in production. I want others to experience the same joy I felt writing Ruby, and I want to make sure there are business that will employ those people.

 Teaching People

 I love to teach people things I know. I also love learning new things. As I hack on language and framework internals, I try to take that knowledge an disseminate it to as many people as I can.

 Why?

 First, I don’t think people can feel the joy of programming in Ruby/Rails unless they know how to actually program with Ruby/Rails. So I’m happy to help new folks get in to the language and framework.

 Second, I realize I’m not going to be around forever, and I want to make sure that these technologies will outlive me. If these technologies are going to survive in to the future, people need to understand how they work. Simply put: it’s an insurance policy for the future.

 Third, it’s just fun.

 Summary

 My dream job is to hack Ruby/Rails internals and teach people everything I know. Doing it is fun for me, and it’s the best way I can use my skills to make a real impact on the world.

 The End.

 read more »

 ESP8266 and Plantower Particle Sensor

 2019-09-03 @ 08:20

 Since forest fires have started to become a normal thing in the PNW, I’ve gotten interested in monitoring the air quality in and around my house. I found some sensors that will measure PM2.5 which is a standard for measuring air quality. The sensor I’m using is a PMS5003, and you can see the data sheet for it here. I like this sensor because it supports UART, so I was able to hook it to an FTDI and read data directly from my computer. I wanted to log the data, so I hooked it up to a Raspberry PI. However, I decided I’d like to measure the air quality in my office, a second room in the house, and also outside. Buying a Raspberry Pi for every sensor I purchase seems a little unreasonable, so I investigated a different solution. I settled on the ESP8266 E-01. This part can connect to wifi, knows how to speak UART, and is powerful enough to program directly. My plan was to read data from the sensor, then broadcast the data via UDP and have a central Raspberry Pi collect the data and report on it. Unfortunately, this plan has taken me many months to execute, so I’m going to write here the stuff I wish I had known when getting started.

 Parts

 Here are the parts I used:

 * ESP8266
 * Plantower PMS5003
 * ESP8266 Breadboard Adapter
 * ESP8266 Programmer

 Wiring

 Basically I just hooked the TX / RX pins to the Plantower sensor and set the CHPD and RST pins to high.

 Challenges with the ESP8266

 Now I’m basically going to complain about this chip, and then I’ll post the code I used.

 The first issue I ran in to is that I’m not sure what to call this thing, so searching the internet became a challenge. It seems that “ESP8266” refers to the chip, but E-01 refers to the package? I’m still not actually sure. It seems there are several boards that have an ESP8266 mounted on them, but searching for ESP8266 with E01 seemed to work.

 The second issue is programming the chip. I prefer to use C when developing for embedded systems, but no matter how hard I tried, I could not get the native toolchain running on MacOS. Finally I gave up and just used the Arduino toolchain. Somehow, you can write programs for the ESP8266 in Arduino, but doing it in C seems impossible (on Mac anyway).

 Building a circuit to program the chip seems impossible. I found some schematics online for building a programmer, but I couldn’t get anything to work. Instead, I ended up buying a dedicated programmer, and it seems to work well.

 Power requirements are extremely finicky. The chip wants 3.3v and at times 400mA. If either of these criteria aren’t met, the chip won’t work. Sometimes the chip wouldn’t do anything. Sometimes it would start, but when it tried to do wifi it would just restart. I ended up connecting a dedicated power supply to get the right power requirements.

 The ESP8266 E-01 is not breadboard friendly. I ended up buying some breadboard adapters so I could prototype.

 CHPD and RST need to be pulled HIGH for the chip to boot. This got me for a long time. I was able to program the chip with the programmer, but as soon as I moved it to the breadboard, nothing worked. In order to get the chip to actually boot, both CHPD and RST need to be pulled high.

 The air quality sensor is 5v. This isn’t too much of a problem, just kind of annoying that I really really have to use two different voltages for this task.

 Picture

 Here is a picture of the breadboard setup I have now:

 The blue box on the right is the air quality sensor, in the middle on the breadboard is the ESP8266, and up top is the power supply.

 Code

 Here is the Arduino code I used:

 #include <ESP8266WiFi.h>
 #include <WiFiUdp.h>
 #include <ESP8266WiFiMulti.h>
 #include <base64.h>
 
 #ifndef STASSID
 #define STASSID "WifiAPName"
 #define STAPSK "WifiPassword"
 #endif
 
 const char* ssid = STASSID;
 const char* password = STAPSK;
 
 ESP8266WiFiMulti WiFiMulti;
 WiFiUDP udp;
 IPAddress broadcastIp(224, 0, 0, 1);
 
 byte inputString[32];
 int i = 0;
 int recordId = 0;
 
 void setup() {
 Serial.begin(9600);
 
 WiFi.mode(WIFI_STA);
 WiFiMulti.addAP(ssid, password);
 
 while (WiFiMulti.run() != WL_CONNECTED) {
 delay(500);
 }
 
 delay(500);
 }
 
 void loop() {
 while (Serial.available()) {
 inputString[i] = Serial.read();
 i++;
 if (i == 2) { // Check for start of packet
 if (!(inputString[0] == 0x42 && inputString[1] == 0x4d)) {
 i = 0;
 }
 }
 if (i == 32) {
 i = 0;
 String encoded = base64::encode(inputString, 32);
 udp.beginPacketMulticast(broadcastIp, 9000, WiFi.localIP());
 udp.print("[\"aq\",{\"mac\":\"");
 udp.print(WiFi.macAddress());
 udp.print("\",\"record_id\":");
 udp.print(recordId);
 udp.print(",\"record\":\"");
 udp.print(encoded);
 udp.print("\"}]");
 udp.endPacket();
 recordId++;
 }
 }
 }
 

 I haven’t added CRC checking in this code, but it seems to work fine. Basically it reads data from the AQ sensor, Base64 encodes the data, then broadcasts the info as JSON over UDP on my network.

 Here is the client code:

 require "socket"
 require "ipaddr"
 require "json"
 
 MULTICAST_ADDR = "224.0.0.1"
 BIND_ADDR = "0.0.0.0"
 PORT = 9000
 
 if_addr = Socket.getifaddrs.find { |s| s.addr.ipv4? && !s.addr.ipv4_loopback? }
 p if_addr.addr.ip_address
 
 socket = UDPSocket.new
 membership = IPAddr.new(MULTICAST_ADDR).hton + IPAddr.new(BIND_ADDR).hton
 
 socket.setsockopt(:IPPROTO_IP, :IP_ADD_MEMBERSHIP, membership)
 socket.setsockopt(:IPPROTO_IP, :IP_MULTICAST_TTL, 1)
 socket.setsockopt(:SOL_SOCKET, :SO_REUSEPORT, 1)
 
 socket.bind(BIND_ADDR, PORT)
 
 class Sample < Struct.new(:time,
 :pm1_0_standard, :pm2_5_standard, :pm10_standard,
 :pm1_0_env, :pm2_5_env,
 :concentration_unit,
 
 # These fields are "number of particles beyond N um
 # per 0.1L of air". These numbers are multiplied by
 # 10, so 03um == "number of particles beyond 0.3um
 # in 0.1L of air"
 :particle_03um, :particle_05um, :particle_10um,
 :particle_25um, :particle_50um, :particle_100um)
 end
 
 loop do
 m, _ = socket.recvfrom(2000)
 record = JSON.load(m)[1]
 
 data = record["record"].unpack("m0").first
 unpack = data.unpack('CCnn14')
 crc = 0x42 + 0x4d + 28 + data.bytes.drop(4).first(26).inject(:+)
 unless crc != unpack.last
 p Sample.new(Time.now.utc, *unpack.drop(3).first(12))
 end
 end
 

 This code just listens for incoming data and prints it out.

 I’ve posted the code here.

 Conclusion

 This is what I did over the long weekend! Since the AQ sensor only uses the RX and TX pins on the ESP8266, it means I’ve got at least two more GPIO pins left. Next I’ll add temperature and humidity sensor, then make something a bit more permanent.

 read more »

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Encoding issues don’t seem to happen frequently, but that is a blessing and a curse.
It’s great not to fix them very frequently, but when you do need to fix them, lack
of experience can leave you feeling lost.
This post is meant to be a sort of guide about what to do when you encounter different types
of encoding errors in Ruby.
First we’ll cover what an encoding object is, then we’ll look at common encoding exceptions
and how to fix them.
What are String encodings in Ruby?
In Ruby, strings are a combination of an array of bytes, and an encoding object.
We can access the encoding object on the string by calling encoding on the
string object.
For example:
 &gt;&gt; x = 'Hello World'
&gt;&gt; x.encoding
=&gt; #&lt;Encoding:UTF-8&gt;
 
In my environment, the default encoding object associated with a string us the “UTF-8” encoding object.
A graph of the object relationship looks something like this:
 
Changing a String’s Encoding
We can change encoding by two different methods:
 String#force_encoding
 String#encode
The force_encoding method will mutate the string object and only change which encoding object the string points to.
It does nothing to the bytes of the string, it merely changes the encoding object associated with the string.
Here we can see that the return value of encoding changes after we call the force_encode method:
 &gt;&gt; x = 'Hello World'
&gt;&gt; x.encoding
=&gt; #&lt;Encoding:UTF-8&gt;
&gt;&gt; x.force_encoding "US-ASCII"
=&gt; "Hello World"
&gt;&gt; x.encoding
=&gt; #&lt;Encoding:US-ASCII&gt;
 
The encode method will create a new string based on the bytes of the old string and associate the encoding object with the new string.
Here we can see that the encoding of x remains the same, and
calling encode returns a new string y which is associated with the new encoding:
 &gt;&gt; x = 'Hello World'
&gt;&gt; x.encoding
=&gt; #&lt;Encoding:UTF-8&gt;
&gt;&gt; y = x.encode("US-ASCII")
&gt;&gt; x.encoding
=&gt; #&lt;Encoding:UTF-8&gt;
&gt;&gt; y.encoding
=&gt; #&lt;Encoding:US-ASCII&gt;
 
Here is a visualization of the difference:
 
Calling force_encoding mutates the original string, where encode creates a new string with a different encoding.
Translating a string from one encoding to another is probably the “normal” use of encodings.
However, developers will rarely call the encode method because Ruby will typically handle any necessary translations automatically.
It’s probably more common to call the force_encoding method, and that is because strings can be associated with the wrong encoding.
Strings Can Have the Wrong Encoding
Strings can be associated with the wrong encoding object, and that is the source of most if not all encoding related exceptions.
Let’s look at an example:
 &gt;&gt; x = "Hello \x93\xfa\x96\x7b"
&gt;&gt; x.encoding
=&gt; #&lt;Encoding:UTF-8&gt;
&gt;&gt; x.valid_encoding?
=&gt; false
 
In this case, Ruby associated the string "Hello \x93\xfa\x96\x7b" with the default encoding UTF-8.
However, many of the bytes in the string are not valid Unicode characters.
We can check if the string is associated with a valid encoding object by calling valid_encoding? method.
The valid_encoding? method will scan all bytes to see if they are valid for that particular encoding object.
So how do we fix this?
The answer depends on the situation.
We need to think about where the data came from and where the data is going.
Let’s say we’ll display this string on a webpage, but we do not know the correct encoding for the string.
In that case we probably want to make sure the string is valid UTF-8, but since we don’t know the correct encoding for the string, our only choice is to remove the bad bytes from the string.
We can remove the unknown bytes by using the scrub method:
 &gt;&gt; x = "Hello \x93\xfa\x96\x7b"
&gt;&gt; x.valid_encoding?
=&gt; false
&gt;&gt; y = x.scrub
&gt;&gt; y
=&gt; "Hello ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½{"
&gt;&gt; y.encoding
=&gt; #&lt;Encoding:UTF-8&gt;
&gt;&gt; y.valid_encoding?
=&gt; true
 
The scrub method will return a new string associated with the encoding but with all of the invalid bytes replaced by a replacement character, the diamond question mark thing.
What if we do know the encoding of the source string?
Actually the example above is using a string that’s encoding using Shift JIS.
Let’s say we know the encoding, and we want to display the string on a webpage.
In that case we tag the string by using force_encoding, and transcode to UTF-8:
 &gt;&gt; x = "Hello \x93\xfa\x96\x7b"
&gt;&gt; x.force_encoding "Shift_JIS"
=&gt; "Hello \x{93FA}\x{967B}"
&gt;&gt; x.valid_encoding?
=&gt; true
&gt;&gt; x.encode "UTF-8" # display as UTF-8
=&gt; "Hello æ¥æ¬"
 
The most important thing to think about when dealing with encoding issues is “where did this data come from?” and “what will we do with this data?”
Answering those two questions will drive all decisions about which encoding to use with which string.
Encoding Depends on the Context
Before we look at some common errors and their remediation, let’s look at one more example of the encoding context dependency.
In this example, we’ll use some user input as a cache key, but we’ll also display the user input on a webpage.
We’re going to use our source data (the user input) in two places: as a cache key, and something to display on a web page.
Here’s the code:
 require "digest/md5"
require "cgi"
def make_checksum string
 Digest::MD5.hexdigest string
end
def display_on_web string
 string.gsub(/&gt;/, "&amp;gt;")
end
x = "Hello \x93\xfa\x96\x7b"
p ENCODING: x.encoding
p VALID_ENCODING: x.valid_encoding?
p display_on_web x
p make_checksum x
 
If we run this code, we’ll get an exception:
 $ ruby thing.rb
{:ENCODING=&gt;#&lt;Encoding:UTF-8&gt;}
{:VALID_ENCODING=&gt;false}
Traceback (most recent call last):
 2: from thing.rb:20:in `&lt;main&gt;'
 1: from thing.rb:12:in `display_on_web'
thing.rb:12:in `gsub': invalid byte sequence in UTF-8 (ArgumentError)
 
The problem is that we have a string of unknown input with bytes that are not valid UTF-8 characters.
We know we want to display this string on a UTF-8 encoded webpage, so lets scrub the string:
 require "digest/md5"
require "cgi"
def make_checksum string
 Digest::MD5.hexdigest string
end
def display_on_web string
 string.gsub(/&gt;/, "&amp;gt;")
end
x = "Hello \x93\xfa\x96\x7b".scrub
p ENCODING: x.encoding
p VALID_ENCODING: x.valid_encoding?
p display_on_web x
p make_checksum x
 
Now when we run the program, the output is like this:
 $ ruby thing.rb
{:ENCODING=&gt;#&lt;Encoding:UTF-8&gt;}
{:VALID_ENCODING=&gt;true}
"Hello ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½{"
"4dab6f63b4d3ae3279345c9df31091eb"
 
Great! We’ve build some HTML and generated a checksum.
Unfortunately there is a bug in this code (of course the mere fact that we’ve written code means there’s a bug! lol)
Let’s introduce a second user input string with slightly different bytes than the first input string:
 require "digest/md5"
require "cgi"
def make_checksum string
 Digest::MD5.hexdigest string
end
def display_on_web string
 string.gsub(/&gt;/, "&amp;gt;")
end
x = "Hello \x93\xfa\x96\x7b".scrub
p ENCODING: x.encoding
p VALID_ENCODING: x.valid_encoding?
p display_on_web x
p make_checksum x
y = "Hello \x94\xfa\x97\x7b".scrub
p ENCODING: y.encoding
p VALID_ENCODING: y.valid_encoding?
p display_on_web y
p make_checksum y
 
Here is the output from the program:
 $ ruby thing.rb
{:ENCODING=&gt;#&lt;Encoding:UTF-8&gt;}
{:VALID_ENCODING=&gt;true}
"Hello ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½{"
"4dab6f63b4d3ae3279345c9df31091eb"
{:ENCODING=&gt;#&lt;Encoding:UTF-8&gt;}
{:VALID_ENCODING=&gt;true}
"Hello ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½{"
"4dab6f63b4d3ae3279345c9df31091eb"
 
The program works in the sense that there is no exception.
But both user input strings have the same checksum despite the fact that the original strings clearly have different bytes!
So what is the correct fix for this program?
Again, we need to think about the source of the data (where did it come from), as well as what we will do with it (where it is going).
In this case we have one source, from a user, and the user provided us with no encoding information.
In other words, the encoding information of the source data is unknown, so we can only treat it as a sequence of bytes.
We have two output cases, one is a UTF-8 HTML the other output is the input to our checksum function.
The HTML requires that our string be UTF-8 so making the string valid UTF-8, in other words “scrubbing” it, before displaying makes sense.
However, our checksum function requires seeing the original bytes of the string.
Since the checksum is only concerned with the bytes in the string, any encoding including an invalid encoding will work.
It’s nice to make sure all our strings have valid encodings though, so we’ll fix this example such that everything has a valid encoding.
 require "digest/md5"
require "cgi"
def make_checksum string
 Digest::MD5.hexdigest string
end
def display_on_web string
 string.gsub(/&gt;/, "&amp;gt;")
end
x = "Hello \x93\xfa\x96\x7b".b
p ENCODING: x.encoding
p VALID_ENCODING: x.valid_encoding?
p display_on_web x.encode("UTF-8", undef: :replace)
p make_checksum x
y = "Hello \x94\xfa\x97\x7b".b
p ENCODING: y.encoding
p VALID_ENCODING: y.valid_encoding?
p display_on_web y.encode("UTF-8", undef: :replace)
p make_checksum y
 
Here is the output of the program:
 $ ruby thing.rb
{:ENCODING=&gt;#&lt;Encoding:ASCII-8BIT&gt;}
{:VALID_ENCODING=&gt;true}
"Hello ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½{"
"96cf6db2750fd4d2488fac57d8e4d45a"
{:ENCODING=&gt;#&lt;Encoding:ASCII-8BIT&gt;}
{:VALID_ENCODING=&gt;true}
"Hello ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½{"
"b92854c0db4f2c2c20eff349a9a8e3a0"
 
To fix our program, we’ve changed a couple things.
First we tagged the string of unknown encoding as “binary” by using the .b method.
The .b method returns a new string that is associated with the ASCII-8BIT encoding.
The name ASCII-8BIT is somewhat confusing because it has the word “ASCII” in it.
It’s better to think of this encoding as either “unknown” or “binary data”.
Unknown meaning we have some data that may have a valid encoding, but we don’t know what it is.
Or binary data, as in the bytes read from a JPEG file or some such binary format.
Anyway, we pass the binary string in to the checksum function because the checksum only cares about the bytes in the string, not about the encoding.
The second change we made is to call encode with the encoding we want (UTF-8) along with undef: :replace meaning that any time Ruby encounters bytes it doesn’t know how to convert to the target encoding, it will replace them with the replacement character (the diamond question thing).
SIDE NOTE: This is probably not important, but it is fun!
We can specify what Ruby uses for replacing unknown bytes.
Here’s an example:
 &gt;&gt; x = "Hello \x94\xfa\x97\x7b".b
&gt;&gt; x.encoding
=&gt; #&lt;Encoding:ASCII-8BIT&gt;
&gt;&gt; x.encode("UTF-8", undef: :replace, replace: "Aaron")
=&gt; "Hello AaronAaronAaron{"
&gt;&gt; x.encode("UTF-8", undef: :replace, replace: "ð¤£")
=&gt; "Hello ð¤£ð¤£ð¤£{"
&gt;&gt; [_.encoding, _.valid_encoding?]
=&gt; [#&lt;Encoding:UTF-8&gt;, true]
 
Now lets take a look at some common encoding errors in Ruby and what to do about them.
 Encoding::InvalidByteSequenceError 
This exception occurs when Ruby needs to examine the bytes in a string and the bytes do not match the encoding.
Here is an example of this exception:
 &gt;&gt; x = "Hello \x93\xfa\x96\x7b"
&gt;&gt; x.encode "UTF-16"
Traceback (most recent call last):
 5: from /Users/aaron/.rbenv/versions/ruby-trunk/bin/irb:23:in `&lt;main&gt;'
 4: from /Users/aaron/.rbenv/versions/ruby-trunk/bin/irb:23:in `load'
 3: from /Users/aaron/.rbenv/versions/ruby-trunk/lib/ruby/gems/2.7.0/gems/irb-1.2.0/exe/irb:11:in `&lt;top (required)&gt;'
 2: from (irb):4
 1: from (irb):4:in `encode'
Encoding::InvalidByteSequenceError ("\x93" on UTF-8)
&gt;&gt; x.encoding
=&gt; #&lt;Encoding:UTF-8&gt;
&gt;&gt; x.valid_encoding?
=&gt; false
 
The string x contains bytes that aren’t valid UTF-8, yet it is associated with the UTF-8 encoding object.
When we try to convert x to UTF-16, an exception occurs.
How to fix Encoding::InvalidByteSequenceError 
Like most encoding issues, our string x is tagged with the wrong encoding.
The way to fix this issue is to tag the string with the correct encoding.
But what is the correct encoding?
To figure out the correct encoding, you need to know where the string came from.
For example if the string came from a Mime attachment, the Mime attachment should specify the encoding (or the RFC will tell you).
In this case, the string is a valid Shift JIS string, but I know that because I looked up the bytes and manually entered them.
So we’ll tag this as Shift JIS, and the exception goes away:
 &gt;&gt; x = "Hello \x93\xfa\x96\x7b"
&gt;&gt; x.force_encoding "Shift_JIS"
=&gt; "Hello \x{93FA}\x{967B}"
&gt;&gt; x.encode "UTF-16"
=&gt; "\uFEFFHello \u65E5\u672C"
&gt;&gt; x.encoding
=&gt; #&lt;Encoding:Shift_JIS&gt;
&gt;&gt; x.valid_encoding?
=&gt; true
 
If you don’t know the source of the string, an alternative solution is to tag as UTF-8 and then scrub the bytes:
 &gt;&gt; x = "Hello \x93\xfa\x96\x7b"
&gt;&gt; x.force_encoding "UTF-8"
=&gt; "Hello \x93\xFA\x96{"
&gt;&gt; x.scrub!
=&gt; "Hello ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½{"
&gt;&gt; x.encode "UTF-16"
=&gt; "\uFEFFHello \uFFFD\uFFFD\uFFFD{"
&gt;&gt; x.encoding
=&gt; #&lt;Encoding:UTF-8&gt;
&gt;&gt; x.valid_encoding?
=&gt; true
 
Of course this works, but it means that you’ve lost data.
The best solution is to figure out what the encoding of the string should be depending on its source and tag it with the correct encoding.
 Encoding::UndefinedConversionError 
This exception occurs when a string of one encoding can’t be converted to another encoding.
Here is an example:
 &gt;&gt; x = "å\u2160"
&gt;&gt; x
=&gt; "åâ "
&gt;&gt; x.encoding
=&gt; #&lt;Encoding:UTF-8&gt;
&gt;&gt; x.valid_encoding?
=&gt; true
&gt;&gt; x.encode "Shift_JIS"
Traceback (most recent call last):
 5: from /Users/aaron/.rbenv/versions/ruby-trunk/bin/irb:23:in `&lt;main&gt;'
 4: from /Users/aaron/.rbenv/versions/ruby-trunk/bin/irb:23:in `load'
 3: from /Users/aaron/.rbenv/versions/ruby-trunk/lib/ruby/gems/2.7.0/gems/irb-1.2.0/exe/irb:11:in `&lt;top (required)&gt;'
 2: from (irb):23
 1: from (irb):23:in `encode'
Encoding::UndefinedConversionError (U+2160 from UTF-8 to Shift_JIS)
 
In this example, we have two characters: “å”, and the Roman numeral 1 (“â ”).
Unicode Roman numeral 1 cannot be converted to Shift JIS because there are two codepoints that represent that character in Shift JIS.
This means the conversion is ambiguous, so Ruby will raise an exception.
How to fix Encoding::UndefinedConversionError 
Our original string is correctly tagged as UTF-8, but we need to convert to Shift JIS.
In this case we’ll use a replacement character when converting to Shift JIS:
 &gt;&gt; x = "å\u2160"
&gt;&gt; y = x.encode("Shift_JIS", undef: :replace)
&gt;&gt; y
=&gt; "\x{8E6C}?"
&gt;&gt; y.encoding
=&gt; #&lt;Encoding:Shift_JIS&gt;
&gt;&gt; y.valid_encoding?
=&gt; true
&gt;&gt; y.encode "UTF-8"
=&gt; "å?"
 
We were able to convert to Shift JIS, but we did lose some data.
 ArgumentError 
When a string contains invalid bytes, sometimes Ruby will raise an ArgumentError exception:
 &gt;&gt; x = "Hello \x93\xfa\x96\x7b"
&gt;&gt; x.downcase
Traceback (most recent call last):
 5: from /Users/aaron/.rbenv/versions/ruby-trunk/bin/irb:23:in `&lt;main&gt;'
 4: from /Users/aaron/.rbenv/versions/ruby-trunk/bin/irb:23:in `load'
 3: from /Users/aaron/.rbenv/versions/ruby-trunk/lib/ruby/gems/2.7.0/gems/irb-1.2.0/exe/irb:11:in `&lt;top (required)&gt;'
 2: from (irb):34
 1: from (irb):34:in `downcase'
ArgumentError (input string invalid)
&gt;&gt; x.gsub(/ello/, "i")
Traceback (most recent call last):
 6: from /Users/aaron/.rbenv/versions/ruby-trunk/bin/irb:23:in `&lt;main&gt;'
 5: from /Users/aaron/.rbenv/versions/ruby-trunk/bin/irb:23:in `load'
 4: from /Users/aaron/.rbenv/versions/ruby-trunk/lib/ruby/gems/2.7.0/gems/irb-1.2.0/exe/irb:11:in `&lt;top (required)&gt;'
 3: from (irb):34
 2: from (irb):35:in `rescue in irb_binding'
 1: from (irb):35:in `gsub'
ArgumentError (invalid byte sequence in UTF-8)
 
Again we use our incorrectly tagged Shift JIS string.
Calling downcase or gsub both result in an ArgumentError.
I personally think these exceptions are not great.
We didn’t pass anything to downcase, so why is it an ArgumentError?
There is nothing wrong with the arguments we passed to gsub, so why is it an ArgumentError?
Why does one say “input string invalid” where the other gives us a slightly more helpful exception of “invalid byte sequence in UTF-8”?
I think these should both result in Encoding::InvalidByteSequenceError exceptions, as it’s a problem with the encoding, not the arguments.
Regardless, these errors both stem from the fact that the Shift JIS string is incorrectly tagged as UTF-8.
Fixing ArgumentError 
Fixing this issue is just like fixing Encoding::InvalidByteSequenceError.
We need to figure out the correct encoding of the source string, then tag the source string with that encoding.
If the encoding of the source string is truly unknown, scrub it.
 &gt;&gt; x = "Hello \x93\xfa\x96\x7b"
&gt;&gt; x.force_encoding "Shift_JIS"
=&gt; "Hello \x{93FA}\x{967B}"
&gt;&gt; x.downcase
=&gt; "hello \x{93FA}\x{967B}"
&gt;&gt; x.gsub(/ello/, "i")
=&gt; "Hi \x{93FA}\x{967B}"
 
 Encoding::CompatibilityError 
This exception occurs when we try to combine strings of two different encodings and those encodings are incompatible.
For example:
 &gt;&gt; x = "å\u2160"
&gt;&gt; y = "Hello \x93\xfa\x96\x7b".force_encoding("Shift_JIS")
&gt;&gt; [x.encoding, x.valid_encoding?]
=&gt; [#&lt;Encoding:UTF-8&gt;, true]
&gt;&gt; [y.encoding, y.valid_encoding?]
=&gt; [#&lt;Encoding:Shift_JIS&gt;, true]
&gt;&gt; x + y
Traceback (most recent call last):
 5: from /Users/aaron/.rbenv/versions/ruby-trunk/bin/irb:23:in `&lt;main&gt;'
 4: from /Users/aaron/.rbenv/versions/ruby-trunk/bin/irb:23:in `load'
 3: from /Users/aaron/.rbenv/versions/ruby-trunk/lib/ruby/gems/2.7.0/gems/irb-1.2.0/exe/irb:11:in `&lt;top (required)&gt;'
 2: from (irb):50
 1: from (irb):50:in `+'
Encoding::CompatibilityError (incompatible character encodings: UTF-8 and Shift_JIS)
 
In this example we have a valid UTF-8 string and a valid Shift JIS string.
However, these two encodings are not compatible, so we get an exception when combining.
Fixing Encoding::CompatibilityError 
To fix this exception, we need to manually convert one string to a new string that has a compatible encoding.
In the case above, we can choose whether we want the output string to be UTF-8 or Shift JIS, and then call encode on the appropriate string.
In the case we want UTF-8 output, we can do this:
 &gt;&gt; x = "å"
&gt;&gt; y = "Hello \x93\xfa\x96\x7b".force_encoding("Shift_JIS")
&gt;&gt; x + y.encode("UTF-8")
=&gt; "åHello æ¥æ¬"
&gt;&gt; [_.encoding, _.valid_encoding?]
=&gt; [#&lt;Encoding:UTF-8&gt;, true]
 
If we wanted Shift JIS, we could do this:
 &gt;&gt; x = "å"
&gt;&gt; y = "Hello \x93\xfa\x96\x7b".force_encoding("Shift_JIS")
&gt;&gt; x.encode("Shift_JIS") + y
=&gt; "\x{8E6C}Hello \x{93FA}\x{967B}"
&gt;&gt; [_.encoding, _.valid_encoding?]
=&gt; [#&lt;Encoding:Shift_JIS&gt;, true]
 
Another possible solution is to scrub bytes and concatenate, but again that results in data loss.
What is a compatible encoding?
If there are incompatible encodings, there must be compatible encodings too (at least I would think that).
Here is an example of compatible encodings:
 &gt;&gt; x = "Hello World!".force_encoding "US-ASCII"
&gt;&gt; [x.encoding, x.valid_encoding?]
=&gt; [#&lt;Encoding:US-ASCII&gt;, true]
&gt;&gt; y = "ããã«ã¡ã¯"
&gt;&gt; [y.encoding, y.valid_encoding?]
=&gt; [#&lt;Encoding:UTF-8&gt;, true]
&gt;&gt; y + x
=&gt; "ããã«ã¡ã¯Hello World!"
&gt;&gt; [_.encoding, _.valid_encoding?]
=&gt; [#&lt;Encoding:UTF-8&gt;, true]
&gt;&gt; x + y
=&gt; "Hello World!ããã«ã¡ã¯"
&gt;&gt; [_.encoding, _.valid_encoding?]
=&gt; [#&lt;Encoding:UTF-8&gt;, true]
 
The x string is encoded with “US ASCII” encoding and the y string UTF-8.
US ASCII is fully compatible with UTF-8, so even though these two strings have different encoding, concatenation works fine.
String literals may default to UTF-8, but some functions will return US ASCII encoded strings.
For example:
 &gt;&gt; require "digest/md5"
=&gt; true
&gt;&gt; Digest::MD5.hexdigest("foo").encoding
=&gt; #&lt;Encoding:US-ASCII&gt;
 
A hexdigest will only ever contain ASCII characters, so the implementation tags the returned string as US-ASCII.
Encoding Gotchas
Let’s look at a couple encoding gotcha’s.
Infectious Invalid Encodings
When a string is incorrectly tagged, Ruby will typically only raise an exception when it needs to actually examine the bytes.
Here is an example:
 &gt;&gt; x = "Hello \x93\xfa\x96\x7b"
&gt;&gt; x.encoding
=&gt; #&lt;Encoding:UTF-8&gt;
&gt;&gt; x.valid_encoding?
=&gt; false
&gt;&gt; x + "ã»ã"
=&gt; "Hello \x93\xFA\x96{ã»ã"
&gt;&gt; y = _
&gt;&gt; y
=&gt; "Hello \x93\xFA\x96{ã»ã"
&gt;&gt; [y.encoding, y.valid_encoding?]
=&gt; [#&lt;Encoding:UTF-8&gt;, false]
 
Again we have the incorrectly tagged Shift JIS string.
We’re able to append a correctly tagged UTF-8 string and no exception is raised.
Why is that?
Ruby assumes that if both strings have the same encoding, there is no reason to validate the bytes in either string so it will just append them.
That means we can have an incorrectly tagged string “infect” what would otherwise be correctly tagged UTF-8 strings.
Say we have some code like this:
 def append string
 string + "ã»ã"
end
p append("ã»ã").valid_encoding? 
p append("Hello \x93\xfa\x96\x7b").valid_encoding? 
 
When debugging this code, we may be tempted to think the problem is in the append method.
But actually the issue is with the caller.
The caller is passing in incorrectly tagged strings, and unfortunately we might not get an exception until the return value of append is used somewhere far away.
ASCII-8BIT is Special
Sometimes ASCII-8BIT is considered to be a “compatible” encoding and sometimes it isn’t.
Here is an example:
 &gt;&gt; x = "\x93\xfa\x96\x7b".b
&gt;&gt; x.encoding
=&gt; #&lt;Encoding:ASCII-8BIT&gt;
&gt;&gt; y = "ã»ã"
&gt;&gt; y + x
Traceback (most recent call last):
 5: from /Users/aaron/.rbenv/versions/ruby-trunk/bin/irb:23:in `&lt;main&gt;'
 4: from /Users/aaron/.rbenv/versions/ruby-trunk/bin/irb:23:in `load'
 3: from /Users/aaron/.rbenv/versions/ruby-trunk/lib/ruby/gems/2.7.0/gems/irb-1.2.0/exe/irb:11:in `&lt;top (required)&gt;'
 2: from (irb):89
 1: from (irb):89:in `+'
Encoding::CompatibilityError (incompatible character encodings: UTF-8 and ASCII-8BIT)
 
Here we have a binary string stored in x.
Maybe it came from a JPEG file or something (it didn’t, I just typed it in!)
When we try to concatenate the binary string with the UTF-8 string, we get an exception.
But this may actually be an exception we want!
It doesn’t make sense to be concatenating some JPEG data with an actual string we want to view, so it’s good we got an exception here.
Now here is the same code, but with the contents of x changed somewhat:
 &gt;&gt; x = "Hello World".b
&gt;&gt; x.encoding
=&gt; #&lt;Encoding:ASCII-8BIT&gt;
&gt;&gt; y = "ã»ã"
&gt;&gt; y + x
=&gt; "ã»ãHello World"
 
We have the same code with the same encodings at play.
The only thing that changed is the actual contents of the x string.
When Ruby concatenates ASCII-8BIT strings, it will examine the contents of that string.
If all bytes in the string are ASCII characters, it will treat it as a US-ASCII string and consider it to be “compatible”.
If the string contains non-ASCII characters, it will consider it to be incompatible.
This means that if you had read some data from your JPEG, and that data happened to all be ASCII characters, you would not get an exception even though maybe you really wanted one.
In my personal opinion, concatenating an ASCII-8BIT string with anything besides another ASCII-8BIT string should be an exception.
Anyway, this is all I feel like writing today. I hope you have a good day, and remember to check your encodings!
Vim, tmux, and Fish
http://tenderlovemaking.com/
https://adambard.com/blog/
Adam Bard
2020-07-26
None
<div><div><article>
<p>July 26, 2020</p>
<h2>
<a href="/blog/transitioning-from-docker-machines-to-kubernetes/">Transitioning Later for Reddit from Docker Machines to Digital Ocean Kubernetes</a>
</h2>
<p>I recently completed a migration from my old docker-machine-based infrastructure (so 2016!) to <a href="https://www.digitalocean.com/products/kubernetes/?refcode=2c5db3effb6f&amp;utm_campaign=Referral_Invite&amp;utm_medium=Referral_Program&amp;utm_source=CopyPaste">Digital Oceanâs hosted kubernetes service</a>.
The bulk of the work was completed in a single evening. It went almost seamlessly, but not so seamlessly that I wasnât able to learn a few things.
The goal of this writeup is not to serve as comprehensive documentation, but hopefully youâll take away some ideas about how to get your
own setup rolling.</p>
<p>
<a href="/blog/transitioning-from-docker-machines-to-kubernetes/">Read more »</a>
</p>
</article>
<article>
<p>December 17, 2018</p>
<h2>
<a href="/blog/getting-a-handle-on-reduce/">Getting a handle on Reduce</a>
</h2>
<p>Although traditional algol-inspired languages remain dominant, over the past
decade or so, functional programming techniques utilizing
immutable data structures have seen widespread adoption in a variety of
domains. From React and friends on the frontend to Map-Reduce and the
vast ecosystem of thus-inspired data warehousing systems that power some of
the worldâs largest software applications, the ability to navigate
such applications is now a must-have skill for many programmers.</p>
<p>The subject of todayâs article is a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Higher-order_function">higher-order function</a> called <code>reduce</code>,
also known as <code>fold</code>, <code>aggregate</code>, and others. Reduce is a fundamentally
useful tool, but I find that many developers have trouble grasping and
using it. My hope here is to make an approachable introduction to <code>reduce</code>.</p>
<p>
<a href="/blog/getting-a-handle-on-reduce/">Read more »</a>
</p>
</article>
<article>
<p>May 23, 2018</p>
<h2>
<a href="/blog/programatically-liquidating-my-steam-inventory/">Programatically Liquidating my Steam Inventory</a>
</h2>
<p>I donât know about you, but every so often my Steam Inventory gets a bit out of control.
I have no use for Donât Starve trading cards, but itâs not really worth my time to individually
sell each item for a few cents. However, what is worth my time, apparently, is creating a
script to do it for me. This turned out to be quite a winding road, which Iâve documented here.</p>
<p>
<a href="/blog/programatically-liquidating-my-steam-inventory/">Read more »</a>
</p>
</article>
<article>
<p>February 18, 2018</p>
<h2>
<a href="/blog/stream-processing-core-async/">One-box stream processing with CSP</a>
</h2>
<p>If youâre like me (that is, employed by an ad tech company), stream processing is usually
associated with frameworks like <a href="https://storm.apache.org/">Storm</a>,
<a href="https://flink.apache.org/">Flink</a>, <a href="https://spark.apache.org/streaming/">Spark Streaming</a>, and other such solutions. However, a
lot of real-life software can be described as stream processing â data comes
in one end, is transformed or aggregated, and goes somewhere else. Many of these
workloads donât justify the overhead of a stream processor, but that doesnât mean
they canât benefit from some of the lessons of stream processing systems.</p>
<p>
<a href="/blog/stream-processing-core-async/">Read more »</a>
</p>
</article>
<article>
<p>December 19, 2017</p>
<h2>
<a href="/blog/later-for-reddit-in-review/">Running a Side Business as a Programmer: The story of </a><a href="https://laterforreddit.com/">Later for Reddit</a>
</h2>
<p>For the past 5 years, Iâve run a website called
<a href="https://laterforreddit.com/">Later for Reddit</a>. For the past 2 years, itâs actually
been making money. Hereâs how that happened.</p>
<p>I used to spend a lot of time on Reddit (insert Mitch Hedberg joke here).
I also used to spend a lot...</p>
<p>
<a href="/blog/later-for-reddit-in-review/">Read more »</a>
</p>
</article>
<article>
<p>September 16, 2017</p>
<h2>
<a href="/blog/javascript-design-pattern-binding-functions/">Javascript FP design pattern: Binding functions</a>
</h2>
<p>Ok, ok, monads have been done. Theyâve <a href="/blog/acceptable-error-handling-in-clojure/">even</a>
been <a href="/blog/introducing-failjure/">done</a> by <a href="/blog/oo-vs-functional-form-validation/">me before</a>.
But, functional programming is still popular, monads are still very useful for programming
in an FP style, and people are entering the field every day. So hereâs another attempt at
an approachable introduction to <em>usefully</em> apply this pattern to everyday coding problems.</p>
<p>
<a href="/blog/javascript-design-pattern-binding-functions/">Read more »</a>
</p>
</article>
<article>
<p>September 3, 2017</p>
<h2>
<a href="/blog/reason-vs-elm-vs-typescript/">Bucklescript vs Elm vs Typescript: Typed Javascript showdown!</a>
</h2>
<p>You, a web developer, have probably heard of <a href="https://www.typescriptlang.org/index.html">Typescript</a>, may have heard of <a href="http://elm-lang.org/">Elm</a>, and
you might even have heard of <a href="https://bucklescript.github.io/bucklescript/Manual.html">Bucklescript</a>/<a href="reasonml.github.io">ReasonML</a> as well. Each of these
represents a compiles-to-javascript language with strong type support, but each has some different opinions,
philosophies, and features.</p>
<p>In this article Iâll walk you through the features of each of these options and compare their build ecosystems,
editor tooling, and javascript interop. In addition, as is my habit, Iâve written up a small example in each of these languages. (Well, actually,
Iâve taken one of Elmâs small demos and re-created it in the other two). Iâll discuss my impressions
of the tooling and the coding experience along the way.</p>
<p>
<a href="/blog/reason-vs-elm-vs-typescript/">Read more »</a>
</p>
</article>
<article>
<p>August 28, 2017</p>
<h2>
<a href="/blog/getting-started-with-ocaml/">OCaml for the impatient</a>
</h2>
<p>Ocaml is a rad language with some regrettably underdocumented parts. Or, perhaps, overdocumented â
since OCaml attracts people who are interested in rigorous correctness, what documentation exists tends to be rigorous
and correct, and also tedious. This guide will be none of those. Letâs go!</p>
<p>
<a href="/blog/getting-started-with-ocaml/">Read more »</a>
</p>
</article>
<article>
<p>August 13, 2017</p>
<h2>
<a href="/blog/on-library-versioning/">Best Practices for Javascript Library Versioning</a>
</h2>
<p>I spend most of my time on this blog talking about Clojure, but IRL I work on
a lot of projects written in a lot of languages. Lately, much of my time has been spent writing and maintaining
React-based frontends in Javascript.</p>
<p>As far as I can tell, no language has solved the problem of dependency management. Some
libraries are better than others, but upgrading dependencies is always an uncomfortable
experience. That being said, Iâve <em>never</em> experienced more pain doing so than in Javascriptâs ecosystem.</p>
<p>
<a href="/blog/on-library-versioning/">Read more »</a>
</p>
</article>
<article>
<p>August 6, 2017</p>
<h2>
<a href="/blog/domain-modeling-with-clojure-spec/">Domain modelling with clojure.spec</a>
</h2>
<p><a href="https://clojure.org/about/spec">Clojure.spec</a> is, among other things, Clojureâs official answer to tools like <a href="https://github.com/clojure/core.typed">Typed Clojure</a> and
<a href="https://github.com/plumatic/schema">Plumaticâs Schema</a>. It represents an attempt to apply some validation to
data and functions, without compromising Clojureâs dynamism and data-is-data philosophy.
In this post, Iâll be working through a sample program by first outlining and modelling
it with the help of clojure.spec, then using spec to guide me while I develop the implementation.</p>
<p>
<a href="/blog/domain-modeling-with-clojure-spec/">Read more »</a>
</p>
</article>
<article>
<p>March 23, 2017</p>
<h2>
<a href="/blog/what-programming-language/">What programming language should I learn? (2017 edition)</a>
</h2>
<p>I occasionally find someone asking this question in my inbox. Iâve learned
that for every person that bothers there are a bunch more with the same question,
so I thought Iâd take a break from relentlessly plugging my side hustle
<a href="https://laterforreddit.com/">Later for Reddit</a> to answer it publicly.</p>
<p>
<a href="/blog/what-programming-language/">Read more »</a>
</p>
</article>
<article>
<p>November 4, 2016</p>
<h2>
<a href="/blog/ideas/">On Advice (featuring just one piece of it)</a>
</h2>
<p>Iâm perfectly comfortable making wild assertions about which
programming technique is better than which other one, but
when it comes to handing out general life or career advice, Iâm a lot stingier
than your average blogger <sup><a href="#footnote-1">1</a></sup>. Even if I was wildly...</p>
<p>
<a href="/blog/ideas/">Read more »</a>
</p>
</article>
<article>
<p>August 23, 2016</p>
<h2>
<a href="/blog/basic-website-monitoring-with-riemann/">Basic site monitoring with Riemann</a>
</h2>
<p><a href="http://riemann.io/">Riemann</a> is a general-purpose event processing system, but its most typical application
is as a place to send and generate metrics about applications. I recently set up a Riemann
server for my personal projects, and I feel like my devops game is stepped up by 1000%.</p>
<p>Or, at very least, I feel like I know know about it as soon as one of my sites goes down.</p>
<p>
<a href="/blog/basic-website-monitoring-with-riemann/">Read more »</a>
</p>
</article>
<article>
<p>April 15, 2016</p>
<h2>
<a href="/blog/whats-in-a-namespace/">What’s in a namespace?</a>
</h2>
<p>Every well-behaved clojure source file starts with a namespace declaration.
The <code>ns</code> macro, as we all know, is responsible for declaring the namespace
to which the definitions in the rest of the file belong, and generally also
includes some requirements and imports and whatnot. But today (at
Clojure/West, shoutout!) Stuart Sierra made a passing reference to
the internals of <code>ns</code> during his talk that got me interested.</p>
<p>But what is a namespace <em>really</em>?</p>
<p>
<a href="/blog/whats-in-a-namespace/">Read more »</a>
</p>
</article>
<article>
<p>March 29, 2016</p>
<h2>
<a href="/blog/self-hosted-readability-on-heroku-with-nodejs/">Write and deploy your own self-hosted Readability clone</a>
</h2>
<p><a href="https://readability.org/">Readability.org</a> is a handy tool, but it also suffers from being useful, popular and free â
the service is (understandably) often down, or slow.</p>
<p>If youâre a heavy Readability user, it might interest you to know that there exist many
software libraries...</p>
<p>
<a href="/blog/self-hosted-readability-on-heroku-with-nodejs/">Read more »</a>
</p>
</article>
<article>
<p>March 27, 2016</p>
<h2>
<a href="/blog/composible-architecture-a-real-world-example/">Composible Architecture: A real-world example.</a>
</h2>
<p>I am the primary maintainer of a significant REST API written using <a href="http://flask-restful-cn.readthedocs.org/en/latest/">Flask-Restful</a>.
Flask-Restful is a pretty full-featured library for creating REST frameworks with Flask.
It features everything you need to manage routing to class-based resources, a library
for marshalling objects to JSON format, and reqparse, an argparse-inspired library
for writing input parsers.</p>
<p>
<a href="/blog/composible-architecture-a-real-world-example/">Read more »</a>
</p>
</article>
<article>
<p>March 26, 2016</p>
<h2>
<a href="/blog/react-in-the-small/">React.js in the small</a>
</h2>
<p>Iâm a big fan of accessible technologies. I get suspicious whenever I encounter
a framework or library that is ânot worth it for a small project,â because that
is a coded statement that means either âIt has a broad scope of features that
a small project wonât take advantage of,â or âit trades off simplicity or
user experience for performance or other reasons.â Accessibility also helps
open-source projects move from obscure to ubiquitous; if jQuery had required a
command-line tool to compile it when it came out, I can practically guarantee you wouldnât
have ever heard about it.</p>
<p>
<a href="/blog/react-in-the-small/">Read more »</a>
</p>
</article>
<article>
<p>March 19, 2016</p>
<h2>
<a href="/blog/the-web-is-a-mature-platform/">The Web is (finally) a mature platform</a>
</h2>
<p>I started my career as a âweb developerâ circa 2007. Iâd dabbled before
with Javascript while making sites in HTML/CSS as early as middle school,
but that was my first real job as a real software developer. Back
in those days, LAMP (Linux/Apache/MySQL/PHP) was about the only sensible way to
build a web application. You could use Java servlets, of course,
or build applications using CGI, but once PHP was stable and available
and straightforward, and it quickly became the obvious choice for a huge
range of applications.</p>
<p>
<a href="/blog/the-web-is-a-mature-platform/">Read more »</a>
</p>
</article>
<article>
<p>February 28, 2016</p>
<h2>
<a href="/blog/clojure-migration-libraries/">Clojure SQL Migration Libaries</a>
</h2>
<p>It is generally recommended, if youâre developing an application
that uses a database, that you manage changes to the schema of said
database using some sort of migration system or another. Luckily,
several intrepid developers in the clojure community have stepped
up with their own solutions to this problem â all of which end up
being very similar indeed. Read on for an overview of your options
and to find out which one is right for you.</p>
<p>
<a href="/blog/clojure-migration-libraries/">Read more »</a>
</p>
</article>
<article>
<p>February 20, 2016</p>
<h2>
<a href="/blog/plotting-reddit-post-frequencies-with-d3/">Plotting Reddit post frequencies with d3</a>
</h2>
<p>This week I added a better graph to <a href="https://www.redditlater.com/">Later (for Reddit)</a>âs
<a href="https://www.redditlater.com/analysis/#pics">post timing analysis page</a>. Previously,
the most common time and the most common day were plotted on separate bar charts. 
However, I noticed that I got called out on this in <a href="https://medium.com/@dleybzon/the-best-time-to-post-on-reddit-190762d4fc71">this article on Medium</a>,
which offered a pretty sensible alternative that I wasted no time in ripping off
wholesale. I still
have the bar graphs in, but I also added a 7x24 color-coded grid plot, allowing for a more
accurate view of exactly when the most popular posts were posted.</p>
<p>
<a href="/blog/plotting-reddit-post-frequencies-with-d3/">Read more »</a>
</p>
</article>
</div>||||I||||Adam Bard

Makes Websites

 July 26, 2020

 Transitioning Later for Reddit from Docker Machines to Digital Ocean Kubernetes

 I recently completed a migration from my old docker-machine-based infrastructure (so 2016!) to Digital Oceanâs hosted kubernetes service. The bulk of the work was completed in a single evening. It went almost seamlessly, but not so seamlessly that I wasnât able to learn a few things. The goal of this writeup is not to serve as comprehensive documentation, but hopefully youâll take away some ideas about how to get your own setup rolling.

 Read more »

 December 17, 2018

 Getting a handle on Reduce

 Although traditional algol-inspired languages remain dominant, over the past decade or so, functional programming techniques utilizing immutable data structures have seen widespread adoption in a variety of domains. From React and friends on the frontend to Map-Reduce and the vast ecosystem of thus-inspired data warehousing systems that power some of the worldâs largest software applications, the ability to navigate such applications is now a must-have skill for many programmers.

 The subject of todayâs article is a higher-order function called reduce, also known as fold, aggregate, and others. Reduce is a fundamentally useful tool, but I find that many developers have trouble grasping and using it. My hope here is to make an approachable introduction to reduce.

 Read more »

 May 23, 2018

 Programatically Liquidating my Steam Inventory

 I donât know about you, but every so often my Steam Inventory gets a bit out of control. I have no use for Donât Starve trading cards, but itâs not really worth my time to individually sell each item for a few cents. However, what is worth my time, apparently, is creating a script to do it for me. This turned out to be quite a winding road, which Iâve documented here.

 Read more »

 February 18, 2018

 One-box stream processing with CSP

 If youâre like me (that is, employed by an ad tech company), stream processing is usually associated with frameworks like Storm, Flink, Spark Streaming, and other such solutions. However, a lot of real-life software can be described as stream processing â data comes in one end, is transformed or aggregated, and goes somewhere else. Many of these workloads donât justify the overhead of a stream processor, but that doesnât mean they canât benefit from some of the lessons of stream processing systems.

 Read more »

 December 19, 2017

 Running a Side Business as a Programmer: The story of Later for Reddit

 For the past 5 years, Iâve run a website called Later for Reddit. For the past 2 years, itâs actually been making money. Hereâs how that happened.

 I used to spend a lot of time on Reddit (insert Mitch Hedberg joke here). I also used to spend a lot...

 Read more »

 September 16, 2017

 Javascript FP design pattern: Binding functions

 Ok, ok, monads have been done. Theyâve even been done by me before. But, functional programming is still popular, monads are still very useful for programming in an FP style, and people are entering the field every day. So hereâs another attempt at an approachable introduction to usefully apply this pattern to everyday coding problems.

 Read more »

 September 3, 2017

 Bucklescript vs Elm vs Typescript: Typed Javascript showdown!

 You, a web developer, have probably heard of Typescript, may have heard of Elm, and you might even have heard of Bucklescript/ReasonML as well. Each of these represents a compiles-to-javascript language with strong type support, but each has some different opinions, philosophies, and features.

 In this article Iâll walk you through the features of each of these options and compare their build ecosystems, editor tooling, and javascript interop. In addition, as is my habit, Iâve written up a small example in each of these languages. (Well, actually, Iâve taken one of Elmâs small demos and re-created it in the other two). Iâll discuss my impressions of the tooling and the coding experience along the way.

 Read more »

 August 28, 2017

 OCaml for the impatient

 Ocaml is a rad language with some regrettably underdocumented parts. Or, perhaps, overdocumented â since OCaml attracts people who are interested in rigorous correctness, what documentation exists tends to be rigorous and correct, and also tedious. This guide will be none of those. Letâs go!

 Read more »

 August 13, 2017

 Best Practices for Javascript Library Versioning

 I spend most of my time on this blog talking about Clojure, but IRL I work on a lot of projects written in a lot of languages. Lately, much of my time has been spent writing and maintaining React-based frontends in Javascript.

 As far as I can tell, no language has solved the problem of dependency management. Some libraries are better than others, but upgrading dependencies is always an uncomfortable experience. That being said, Iâve never experienced more pain doing so than in Javascriptâs ecosystem.

 Read more »

 August 6, 2017

 Domain modelling with clojure.spec

 Clojure.spec is, among other things, Clojureâs official answer to tools like Typed Clojure and Plumaticâs Schema. It represents an attempt to apply some validation to data and functions, without compromising Clojureâs dynamism and data-is-data philosophy. In this post, Iâll be working through a sample program by first outlining and modelling it with the help of clojure.spec, then using spec to guide me while I develop the implementation.

 Read more »

 March 23, 2017

 What programming language should I learn? (2017 edition)

 I occasionally find someone asking this question in my inbox. Iâve learned that for every person that bothers there are a bunch more with the same question, so I thought Iâd take a break from relentlessly plugging my side hustle Later for Reddit to answer it publicly.

 Read more »

 November 4, 2016

 On Advice (featuring just one piece of it)

 Iâm perfectly comfortable making wild assertions about which programming technique is better than which other one, but when it comes to handing out general life or career advice, Iâm a lot stingier than your average blogger 1. Even if I was wildly...

 Read more »

 August 23, 2016

 Basic site monitoring with Riemann

 Riemann is a general-purpose event processing system, but its most typical application is as a place to send and generate metrics about applications. I recently set up a Riemann server for my personal projects, and I feel like my devops game is stepped up by 1000%.

 Or, at very least, I feel like I know know about it as soon as one of my sites goes down.

 Read more »

 April 15, 2016

 What’s in a namespace?

 Every well-behaved clojure source file starts with a namespace declaration. The ns macro, as we all know, is responsible for declaring the namespace to which the definitions in the rest of the file belong, and generally also includes some requirements and imports and whatnot. But today (at Clojure/West, shoutout!) Stuart Sierra made a passing reference to the internals of ns during his talk that got me interested.

 But what is a namespace really?

 Read more »

 March 29, 2016

 Write and deploy your own self-hosted Readability clone

 Readability.org is a handy tool, but it also suffers from being useful, popular and free â the service is (understandably) often down, or slow.

 If youâre a heavy Readability user, it might interest you to know that there exist many software libraries...

 Read more »

 March 27, 2016

 Composible Architecture: A real-world example.

 I am the primary maintainer of a significant REST API written using Flask-Restful. Flask-Restful is a pretty full-featured library for creating REST frameworks with Flask. It features everything you need to manage routing to class-based resources, a library for marshalling objects to JSON format, and reqparse, an argparse-inspired library for writing input parsers.

 Read more »

 March 26, 2016

 React.js in the small

 Iâm a big fan of accessible technologies. I get suspicious whenever I encounter a framework or library that is ânot worth it for a small project,â because that is a coded statement that means either âIt has a broad scope of features that a small project wonât take advantage of,â or âit trades off simplicity or user experience for performance or other reasons.â Accessibility also helps open-source projects move from obscure to ubiquitous; if jQuery had required a command-line tool to compile it when it came out, I can practically guarantee you wouldnât have ever heard about it.

 Read more »

 March 19, 2016

 The Web is (finally) a mature platform

 I started my career as a âweb developerâ circa 2007. Iâd dabbled before with Javascript while making sites in HTML/CSS as early as middle school, but that was my first real job as a real software developer. Back in those days, LAMP (Linux/Apache/MySQL/PHP) was about the only sensible way to build a web application. You could use Java servlets, of course, or build applications using CGI, but once PHP was stable and available and straightforward, and it quickly became the obvious choice for a huge range of applications.

 Read more »

 February 28, 2016

 Clojure SQL Migration Libaries

 It is generally recommended, if youâre developing an application that uses a database, that you manage changes to the schema of said database using some sort of migration system or another. Luckily, several intrepid developers in the clojure community have stepped up with their own solutions to this problem â all of which end up being very similar indeed. Read on for an overview of your options and to find out which one is right for you.

 Read more »

 February 20, 2016

 Plotting Reddit post frequencies with d3

 This week I added a better graph to Later (for Reddit)âs post timing analysis page. Previously, the most common time and the most common day were plotted on separate bar charts. However, I noticed that I got called out on this in this article on Medium, which offered a pretty sensible alternative that I wasted no time in ripping off wholesale. I still have the bar graphs in, but I also added a 7x24 color-coded grid plot, allowing for a more accurate view of exactly when the most popular posts were posted.

 Read more »

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About Adam

Adam makes a lot of websites. He develops for Telmediq, and is currently working on Later for Reddit, among many others. He is always creating new projects.

 * Twitter: @adambard
 * LinkedIn: adambard
 * Github: adambard

Recent Articles

 1. Jul 26, 2020
 Transitioning Later for Reddit from Docker Machines to Digital Ocean Kubernetes
 2. Dec 17, 2018
 Getting a handle on Reduce
 3. May 23, 2018
 Programatically Liquidating my Steam Inventory
 4. Feb 18, 2018
 One-box stream processing with CSP
 5. Dec 19, 2017
 Running a Side Business as a Programmer: The story of Later for Reddit
 6. Sep 16, 2017
 Javascript FP design pattern: Binding functions

By Year

 1. 2020 1 posts
 2. 2018 3 posts
 3. 2017 7 posts
 4. 2016 12 posts
 5. 2015 13 posts
 6. 2014 28 posts
 7. 2013 28 posts
 8. 2012 22 posts
 9. 2011 10 posts
10. 2010 6 posts

RSS Feed © 2010 - 2022 Adam Bard, Handsome web developer

July 26, 2020
Transitioning Later for Reddit from Docker Machines to Digital Ocean Kubernetes
I recently completed a migration from my old docker-machine-based infrastructure (so 2016!) to Digital Oceanâs hosted kubernetes service.
The bulk of the work was completed in a single evening. It went almost seamlessly, but not so seamlessly that I wasnât able to learn a few things.
The goal of this writeup is not to serve as comprehensive documentation, but hopefully youâll take away some ideas about how to get your
own setup rolling.
Read more »
December 17, 2018
Getting a handle on Reduce
Although traditional algol-inspired languages remain dominant, over the past
decade or so, functional programming techniques utilizing
immutable data structures have seen widespread adoption in a variety of
domains. From React and friends on the frontend to Map-Reduce and the
vast ecosystem of thus-inspired data warehousing systems that power some of
the worldâs largest software applications, the ability to navigate
such applications is now a must-have skill for many programmers.
The subject of todayâs article is a higher-order function called reduce,
also known as fold, aggregate, and others. Reduce is a fundamentally
useful tool, but I find that many developers have trouble grasping and
using it. My hope here is to make an approachable introduction to reduce.
Read more »
May 23, 2018
Programatically Liquidating my Steam Inventory
I donât know about you, but every so often my Steam Inventory gets a bit out of control.
I have no use for Donât Starve trading cards, but itâs not really worth my time to individually
sell each item for a few cents. However, what is worth my time, apparently, is creating a
script to do it for me. This turned out to be quite a winding road, which Iâve documented here.
Read more »
February 18, 2018
One-box stream processing with CSP
If youâre like me (that is, employed by an ad tech company), stream processing is usually
associated with frameworks like Storm,
Flink, Spark Streaming, and other such solutions. However, a
lot of real-life software can be described as stream processing â data comes
in one end, is transformed or aggregated, and goes somewhere else. Many of these
workloads donât justify the overhead of a stream processor, but that doesnât mean
they canât benefit from some of the lessons of stream processing systems.
Read more »
December 19, 2017
Running a Side Business as a Programmer: The story of  Later for Reddit
For the past 5 years, Iâve run a website called
Later for Reddit. For the past 2 years, itâs actually
been making money. Hereâs how that happened.
I used to spend a lot of time on Reddit (insert Mitch Hedberg joke here).
I also used to spend a lot...
Read more »
September 16, 2017
Javascript FP design pattern: Binding functions
Ok, ok, monads have been done. Theyâve even
been done by me before.
But, functional programming is still popular, monads are still very useful for programming
in an FP style, and people are entering the field every day. So hereâs another attempt at
an approachable introduction to usefully apply this pattern to everyday coding problems.
Read more »
September 3, 2017
Bucklescript vs Elm vs Typescript: Typed Javascript showdown!
You, a web developer, have probably heard of Typescript, may have heard of Elm, and
you might even have heard of Bucklescript/ReasonML as well. Each of these
represents a compiles-to-javascript language with strong type support, but each has some different opinions,
philosophies, and features.
In this article Iâll walk you through the features of each of these options and compare their build ecosystems,
editor tooling, and javascript interop. In addition, as is my habit, Iâve written up a small example in each of these languages. (Well, actually,
Iâve taken one of Elmâs small demos and re-created it in the other two). Iâll discuss my impressions
of the tooling and the coding experience along the way.
Read more »
August 28, 2017
OCaml for the impatient
Ocaml is a rad language with some regrettably underdocumented parts. Or, perhaps, overdocumented â
since OCaml attracts people who are interested in rigorous correctness, what documentation exists tends to be rigorous
and correct, and also tedious. This guide will be none of those. Letâs go!
Read more »
August 13, 2017
Best Practices for Javascript Library Versioning
I spend most of my time on this blog talking about Clojure, but IRL I work on
a lot of projects written in a lot of languages. Lately, much of my time has been spent writing and maintaining
React-based frontends in Javascript.
As far as I can tell, no language has solved the problem of dependency management. Some
libraries are better than others, but upgrading dependencies is always an uncomfortable
experience. That being said, Iâve never experienced more pain doing so than in Javascriptâs ecosystem.
Read more »
August 6, 2017
Domain modelling with clojure.spec
 Clojure.spec is, among other things, Clojureâs official answer to tools like Typed Clojure and
Plumaticâs Schema. It represents an attempt to apply some validation to
data and functions, without compromising Clojureâs dynamism and data-is-data philosophy.
In this post, Iâll be working through a sample program by first outlining and modelling
it with the help of clojure.spec, then using spec to guide me while I develop the implementation.
Read more »
March 23, 2017
What programming language should I learn? (2017 edition)
I occasionally find someone asking this question in my inbox. Iâve learned
that for every person that bothers there are a bunch more with the same question,
so I thought Iâd take a break from relentlessly plugging my side hustle
Later for Reddit to answer it publicly.
Read more »
November 4, 2016
On Advice (featuring just one piece of it)
Iâm perfectly comfortable making wild assertions about which
programming technique is better than which other one, but
when it comes to handing out general life or career advice, Iâm a lot stingier
than your average blogger  1 . Even if I was wildly...
Read more »
August 23, 2016
Basic site monitoring with Riemann
 Riemann is a general-purpose event processing system, but its most typical application
is as a place to send and generate metrics about applications. I recently set up a Riemann
server for my personal projects, and I feel like my devops game is stepped up by 1000%.
Or, at very least, I feel like I know know about it as soon as one of my sites goes down.
Read more »
April 15, 2016
What’s in a namespace?
Every well-behaved clojure source file starts with a namespace declaration.
The ns macro, as we all know, is responsible for declaring the namespace
to which the definitions in the rest of the file belong, and generally also
includes some requirements and imports and whatnot. But today (at
Clojure/West, shoutout!) Stuart Sierra made a passing reference to
the internals of ns during his talk that got me interested.
But what is a namespace really?
Read more »
March 29, 2016
Write and deploy your own self-hosted Readability clone
 Readability.org is a handy tool, but it also suffers from being useful, popular and free â
the service is (understandably) often down, or slow.
If youâre a heavy Readability user, it might interest you to know that there exist many
software libraries...
Read more »
March 27, 2016
Composible Architecture: A real-world example.
I am the primary maintainer of a significant REST API written using Flask-Restful.
Flask-Restful is a pretty full-featured library for creating REST frameworks with Flask.
It features everything you need to manage routing to class-based resources, a library
for marshalling objects to JSON format, and reqparse, an argparse-inspired library
for writing input parsers.
Read more »
March 26, 2016
React.js in the small
Iâm a big fan of accessible technologies. I get suspicious whenever I encounter
a framework or library that is ânot worth it for a small project,â because that
is a coded statement that means either âIt has a broad scope of features that
a small project wonât take advantage of,â or âit trades off simplicity or
user experience for performance or other reasons.â Accessibility also helps
open-source projects move from obscure to ubiquitous; if jQuery had required a
command-line tool to compile it when it came out, I can practically guarantee you wouldnât
have ever heard about it.
Read more »
March 19, 2016
The Web is (finally) a mature platform
I started my career as a âweb developerâ circa 2007. Iâd dabbled before
with Javascript while making sites in HTML/CSS as early as middle school,
but that was my first real job as a real software developer. Back
in those days, LAMP (Linux/Apache/MySQL/PHP) was about the only sensible way to
build a web application. You could use Java servlets, of course,
or build applications using CGI, but once PHP was stable and available
and straightforward, and it quickly became the obvious choice for a huge
range of applications.
Read more »
February 28, 2016
Clojure SQL Migration Libaries
It is generally recommended, if youâre developing an application
that uses a database, that you manage changes to the schema of said
database using some sort of migration system or another. Luckily,
several intrepid developers in the clojure community have stepped
up with their own solutions to this problem â all of which end up
being very similar indeed. Read on for an overview of your options
and to find out which one is right for you.
Read more »
February 20, 2016
Plotting Reddit post frequencies with d3
This week I added a better graph to Later (for Reddit)âs
post timing analysis page. Previously,
the most common time and the most common day were plotted on separate bar charts. 
However, I noticed that I got called out on this in this article on Medium,
which offered a pretty sensible alternative that I wasted no time in ripping off
wholesale. I still
have the bar graphs in, but I also added a 7x24 color-coded grid plot, allowing for a more
accurate view of exactly when the most popular posts were posted.
Read more »
Adam Bard
https://adambard.com/blog/
https://michaelnielsen.org/blog/
Michael Nielsen
2017-04-09T00:00:00Z

<html><body><div><div>
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	<p>On Twitter, I’ve been chatting with my friend <a href="https://juliagalef.com/">Julia Galef</a> about tensions between thinking creatively and thinking in a way that reduces error.</p>
<p>Of course, all other things being equal, I’m in favour of reducing error in our thinking!</p>
<p>However, all other things are not always equal.</p>
<p>In particular, I <a href="https://twitter.com/michael_nielsen/status/849871072178561024">believe</a> “there’s a tension, too, between behaviours which maximize accuracy &amp; which maximize creativity… A lot of important truths come from v. irrational ppl.”</p>
<p>Julia has summarized some of her thinking in a <a href="https://juliagalef.com/2017/04/07/does-irrationality-fuel-innovation/">blog post</a>, where she disagrees, writing: “I totally agree that we need more experimentation with â€œcrazy ideasâ€! Iâ€™m just skeptical that rationality is, on the margin, in tension with that goal.”</p>
<p>Before getting to Julia’s arguments, I want to flesh out the idea of a tension between maximizing creativity and maximizing accuracy.</p>
<p>Consider the following statement of Feynman’s, on the need to fool himself into believing that he had a creative edge in his work. He’s talking about his early ideas on how to develop a theory of electrons and light (which became, after many years, quantum electrodynamics). The statement is a little jarring to modern sensibilities, but please look past that to the idea he’s trying to convey:</p>
<blockquote><p> I told myself [of his competitors]: “They’re on the wrong track: I’ve got the track!” Now, in the end, I had to give up those ideas and go over to their ideas of retarded action and so on – my original idea of electrons not acting on themselves disappeared, but because I had been working so hard I found something. So, as long as I can drive myself one way or the other, it’s okay. Even if it’s an illusion, it still makes me go, and this is the kind of thing that keeps me going through the depths.</p>
<p>It’s like the African savages who are going into battle – first they have to gather around and beat drums and jump up and down to build up their energy to fight. I feel the same way, building up my energy by talking to myself and telling myself, “They are trying to do it this way, I’m going to do it that way” and then I get excited and I can go back to work again.
</p></blockquote>
<p>Many of the most creative scientists I know are extremely determined people, willing to explore unusual positions for years. Sometimes, those positions are well grounded. And sometimes, even well after the fact, it’s obvious they were fooling themselves, but somehow their early errors helped them find their way to the truth. They were, to use the mathematician Goro Shimura’s phrase “gifted with the special capability of making many mistakes, mostly in the right direction”.</p>
<p>An extreme example is the physicist Joseph Weber, who pioneered gravitational wave astronomy. The verdict of both his contemporaries and of history is that he was fooling himself: his systems simply didn’t work the way he thought. On the other hand, even though he fooled himself for decades, the principals on the (successful!) LIGO project have repeatedly acknowledged that his work was a major stimulus for them to work on finding gravitational waves. In retrospect, it’s difficult to be anything other than glad that Weber clung so tenaciously to his erroneous beliefs.</p>
<p>For me, what matters here is that: (a) much of Weber’s work was based on an unreasonable belief; and (b) on net, it helped speed up important discoveries.</p>
<p>Weber demonstrates my point in an extreme form. He was <em>outright</em> wrong, and remained so, and yet his erroneous example still served a useful purpose, helping inspire others to pursue ideas that eventually worked. In some sense, this is a collective (rather than individual) version of my point. More common is the case – like Feynman – of a person who may cling to mistaken beliefs for a long period, but ultimately uses that as a bridge to new discovery.</p>
<p>Turning to Julia’s post, she responds to my argument with: “In general, I think overconfidence stifles experimentation”, and argues that the great majority of people in society reject “crazy” ideas – say, seasteading – because they’re overconfident in conventional wisdom.</p>
<p>I agree that people often mistakenly reject unusual ideas because they’re overconfident in the conventional wisdom.</p>
<p>However, I don’t think it’s relevant to my argument. Being overconfident in beliefs that most people hold is not at all the same as being overconfident in beliefs that few people hold.</p>
<p>You may wonder if the underlying cognitive mechanisms are the same, and perhaps there’s some kind of broad disposition to overconfidence?</p>
<p>But if that was the case then you’d expect that someone overconfident in their own unusual ideas would, in other areas, also be overconfident in the conventional wisdom.</p>
<p>However, my anecdotal experience is that a colleague willing to pursue unusual ideas of their own is often particularly sympathetic to unusual ideas from other people in other areas. This suggests that being overconfident in your own crazy ideas isn’t likely to stifle other experimentation.</p>
<p>Julia also suggests several variants on the “strategy of temporarily suspending your disbelief and throwing yourself headlong into something for a while, allowing your emotional state to be <em>as<br/>
if</em> you were 100% confident.”</p>
<p>In a sense, Feynman and Weber were practicing an extreme version of this strategy. I don’t know Weber’s work well, but it’s notable that in the details of Feynman’s work he was good at ferreting out error, and not fooling himself. He wasn’t always rigorous – mathematicians have, for instance, spent decades trying to make the path integral rigorous – but there was usually a strong core argument. Indeed, Feynman delivered a very stimulating <a href="http://calteches.library.caltech.edu/51/2/CargoCult.htm">speech</a> on the value of careful thought in scientific work.</p>
<p>How can this careful approach to the details of argument be reconciled with his remarks about the need to fool yourself in creative work?</p>
<p>I never met Feynman, and can’t say how he reconciled the two points of view. But my own approach in creative work, and I believe many others also take this approach, is to carve out a sort of creative cocoon around nascent ideas.</p>
<p>Consider Apple designer Jony Ive’s remarks at a memorial after Steve Jobs’ death:</p>
<blockquote><p> Steve used to say to me — and he used to say this a lot — “Hey Jony, here’s a dopey idea.”</p>
<p>And sometimes they were. Really dopey. Sometimes they were truly dreadful. But sometimes they took the air from the room and they left us both completely silent. Bold, crazy, magnificent ideas. Or quiet simple ones, which in their subtlety, their detail, they were utterly profound. And just as Steve loved ideas, and loved making stuff, he treated the process of creativity with a rare and a wonderful reverence. You see, I think he better than anyone understood that while ideas ultimately can be so powerful, they begin as fragile, barely formed thoughts, so easily missed, so easily compromised, so easily just squished.
</p></blockquote>
<p>To be creative, you need to recognize those barely formed thoughts, thoughts which are usually wrong and poorly formed in many ways, but which have some kernel of originality and importance and<br/>
truth. And if they seem important enough to be worth pursuing, you construct a creative cocoon around them, a set of stories you tell yourself to protect the idea not just from others, but from your own self doubts. The purpose of those stories isn’t to be an air tight defence. It’s to give you the confidence to nurture the idea, possibly for years, to find out if there’s something really there. </p>
<p>And so, even someone who has extremely high standards for the final details of their work, may have an important component to their thinking which relies on rather woolly arguments. And they may well need to cling to that cocoon. Perhaps other approaches are possible. But my own experience is that this is often the case.</p>
<h2>Postscript</h2>
<p>Julia finishes her post with:</p>
<blockquote><p> One last point: Even if it turned out to be true that irrationality is necessary for innovators, thatâ€™s only a weak defense of your original claim, which was that Iâ€™m significantly overrating the value of rationality in general. Remember, â€œcoming up with brilliant new ideasâ€ is just one domain in which we could evaluate the potential value-add of increased rationality. There are lots of other domains to consider, such as designing policy, allocating philanthropic funds, military strategy, etc. We could certainly talk about those separately; for now, Iâ€™m just noting that you made this original claim about the dubious value of rationality in general, but then your argument focused on this one particular domain, innovation.
</p></blockquote>
<p>To clarify, I didn’t intend my claim to be in general: the tension I see is between creativity and accuracy.</p>
<p>That said, this tension does leak into other areas. </p>
<p>If you’re a funder, say, trying to determine what to fund in AI research, you go and talk to AI experts. And many of those people are likely to have cultivated their own creative cocoons, which will inform their remarks. How a funder should deal with that is a separate essay. My point here is simply that this process of creative cocooning isn’t easily untangled from things like evaluation of work.</p>
	</div>
	
</article>
<article>
	<div>
	<p>Stefan Janusz from the Royal Society asked me to comment briefly on where I’d look for new ideas about the future of scientific publishing. Here’s my response, crossposted to the <a href="http://blogs.royalsociety.org/publishing/fssc-interface-design-and-collective-intelligence/">Royal Society’s blog about scientific publishing</a>.</p>
<p>It’s tempting to assume the key ideas will come from leading scientists, journal publishers, librarians, policy makers, and so on. </p>
<p>While these are all important groups, I don’t think they’re going to invent the key ideas behind the future of scientific publishing. That will be done primarily by two groups of outsiders: exceptionally creative user interface designers, and people who design group experiences.</p>
<p>Let me unpack both those statements.</p>
<p>The first important group is user interface designers. Ultimately, scientific journals are a user interface to humanity’s scientific knowledge, and people such as Henry Oldenburg, Johannes Gutenberg, and Aldus Manutius were all interface designers.</p>
<p>Now, many people working in science don’t understand the importance or difficulty of user interface design. It’s tempting to think it’s either about “making things pretty” or about “making things easy to use”. And, in fact, much work on interface design doesn’t go much deeper than those tasks. But the designers I’m talking about are doing something much deeper. They’re attempting to invent powerful new representations for knowledge, representations that will let us manipulate and comprehend knowledge in new ways.</p>
<p>Think, for example, of how the invention of user interface ideas such as the hyperlink and the search box have transformed how we relate to knowledge. Or take a look at some of <a href="http://worrydream.com">Bret Victor’s</a> <a href="http://worrydream.com/MediaForThinkingTheUnthinkable/">beautiful designs</a> for changing how we think about systems and mathematics. In a more playful vein, look at Marco ten Bosch’s gorgeous game <a href="http://miegakure.com">Miegakure</a>, which challenges people to learn to think in four spatial dimensions. Or consider the way programming languages such as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coq">Coq</a> and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Mindstorms-Children-Computers-Powerful-Ideas/dp/0465046746">Logo</a> change the way people interface to mathematical knowledge.</p>
<p>The second group I named is people who design group experiences. In addition to being user interfaces to scientific knowledge, journals are also a medium for collective intelligence. The design of media for collective intelligence isn’t yet a widely recognized field. But there are many people doing amazing things in this area. Just as a random sample, not necessarily related to science, take a look at <a href="http://www.starchamber.com/about">Ned Gulley’s</a> work on <a href="http://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/contest/">the Mathworks programming competition</a>. Or economist <a href="http://mason.gmu.edu/~rhanson/">Robin Hanson</a> on <a href="http://mason.gmu.edu/~rhanson/ideafutures.html">idea futures</a>. Or even people such as the musician Bobby McFerrin, who understands <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ne6tB2KiZuk">crowd</a> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14LcvpXmb74">behaviour</a> as well as anyone. Or <a href="https://twitter.com/avantgame">Jane McGonigal</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/elanlee">Elan Lee’s</a> <a href="http://www.avantgame.com/McGonigal_WhyILoveBees_Feb2007.pdf">work</a> on creating games based on “puzzles and challenges that no single person could solve on their own”. This broad vein of work is a key direction from which important new fundamental ideas will ultimately come.</p>
<p>Let me finish by identifying a questionable assumption implicit in the question “Where will the future of scientific publishing come from?” The assumption is that there will be a single future for scientific publishing, a kind of jazzed-up version of the scientific article, and it’s simply up to enterprising publishers to figure out what it is.</p>
<p>I believe that, if things go well, there will instead be a proliferation of media types. Some will be informal, cognitive media for people to think and carry out experiments with. Look, for example, at some of <a href="http://norvig.com/ipython/">Peter Norvig’s ipython notebooks</a>. Others will be collaborative environments for building up knowledge – look at Tim Gowers’s and Terry Tao’s use of blogs and wikis to <a href="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v461/n7266/full/461879a.html">solve mathematical problems collaboratively</a>. And some will be recognizable descendants of the “paper of record” model common in journals today. So what I hope we’ll see is a much richer and more varied ecosystem, and one that continues to change and improve rapidly over many decades</p>
	</div>
	
</article>
<article>
	<p><a href="http://neuralnetworksanddeeplearning.com/chap2.html">Chapter 2</a> of my free online book about <a href="http://neuralnetworksanddeeplearning.com">“Neural Networks and Deep Learning”</a> is now available. The chapter is an in-depth explanation of the backpropagation algorithm. Backpropagation is the workhorse of learning in neural networks, and a key component in modern deep learning systems.ï»¿ Enjoy!</p>
	
</article>
<article>
	<p>My new essay on the use of digital media to explain scientific ideas is <a href="http://michaelnielsen.org/reinventing_explanation/index.html">here</a>.</p>
	
</article>
<article>
	<div>
	<p>I am delighted to announce that the first chapter of my book “Neural Networks and Deep Learning” is now freely available online <a href="http://neuralnetworksanddeeplearning.com/chap1.html">here</a>.</p>
<p>The chapter explains the basic ideas behind neural networks, including how they learn. I show how powerful these ideas are by writing a short program which uses neural networks to solve a hard problem — recognizing handwritten digits. The chapter also takes a brief look at how deep learning works.</p>
<p>The book’s <a href="http://neuralnetworksanddeeplearning.com/">landing page</a> gives a broader view on the book. And I’ve written a more <a href="http://neuralnetworksanddeeplearning.com/about.html">in-depth discussion</a> of the philosophy behind the book.</p>
<p>Finally, if you’ve read this far I hope you’ll consider supporting my <a href="http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/neural-networks-and-deep-learning-book-project/">Indiegogo campaign</a> for the book, which will give you access to perks like early drafts of later chapters.</p>
	</div>
	
</article>
<article>
	<div>
	<p>In September of 2012, a team of scientists released a photograph showing the most distant parts of the Universe ever seen by any human being. They obtained the photograph by pointing the Hubble Space Telescope at a single tiny patch of sky, gradually building up an image over a total of 23 days of observation. It’s an otherwise undistinguished patch of sky, within the little-known constellation Fornax. It’s less than one hundredth the size of the full moon, and appears totally empty to the naked eye. Here’s what’s seen with the Hubble Telescope:</p>
<p>This image is known as the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubble_Extreme_Deep_Field">Hubble Extreme Deep Field</a>. It contains 5,500 galaxies, each of which, in turn, contains billions of stars. This region of sky ordinarily looks empty because these galaxies are far too dim to be seen with the naked eye. Some of the galaxies are more than 13 billion light years away. We are seeing them as they were just a few hundred million years after the big bang, near the dawn of time. If you have the eyes to see, this is what deep space and the early history of the universe looks like.</p>
<p>One of the many striking things about the Hubble Extreme Deep Field is that it’s <em>beautiful</em>. Another work revealing beauty in nature is a 1999 art piece by a Dutch-Canadian artist named <a href="http://www.juangeuer.com/index.html">Juan Geuer</a>. In a darkened room, Geuer shone orange laser light through a single droplet of water, projecting the light onto a wall. The resulting play of light is spectacular. We see the changing internal structure of the droplet, and the interplay of surface tension and gravity, a marvellous mix of refraction, reflection, and diffraction. Here’s a recording of Geuer’s art piece, known as <a href="http://www.juangeuer.com/work/wis.html"><em>Water in Suspense</em></a>. (Some browsers don’t start the video at the right moment — move to 13:33 in the recording if that’s the case).</p>
<p>It’s not a typical action-packed online video. It moves slowly, slowly,… and then WHOOSH, a sudden, rapid change. I suggest watching it for at least a minute or two. During that time you’ll start to learn <em>how</em> to watch the droplet. Indeed, getting a feel for the multiple timescales at which the droplet changes is part of what we learn from the work.</p>
<p><em>Water in Suspense</em> reveals a hidden world. We discover a rich structure immanent in the water droplet, a structure not ordinarily accessible to our senses. In this way it’s similar to the Hubble Extreme Deep Field, which also reveals a hidden world. Both are examples of what I call Super-realist art, art which doesn’t just capture what we can see directly with our eyes or hear with our ears, but which uses new sensors and methods of visualization to reveal a world that we cannot directly perceive. It’s art being used to reveal science.</p>
<p>Although I’m not an artist or an art critic, I find Super-realist art fascinating. Works like the Hubble Extreme Deep Field and <em>Water in Suspense</em> give us concrete, vivid representations of deep space and the interior structure of a water droplet. For most of us, these are usually little more than dry abstractions, remote from our understanding. By creating vivid representations, Super-realist art provides us with a new way of thinking about such phenomena. And so in this essay I explore Super-realist art: what it is, how it relates to other modes of art, and why it is flourishing today.</p>
<p>I’m a technologist and scientist, a person whose main interests are in areas such as machine learning, data science, and, especially, the development of cognitive tools (i.e., tools to extend human thought). It may seem strange that I’m writing an essay about art. But thinking about technology from this viewpoint gives a perspective that’s radically different to the usual take. It’s a flip side, an artistic perspective that sees technology and, in particular, Super-realism, as a means to discover new aesthetics and new representations of reality. That means Super-realism is not just of interest to artists, but can also inform technologists and scientists, giving them a new way of thinking about how we can develop tools that extend human thought.</p>
<p>In discussing Super-realism I will ignore many of the usual labels we use to understand art. Instead, I’ll develop a caricature which divides much of Western art into just three categories: Realism, Post-realism, and Super-realism. I believe this way of thinking illuminates Super-realism, and ask the indulgence of any experts on art history who happen to be reading.</p>
<p>Until the latter part of the 19th century Realism was one of the main aspirations of much Western art [1]. Realist art aimed at capturing the reality accessible to our senses. My favourite Realist artist is Rembrandt:</p>
<p>Such paintings seem so true-to-life that it is as though the artist has captured an element of objective reality. Suppose aliens visited Earth after a cataclysm wiped out all traces of humanity, except for a few Rembrandt self-portraits that somehow survived. I believe the aliens could understand much about both Rembrandt and humanity from those portraits, including perhaps even something of Rembrandt’s personality, his habits, his likes, and his dislikes.</p>
<p>But even the most talented Realist artists capture only a tiny slice of reality. Rembrandt’s self-portraits, as real as they appear, omit nearly all the biological and mental processes going on in Rembrandt’s body and mind. Suppose, for example, we could zoom in on his face, seeing it at 10 times magnification, then 100, then 1,000, and so on. At each level of magnification a new world would be revealed, of pores and cells and microbes. And there is so much structure to understand in each of these worlds, from the incredibly complex ecology of microbes on the skin, to the inner workings of cells. Consider this video simulating the inside of a cell:</p>
<p>This is not to criticise Rembrandt and the other Realists. On their own terms, they succeeded. But what Super-realism shows is that we can see far deeper into the world, and find great beauty in so doing.</p>
<p>In the 20th century Western art moved away from Realism, and Post-realist art became increasingly influential. To describe how Super-realism relates to Post-realism I’ll use the work of Monet. Monet was an early Post-realist painter, one working at the boundary between Realism and Post-realism. Here’s one of Monet’s great works, the &#34;Water Lillies&#34; tryptych, housed in the Museum of Modern Art in New York:</p>
<p> <a href="http://www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?criteria=O%3AAD%3AE%3A4058&amp;page_number=4&amp;template_id=1&amp;sort_order=1">(credit)</a></p>
<p>Unfortunately, when viewed on a computer screen or as a small print, this tryptych looks washed out and insipid, a poor imitation of the Realists. But when you see the original — 6 and a half feet high, and 42 feet long — the effect is jaw-dropping. Monet’s genius, and what made his painting so overwhelming, was a deep understanding of <em>how</em> humans see. He was a master illusionist who understood how to trick the viewer’s brain into seeing something much, much better than a realistic rendition. This only works at scale. When &#34;Water Lillies&#34; is shrunk to print size, the psychology of perception changes, and the illusion vanishes. I don’t understand why this is. I’ve read something of the theory of Monet and his fellow Impressionists, and don’t find those explanations convincing. What I do know is that Monet’s shimmering pond loses its glory. It looks fake, less than a literal rendition, merely a washed out print. But somehow, in the original, Monet was able to use his understanding of human perception to <em>evoke</em> water lillies in a fashion more spectacular than a Realist painting could ever have achieved.</p>
<p>In Post-realism, art isn’t about directly representing an objective, independent reality. Instead, it’s about creating new types of relationship between the art piece and the human mind. Monet and his fellow Impressionists were on the boundary between Realism and Post-Realism, since their works still aimed to evoke an objective, independent reality, albeit not by a direct representation. But Post-realism was pushed much further by later artists, such as Picasso, M. C. Escher, and Kandinsky:</p>
<p>These works gradually shift away from representing reality, and toward exploring the relationship between art piece and viewer. Escher, for example, used quirks in the human visual system to evoke impossible realities. Abstract artists such as Kandinsky take this idea still further, and it is developed to an extreme in the work of abstract minimalists such as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McLaughlin_artist">John McLaughlin</a>, a pioneer in what is known as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard-edge_painting">Hard-edge painting</a>:</p>
<p>At first glance this (and much of McLaughlin’s other work) looks ludicrous. But it makes more sense when you understand that McLaughlin was exploring how people respond to art. His earlier works were more complex. But he gradually simplified his work as he realized that people can have novel responses even to simple stimuli.</p>
<p>Abstract minimalism annoys many people. The approach can and has led to fakery and foolishness on the part of some artists. But my point here is neither to criticise nor to praise. Instead, it’s to understand what artists such as McLaughlin were up to. Whereas the Realist artists believed that virtuosity came from depicting part of reality with high fidelity, in Post-realism virtuosity may come from creating a novel relationship between art piece and viewer.</p>
<p>Super-realism changes art again. Virtuosity becomes about revealing hidden worlds and discovering new aesthetics. Take a look at the following video, which shows — in extreme slow motion! — a packet of light passing through a bottle. Ordinarily that passage takes less than a nanosecond, but the video slows the passage down by a factor of 10 billion, so we can see it:</p>
<p>In a way, Super-realism is a return to the aims of Realism, back to representing reality. But what’s new about Super-realism is the challenge (and opportunity!) to find ways of representing previously unseen parts of the world.</p>
<p>Most of my examples of Super-realist art have come from people who regard themselves mainly as scientists, not as artists. However, there are many artists doing Super-realist art. I’ve drawn my examples mostly from scientists merely because I’ve found that artists’ work is often more exploratory, and thus requires more background explanation, making it less suited for an essay such as this.</p>
<p>Although Super-realism’s flourishing is recent, its origins go back centuries. In 1610, Galileo published a short book entitled <em>Starry Messenger</em> (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidereus_Nuncius">Sidereus Nuncius</a>), which contained several images showing the moon in unprecedented detail, as observed by Galileo through one of his new telescopes:</p>
<p>In a similar vein, in 1665 Robert Hooke published a bestselling book entitled <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micrographia">Micrographia</a>, which used the newly-invented microscope to reveal the world of the very small. Hooke’s book included the first ever drawings of biological cells, as well as drawings showing animals such as fleas in unprecedented detail:</p>
<p>While Super-realism isn’t new, that doesn’t mean it’s yet in the artistic mainstream. Many people don’t consider works such as the Hubble Extreme Deep Field or the light-in-a-bottle video to be art. (I would not be surprised if this includes the creators of those works.) Even works more explicitly artistic in intent, such as <em>Water in Suspense</em>, are viewed as borderline. But I believe that each of these works reveals a new aesthetic, an aesthetic generated by the scientific principles underlying the phenomenon being represented. And insofar as they reveal a new aesthetic, I believe these works are art.</p>
<p>Although Super-realism isn’t yet in the artistic mainstream, it has influenced parts of that mainstream. For example, in the 1980s the film diector and cinematographer <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Fricke">Ron Fricke</a> used time-lapse photography to reveal new aspects of the everyday world, in documentary films such as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronos_film"><em>Chronos</em></a> [2]:</p>
<p>Fricke was not, of course, the first to use time-lapse photography in this way. However, his films have won wide acclaim, and inspired many other artists to develop time-lapse photography further as an artistic medium.</p>
<p>Super-realism has grown rapidly in the past twenty to thirty years. Three forces are driving that growth.</p>
<p>First, far more people can access and learn to use scientific instruments. Recall Juan Geuer and his virtuoso home-made laser light show. There are people building everything from <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZZBughftos">home-made</a> <a href="http://makeprojects.com/Project/Cloud+Chamber/2182/1#.UP6WsCc0V8E">bubble chambers</a> to <a href="http://www.brooklynspaceprogram.org/BSP/Space_Balloon.html">balloons exploring the upper atmosphere</a>. These are not isolated curiosities, but rather part of a rapidly expanding social phenomenon that has been called by many names: the DIY movement, citizen science, the Maker movement. Whatever it is, it’s growing, fed by the expansion of online and mail-order suppliers that serve niche markets, and by the growth of online (and, increasingly, offline) communities of people who work with these instruments and teach one another.</p>
<p>Second, the data being taken by many of these instruments is being shared openly, online. In the 1980s if a scientist used a telescope to take a photograph, likely no more than a few dozen people would ever touch the photographic plate. Now more than a billion people can <a href="http://archive.stsci.edu/hst/">download data</a> from the Hubble Telescope, and find new ways to visualize it. Some of the most <a href="http://vimeo.com/45878034">extraordinary</a> <a href="http://vimeo.com/42909676">visualizations</a> of the Earth are made using data released openly by NASA. Any scientific project which releases data enables others to find new ways of making meaning from that data.</p>
<p>Third, we’re collectively building a powerful suite of tools to reveal these new worlds. For example, as I write there are more than <a href="https://github.com/search?q=visualization">25,000 open source visualization projects</a> available on the code repository GitHub. Most of those projects are, of coure, experiments that will be abandoned. But there are also many powerful tools that give people incredible abilities to make and reveal beauty. It’s no wonder Super-realism is flowering.</p>
<p>Story-tellers say that reality is often stranger and more interesting than fiction. I believe this is true for all art. The reason is that nature is more imaginative than we, and as we probe deeper into nature, we will continue to discover new aesthetics and new forms of beauty. I believe these new aesthetics will stimulate art for decades or centuries to come.</p>
<p><em>If you enjoyed this essay, you may wish to <a href="http://michaelnielsen.org/blog/feed/">subscribe to my blog</a>, or <a href="https://twitter.com/michael_nielsen">follow me on Twitter</a>.</em></p>
<p><strong>Footnotes</strong></p>
<p>[1] I am referring to Realist art broadly, not the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Realism_arts">19th century artistic movement known as Realism</a>. I’m also certainly not claiming that all Western art was Realist until the late 19th century, merely that the idea of representing objective reality was often deeply influential.</p>
<p>[2] The YouTube video shows images from <em>Chronos</em>, but the music is from another source. Unfortunately, I could not find a good unabridged excerpt from <em>Chronos</em> online.</p>
<p><strong>Acknowledgements:</strong> This essay arose out of many conversations with <a href="http://jendodd.com/">Jen Dodd</a>, especially about her work with the <a href="http://subtletechnologies.com/">Subtle Technologies</a> Festival of Art and Science. Thanks also to <a href="http://www.cs.utah.edu/~miriah/">Miriah Meyer</a> and <a href="http://www.leesmolin.com/">Lee Smolin</a> for conversations that helped stimulate this essay.</p>
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	<p>As many of you no doubt know, the <a href="http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/hoap/Notes_on_the_Federal_Research_Public_Access_Act">FederalÂ Research Public Access Act</a>; (FRPAA, pronounced fur-pa) was introducedÂ into the US Congress a few days past. Â It’s a terrific bill, which, if itÂ passes, will have the effect of making all US Government-funded scientificÂ research accessible to the public within 6 months of publication.</p>
<p>Open access legislation like FRPAA doesn’t just happen in a vacuum. Â TheÂ <a href="http://www.taxpayeraccess.org/">Alliance for Taxpayer Access</a>Â (ATA) is a Washington D.C.-based advocacy group that works to promote openÂ access policies within the US Government. Â The ATA worked with CongressÂ (and many other organizations) to help pass the <a href="http://publicaccess.nih.gov/">NIH public access policy</a> in 2008,Â and have been working for the past several years with members of CongressÂ on FRPAA.</p>
<p>In this post, I interview <a href="http://www.arl.org/sparc/about/staff/joseph.shtml">Heather Joseph</a>, the Executive Director of the <a href="http://www.arl.org/sparc/">Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC)</a>, which convenes the ATA, andÂ ask her about the bill, about next steps, and about how people can help.</p>
<p><strong>Q:</strong> <em>Heather, thanks for agreeing to be interviewed! What is FRPAA, and what’s it trying to accomplish?</em></p>
<p>Thank you, Michael – I’m happy to talk about this bill!</p>
<p>In a nutshell, FRPAA is designed to make sure that the results of scientific research paid for by the public can be accessed by the public.Â Most people are surprised to learn that this isn’t automatically the case;Â they assume that if their tax dollars pay for a research study, theyÂ should be entitled to read the results. Â But the reality is quiteÂ different. Â Right now, if you want to access articles that report onÂ publicly funded science, you have pay to do so, either through a subscription to a scientific journal (which can cost thousands of dollarsÂ a year), or though pay-per-view, which can easily cost upwards of $30 perÂ article. This presents an often-unsurmountable obstacle for exactly thoseÂ people who most want (or need) access – scientists, students, teachers,Â physicians, entrepreneurs – who too often find themselves unable to affordÂ such fees, and end up locked out of the game.</p>
<p>Out of eleven federal agencies that fund science here in the UnitedÂ States, only one – the National Institutes of Health – actually has aÂ policy that ensures that the public can freely access the results of theirÂ funded research online. FRPAA is designed to tackle this issue head on,Â and to make sure that the science stemming from all U.S. agencies is madeÂ freely available to anyone who wants to use. it.</p>
<p>FRPAA is a very straightforward bill – it simply says that if you receiveÂ money from a U.S. Agency to do scientific research, you agree (upfront) toÂ make any articles reporting on the results available to the public in aÂ freely accessible online database, no later than six months afterÂ publication in a peer-reviewed journal.</p>
<p><strong>Q:</strong> <em>What is the Alliance for Taxpayer Access (ATA)?Â What role did the ATA play in advocating for FRPAA?</em></p>
<p>The ATA is a coalition of groups who are working together to try and craftÂ a positive solution to this problem. Â In 2004, the library community (led by my home organization, SPARC) decided that there must be other groupsÂ who shared our frustration over the current access situation. We reachedÂ out to research organizations, patient advocacy groups, consumer organizations, publishers, student groups – anyone we could think of whoÂ shared the goal of unlocking access to taxpayer funded research. Â WeÂ quickly attracted more than 80 organizations, representing millions ofÂ individuals. This created a whole new opportunity to advocate for nationalÂ access policies from a much stronger position… there really <em>is</em>Â strength in numbers!</p>
<p>The ATA has evolved into the leading advocacy organization for taxpayerÂ access to the results of taxpayer funded research. We knock on Congressional doors, talking with policymakers about Â the current barriers Â to access, and about new opportunities for scientific progress once those barriers are brought down.Â We are all about leveragingÂ the public’s investment in science by making sure that anyone who isÂ interested can easily access and build on this research. That’s howÂ science advances, after all.</p>
<p><strong>Q:</strong> <em>In 2008, the Congress passed the NIH public accessÂ policy. Â Can you tell us about that, and the ATA’s role?</em></p>
<p>Absolutely! Â As I mentioned, the NIH is currently the only U.S. agencyÂ that has a policy guaranteeing the public access to the results of itsÂ funded research. The idea for the policy surfaced in 2003, when CongressÂ expressed concern that results of the public’s nearly $30 billion annualÂ investment in NIH research were not being made as widely accessible asÂ they should be. Â They asked the NIH Director to create a policy to addressÂ the problem, setting in motion what would become 4 long years of intenseÂ debate in the scientific community.Â </p>
<p>Not surprisingly, some journal publishers expressed immediate concern thatÂ any policy that provided access to research results through any otherÂ channels other than subscription-based journals would irreparably damageÂ their businesses. Because journal publishing is big business (nearly $9Â billion in annual revenues) publishers were able to use theirÂ long-established trade associations to aggressively lobby the NIH andÂ Congress against the establishment of such a policy.</p>
<p>The scientists, librarians, patients, and others who favored the policyÂ found themselves at a disadvantage, advocating as individual organizationsÂ without a coordinated voice. This was the main reason the ATA wasÂ established, and we quickly found ourselves at the center of the debate,Â helping to ensure that all stakeholders who favored the establishment of aÂ public access policy had a way to present a united message toÂ policymakers. Ultimately, Congress passed a landmark policy fullyÂ supported by the ATA that was enacted in 2008.Â </p>
<p><strong>Q:</strong> <em>Who works at the ATA?</em></p>
<p>The ATA is essentially a virtual coalition. While we’ve grown to representÂ over 100 organizations, the organization’s advocacy is carried out by aÂ pretty small core group of staff (all of whom have other full time jobs!) Â Besides myself, the wonderful <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/nshockey">Nick Shockey</a> and AndreaÂ Higginbotham are responsible for the coalition’s online presence – keepingÂ our <a href="http://www.taxpayeraccess.org/">website</a> up to date,Â maintaining our <a href="http://www.taxpayeraccess.org/action/FRPAA2012.shtml">Congressional Action Center</a>, and keeping our members looped in on various emailÂ lists. Â We also rely on our incredibly active members to help usÂ continually refine our messages, and look for opportunities to spread theÂ word about our work. Â People like <a href="http://www.geneticalliance.org/bio.terry">Sharon Terry</a> at the <a href="http://www.geneticalliance.org">Genetic Alliance</a>, <a href="http://www.arl.org/arl/staff/adler.shtml">Prue Adler</a> at the <a href="http://www.arl.org">Association of Research Libraries</a>, and <a href="http://community.parentprojectmd.org/profile/PatFurlong">PatÂ Furlong</a> at <a href="http://www.parentprojectmd.org/site/PageServer?pagename=nws_index">ParentÂ Project Muscular Dystrophy</a> are prime examples of some of the peopleÂ who keep the ATA active on the front lines. Also: there is no cost to join the ATA (SPARC picks up the relatively lowÂ tab to keep it humming!); and the door is open for any organization to <a href="http://www.taxpayeraccess.org/membership/join/index.shtml">sign on as a member through our website</a>. If you’re interested, please let usÂ know!</p>
<p><strong>Q:</strong> <em>What happens next, with FRPAA? Â How does itÂ (hopefully) become law? What could derail it?</em></p>
<p>The next steps for FRPAA will be for us (and our advocates) to encourageÂ other members of Congress to sign onto the bill as co-sponsors. GeneratingÂ a nice, robust list of supporting members of Congress is key in helping toÂ keep the profile of the bill high. Â Procedurally, the bill will beÂ referred to Committee for further consideration; in the Senate, it will goÂ to the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, and in theÂ House, the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform will receive theÂ bill. Â As with any legislation, FRPAA faces an uphill battle in anÂ election year, but given the growing attention this issue has received inÂ the past year (from the White House Office of Science and TechnologyÂ Policy, to the America COMPETES Act, to the recent Research Works Act),Â we’re hopeful that the bill can continue to advance.</p>
<p>I think the biggest threat is inaction, so vocal support from stakeholdersÂ will be crucial!</p>
<p><strong>Q:</strong> <em>What can people do to help FRPAA become law?</em></p>
<p>The most important thing that people – especially active scientists – canÂ do help advance this bill is to speak out in support of this bill. Â And weÂ need folks to speak out in two ways:</p>
<p>First, speak out to your members of Congress. The ATA has an <a href="http://www.taxpayeraccess.org/action/action_frpaa/FRPAA2012.shtml">ActionÂ Center</a> set up so that you can simply log on, pick your Senators andÂ Representatives, and automatically generate a letter asking them toÂ support FRPAA. Â The Action Center has all kinds of information about theÂ bill, including Talking Points, FAQ’a and even template letters, to helpÂ make the process as easy as possible. <a href="http://www.taxpayeraccess.org/action/action_frpaa/FRPAA2012.shtml">CheckÂ it out!</a></p>
<p>Second, speak out to your colleagues and your community. Â Blog about theÂ bill, or spread the word on Twitter. Â Consider writing an OpEd for yourÂ local newspaper, or writing an article for your organization’s newsletter.Â The more people become aware of this issue, the more they support it.Â Help us spread the word!</p>
<p><strong>Q:</strong> <em>Finally, how can people follow what the ATA is doing, andÂ keep up with your calls for action?</em></p>
<p>You can sign onto the Alliance for Taxpayer Access by going to <a href="http://www.taxpayeraccess.org/membership/join/index.shtml">ourÂ website</a>. There’s no charge.</p>
<p>If you simply want to be added to our email list for alerts and updates,Â contact either or myself (heather@arl.org) Â or Andrea HigginbothamÂ (andrea@arl.org), or follow us on Twitter at <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/sparc_na">@SPARC_NA</a>.</p>
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	<p>Elsevier is the world’s largest and most profitable scientific publisher, making a <a href="http://www.reed-elsevier.com/mediacentre/pressreleases/Documents/2010/Reed%20Elsevier%202009%20Results%20Announcement%2017%20February%202010%20FINAL.pdf">profit of 1.1 billion dollars on revenue of 3.2 billion dollars in 2009</a>. Elsevier have also been involved in many dubious practices, including the <a href="http://classic.the-scientist.com/blog/display/55679/">publishing of fake medical journals sponsored by pharmaceutical companies</a>, and the publication of what are most kindly described as <a href="http://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/?s=el+naschie">extraordinarily shoddy</a> journals. Until 2009, parent company Reed Elsevier helped facilitate the international <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/may/30/armstrade.weaponstechnology">arms trade</a>. (This is just a tiny sample: for more, see Gowers’s blog post, or look at some of the links on <a href="http://michaelnielsen.org/polymath1/index.php?title=Journal_publishing_reform">this page</a>.) For this, executives at Reed Elsevier are paid multi-million dollar salaries (see, e.g., <a href="http://people.forbes.com/profile/erik-engstrom/67513">1</a> and <a href="http://people.forbes.com/profile/ian-smith/127655">2</a>, and links therein).</p>
<p>All this is pretty widely known in the scientific community. However, Tim Gowers recently started a large-scale discussion of Elsevier by scientists, by <a href="http://gowers.wordpress.com/2012/01/21/elsevier-my-part-in-its-downfall/">blogging </a> to explain that he will no longer be submitting papers to Elsevier journals, refereeing for Elsevier, or otherwise supporting the company in any way. The post now has more than 120 comments, with many mathematicians and scientists voicing similar concerns.</p>
<p>Following up from the discussion on Gowers’s post, <a href="http://www.math.nyu.edu/~neylon/">Tyler Neylon</a> has created a website called <a href="http://thecostofknowledge.com/">The Cost of Knowledge</a> (see also <a href="http://gowers.wordpress.com/2012/01/23/httpthecostofknowledge-com/">Gowers’s followup</a>) where researchers can declare their unwillingness to “support any Elsevier journal unless they radically change how they operate”. If you’re a mathematician or scientist who is unhappy with Elsevier’s practices, then consider signing the declaration. And while you’re at it, consider making your scientific papers open access, either by depositing them into open repositories such as the <a href="http://arxiv.org">arXiv</a>, or by submitting them to open access journals such as the <a href="http://plos.org">Public Library of Science</a>. Or do both.</p>
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	<p>That’s the question I address (very partially) in a <a href="http://www.michaelnielsen.org/ddi/if-correlation-doesnt-imply-causation-then-what-does/">new post</a> on my <a href="http://www.michaelnielsen.org/ddi/">data-driven intelligence blog</a>. The post reviews some of the recent work on causal inference done by people such as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judea_Pearl">Judea Pearl</a>. In particular the post describes the elements of a causal calculus developed by Pearl, and explains how the calculus can be applied to infer causation, even when a randomized, controlled experiment is not possible.</p>
	
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	<p>Click through for event details. I’ve included a few private events at organizations where it’s possible some readers work.</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.thetech.org/bayarea_science/#nielsen">The Tech Museum</a> (Bay Area) November 1
</li><li><a href="http://www.harvard.com/event/michael_nielsen/">Harvard Book Store / Cambridge Forum</a> (Boston) November 9
</li><li><a href="http://www.google.com/talks/authors/index.html">Authors@Google</a> (Bay Area) November 15.
</li><li><a href="http://www.sfpl.org/index.php?pg=1007006401">San Francisco Public Library</a> (San Francisco) November 15
</li><li>Microsoft Colloquium (Seattle) November 16
</li><li><a href="http://townhallseattle.org/science-michael-nielsen-a-new-era-of-networked-science/">Town Hall Seattle</a> (Seattle) November 16
</li><li><a href="http://www.powells.com/events">Powell’s Books</a> (Portland) November 17
</li><li><a href="http://www.livewireradio.org/">LiveWire</a> (Portland) November 18
</li><li>Howard Hughes Medical Institute (Washington DC) November 29
</li><li><a href="http://tedxsalonopensourcing-eorg.eventbrite.com/">TEDxPrincetonLibrary</a> (New Jersey) November 30
</li><li>Carnegie Council (New York) December 1
</li></ul>
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On Twitter, I’ve been chatting with my friend Julia Galef about tensions between thinking creatively and thinking in a way that reduces error.
Of course, all other things being equal, I’m in favour of reducing error in our thinking!
However, all other things are not always equal.
In particular, I believe “there’s a tension, too, between behaviours which maximize accuracy &amp; which maximize creativity… A lot of important truths come from v. irrational ppl.”
Julia has summarized some of her thinking in a blog post, where she disagrees, writing: “I totally agree that we need more experimentation with â€œcrazy ideasâ€! Iâ€™m just skeptical that rationality is, on the margin, in tension with that goal.”
Before getting to Julia’s arguments, I want to flesh out the idea of a tension between maximizing creativity and maximizing accuracy.
Consider the following statement of Feynman’s, on the need to fool himself into believing that he had a creative edge in his work. He’s talking about his early ideas on how to develop a theory of electrons and light (which became, after many years, quantum electrodynamics). The statement is a little jarring to modern sensibilities, but please look past that to the idea he’s trying to convey:
  I told myself [of his competitors]: “They’re on the wrong track: I’ve got the track!” Now, in the end, I had to give up those ideas and go over to their ideas of retarded action and so on – my original idea of electrons not acting on themselves disappeared, but because I had been working so hard I found something. So, as long as I can drive myself one way or the other, it’s okay. Even if it’s an illusion, it still makes me go, and this is the kind of thing that keeps me going through the depths.
It’s like the African savages who are going into battle – first they have to gather around and beat drums and jump up and down to build up their energy to fight. I feel the same way, building up my energy by talking to myself and telling myself, “They are trying to do it this way, I’m going to do it that way” and then I get excited and I can go back to work again.
 
Many of the most creative scientists I know are extremely determined people, willing to explore unusual positions for years. Sometimes, those positions are well grounded. And sometimes, even well after the fact, it’s obvious they were fooling themselves, but somehow their early errors helped them find their way to the truth. They were, to use the mathematician Goro Shimura’s phrase “gifted with the special capability of making many mistakes, mostly in the right direction”.
An extreme example is the physicist Joseph Weber, who pioneered gravitational wave astronomy. The verdict of both his contemporaries and of history is that he was fooling himself: his systems simply didn’t work the way he thought. On the other hand, even though he fooled himself for decades, the principals on the (successful!) LIGO project have repeatedly acknowledged that his work was a major stimulus for them to work on finding gravitational waves. In retrospect, it’s difficult to be anything other than glad that Weber clung so tenaciously to his erroneous beliefs.
For me, what matters here is that: (a) much of Weber’s work was based on an unreasonable belief; and (b) on net, it helped speed up important discoveries.
Weber demonstrates my point in an extreme form. He was outright wrong, and remained so, and yet his erroneous example still served a useful purpose, helping inspire others to pursue ideas that eventually worked. In some sense, this is a collective (rather than individual) version of my point. More common is the case – like Feynman – of a person who may cling to mistaken beliefs for a long period, but ultimately uses that as a bridge to new discovery.
Turning to Julia’s post, she responds to my argument with: “In general, I think overconfidence stifles experimentation”, and argues that the great majority of people in society reject “crazy” ideas – say, seasteading – because they’re overconfident in conventional wisdom.
I agree that people often mistakenly reject unusual ideas because they’re overconfident in the conventional wisdom.
However, I don’t think it’s relevant to my argument. Being overconfident in beliefs that most people hold is not at all the same as being overconfident in beliefs that few people hold.
You may wonder if the underlying cognitive mechanisms are the same, and perhaps there’s some kind of broad disposition to overconfidence?
But if that was the case then you’d expect that someone overconfident in their own unusual ideas would, in other areas, also be overconfident in the conventional wisdom.
However, my anecdotal experience is that a colleague willing to pursue unusual ideas of their own is often particularly sympathetic to unusual ideas from other people in other areas. This suggests that being overconfident in your own crazy ideas isn’t likely to stifle other experimentation.
Julia also suggests several variants on the “strategy of temporarily suspending your disbelief and throwing yourself headlong into something for a while, allowing your emotional state to be as
if you were 100% confident.”
In a sense, Feynman and Weber were practicing an extreme version of this strategy. I don’t know Weber’s work well, but it’s notable that in the details of Feynman’s work he was good at ferreting out error, and not fooling himself. He wasn’t always rigorous – mathematicians have, for instance, spent decades trying to make the path integral rigorous – but there was usually a strong core argument. Indeed, Feynman delivered a very stimulating speech on the value of careful thought in scientific work.
How can this careful approach to the details of argument be reconciled with his remarks about the need to fool yourself in creative work?
I never met Feynman, and can’t say how he reconciled the two points of view. But my own approach in creative work, and I believe many others also take this approach, is to carve out a sort of creative cocoon around nascent ideas.
Consider Apple designer Jony Ive’s remarks at a memorial after Steve Jobs’ death:
  Steve used to say to me — and he used to say this a lot — “Hey Jony, here’s a dopey idea.”
And sometimes they were. Really dopey. Sometimes they were truly dreadful. But sometimes they took the air from the room and they left us both completely silent. Bold, crazy, magnificent ideas. Or quiet simple ones, which in their subtlety, their detail, they were utterly profound. And just as Steve loved ideas, and loved making stuff, he treated the process of creativity with a rare and a wonderful reverence. You see, I think he better than anyone understood that while ideas ultimately can be so powerful, they begin as fragile, barely formed thoughts, so easily missed, so easily compromised, so easily just squished.
 
To be creative, you need to recognize those barely formed thoughts, thoughts which are usually wrong and poorly formed in many ways, but which have some kernel of originality and importance and
truth. And if they seem important enough to be worth pursuing, you construct a creative cocoon around them, a set of stories you tell yourself to protect the idea not just from others, but from your own self doubts. The purpose of those stories isn’t to be an air tight defence. It’s to give you the confidence to nurture the idea, possibly for years, to find out if there’s something really there. 
And so, even someone who has extremely high standards for the final details of their work, may have an important component to their thinking which relies on rather woolly arguments. And they may well need to cling to that cocoon. Perhaps other approaches are possible. But my own experience is that this is often the case.
Postscript
Julia finishes her post with:
  One last point: Even if it turned out to be true that irrationality is necessary for innovators, thatâ€™s only a weak defense of your original claim, which was that Iâ€™m significantly overrating the value of rationality in general. Remember, â€œcoming up with brilliant new ideasâ€ is just one domain in which we could evaluate the potential value-add of increased rationality. There are lots of other domains to consider, such as designing policy, allocating philanthropic funds, military strategy, etc. We could certainly talk about those separately; for now, Iâ€™m just noting that you made this original claim about the dubious value of rationality in general, but then your argument focused on this one particular domain, innovation.
 
To clarify, I didn’t intend my claim to be in general: the tension I see is between creativity and accuracy.
That said, this tension does leak into other areas. 
If you’re a funder, say, trying to determine what to fund in AI research, you go and talk to AI experts. And many of those people are likely to have cultivated their own creative cocoons, which will inform their remarks. How a funder should deal with that is a separate essay. My point here is simply that this process of creative cocooning isn’t easily untangled from things like evaluation of work.
	
	
	
	Stefan Janusz from the Royal Society asked me to comment briefly on where I’d look for new ideas about the future of scientific publishing. Here’s my response, crossposted to the Royal Society’s blog about scientific publishing.
It’s tempting to assume the key ideas will come from leading scientists, journal publishers, librarians, policy makers, and so on. 
While these are all important groups, I don’t think they’re going to invent the key ideas behind the future of scientific publishing. That will be done primarily by two groups of outsiders: exceptionally creative user interface designers, and people who design group experiences.
Let me unpack both those statements.
The first important group is user interface designers. Ultimately, scientific journals are a user interface to humanity’s scientific knowledge, and people such as Henry Oldenburg, Johannes Gutenberg, and Aldus Manutius were all interface designers.
Now, many people working in science don’t understand the importance or difficulty of user interface design. It’s tempting to think it’s either about “making things pretty” or about “making things easy to use”. And, in fact, much work on interface design doesn’t go much deeper than those tasks. But the designers I’m talking about are doing something much deeper. They’re attempting to invent powerful new representations for knowledge, representations that will let us manipulate and comprehend knowledge in new ways.
Think, for example, of how the invention of user interface ideas such as the hyperlink and the search box have transformed how we relate to knowledge. Or take a look at some of Bret Victor’s beautiful designs for changing how we think about systems and mathematics. In a more playful vein, look at Marco ten Bosch’s gorgeous game Miegakure, which challenges people to learn to think in four spatial dimensions. Or consider the way programming languages such as Coq and Logo change the way people interface to mathematical knowledge.
The second group I named is people who design group experiences. In addition to being user interfaces to scientific knowledge, journals are also a medium for collective intelligence. The design of media for collective intelligence isn’t yet a widely recognized field. But there are many people doing amazing things in this area. Just as a random sample, not necessarily related to science, take a look at Ned Gulley’s work on the Mathworks programming competition. Or economist Robin Hanson on idea futures. Or even people such as the musician Bobby McFerrin, who understands crowd behaviour as well as anyone. Or Jane McGonigal and Elan Lee’s work on creating games based on “puzzles and challenges that no single person could solve on their own”. This broad vein of work is a key direction from which important new fundamental ideas will ultimately come.
Let me finish by identifying a questionable assumption implicit in the question “Where will the future of scientific publishing come from?” The assumption is that there will be a single future for scientific publishing, a kind of jazzed-up version of the scientific article, and it’s simply up to enterprising publishers to figure out what it is.
I believe that, if things go well, there will instead be a proliferation of media types. Some will be informal, cognitive media for people to think and carry out experiments with. Look, for example, at some of Peter Norvig’s ipython notebooks. Others will be collaborative environments for building up knowledge – look at Tim Gowers’s and Terry Tao’s use of blogs and wikis to solve mathematical problems collaboratively. And some will be recognizable descendants of the “paper of record” model common in journals today. So what I hope we’ll see is a much richer and more varied ecosystem, and one that continues to change and improve rapidly over many decades
	
	
	 Chapter 2 of my free online book about “Neural Networks and Deep Learning” is now available. The chapter is an in-depth explanation of the backpropagation algorithm. Backpropagation is the workhorse of learning in neural networks, and a key component in modern deep learning systems.ï»¿ Enjoy!
	
	My new essay on the use of digital media to explain scientific ideas is here.
	
	
	I am delighted to announce that the first chapter of my book “Neural Networks and Deep Learning” is now freely available online here.
The chapter explains the basic ideas behind neural networks, including how they learn. I show how powerful these ideas are by writing a short program which uses neural networks to solve a hard problem — recognizing handwritten digits. The chapter also takes a brief look at how deep learning works.
The book’s landing page gives a broader view on the book. And I’ve written a more in-depth discussion of the philosophy behind the book.
Finally, if you’ve read this far I hope you’ll consider supporting my Indiegogo campaign for the book, which will give you access to perks like early drafts of later chapters.
	
	
	
	In September of 2012, a team of scientists released a photograph showing the most distant parts of the Universe ever seen by any human being. They obtained the photograph by pointing the Hubble Space Telescope at a single tiny patch of sky, gradually building up an image over a total of 23 days of observation. It’s an otherwise undistinguished patch of sky, within the little-known constellation Fornax. It’s less than one hundredth the size of the full moon, and appears totally empty to the naked eye. Here’s what’s seen with the Hubble Telescope:
This image is known as the Hubble Extreme Deep Field. It contains 5,500 galaxies, each of which, in turn, contains billions of stars. This region of sky ordinarily looks empty because these galaxies are far too dim to be seen with the naked eye. Some of the galaxies are more than 13 billion light years away. We are seeing them as they were just a few hundred million years after the big bang, near the dawn of time. If you have the eyes to see, this is what deep space and the early history of the universe looks like.
One of the many striking things about the Hubble Extreme Deep Field is that it’s beautiful. Another work revealing beauty in nature is a 1999 art piece by a Dutch-Canadian artist named Juan Geuer. In a darkened room, Geuer shone orange laser light through a single droplet of water, projecting the light onto a wall. The resulting play of light is spectacular. We see the changing internal structure of the droplet, and the interplay of surface tension and gravity, a marvellous mix of refraction, reflection, and diffraction. Here’s a recording of Geuer’s art piece, known as  Water in Suspense . (Some browsers don’t start the video at the right moment — move to 13:33 in the recording if that’s the case).
It’s not a typical action-packed online video. It moves slowly, slowly,… and then WHOOSH, a sudden, rapid change. I suggest watching it for at least a minute or two. During that time you’ll start to learn how to watch the droplet. Indeed, getting a feel for the multiple timescales at which the droplet changes is part of what we learn from the work.
 Water in Suspense reveals a hidden world. We discover a rich structure immanent in the water droplet, a structure not ordinarily accessible to our senses. In this way it’s similar to the Hubble Extreme Deep Field, which also reveals a hidden world. Both are examples of what I call Super-realist art, art which doesn’t just capture what we can see directly with our eyes or hear with our ears, but which uses new sensors and methods of visualization to reveal a world that we cannot directly perceive. It’s art being used to reveal science.
Although I’m not an artist or an art critic, I find Super-realist art fascinating. Works like the Hubble Extreme Deep Field and Water in Suspense give us concrete, vivid representations of deep space and the interior structure of a water droplet. For most of us, these are usually little more than dry abstractions, remote from our understanding. By creating vivid representations, Super-realist art provides us with a new way of thinking about such phenomena. And so in this essay I explore Super-realist art: what it is, how it relates to other modes of art, and why it is flourishing today.
I’m a technologist and scientist, a person whose main interests are in areas such as machine learning, data science, and, especially, the development of cognitive tools (i.e., tools to extend human thought). It may seem strange that I’m writing an essay about art. But thinking about technology from this viewpoint gives a perspective that’s radically different to the usual take. It’s a flip side, an artistic perspective that sees technology and, in particular, Super-realism, as a means to discover new aesthetics and new representations of reality. That means Super-realism is not just of interest to artists, but can also inform technologists and scientists, giving them a new way of thinking about how we can develop tools that extend human thought.
In discussing Super-realism I will ignore many of the usual labels we use to understand art. Instead, I’ll develop a caricature which divides much of Western art into just three categories: Realism, Post-realism, and Super-realism. I believe this way of thinking illuminates Super-realism, and ask the indulgence of any experts on art history who happen to be reading.
Until the latter part of the 19th century Realism was one of the main aspirations of much Western art [1]. Realist art aimed at capturing the reality accessible to our senses. My favourite Realist artist is Rembrandt:
Such paintings seem so true-to-life that it is as though the artist has captured an element of objective reality. Suppose aliens visited Earth after a cataclysm wiped out all traces of humanity, except for a few Rembrandt self-portraits that somehow survived. I believe the aliens could understand much about both Rembrandt and humanity from those portraits, including perhaps even something of Rembrandt’s personality, his habits, his likes, and his dislikes.
But even the most talented Realist artists capture only a tiny slice of reality. Rembrandt’s self-portraits, as real as they appear, omit nearly all the biological and mental processes going on in Rembrandt’s body and mind. Suppose, for example, we could zoom in on his face, seeing it at 10 times magnification, then 100, then 1,000, and so on. At each level of magnification a new world would be revealed, of pores and cells and microbes. And there is so much structure to understand in each of these worlds, from the incredibly complex ecology of microbes on the skin, to the inner workings of cells. Consider this video simulating the inside of a cell:
This is not to criticise Rembrandt and the other Realists. On their own terms, they succeeded. But what Super-realism shows is that we can see far deeper into the world, and find great beauty in so doing.
In the 20th century Western art moved away from Realism, and Post-realist art became increasingly influential. To describe how Super-realism relates to Post-realism I’ll use the work of Monet. Monet was an early Post-realist painter, one working at the boundary between Realism and Post-realism. Here’s one of Monet’s great works, the &#34;Water Lillies&#34; tryptych, housed in the Museum of Modern Art in New York:
 (credit) 
Unfortunately, when viewed on a computer screen or as a small print, this tryptych looks washed out and insipid, a poor imitation of the Realists. But when you see the original — 6 and a half feet high, and 42 feet long — the effect is jaw-dropping. Monet’s genius, and what made his painting so overwhelming, was a deep understanding of how humans see. He was a master illusionist who understood how to trick the viewer’s brain into seeing something much, much better than a realistic rendition. This only works at scale. When &#34;Water Lillies&#34; is shrunk to print size, the psychology of perception changes, and the illusion vanishes. I don’t understand why this is. I’ve read something of the theory of Monet and his fellow Impressionists, and don’t find those explanations convincing. What I do know is that Monet’s shimmering pond loses its glory. It looks fake, less than a literal rendition, merely a washed out print. But somehow, in the original, Monet was able to use his understanding of human perception to evoke water lillies in a fashion more spectacular than a Realist painting could ever have achieved.
In Post-realism, art isn’t about directly representing an objective, independent reality. Instead, it’s about creating new types of relationship between the art piece and the human mind. Monet and his fellow Impressionists were on the boundary between Realism and Post-Realism, since their works still aimed to evoke an objective, independent reality, albeit not by a direct representation. But Post-realism was pushed much further by later artists, such as Picasso, M. C. Escher, and Kandinsky:
These works gradually shift away from representing reality, and toward exploring the relationship between art piece and viewer. Escher, for example, used quirks in the human visual system to evoke impossible realities. Abstract artists such as Kandinsky take this idea still further, and it is developed to an extreme in the work of abstract minimalists such as John McLaughlin, a pioneer in what is known as Hard-edge painting:
At first glance this (and much of McLaughlin’s other work) looks ludicrous. But it makes more sense when you understand that McLaughlin was exploring how people respond to art. His earlier works were more complex. But he gradually simplified his work as he realized that people can have novel responses even to simple stimuli.
Abstract minimalism annoys many people. The approach can and has led to fakery and foolishness on the part of some artists. But my point here is neither to criticise nor to praise. Instead, it’s to understand what artists such as McLaughlin were up to. Whereas the Realist artists believed that virtuosity came from depicting part of reality with high fidelity, in Post-realism virtuosity may come from creating a novel relationship between art piece and viewer.
Super-realism changes art again. Virtuosity becomes about revealing hidden worlds and discovering new aesthetics. Take a look at the following video, which shows — in extreme slow motion! — a packet of light passing through a bottle. Ordinarily that passage takes less than a nanosecond, but the video slows the passage down by a factor of 10 billion, so we can see it:
In a way, Super-realism is a return to the aims of Realism, back to representing reality. But what’s new about Super-realism is the challenge (and opportunity!) to find ways of representing previously unseen parts of the world.
Most of my examples of Super-realist art have come from people who regard themselves mainly as scientists, not as artists. However, there are many artists doing Super-realist art. I’ve drawn my examples mostly from scientists merely because I’ve found that artists’ work is often more exploratory, and thus requires more background explanation, making it less suited for an essay such as this.
Although Super-realism’s flourishing is recent, its origins go back centuries. In 1610, Galileo published a short book entitled Starry Messenger (Sidereus Nuncius), which contained several images showing the moon in unprecedented detail, as observed by Galileo through one of his new telescopes:
In a similar vein, in 1665 Robert Hooke published a bestselling book entitled Micrographia, which used the newly-invented microscope to reveal the world of the very small. Hooke’s book included the first ever drawings of biological cells, as well as drawings showing animals such as fleas in unprecedented detail:
While Super-realism isn’t new, that doesn’t mean it’s yet in the artistic mainstream. Many people don’t consider works such as the Hubble Extreme Deep Field or the light-in-a-bottle video to be art. (I would not be surprised if this includes the creators of those works.) Even works more explicitly artistic in intent, such as Water in Suspense, are viewed as borderline. But I believe that each of these works reveals a new aesthetic, an aesthetic generated by the scientific principles underlying the phenomenon being represented. And insofar as they reveal a new aesthetic, I believe these works are art.
Although Super-realism isn’t yet in the artistic mainstream, it has influenced parts of that mainstream. For example, in the 1980s the film diector and cinematographer Ron Fricke used time-lapse photography to reveal new aspects of the everyday world, in documentary films such as  Chronos  [2]:
Fricke was not, of course, the first to use time-lapse photography in this way. However, his films have won wide acclaim, and inspired many other artists to develop time-lapse photography further as an artistic medium.
Super-realism has grown rapidly in the past twenty to thirty years. Three forces are driving that growth.
First, far more people can access and learn to use scientific instruments. Recall Juan Geuer and his virtuoso home-made laser light show. There are people building everything from home-made bubble chambers to balloons exploring the upper atmosphere. These are not isolated curiosities, but rather part of a rapidly expanding social phenomenon that has been called by many names: the DIY movement, citizen science, the Maker movement. Whatever it is, it’s growing, fed by the expansion of online and mail-order suppliers that serve niche markets, and by the growth of online (and, increasingly, offline) communities of people who work with these instruments and teach one another.
Second, the data being taken by many of these instruments is being shared openly, online. In the 1980s if a scientist used a telescope to take a photograph, likely no more than a few dozen people would ever touch the photographic plate. Now more than a billion people can download data from the Hubble Telescope, and find new ways to visualize it. Some of the most extraordinary visualizations of the Earth are made using data released openly by NASA. Any scientific project which releases data enables others to find new ways of making meaning from that data.
Third, we’re collectively building a powerful suite of tools to reveal these new worlds. For example, as I write there are more than 25,000 open source visualization projects available on the code repository GitHub. Most of those projects are, of coure, experiments that will be abandoned. But there are also many powerful tools that give people incredible abilities to make and reveal beauty. It’s no wonder Super-realism is flowering.
Story-tellers say that reality is often stranger and more interesting than fiction. I believe this is true for all art. The reason is that nature is more imaginative than we, and as we probe deeper into nature, we will continue to discover new aesthetics and new forms of beauty. I believe these new aesthetics will stimulate art for decades or centuries to come.
 If you enjoyed this essay, you may wish to subscribe to my blog, or follow me on Twitter. 
 Footnotes 
[1] I am referring to Realist art broadly, not the 19th century artistic movement known as Realism. I’m also certainly not claiming that all Western art was Realist until the late 19th century, merely that the idea of representing objective reality was often deeply influential.
[2] The YouTube video shows images from Chronos, but the music is from another source. Unfortunately, I could not find a good unabridged excerpt from Chronos online.
 Acknowledgements: This essay arose out of many conversations with Jen Dodd, especially about her work with the Subtle Technologies Festival of Art and Science. Thanks also to Miriah Meyer and Lee Smolin for conversations that helped stimulate this essay.
	
	
	
	As many of you no doubt know, the FederalÂ Research Public Access Act; (FRPAA, pronounced fur-pa) was introducedÂ into the US Congress a few days past. Â It’s a terrific bill, which, if itÂ passes, will have the effect of making all US Government-funded scientificÂ research accessible to the public within 6 months of publication.
Open access legislation like FRPAA doesn’t just happen in a vacuum. Â TheÂ Alliance for Taxpayer AccessÂ (ATA) is a Washington D.C.-based advocacy group that works to promote openÂ access policies within the US Government. Â The ATA worked with CongressÂ (and many other organizations) to help pass the NIH public access policy in 2008,Â and have been working for the past several years with members of CongressÂ on FRPAA.
In this post, I interview Heather Joseph, the Executive Director of the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC), which convenes the ATA, andÂ ask her about the bill, about next steps, and about how people can help.
 Q: Heather, thanks for agreeing to be interviewed! What is FRPAA, and what’s it trying to accomplish? 
Thank you, Michael – I’m happy to talk about this bill!
In a nutshell, FRPAA is designed to make sure that the results of scientific research paid for by the public can be accessed by the public.Â Most people are surprised to learn that this isn’t automatically the case;Â they assume that if their tax dollars pay for a research study, theyÂ should be entitled to read the results. Â But the reality is quiteÂ different. Â Right now, if you want to access articles that report onÂ publicly funded science, you have pay to do so, either through a subscription to a scientific journal (which can cost thousands of dollarsÂ a year), or though pay-per-view, which can easily cost upwards of $30 perÂ article. This presents an often-unsurmountable obstacle for exactly thoseÂ people who most want (or need) access – scientists, students, teachers,Â physicians, entrepreneurs – who too often find themselves unable to affordÂ such fees, and end up locked out of the game.
Out of eleven federal agencies that fund science here in the UnitedÂ States, only one – the National Institutes of Health – actually has aÂ policy that ensures that the public can freely access the results of theirÂ funded research online. FRPAA is designed to tackle this issue head on,Â and to make sure that the science stemming from all U.S. agencies is madeÂ freely available to anyone who wants to use. it.
FRPAA is a very straightforward bill – it simply says that if you receiveÂ money from a U.S. Agency to do scientific research, you agree (upfront) toÂ make any articles reporting on the results available to the public in aÂ freely accessible online database, no later than six months afterÂ publication in a peer-reviewed journal.
 Q: What is the Alliance for Taxpayer Access (ATA)?Â What role did the ATA play in advocating for FRPAA? 
The ATA is a coalition of groups who are working together to try and craftÂ a positive solution to this problem. Â In 2004, the library community (led by my home organization, SPARC) decided that there must be other groupsÂ who shared our frustration over the current access situation. We reachedÂ out to research organizations, patient advocacy groups, consumer organizations, publishers, student groups – anyone we could think of whoÂ shared the goal of unlocking access to taxpayer funded research. Â WeÂ quickly attracted more than 80 organizations, representing millions ofÂ individuals. This created a whole new opportunity to advocate for nationalÂ access policies from a much stronger position… there really isÂ strength in numbers!
The ATA has evolved into the leading advocacy organization for taxpayerÂ access to the results of taxpayer funded research. We knock on Congressional doors, talking with policymakers about Â the current barriers Â to access, and about new opportunities for scientific progress once those barriers are brought down.Â We are all about leveragingÂ the public’s investment in science by making sure that anyone who isÂ interested can easily access and build on this research. That’s howÂ science advances, after all.
 Q: In 2008, the Congress passed the NIH public accessÂ policy. Â Can you tell us about that, and the ATA’s role? 
Absolutely! Â As I mentioned, the NIH is currently the only U.S. agencyÂ that has a policy guaranteeing the public access to the results of itsÂ funded research. The idea for the policy surfaced in 2003, when CongressÂ expressed concern that results of the public’s nearly $30 billion annualÂ investment in NIH research were not being made as widely accessible asÂ they should be. Â They asked the NIH Director to create a policy to addressÂ the problem, setting in motion what would become 4 long years of intenseÂ debate in the scientific community.Â 
Not surprisingly, some journal publishers expressed immediate concern thatÂ any policy that provided access to research results through any otherÂ channels other than subscription-based journals would irreparably damageÂ their businesses. Because journal publishing is big business (nearly $9Â billion in annual revenues) publishers were able to use theirÂ long-established trade associations to aggressively lobby the NIH andÂ Congress against the establishment of such a policy.
The scientists, librarians, patients, and others who favored the policyÂ found themselves at a disadvantage, advocating as individual organizationsÂ without a coordinated voice. This was the main reason the ATA wasÂ established, and we quickly found ourselves at the center of the debate,Â helping to ensure that all stakeholders who favored the establishment of aÂ public access policy had a way to present a united message toÂ policymakers. Ultimately, Congress passed a landmark policy fullyÂ supported by the ATA that was enacted in 2008.Â 
 Q: Who works at the ATA? 
The ATA is essentially a virtual coalition. While we’ve grown to representÂ over 100 organizations, the organization’s advocacy is carried out by aÂ pretty small core group of staff (all of whom have other full time jobs!) Â Besides myself, the wonderful Nick Shockey and AndreaÂ Higginbotham are responsible for the coalition’s online presence – keepingÂ our website up to date,Â maintaining our Congressional Action Center, and keeping our members looped in on various emailÂ lists. Â We also rely on our incredibly active members to help usÂ continually refine our messages, and look for opportunities to spread theÂ word about our work. Â People like Sharon Terry at the Genetic Alliance, Prue Adler at the Association of Research Libraries, and PatÂ Furlong at ParentÂ Project Muscular Dystrophy are prime examples of some of the peopleÂ who keep the ATA active on the front lines. Also: there is no cost to join the ATA (SPARC picks up the relatively lowÂ tab to keep it humming!); and the door is open for any organization to sign on as a member through our website. If you’re interested, please let usÂ know!
 Q: What happens next, with FRPAA? Â How does itÂ (hopefully) become law? What could derail it? 
The next steps for FRPAA will be for us (and our advocates) to encourageÂ other members of Congress to sign onto the bill as co-sponsors. GeneratingÂ a nice, robust list of supporting members of Congress is key in helping toÂ keep the profile of the bill high. Â Procedurally, the bill will beÂ referred to Committee for further consideration; in the Senate, it will goÂ to the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, and in theÂ House, the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform will receive theÂ bill. Â As with any legislation, FRPAA faces an uphill battle in anÂ election year, but given the growing attention this issue has received inÂ the past year (from the White House Office of Science and TechnologyÂ Policy, to the America COMPETES Act, to the recent Research Works Act),Â we’re hopeful that the bill can continue to advance.
I think the biggest threat is inaction, so vocal support from stakeholdersÂ will be crucial!
 Q: What can people do to help FRPAA become law? 
The most important thing that people – especially active scientists – canÂ do help advance this bill is to speak out in support of this bill. Â And weÂ need folks to speak out in two ways:
First, speak out to your members of Congress. The ATA has an ActionÂ Center set up so that you can simply log on, pick your Senators andÂ Representatives, and automatically generate a letter asking them toÂ support FRPAA. Â The Action Center has all kinds of information about theÂ bill, including Talking Points, FAQ’a and even template letters, to helpÂ make the process as easy as possible. CheckÂ it out! 
Second, speak out to your colleagues and your community. Â Blog about theÂ bill, or spread the word on Twitter. Â Consider writing an OpEd for yourÂ local newspaper, or writing an article for your organization’s newsletter.Â The more people become aware of this issue, the more they support it.Â Help us spread the word!
 Q: Finally, how can people follow what the ATA is doing, andÂ keep up with your calls for action? 
You can sign onto the Alliance for Taxpayer Access by going to ourÂ website. There’s no charge.
If you simply want to be added to our email list for alerts and updates,Â contact either or myself (heather@arl.org) Â or Andrea HigginbothamÂ (andrea@arl.org), or follow us on Twitter at @SPARC_NA.
	
	
	
	Elsevier is the world’s largest and most profitable scientific publisher, making a profit of 1.1 billion dollars on revenue of 3.2 billion dollars in 2009. Elsevier have also been involved in many dubious practices, including the publishing of fake medical journals sponsored by pharmaceutical companies, and the publication of what are most kindly described as extraordinarily shoddy journals. Until 2009, parent company Reed Elsevier helped facilitate the international arms trade. (This is just a tiny sample: for more, see Gowers’s blog post, or look at some of the links on this page.) For this, executives at Reed Elsevier are paid multi-million dollar salaries (see, e.g., 1 and 2, and links therein).
All this is pretty widely known in the scientific community. However, Tim Gowers recently started a large-scale discussion of Elsevier by scientists, by blogging  to explain that he will no longer be submitting papers to Elsevier journals, refereeing for Elsevier, or otherwise supporting the company in any way. The post now has more than 120 comments, with many mathematicians and scientists voicing similar concerns.
Following up from the discussion on Gowers’s post, Tyler Neylon has created a website called The Cost of Knowledge (see also Gowers’s followup) where researchers can declare their unwillingness to “support any Elsevier journal unless they radically change how they operate”. If you’re a mathematician or scientist who is unhappy with Elsevier’s practices, then consider signing the declaration. And while you’re at it, consider making your scientific papers open access, either by depositing them into open repositories such as the arXiv, or by submitting them to open access journals such as the Public Library of Science. Or do both.
	
	
	That’s the question I address (very partially) in a new post on my data-driven intelligence blog. The post reviews some of the recent work on causal inference done by people such as Judea Pearl. In particular the post describes the elements of a causal calculus developed by Pearl, and explains how the calculus can be applied to infer causation, even when a randomized, controlled experiment is not possible.
	
	
	Click through for event details. I’ve included a few private events at organizations where it’s possible some readers work.
 The Tech Museum (Bay Area) November 1
  Harvard Book Store / Cambridge Forum (Boston) November 9
  Authors@Google (Bay Area) November 15.
  San Francisco Public Library (San Francisco) November 15
 Microsoft Colloquium (Seattle) November 16
  Town Hall Seattle (Seattle) November 16
  Powell’s Books (Portland) November 17
  LiveWire (Portland) November 18
 Howard Hughes Medical Institute (Washington DC) November 29
  TEDxPrincetonLibrary (New Jersey) November 30
 Carnegie Council (New York) December 1
Michael Nielsen
https://michaelnielsen.org/blog/
http://www.thehistoryblog.com/
The History Blog
2024-04-30
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<p>The Stone of Destiny, the oblong block red sandstone used in the coronation of Scottish monarchs until it was snatched by King Edward I in 1296 and used in the coronation of English and British monarchs thereafter, <a href="https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/experts-reveal-stone-destiny-isnt-32683923">started out as a step or threshold</a>. A recent analysis of the 335-pound stone found the wear pattern on top of the stone was likely caused by many a foot treading upon it rather than by many royal butts perched upon or over it.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.thehistoryblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Stone-of-Destiny.jpg"></a></p>
<p>The first historical record of the Stone of Destiny being used for a coronation is Alexander III’s in 1249. It was reportedly covered in gold silk cloth, so its heavily worn surface was obscured from view. When Edward Longshanks pillaged it, he had it built in to his throne at Westminster, so again the stepped-upon surface was not visible. It was officially returned to Scotland in 1996 and displayed in the Crown Room of Edinburgh Castle with other Scottish regalia.</p>
<p>It left Scotland again last year for a very brief stint back inside Edward’s throne for the coronation of Charles III. Before its departure, researchers examined the stone in detail using digital technology to scan the surface, revealing the wear pattern of steps that can’t be seen at a glance. This indicates it had a long history of non-coronation use, perhaps as the step to a monumental structure like an early church or maybe even a Roman building.</p>
<blockquote><p>Dr Nicki Scott, Senior Cultural Significance Advisor at HES, said: “While we know some inauguration rituals did involve the individual being inaugurated to step onto the stone, such as at Dunadd Hillfort, the level of wear on the Stone of Destiny doesn’t support such use.</p>
<p>“Even several hundred years of such a ritual wouldn’t create the level of wear we see. It’s more likely that the stone had earlier served as a step, although we don’t know the context for this.”</p>
<p>Professor Dauvit Broun, Chair of Scottish History at the University of Glasgow, who contributed to the new interpretation at Perth Museum, said: “The evidence is quite compelling. It means that, at some point, the Stone was repurposed as an inaugural throne.</p></blockquote>
<p>Unfortunately there are no surviving origin stories with a plausible kernel of truth that could help explain the scientific findings. The legends about the Stone of Destiny all claim exotic provenance and quasi-miraculous journeys from distant lands. One of the myths about the stone is that it was “Jacob’s pillow,” the stone Jacob laid his head on when he dreamt about the ladder to heaven (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%2028&amp;version=KJV">Genesis 28:10-18</a>). Another says that it was transported to Tara in Ireland by the daughter of a pharaoh and then brought to Scone by Kenneth MacAlpin, the legendary founder of Scotland.</p>
<p>After the coronation of Charles III, the stone returned not to Edinburgh, but to its ancient homeland in Perth for the first time in 700 years. It is now the <a href="https://perthshireboxoffice.webflow.io/whats-on/the-stone-of-destiny-experience">centerpiece of the new Perth Museum</a>.</p>
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<p><a href="http://www.thehistoryblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Study-of-a-Nude-Male.jpg"></a>The Casa Buonarroti museum in Florence has embarked on a new project to <a href="https://buonarroti.centrica.it/">digitize figure studies, architectural designs and handwritten notes by Michelangelo</a> and make the ultra-high resolution images available on their website. The goal is to upload the most significant drawings in the Casa Buonarroti’s collection to create an online catalogue of Michelangelo’s greatest works on paper, and now first 20 pages have now been uploaded.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.thehistoryblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Shopping-list.jpg"></a>The 20 pages include some recto and verso (front and back) sheets, denoted on the thumbnail with two arrows in the upper right corner. It’s a fascinating glimpse into Michelangelo’s art and life, seeing, for example, an iconic image like the dynamic male nude preparatory study for his Battle of Cascina fresco on one side of the page and his literal shopping list on the other. Or anatomical studies for one of his Pietà sculptures backed by anatomical studies for figures in the Last Judgement in the Sistine Chapel.</p>
<p>The digitization of these materials gives artists, scholars and anyone else with even a passing interest access to works that are too fragile to be widely handled. The paper has to be protected from exposure to light, fluctuating temperatures and humidity levels, so the sheets are kept in carefully controlled environments. The pages were conserved before digitization, removing the artifacts of previous interventions and revealing some drawings that were obscured by flawed restoration attempts. Each sheet is also extensively annotated with background information, transcripts of texts and historic and artistic commentary.</p>
<p>Here’s one passage from a Madonna and Child study illustrating how content-rich the curator’s comments are:</p>
<blockquote><p><a href="http://www.thehistoryblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Madonna-and-Child.jpg"></a>The observation of the drawing allows one to follow the entire compositional process. First of all, Michelangelo sketched out both protagonists in black chalk, with a highly spontaneous handling: the fast, parallel hatching is combined with a soft, loose outline, drawn with a tormented manner. Initially, the face of the Madonna appears faintly sketched to the left, intent on looking down, in profile, at the Child in her arms, to be modified and rotated up three-quarters to the right, while gazing into the distance with an absorbed expression. Perhaps lost in the premonition of future pains, the Virgin’s head is executed on a smaller dimensional scale than the rest of the imposing body and with much more finished results, thanks to a soft chiaroscuro obtained with a broad-tipped black chalk, which lends the face a veil of shaded melancholy. This initial phase of compositional analysis was followed by the pictorial deepening of part of the figure of the Infant Jesus, perfectly executed even in the colouring, thanks to the overlapping of multiple techniques, all typical of Michelangelo’s heritage. The artist outlined the profile, already characterised by numerous pentimenti, with a red chalk, which he used together with a very shaded black chalk also to model the body with its rosy complexion, and interpreted the precious chiaroscuro effects with highlights of white lead, applied with chalk for the parts in light, and retouches of brown ink wash, applied with a very fine-tipped brush, for the areas of greater darkness. At this point, Michelangelo had to abandon work on the sheet, leaving the drawing with a distinct difference in finish, intentional and related to his graphic interests.</p></blockquote>
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<p><a href="http://www.thehistoryblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/barnsarkofagen_Museum-of-Fine-Arts_Boston.jpg"></a>The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, has <a href="https://www.mynewsdesk.com/uu/pressreleases/return-of-a-cermic-child-sarcophagus-to-university-museum-gustavianum-3318919">returned an ancient Egyptian clay child sarcophagus</a> to Uppsala University’s Museum Gustavianum more than 50 years after it was stolen under mysterious circumstances.</p>
<p>Made of alluvial clay, the sarcophagus dates to the 19th Dynasty (1295–1186 B.C.). It is 43 inches high and vividly painted. The child is depicted wearing a headdress of blue and yellow stripes tied with a headband of white, blue and red lotuses. Lotus petals cover the collar on his chest. The head and chest are on a cut-out section that can be removed to access the interior. Beneath the collar are more lotus flowers, wadjet eyes and the goddess Nut with outstretched wings flanked by Anubis seated jackals. The bottom part of the sarcophagus is covered with hieroglyphs identifying the deceased as a boy named Pa-nefer-neb.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.thehistoryblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Pa-nefer-neb_liggande.jpg"></a>The MFA Boston acquired it in 1985, and the ownership record seemed to be thorough and above-board, even at a time when museum’s paid zero attention to that sort of thing. It was sold by one Olaf Liden claiming to be an agent of Swedish artist Eric Ståhl (1918–1999). A letter ostensibly written by Ståhl described how he had personally discovered the sarcophagus in Amada, Egypt, in 1937, and the Egyptian government had later gifted it to him for his aid in the archaeological rescue operations before construction of the Aswan Dam. The coffin’s authenticity was attested to in writing by Swedish experts.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.thehistoryblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Pa-nefer-neb_namnet.jpg"></a>It was the MFA itself that realized this story was complete fiction, that Ståhl was never involved in any archaeological excavations in Egypt, that the letter and authentication documents were forged and the sarcophagus had been purloined from the Swedish museum, smuggled to Boston and fraudulently sold. The trigger was the 2008 publication of previously unseen photographs from the archive of the Petrie Museum. The sarcophagus was in one of the pictures: a shot of a 1920 archaeological excavation in Gurob, Egypt, by the British School of Archaeology under the direction of British archaeologist Flinders Petrie. A note with the photograph stated the coffin had been given to Uppsala University in 1922 as part of the partage system that was common at the time. All institutions involved in digs got a cut of the artifacts, basically, in exchange for their funding and fieldwork.</p>
<p>MFA curators initiated an investigation and contacted the Gustavianum to let them know about the discrepancy. Provenance researchers from both museums cooperated and shared information during the process. They found that the sarcophagus went missing from the museum’s stores in 1970 or earlier. It was not deaccessioned or traded. Both parties came to the same conclusion: the coffin had been taken from the Gustavianum illegally and should be returned.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“It is very gratifying that this return has now come to pass. The child’s sarcophagus is an important item in our collections and it means a lot to the museum and the University that it has now been returned to us. The sarcophagus is an excellent complement to our Egyptian collections and will now be available for research,” says Mikael Ahlund, Museum Director of Gustavianum, or Uppsala University Museum. “But the sarcophagus needs some work and it will be some time before it can be shown to the public in Gustavianum,” he adds.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>You can see the petite coffin being unpacked upon its return to Sweden in this video. </p>
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<p><a href="http://www.thehistoryblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Islamic-sword-measured.jpg"></a>A sword discovered in Valencia in 1994 has been identified as an <a href="https://www.valencia.es/cas/actualidad/-/content/espada-isl%C3%A1mica">early Islamic era weapon</a> dating to the 10th century. It is the first sword from the Islamic period to be found in Valencia.</p>
<p>Founded by Roman consul Decimus Junius Brutus Callaicus in 138 B.C. as a veterans colony, Valencia was conquered by invading Muslim forces in 714 A.D. The Islamic city, known as Balansiya in Arabic, prospered and by the 10th century was a regional hub of trade. The Moorish taifa kingdom of Valencia, established in 1010, was frequently troubled with dynastic conflict, assassination and for one brief stretch at the end of the 11th century, conquest by the Castilian knight and Spanish national hero El Cid.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.thehistoryblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Hilt-of-Valencia-sword.jpg"></a>The iron sword was found in Valencia’s old town north of the ancient Roman Forum in a house from the Islamic era. It had been stuck in the ground inside a grave and was discovered in an upright position, giving rise to its nickname “Excalibur.” It is 46 cm (18 inches) long with a blade that curves slightly towards the tip. The hilt is decorated with bronze plates and has small notches for ease of handling. There is no hand guard, however, which suggests it may have been a cavalry weapon from the caliphal era. The curved blade is more typical of Visigothic swords. These mixed characteristics are the reason why it has taken so long to determine its maker and period. It was the sediment sample recovered from the find site that finally allowed researchers to date it to the 10th century.</p>
<blockquote><p><a href="http://www.thehistoryblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Sword-under-microscope.jpg"></a>The sword, which has been restored, has been dated within the framework of the archeology scholarship organized annually by the Valencia City Council. In the 2023-2024 edition, the scholarship has been dedicated entirely to the analysis of metallic objects. The fact that the beneficiary of this scholarship is an archaeologist specialized in metals has favored the exact dating of the sword.</p>
<p>The Councilor for Cultural Action, Heritage and Cultural Resources, José Luis Moreno, has assured that “thanks to the archeology grant organized by the Valencia City Council, the archaeologist José Miguel Osuna is carrying out a detailed analysis study of metal objects ranging from the Roman era to the late medieval period and where a new and exceptional discovery has come to light, which we have called the Excalibur of Roc Chabàs due to its similarity to the legendary sword of King Arthur.” According to the councilor, “this sword has a unique design that gives it great archaeological and heritage value, so we have a new treasure in this Islamic Excalibur and a historical legacy of ancient Balansiya.”</p></blockquote>
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<p><a href="http://www.thehistoryblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Hoard-emerges.jpg"></a>Robert and Betty Fooks were already living a history nerd’s dream when they bought a 17th century Dorset farmhouse fixer upper in 2019. That escalated into full-on history nerd fantasyland when Robert took a pickaxe to the floor of their kitchen and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/apr/18/dorset-couple-find-17th-century-treasure-hoard-while-renovating-kitchen">discovered 1,029 gold and silver coins</a> from the English Civil War (1642-1644).</p>
<p><a href="http://www.thehistoryblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Floor-removal.jpg"></a>South Poorton Farm in a small West Dorset hamlet was 400 years old when the Fooks’ bought it and in need of extensive renovation. They decided to remove the modern concrete floor to create more head space and ultimately dug down through almost two feet, passing through old flagstones and bare earth. Robert was putting in some sweat equity one October evening, digging up a bare earth area with his pickaxe when he encountered a glazed pottery bowl full of coins. The bowl was smashed, either by the pickaxe or earlier, but the coins were unscathed.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.thehistoryblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Selection-of-coins-from-hoard.jpg"></a>The discovery was reported to the local Finds Liaison Officer and the hoard was transferred to the British Museum for cleaning, documentation and valuation. The hoard contains gold coins, silver half crowns, shillings and sixpences of James I and Charles I, and silver shillings and sixpences of Elizabeth I, Phillip and Mary. They were deposited in a single event between 1642 and 1644, the early years of the First English Civil War.</p>
<p>Dorset, its arsenals and its ports were taken by Parliament when war broke out in August 1642, but Royalist troops regained a lot of that ground in 1643. Parliament still controlled the ports. While no major battles took place in the county, there was plenty of troop movement on both sides, lots of requisitioning of supplies, sieges, clashes, towns getting burned, just general wartorn misery all around. The kind of turbulence that leads people to put their life savings in a pot and bury it under the floor.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.thehistoryblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Charles-I-Gold-Unite-coin.jpg"></a>The hoard is older than 300 years, contains precious metal and is a grouping of multiple coins, it fits the definition of official Treasure. Typically this type of find would end up property of the Crown and a local museum would be given the opportunity to acquire it for the price of the assessed valuation. No museum must have wanted it or been able to raise the cash, because the hoard was returned to the finders and the couple <a href="https://app.dukes-auctions.com/en/auction/1102-the-poorton-coin-hoard">put the hoard up for auction</a> at Duke’s Auctioneers in Dorchester. The total pre-sale estimate for was £35,000. The auction took place on April 23rd, and all together, the coins sold for £60,740. A 1636 Charles I Gold Unite Crown was the biggest seller going for £5,000. A 1627 Charles I Gold Unite took second place with £3,800. The oldest coins, a lot of three Philip and Mary silver shillings from around 1554-1558, sold for £240.</p>
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 The History Blog

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 The Stone of Destiny was a doorstep

 April 30, 2024 Ancient , Medieval , Modern(ish)

 The Stone of Destiny, the oblong block red sandstone used in the coronation of Scottish monarchs until it was snatched by King Edward I in 1296 and used in the coronation of English and British monarchs thereafter, started out as a step or threshold. A recent analysis of the 335-pound stone found the wear pattern on top of the stone was likely caused by many a foot treading upon it rather than by many royal butts perched upon or over it.

 The first historical record of the Stone of Destiny being used for a coronation is Alexander III’s in 1249. It was reportedly covered in gold silk cloth, so its heavily worn surface was obscured from view. When Edward Longshanks pillaged it, he had it built in to his throne at Westminster, so again the stepped-upon surface was not visible. It was officially returned to Scotland in 1996 and displayed in the Crown Room of Edinburgh Castle with other Scottish regalia.

 It left Scotland again last year for a very brief stint back inside Edward’s throne for the coronation of Charles III. Before its departure, researchers examined the stone in detail using digital technology to scan the surface, revealing the wear pattern of steps that can’t be seen at a glance. This indicates it had a long history of non-coronation use, perhaps as the step to a monumental structure like an early church or maybe even a Roman building.

 Dr Nicki Scott, Senior Cultural Significance Advisor at HES, said: “While we know some inauguration rituals did involve the individual being inaugurated to step onto the stone, such as at Dunadd Hillfort, the level of wear on the Stone of Destiny doesn’t support such use.

 “Even several hundred years of such a ritual wouldn’t create the level of wear we see. It’s more likely that the stone had earlier served as a step, although we don’t know the context for this.”

 Professor Dauvit Broun, Chair of Scottish History at the University of Glasgow, who contributed to the new interpretation at Perth Museum, said: “The evidence is quite compelling. It means that, at some point, the Stone was repurposed as an inaugural throne.

 Unfortunately there are no surviving origin stories with a plausible kernel of truth that could help explain the scientific findings. The legends about the Stone of Destiny all claim exotic provenance and quasi-miraculous journeys from distant lands. One of the myths about the stone is that it was “Jacob’s pillow,” the stone Jacob laid his head on when he dreamt about the ladder to heaven (Genesis 28:10-18). Another says that it was transported to Tara in Ireland by the daughter of a pharaoh and then brought to Scone by Kenneth MacAlpin, the legendary founder of Scotland.

 After the coronation of Charles III, the stone returned not to Edinburgh, but to its ancient homeland in Perth for the first time in 700 years. It is now the centerpiece of the new Perth Museum.

 Leave a Comment on The Stone of Destiny was a doorstep

 Casa Buonarroti digitizes Michelangelo’s drawings

 April 29, 2024 Museums , Renaissance

 The Casa Buonarroti museum in Florence has embarked on a new project to digitize figure studies, architectural designs and handwritten notes by Michelangelo and make the ultra-high resolution images available on their website. The goal is to upload the most significant drawings in the Casa Buonarroti’s collection to create an online catalogue of Michelangelo’s greatest works on paper, and now first 20 pages have now been uploaded.

 The 20 pages include some recto and verso (front and back) sheets, denoted on the thumbnail with two arrows in the upper right corner. It’s a fascinating glimpse into Michelangelo’s art and life, seeing, for example, an iconic image like the dynamic male nude preparatory study for his Battle of Cascina fresco on one side of the page and his literal shopping list on the other. Or anatomical studies for one of his Pietà sculptures backed by anatomical studies for figures in the Last Judgement in the Sistine Chapel.

 The digitization of these materials gives artists, scholars and anyone else with even a passing interest access to works that are too fragile to be widely handled. The paper has to be protected from exposure to light, fluctuating temperatures and humidity levels, so the sheets are kept in carefully controlled environments. The pages were conserved before digitization, removing the artifacts of previous interventions and revealing some drawings that were obscured by flawed restoration attempts. Each sheet is also extensively annotated with background information, transcripts of texts and historic and artistic commentary.

 Here’s one passage from a Madonna and Child study illustrating how content-rich the curator’s comments are:

 The observation of the drawing allows one to follow the entire compositional process. First of all, Michelangelo sketched out both protagonists in black chalk, with a highly spontaneous handling: the fast, parallel hatching is combined with a soft, loose outline, drawn with a tormented manner. Initially, the face of the Madonna appears faintly sketched to the left, intent on looking down, in profile, at the Child in her arms, to be modified and rotated up three-quarters to the right, while gazing into the distance with an absorbed expression. Perhaps lost in the premonition of future pains, the Virgin’s head is executed on a smaller dimensional scale than the rest of the imposing body and with much more finished results, thanks to a soft chiaroscuro obtained with a broad-tipped black chalk, which lends the face a veil of shaded melancholy. This initial phase of compositional analysis was followed by the pictorial deepening of part of the figure of the Infant Jesus, perfectly executed even in the colouring, thanks to the overlapping of multiple techniques, all typical of Michelangelo’s heritage. The artist outlined the profile, already characterised by numerous pentimenti, with a red chalk, which he used together with a very shaded black chalk also to model the body with its rosy complexion, and interpreted the precious chiaroscuro effects with highlights of white lead, applied with chalk for the parts in light, and retouches of brown ink wash, applied with a very fine-tipped brush, for the areas of greater darkness. At this point, Michelangelo had to abandon work on the sheet, leaving the drawing with a distinct difference in finish, intentional and related to his graphic interests.

 Leave a Comment on Casa Buonarroti digitizes Michelangelo’s drawings

 Boston museum returns Egyptian child sarcophagus to Sweden

 April 28, 2024 Ancient , Looting , Museums

 The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, has returned an ancient Egyptian clay child sarcophagus to Uppsala University’s Museum Gustavianum more than 50 years after it was stolen under mysterious circumstances.

 Made of alluvial clay, the sarcophagus dates to the 19th Dynasty (1295–1186 B.C.). It is 43 inches high and vividly painted. The child is depicted wearing a headdress of blue and yellow stripes tied with a headband of white, blue and red lotuses. Lotus petals cover the collar on his chest. The head and chest are on a cut-out section that can be removed to access the interior. Beneath the collar are more lotus flowers, wadjet eyes and the goddess Nut with outstretched wings flanked by Anubis seated jackals. The bottom part of the sarcophagus is covered with hieroglyphs identifying the deceased as a boy named Pa-nefer-neb.

 The MFA Boston acquired it in 1985, and the ownership record seemed to be thorough and above-board, even at a time when museum’s paid zero attention to that sort of thing. It was sold by one Olaf Liden claiming to be an agent of Swedish artist Eric Ståhl (1918–1999). A letter ostensibly written by Ståhl described how he had personally discovered the sarcophagus in Amada, Egypt, in 1937, and the Egyptian government had later gifted it to him for his aid in the archaeological rescue operations before construction of the Aswan Dam. The coffin’s authenticity was attested to in writing by Swedish experts.

 It was the MFA itself that realized this story was complete fiction, that Ståhl was never involved in any archaeological excavations in Egypt, that the letter and authentication documents were forged and the sarcophagus had been purloined from the Swedish museum, smuggled to Boston and fraudulently sold. The trigger was the 2008 publication of previously unseen photographs from the archive of the Petrie Museum. The sarcophagus was in one of the pictures: a shot of a 1920 archaeological excavation in Gurob, Egypt, by the British School of Archaeology under the direction of British archaeologist Flinders Petrie. A note with the photograph stated the coffin had been given to Uppsala University in 1922 as part of the partage system that was common at the time. All institutions involved in digs got a cut of the artifacts, basically, in exchange for their funding and fieldwork.

 MFA curators initiated an investigation and contacted the Gustavianum to let them know about the discrepancy. Provenance researchers from both museums cooperated and shared information during the process. They found that the sarcophagus went missing from the museum’s stores in 1970 or earlier. It was not deaccessioned or traded. Both parties came to the same conclusion: the coffin had been taken from the Gustavianum illegally and should be returned.

 “It is very gratifying that this return has now come to pass. The child’s sarcophagus is an important item in our collections and it means a lot to the museum and the University that it has now been returned to us. The sarcophagus is an excellent complement to our Egyptian collections and will now be available for research,” says Mikael Ahlund, Museum Director of Gustavianum, or Uppsala University Museum. “But the sarcophagus needs some work and it will be some time before it can be shown to the public in Gustavianum,” he adds.

 You can see the petite coffin being unpacked upon its return to Sweden in this video.

 1 Comment on Boston museum returns Egyptian child sarcophagus to Sweden

 “Excalibur” identified as 10th c. Islamic sword

 April 27, 2024 Medieval

 A sword discovered in Valencia in 1994 has been identified as an early Islamic era weapon dating to the 10th century. It is the first sword from the Islamic period to be found in Valencia.

 Founded by Roman consul Decimus Junius Brutus Callaicus in 138 B.C. as a veterans colony, Valencia was conquered by invading Muslim forces in 714 A.D. The Islamic city, known as Balansiya in Arabic, prospered and by the 10th century was a regional hub of trade. The Moorish taifa kingdom of Valencia, established in 1010, was frequently troubled with dynastic conflict, assassination and for one brief stretch at the end of the 11th century, conquest by the Castilian knight and Spanish national hero El Cid.

 The iron sword was found in Valencia’s old town north of the ancient Roman Forum in a house from the Islamic era. It had been stuck in the ground inside a grave and was discovered in an upright position, giving rise to its nickname “Excalibur.” It is 46 cm (18 inches) long with a blade that curves slightly towards the tip. The hilt is decorated with bronze plates and has small notches for ease of handling. There is no hand guard, however, which suggests it may have been a cavalry weapon from the caliphal era. The curved blade is more typical of Visigothic swords. These mixed characteristics are the reason why it has taken so long to determine its maker and period. It was the sediment sample recovered from the find site that finally allowed researchers to date it to the 10th century.

 The sword, which has been restored, has been dated within the framework of the archeology scholarship organized annually by the Valencia City Council. In the 2023-2024 edition, the scholarship has been dedicated entirely to the analysis of metallic objects. The fact that the beneficiary of this scholarship is an archaeologist specialized in metals has favored the exact dating of the sword.

 The Councilor for Cultural Action, Heritage and Cultural Resources, José Luis Moreno, has assured that “thanks to the archeology grant organized by the Valencia City Council, the archaeologist José Miguel Osuna is carrying out a detailed analysis study of metal objects ranging from the Roman era to the late medieval period and where a new and exceptional discovery has come to light, which we have called the Excalibur of Roc Chabàs due to its similarity to the legendary sword of King Arthur.” According to the councilor, “this sword has a unique design that gives it great archaeological and heritage value, so we have a new treasure in this Islamic Excalibur and a historical legacy of ancient Balansiya.”

 1 Comment on “Excalibur” identified as 10th c. Islamic sword

 17th c. coin hoard found in farmhouse kitchen reno

 April 26, 2024 Modern(ish)

 Robert and Betty Fooks were already living a history nerd’s dream when they bought a 17th century Dorset farmhouse fixer upper in 2019. That escalated into full-on history nerd fantasyland when Robert took a pickaxe to the floor of their kitchen and discovered 1,029 gold and silver coins from the English Civil War (1642-1644).

 South Poorton Farm in a small West Dorset hamlet was 400 years old when the Fooks’ bought it and in need of extensive renovation. They decided to remove the modern concrete floor to create more head space and ultimately dug down through almost two feet, passing through old flagstones and bare earth. Robert was putting in some sweat equity one October evening, digging up a bare earth area with his pickaxe when he encountered a glazed pottery bowl full of coins. The bowl was smashed, either by the pickaxe or earlier, but the coins were unscathed.

 The discovery was reported to the local Finds Liaison Officer and the hoard was transferred to the British Museum for cleaning, documentation and valuation. The hoard contains gold coins, silver half crowns, shillings and sixpences of James I and Charles I, and silver shillings and sixpences of Elizabeth I, Phillip and Mary. They were deposited in a single event between 1642 and 1644, the early years of the First English Civil War.

 Dorset, its arsenals and its ports were taken by Parliament when war broke out in August 1642, but Royalist troops regained a lot of that ground in 1643. Parliament still controlled the ports. While no major battles took place in the county, there was plenty of troop movement on both sides, lots of requisitioning of supplies, sieges, clashes, towns getting burned, just general wartorn misery all around. The kind of turbulence that leads people to put their life savings in a pot and bury it under the floor.

 The hoard is older than 300 years, contains precious metal and is a grouping of multiple coins, it fits the definition of official Treasure. Typically this type of find would end up property of the Crown and a local museum would be given the opportunity to acquire it for the price of the assessed valuation. No museum must have wanted it or been able to raise the cash, because the hoard was returned to the finders and the couple put the hoard up for auction at Duke’s Auctioneers in Dorchester. The total pre-sale estimate for was £35,000. The auction took place on April 23rd, and all together, the coins sold for £60,740. A 1636 Charles I Gold Unite Crown was the biggest seller going for £5,000. A 1627 Charles I Gold Unite took second place with £3,800. The oldest coins, a lot of three Philip and Mary silver shillings from around 1554-1558, sold for £240.

 Leave a Comment on 17th c. coin hoard found in farmhouse kitchen reno

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The Stone of Destiny, the oblong block red sandstone used in the coronation of Scottish monarchs until it was snatched by King Edward I in 1296 and used in the coronation of English and British monarchs thereafter, started out as a step or threshold. A recent analysis of the 335-pound stone found the wear pattern on top of the stone was likely caused by many a foot treading upon it rather than by many royal butts perched upon or over it.
   
The first historical record of the Stone of Destiny being used for a coronation is Alexander III’s in 1249. It was reportedly covered in gold silk cloth, so its heavily worn surface was obscured from view. When Edward Longshanks pillaged it, he had it built in to his throne at Westminster, so again the stepped-upon surface was not visible. It was officially returned to Scotland in 1996 and displayed in the Crown Room of Edinburgh Castle with other Scottish regalia.
It left Scotland again last year for a very brief stint back inside Edward’s throne for the coronation of Charles III. Before its departure, researchers examined the stone in detail using digital technology to scan the surface, revealing the wear pattern of steps that can’t be seen at a glance. This indicates it had a long history of non-coronation use, perhaps as the step to a monumental structure like an early church or maybe even a Roman building.
 Dr Nicki Scott, Senior Cultural Significance Advisor at HES, said: “While we know some inauguration rituals did involve the individual being inaugurated to step onto the stone, such as at Dunadd Hillfort, the level of wear on the Stone of Destiny doesn’t support such use.
“Even several hundred years of such a ritual wouldn’t create the level of wear we see. It’s more likely that the stone had earlier served as a step, although we don’t know the context for this.”
Professor Dauvit Broun, Chair of Scottish History at the University of Glasgow, who contributed to the new interpretation at Perth Museum, said: “The evidence is quite compelling. It means that, at some point, the Stone was repurposed as an inaugural throne. 
Unfortunately there are no surviving origin stories with a plausible kernel of truth that could help explain the scientific findings. The legends about the Stone of Destiny all claim exotic provenance and quasi-miraculous journeys from distant lands. One of the myths about the stone is that it was “Jacob’s pillow,” the stone Jacob laid his head on when he dreamt about the ladder to heaven (Genesis 28:10-18). Another says that it was transported to Tara in Ireland by the daughter of a pharaoh and then brought to Scone by Kenneth MacAlpin, the legendary founder of Scotland.
After the coronation of Charles III, the stone returned not to Edinburgh, but to its ancient homeland in Perth for the first time in 700 years. It is now the centerpiece of the new Perth Museum.
  The Casa Buonarroti museum in Florence has embarked on a new project to digitize figure studies, architectural designs and handwritten notes by Michelangelo and make the ultra-high resolution images available on their website. The goal is to upload the most significant drawings in the Casa Buonarroti’s collection to create an online catalogue of Michelangelo’s greatest works on paper, and now first 20 pages have now been uploaded.
  The 20 pages include some recto and verso (front and back) sheets, denoted on the thumbnail with two arrows in the upper right corner. It’s a fascinating glimpse into Michelangelo’s art and life, seeing, for example, an iconic image like the dynamic male nude preparatory study for his Battle of Cascina fresco on one side of the page and his literal shopping list on the other. Or anatomical studies for one of his Pietà sculptures backed by anatomical studies for figures in the Last Judgement in the Sistine Chapel.
The digitization of these materials gives artists, scholars and anyone else with even a passing interest access to works that are too fragile to be widely handled. The paper has to be protected from exposure to light, fluctuating temperatures and humidity levels, so the sheets are kept in carefully controlled environments. The pages were conserved before digitization, removing the artifacts of previous interventions and revealing some drawings that were obscured by flawed restoration attempts. Each sheet is also extensively annotated with background information, transcripts of texts and historic and artistic commentary.
Here’s one passage from a Madonna and Child study illustrating how content-rich the curator’s comments are:
   The observation of the drawing allows one to follow the entire compositional process. First of all, Michelangelo sketched out both protagonists in black chalk, with a highly spontaneous handling: the fast, parallel hatching is combined with a soft, loose outline, drawn with a tormented manner. Initially, the face of the Madonna appears faintly sketched to the left, intent on looking down, in profile, at the Child in her arms, to be modified and rotated up three-quarters to the right, while gazing into the distance with an absorbed expression. Perhaps lost in the premonition of future pains, the Virgin’s head is executed on a smaller dimensional scale than the rest of the imposing body and with much more finished results, thanks to a soft chiaroscuro obtained with a broad-tipped black chalk, which lends the face a veil of shaded melancholy. This initial phase of compositional analysis was followed by the pictorial deepening of part of the figure of the Infant Jesus, perfectly executed even in the colouring, thanks to the overlapping of multiple techniques, all typical of Michelangelo’s heritage. The artist outlined the profile, already characterised by numerous pentimenti, with a red chalk, which he used together with a very shaded black chalk also to model the body with its rosy complexion, and interpreted the precious chiaroscuro effects with highlights of white lead, applied with chalk for the parts in light, and retouches of brown ink wash, applied with a very fine-tipped brush, for the areas of greater darkness. At this point, Michelangelo had to abandon work on the sheet, leaving the drawing with a distinct difference in finish, intentional and related to his graphic interests. 
  The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, has returned an ancient Egyptian clay child sarcophagus to Uppsala University’s Museum Gustavianum more than 50 years after it was stolen under mysterious circumstances.
Made of alluvial clay, the sarcophagus dates to the 19th Dynasty (1295–1186 B.C.). It is 43 inches high and vividly painted. The child is depicted wearing a headdress of blue and yellow stripes tied with a headband of white, blue and red lotuses. Lotus petals cover the collar on his chest. The head and chest are on a cut-out section that can be removed to access the interior. Beneath the collar are more lotus flowers, wadjet eyes and the goddess Nut with outstretched wings flanked by Anubis seated jackals. The bottom part of the sarcophagus is covered with hieroglyphs identifying the deceased as a boy named Pa-nefer-neb.
  The MFA Boston acquired it in 1985, and the ownership record seemed to be thorough and above-board, even at a time when museum’s paid zero attention to that sort of thing. It was sold by one Olaf Liden claiming to be an agent of Swedish artist Eric Ståhl (1918–1999). A letter ostensibly written by Ståhl described how he had personally discovered the sarcophagus in Amada, Egypt, in 1937, and the Egyptian government had later gifted it to him for his aid in the archaeological rescue operations before construction of the Aswan Dam. The coffin’s authenticity was attested to in writing by Swedish experts.
  It was the MFA itself that realized this story was complete fiction, that Ståhl was never involved in any archaeological excavations in Egypt, that the letter and authentication documents were forged and the sarcophagus had been purloined from the Swedish museum, smuggled to Boston and fraudulently sold. The trigger was the 2008 publication of previously unseen photographs from the archive of the Petrie Museum. The sarcophagus was in one of the pictures: a shot of a 1920 archaeological excavation in Gurob, Egypt, by the British School of Archaeology under the direction of British archaeologist Flinders Petrie. A note with the photograph stated the coffin had been given to Uppsala University in 1922 as part of the partage system that was common at the time. All institutions involved in digs got a cut of the artifacts, basically, in exchange for their funding and fieldwork.
MFA curators initiated an investigation and contacted the Gustavianum to let them know about the discrepancy. Provenance researchers from both museums cooperated and shared information during the process. They found that the sarcophagus went missing from the museum’s stores in 1970 or earlier. It was not deaccessioned or traded. Both parties came to the same conclusion: the coffin had been taken from the Gustavianum illegally and should be returned.
“It is very gratifying that this return has now come to pass. The child’s sarcophagus is an important item in our collections and it means a lot to the museum and the University that it has now been returned to us. The sarcophagus is an excellent complement to our Egyptian collections and will now be available for research,” says Mikael Ahlund, Museum Director of Gustavianum, or Uppsala University Museum. “But the sarcophagus needs some work and it will be some time before it can be shown to the public in Gustavianum,” he adds.
You can see the petite coffin being unpacked upon its return to Sweden in this video. 
  A sword discovered in Valencia in 1994 has been identified as an early Islamic era weapon dating to the 10th century. It is the first sword from the Islamic period to be found in Valencia.
Founded by Roman consul Decimus Junius Brutus Callaicus in 138 B.C. as a veterans colony, Valencia was conquered by invading Muslim forces in 714 A.D. The Islamic city, known as Balansiya in Arabic, prospered and by the 10th century was a regional hub of trade. The Moorish taifa kingdom of Valencia, established in 1010, was frequently troubled with dynastic conflict, assassination and for one brief stretch at the end of the 11th century, conquest by the Castilian knight and Spanish national hero El Cid.
  The iron sword was found in Valencia’s old town north of the ancient Roman Forum in a house from the Islamic era. It had been stuck in the ground inside a grave and was discovered in an upright position, giving rise to its nickname “Excalibur.” It is 46 cm (18 inches) long with a blade that curves slightly towards the tip. The hilt is decorated with bronze plates and has small notches for ease of handling. There is no hand guard, however, which suggests it may have been a cavalry weapon from the caliphal era. The curved blade is more typical of Visigothic swords. These mixed characteristics are the reason why it has taken so long to determine its maker and period. It was the sediment sample recovered from the find site that finally allowed researchers to date it to the 10th century.
   The sword, which has been restored, has been dated within the framework of the archeology scholarship organized annually by the Valencia City Council. In the 2023-2024 edition, the scholarship has been dedicated entirely to the analysis of metallic objects. The fact that the beneficiary of this scholarship is an archaeologist specialized in metals has favored the exact dating of the sword.
The Councilor for Cultural Action, Heritage and Cultural Resources, José Luis Moreno, has assured that “thanks to the archeology grant organized by the Valencia City Council, the archaeologist José Miguel Osuna is carrying out a detailed analysis study of metal objects ranging from the Roman era to the late medieval period and where a new and exceptional discovery has come to light, which we have called the Excalibur of Roc Chabàs due to its similarity to the legendary sword of King Arthur.” According to the councilor, “this sword has a unique design that gives it great archaeological and heritage value, so we have a new treasure in this Islamic Excalibur and a historical legacy of ancient Balansiya.” 
  Robert and Betty Fooks were already living a history nerd’s dream when they bought a 17th century Dorset farmhouse fixer upper in 2019. That escalated into full-on history nerd fantasyland when Robert took a pickaxe to the floor of their kitchen and discovered 1,029 gold and silver coins from the English Civil War (1642-1644).
  South Poorton Farm in a small West Dorset hamlet was 400 years old when the Fooks’ bought it and in need of extensive renovation. They decided to remove the modern concrete floor to create more head space and ultimately dug down through almost two feet, passing through old flagstones and bare earth. Robert was putting in some sweat equity one October evening, digging up a bare earth area with his pickaxe when he encountered a glazed pottery bowl full of coins. The bowl was smashed, either by the pickaxe or earlier, but the coins were unscathed.
  The discovery was reported to the local Finds Liaison Officer and the hoard was transferred to the British Museum for cleaning, documentation and valuation. The hoard contains gold coins, silver half crowns, shillings and sixpences of James I and Charles I, and silver shillings and sixpences of Elizabeth I, Phillip and Mary. They were deposited in a single event between 1642 and 1644, the early years of the First English Civil War.
Dorset, its arsenals and its ports were taken by Parliament when war broke out in August 1642, but Royalist troops regained a lot of that ground in 1643. Parliament still controlled the ports. While no major battles took place in the county, there was plenty of troop movement on both sides, lots of requisitioning of supplies, sieges, clashes, towns getting burned, just general wartorn misery all around. The kind of turbulence that leads people to put their life savings in a pot and bury it under the floor.
  The hoard is older than 300 years, contains precious metal and is a grouping of multiple coins, it fits the definition of official Treasure. Typically this type of find would end up property of the Crown and a local museum would be given the opportunity to acquire it for the price of the assessed valuation. No museum must have wanted it or been able to raise the cash, because the hoard was returned to the finders and the couple put the hoard up for auction at Duke’s Auctioneers in Dorchester. The total pre-sale estimate for was £35,000. The auction took place on April 23rd, and all together, the coins sold for £60,740. A 1636 Charles I Gold Unite Crown was the biggest seller going for £5,000. A 1627 Charles I Gold Unite took second place with £3,800. The oldest coins, a lot of three Philip and Mary silver shillings from around 1554-1558, sold for £240.
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<p>The Stone of Destiny, the oblong block red sandstone used in the coronation of Scottish monarchs until it was snatched by King Edward I in 1296 and used in the coronation of English and British monarchs thereafter, <a href="https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/experts-reveal-stone-destiny-isnt-32683923">started out as a step or threshold</a>. A recent analysis of the 335-pound stone found the wear pattern on top of the stone was likely caused by many a foot treading upon it rather than by many royal butts perched upon or over it.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.thehistoryblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Stone-of-Destiny.jpg"></a></p>
<p>The first historical record of the Stone of Destiny being used for a coronation is Alexander III’s in 1249. It was reportedly covered in gold silk cloth, so its heavily worn surface was obscured from view. When Edward Longshanks pillaged it, he had it built in to his throne at Westminster, so again the stepped-upon surface was not visible. It was officially returned to Scotland in 1996 and displayed in the Crown Room of Edinburgh Castle with other Scottish regalia.</p>
<p>It left Scotland again last year for a very brief stint back inside Edward’s throne for the coronation of Charles III. Before its departure, researchers examined the stone in detail using digital technology to scan the surface, revealing the wear pattern of steps that can’t be seen at a glance. This indicates it had a long history of non-coronation use, perhaps as the step to a monumental structure like an early church or maybe even a Roman building.</p>
<blockquote><p>Dr Nicki Scott, Senior Cultural Significance Advisor at HES, said: “While we know some inauguration rituals did involve the individual being inaugurated to step onto the stone, such as at Dunadd Hillfort, the level of wear on the Stone of Destiny doesn’t support such use.</p>
<p>“Even several hundred years of such a ritual wouldn’t create the level of wear we see. It’s more likely that the stone had earlier served as a step, although we don’t know the context for this.”</p>
<p>Professor Dauvit Broun, Chair of Scottish History at the University of Glasgow, who contributed to the new interpretation at Perth Museum, said: “The evidence is quite compelling. It means that, at some point, the Stone was repurposed as an inaugural throne.</p></blockquote>
<p>Unfortunately there are no surviving origin stories with a plausible kernel of truth that could help explain the scientific findings. The legends about the Stone of Destiny all claim exotic provenance and quasi-miraculous journeys from distant lands. One of the myths about the stone is that it was “Jacob’s pillow,” the stone Jacob laid his head on when he dreamt about the ladder to heaven (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%2028&amp;version=KJV">Genesis 28:10-18</a>). Another says that it was transported to Tara in Ireland by the daughter of a pharaoh and then brought to Scone by Kenneth MacAlpin, the legendary founder of Scotland.</p>
<p>After the coronation of Charles III, the stone returned not to Edinburgh, but to its ancient homeland in Perth for the first time in 700 years. It is now the <a href="https://perthshireboxoffice.webflow.io/whats-on/the-stone-of-destiny-experience">centerpiece of the new Perth Museum</a>.</p>
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<p><a href="http://www.thehistoryblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Study-of-a-Nude-Male.jpg"></a>The Casa Buonarroti museum in Florence has embarked on a new project to <a href="https://buonarroti.centrica.it/">digitize figure studies, architectural designs and handwritten notes by Michelangelo</a> and make the ultra-high resolution images available on their website. The goal is to upload the most significant drawings in the Casa Buonarroti’s collection to create an online catalogue of Michelangelo’s greatest works on paper, and now first 20 pages have now been uploaded.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.thehistoryblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Shopping-list.jpg"></a>The 20 pages include some recto and verso (front and back) sheets, denoted on the thumbnail with two arrows in the upper right corner. It’s a fascinating glimpse into Michelangelo’s art and life, seeing, for example, an iconic image like the dynamic male nude preparatory study for his Battle of Cascina fresco on one side of the page and his literal shopping list on the other. Or anatomical studies for one of his Pietà sculptures backed by anatomical studies for figures in the Last Judgement in the Sistine Chapel.</p>
<p>The digitization of these materials gives artists, scholars and anyone else with even a passing interest access to works that are too fragile to be widely handled. The paper has to be protected from exposure to light, fluctuating temperatures and humidity levels, so the sheets are kept in carefully controlled environments. The pages were conserved before digitization, removing the artifacts of previous interventions and revealing some drawings that were obscured by flawed restoration attempts. Each sheet is also extensively annotated with background information, transcripts of texts and historic and artistic commentary.</p>
<p>Here’s one passage from a Madonna and Child study illustrating how content-rich the curator’s comments are:</p>
<blockquote><p><a href="http://www.thehistoryblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Madonna-and-Child.jpg"></a>The observation of the drawing allows one to follow the entire compositional process. First of all, Michelangelo sketched out both protagonists in black chalk, with a highly spontaneous handling: the fast, parallel hatching is combined with a soft, loose outline, drawn with a tormented manner. Initially, the face of the Madonna appears faintly sketched to the left, intent on looking down, in profile, at the Child in her arms, to be modified and rotated up three-quarters to the right, while gazing into the distance with an absorbed expression. Perhaps lost in the premonition of future pains, the Virgin’s head is executed on a smaller dimensional scale than the rest of the imposing body and with much more finished results, thanks to a soft chiaroscuro obtained with a broad-tipped black chalk, which lends the face a veil of shaded melancholy. This initial phase of compositional analysis was followed by the pictorial deepening of part of the figure of the Infant Jesus, perfectly executed even in the colouring, thanks to the overlapping of multiple techniques, all typical of Michelangelo’s heritage. The artist outlined the profile, already characterised by numerous pentimenti, with a red chalk, which he used together with a very shaded black chalk also to model the body with its rosy complexion, and interpreted the precious chiaroscuro effects with highlights of white lead, applied with chalk for the parts in light, and retouches of brown ink wash, applied with a very fine-tipped brush, for the areas of greater darkness. At this point, Michelangelo had to abandon work on the sheet, leaving the drawing with a distinct difference in finish, intentional and related to his graphic interests.</p></blockquote>
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</article>
<article>
<div>
<p><a href="http://www.thehistoryblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/barnsarkofagen_Museum-of-Fine-Arts_Boston.jpg"></a>The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, has <a href="https://www.mynewsdesk.com/uu/pressreleases/return-of-a-cermic-child-sarcophagus-to-university-museum-gustavianum-3318919">returned an ancient Egyptian clay child sarcophagus</a> to Uppsala University’s Museum Gustavianum more than 50 years after it was stolen under mysterious circumstances.</p>
<p>Made of alluvial clay, the sarcophagus dates to the 19th Dynasty (1295–1186 B.C.). It is 43 inches high and vividly painted. The child is depicted wearing a headdress of blue and yellow stripes tied with a headband of white, blue and red lotuses. Lotus petals cover the collar on his chest. The head and chest are on a cut-out section that can be removed to access the interior. Beneath the collar are more lotus flowers, wadjet eyes and the goddess Nut with outstretched wings flanked by Anubis seated jackals. The bottom part of the sarcophagus is covered with hieroglyphs identifying the deceased as a boy named Pa-nefer-neb.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.thehistoryblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Pa-nefer-neb_liggande.jpg"></a>The MFA Boston acquired it in 1985, and the ownership record seemed to be thorough and above-board, even at a time when museum’s paid zero attention to that sort of thing. It was sold by one Olaf Liden claiming to be an agent of Swedish artist Eric Ståhl (1918–1999). A letter ostensibly written by Ståhl described how he had personally discovered the sarcophagus in Amada, Egypt, in 1937, and the Egyptian government had later gifted it to him for his aid in the archaeological rescue operations before construction of the Aswan Dam. The coffin’s authenticity was attested to in writing by Swedish experts.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.thehistoryblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Pa-nefer-neb_namnet.jpg"></a>It was the MFA itself that realized this story was complete fiction, that Ståhl was never involved in any archaeological excavations in Egypt, that the letter and authentication documents were forged and the sarcophagus had been purloined from the Swedish museum, smuggled to Boston and fraudulently sold. The trigger was the 2008 publication of previously unseen photographs from the archive of the Petrie Museum. The sarcophagus was in one of the pictures: a shot of a 1920 archaeological excavation in Gurob, Egypt, by the British School of Archaeology under the direction of British archaeologist Flinders Petrie. A note with the photograph stated the coffin had been given to Uppsala University in 1922 as part of the partage system that was common at the time. All institutions involved in digs got a cut of the artifacts, basically, in exchange for their funding and fieldwork.</p>
<p>MFA curators initiated an investigation and contacted the Gustavianum to let them know about the discrepancy. Provenance researchers from both museums cooperated and shared information during the process. They found that the sarcophagus went missing from the museum’s stores in 1970 or earlier. It was not deaccessioned or traded. Both parties came to the same conclusion: the coffin had been taken from the Gustavianum illegally and should be returned.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“It is very gratifying that this return has now come to pass. The child’s sarcophagus is an important item in our collections and it means a lot to the museum and the University that it has now been returned to us. The sarcophagus is an excellent complement to our Egyptian collections and will now be available for research,” says Mikael Ahlund, Museum Director of Gustavianum, or Uppsala University Museum. “But the sarcophagus needs some work and it will be some time before it can be shown to the public in Gustavianum,” he adds.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>You can see the petite coffin being unpacked upon its return to Sweden in this video. </p>
</div>
</article>
<article>
<div>
<p><a href="http://www.thehistoryblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Islamic-sword-measured.jpg"></a>A sword discovered in Valencia in 1994 has been identified as an <a href="https://www.valencia.es/cas/actualidad/-/content/espada-isl%C3%A1mica">early Islamic era weapon</a> dating to the 10th century. It is the first sword from the Islamic period to be found in Valencia.</p>
<p>Founded by Roman consul Decimus Junius Brutus Callaicus in 138 B.C. as a veterans colony, Valencia was conquered by invading Muslim forces in 714 A.D. The Islamic city, known as Balansiya in Arabic, prospered and by the 10th century was a regional hub of trade. The Moorish taifa kingdom of Valencia, established in 1010, was frequently troubled with dynastic conflict, assassination and for one brief stretch at the end of the 11th century, conquest by the Castilian knight and Spanish national hero El Cid.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.thehistoryblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Hilt-of-Valencia-sword.jpg"></a>The iron sword was found in Valencia’s old town north of the ancient Roman Forum in a house from the Islamic era. It had been stuck in the ground inside a grave and was discovered in an upright position, giving rise to its nickname “Excalibur.” It is 46 cm (18 inches) long with a blade that curves slightly towards the tip. The hilt is decorated with bronze plates and has small notches for ease of handling. There is no hand guard, however, which suggests it may have been a cavalry weapon from the caliphal era. The curved blade is more typical of Visigothic swords. These mixed characteristics are the reason why it has taken so long to determine its maker and period. It was the sediment sample recovered from the find site that finally allowed researchers to date it to the 10th century.</p>
<blockquote><p><a href="http://www.thehistoryblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Sword-under-microscope.jpg"></a>The sword, which has been restored, has been dated within the framework of the archeology scholarship organized annually by the Valencia City Council. In the 2023-2024 edition, the scholarship has been dedicated entirely to the analysis of metallic objects. The fact that the beneficiary of this scholarship is an archaeologist specialized in metals has favored the exact dating of the sword.</p>
<p>The Councilor for Cultural Action, Heritage and Cultural Resources, José Luis Moreno, has assured that “thanks to the archeology grant organized by the Valencia City Council, the archaeologist José Miguel Osuna is carrying out a detailed analysis study of metal objects ranging from the Roman era to the late medieval period and where a new and exceptional discovery has come to light, which we have called the Excalibur of Roc Chabàs due to its similarity to the legendary sword of King Arthur.” According to the councilor, “this sword has a unique design that gives it great archaeological and heritage value, so we have a new treasure in this Islamic Excalibur and a historical legacy of ancient Balansiya.”</p></blockquote>
</div>
</article>
<article>
<div>
<p><a href="http://www.thehistoryblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Hoard-emerges.jpg"></a>Robert and Betty Fooks were already living a history nerd’s dream when they bought a 17th century Dorset farmhouse fixer upper in 2019. That escalated into full-on history nerd fantasyland when Robert took a pickaxe to the floor of their kitchen and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/apr/18/dorset-couple-find-17th-century-treasure-hoard-while-renovating-kitchen">discovered 1,029 gold and silver coins</a> from the English Civil War (1642-1644).</p>
<p><a href="http://www.thehistoryblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Floor-removal.jpg"></a>South Poorton Farm in a small West Dorset hamlet was 400 years old when the Fooks’ bought it and in need of extensive renovation. They decided to remove the modern concrete floor to create more head space and ultimately dug down through almost two feet, passing through old flagstones and bare earth. Robert was putting in some sweat equity one October evening, digging up a bare earth area with his pickaxe when he encountered a glazed pottery bowl full of coins. The bowl was smashed, either by the pickaxe or earlier, but the coins were unscathed.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.thehistoryblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Selection-of-coins-from-hoard.jpg"></a>The discovery was reported to the local Finds Liaison Officer and the hoard was transferred to the British Museum for cleaning, documentation and valuation. The hoard contains gold coins, silver half crowns, shillings and sixpences of James I and Charles I, and silver shillings and sixpences of Elizabeth I, Phillip and Mary. They were deposited in a single event between 1642 and 1644, the early years of the First English Civil War.</p>
<p>Dorset, its arsenals and its ports were taken by Parliament when war broke out in August 1642, but Royalist troops regained a lot of that ground in 1643. Parliament still controlled the ports. While no major battles took place in the county, there was plenty of troop movement on both sides, lots of requisitioning of supplies, sieges, clashes, towns getting burned, just general wartorn misery all around. The kind of turbulence that leads people to put their life savings in a pot and bury it under the floor.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.thehistoryblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Charles-I-Gold-Unite-coin.jpg"></a>The hoard is older than 300 years, contains precious metal and is a grouping of multiple coins, it fits the definition of official Treasure. Typically this type of find would end up property of the Crown and a local museum would be given the opportunity to acquire it for the price of the assessed valuation. No museum must have wanted it or been able to raise the cash, because the hoard was returned to the finders and the couple <a href="https://app.dukes-auctions.com/en/auction/1102-the-poorton-coin-hoard">put the hoard up for auction</a> at Duke’s Auctioneers in Dorchester. The total pre-sale estimate for was £35,000. The auction took place on April 23rd, and all together, the coins sold for £60,740. A 1636 Charles I Gold Unite Crown was the biggest seller going for £5,000. A 1627 Charles I Gold Unite took second place with £3,800. The oldest coins, a lot of three Philip and Mary silver shillings from around 1554-1558, sold for £240.</p>
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 The History Blog

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 The Stone of Destiny was a doorstep

 April 30, 2024 Ancient , Medieval , Modern(ish)

 The Stone of Destiny, the oblong block red sandstone used in the coronation of Scottish monarchs until it was snatched by King Edward I in 1296 and used in the coronation of English and British monarchs thereafter, started out as a step or threshold. A recent analysis of the 335-pound stone found the wear pattern on top of the stone was likely caused by many a foot treading upon it rather than by many royal butts perched upon or over it.

 The first historical record of the Stone of Destiny being used for a coronation is Alexander III’s in 1249. It was reportedly covered in gold silk cloth, so its heavily worn surface was obscured from view. When Edward Longshanks pillaged it, he had it built in to his throne at Westminster, so again the stepped-upon surface was not visible. It was officially returned to Scotland in 1996 and displayed in the Crown Room of Edinburgh Castle with other Scottish regalia.

 It left Scotland again last year for a very brief stint back inside Edward’s throne for the coronation of Charles III. Before its departure, researchers examined the stone in detail using digital technology to scan the surface, revealing the wear pattern of steps that can’t be seen at a glance. This indicates it had a long history of non-coronation use, perhaps as the step to a monumental structure like an early church or maybe even a Roman building.

 Dr Nicki Scott, Senior Cultural Significance Advisor at HES, said: “While we know some inauguration rituals did involve the individual being inaugurated to step onto the stone, such as at Dunadd Hillfort, the level of wear on the Stone of Destiny doesn’t support such use.

 “Even several hundred years of such a ritual wouldn’t create the level of wear we see. It’s more likely that the stone had earlier served as a step, although we don’t know the context for this.”

 Professor Dauvit Broun, Chair of Scottish History at the University of Glasgow, who contributed to the new interpretation at Perth Museum, said: “The evidence is quite compelling. It means that, at some point, the Stone was repurposed as an inaugural throne.

 Unfortunately there are no surviving origin stories with a plausible kernel of truth that could help explain the scientific findings. The legends about the Stone of Destiny all claim exotic provenance and quasi-miraculous journeys from distant lands. One of the myths about the stone is that it was “Jacob’s pillow,” the stone Jacob laid his head on when he dreamt about the ladder to heaven (Genesis 28:10-18). Another says that it was transported to Tara in Ireland by the daughter of a pharaoh and then brought to Scone by Kenneth MacAlpin, the legendary founder of Scotland.

 After the coronation of Charles III, the stone returned not to Edinburgh, but to its ancient homeland in Perth for the first time in 700 years. It is now the centerpiece of the new Perth Museum.

 Leave a Comment on The Stone of Destiny was a doorstep

 Casa Buonarroti digitizes Michelangelo’s drawings

 April 29, 2024 Museums , Renaissance

 The Casa Buonarroti museum in Florence has embarked on a new project to digitize figure studies, architectural designs and handwritten notes by Michelangelo and make the ultra-high resolution images available on their website. The goal is to upload the most significant drawings in the Casa Buonarroti’s collection to create an online catalogue of Michelangelo’s greatest works on paper, and now first 20 pages have now been uploaded.

 The 20 pages include some recto and verso (front and back) sheets, denoted on the thumbnail with two arrows in the upper right corner. It’s a fascinating glimpse into Michelangelo’s art and life, seeing, for example, an iconic image like the dynamic male nude preparatory study for his Battle of Cascina fresco on one side of the page and his literal shopping list on the other. Or anatomical studies for one of his Pietà sculptures backed by anatomical studies for figures in the Last Judgement in the Sistine Chapel.

 The digitization of these materials gives artists, scholars and anyone else with even a passing interest access to works that are too fragile to be widely handled. The paper has to be protected from exposure to light, fluctuating temperatures and humidity levels, so the sheets are kept in carefully controlled environments. The pages were conserved before digitization, removing the artifacts of previous interventions and revealing some drawings that were obscured by flawed restoration attempts. Each sheet is also extensively annotated with background information, transcripts of texts and historic and artistic commentary.

 Here’s one passage from a Madonna and Child study illustrating how content-rich the curator’s comments are:

 The observation of the drawing allows one to follow the entire compositional process. First of all, Michelangelo sketched out both protagonists in black chalk, with a highly spontaneous handling: the fast, parallel hatching is combined with a soft, loose outline, drawn with a tormented manner. Initially, the face of the Madonna appears faintly sketched to the left, intent on looking down, in profile, at the Child in her arms, to be modified and rotated up three-quarters to the right, while gazing into the distance with an absorbed expression. Perhaps lost in the premonition of future pains, the Virgin’s head is executed on a smaller dimensional scale than the rest of the imposing body and with much more finished results, thanks to a soft chiaroscuro obtained with a broad-tipped black chalk, which lends the face a veil of shaded melancholy. This initial phase of compositional analysis was followed by the pictorial deepening of part of the figure of the Infant Jesus, perfectly executed even in the colouring, thanks to the overlapping of multiple techniques, all typical of Michelangelo’s heritage. The artist outlined the profile, already characterised by numerous pentimenti, with a red chalk, which he used together with a very shaded black chalk also to model the body with its rosy complexion, and interpreted the precious chiaroscuro effects with highlights of white lead, applied with chalk for the parts in light, and retouches of brown ink wash, applied with a very fine-tipped brush, for the areas of greater darkness. At this point, Michelangelo had to abandon work on the sheet, leaving the drawing with a distinct difference in finish, intentional and related to his graphic interests.

 Leave a Comment on Casa Buonarroti digitizes Michelangelo’s drawings

 Boston museum returns Egyptian child sarcophagus to Sweden

 April 28, 2024 Ancient , Looting , Museums

 The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, has returned an ancient Egyptian clay child sarcophagus to Uppsala University’s Museum Gustavianum more than 50 years after it was stolen under mysterious circumstances.

 Made of alluvial clay, the sarcophagus dates to the 19th Dynasty (1295–1186 B.C.). It is 43 inches high and vividly painted. The child is depicted wearing a headdress of blue and yellow stripes tied with a headband of white, blue and red lotuses. Lotus petals cover the collar on his chest. The head and chest are on a cut-out section that can be removed to access the interior. Beneath the collar are more lotus flowers, wadjet eyes and the goddess Nut with outstretched wings flanked by Anubis seated jackals. The bottom part of the sarcophagus is covered with hieroglyphs identifying the deceased as a boy named Pa-nefer-neb.

 The MFA Boston acquired it in 1985, and the ownership record seemed to be thorough and above-board, even at a time when museum’s paid zero attention to that sort of thing. It was sold by one Olaf Liden claiming to be an agent of Swedish artist Eric Ståhl (1918–1999). A letter ostensibly written by Ståhl described how he had personally discovered the sarcophagus in Amada, Egypt, in 1937, and the Egyptian government had later gifted it to him for his aid in the archaeological rescue operations before construction of the Aswan Dam. The coffin’s authenticity was attested to in writing by Swedish experts.

 It was the MFA itself that realized this story was complete fiction, that Ståhl was never involved in any archaeological excavations in Egypt, that the letter and authentication documents were forged and the sarcophagus had been purloined from the Swedish museum, smuggled to Boston and fraudulently sold. The trigger was the 2008 publication of previously unseen photographs from the archive of the Petrie Museum. The sarcophagus was in one of the pictures: a shot of a 1920 archaeological excavation in Gurob, Egypt, by the British School of Archaeology under the direction of British archaeologist Flinders Petrie. A note with the photograph stated the coffin had been given to Uppsala University in 1922 as part of the partage system that was common at the time. All institutions involved in digs got a cut of the artifacts, basically, in exchange for their funding and fieldwork.

 MFA curators initiated an investigation and contacted the Gustavianum to let them know about the discrepancy. Provenance researchers from both museums cooperated and shared information during the process. They found that the sarcophagus went missing from the museum’s stores in 1970 or earlier. It was not deaccessioned or traded. Both parties came to the same conclusion: the coffin had been taken from the Gustavianum illegally and should be returned.

 “It is very gratifying that this return has now come to pass. The child’s sarcophagus is an important item in our collections and it means a lot to the museum and the University that it has now been returned to us. The sarcophagus is an excellent complement to our Egyptian collections and will now be available for research,” says Mikael Ahlund, Museum Director of Gustavianum, or Uppsala University Museum. “But the sarcophagus needs some work and it will be some time before it can be shown to the public in Gustavianum,” he adds.

 You can see the petite coffin being unpacked upon its return to Sweden in this video.

 1 Comment on Boston museum returns Egyptian child sarcophagus to Sweden

 “Excalibur” identified as 10th c. Islamic sword

 April 27, 2024 Medieval

 A sword discovered in Valencia in 1994 has been identified as an early Islamic era weapon dating to the 10th century. It is the first sword from the Islamic period to be found in Valencia.

 Founded by Roman consul Decimus Junius Brutus Callaicus in 138 B.C. as a veterans colony, Valencia was conquered by invading Muslim forces in 714 A.D. The Islamic city, known as Balansiya in Arabic, prospered and by the 10th century was a regional hub of trade. The Moorish taifa kingdom of Valencia, established in 1010, was frequently troubled with dynastic conflict, assassination and for one brief stretch at the end of the 11th century, conquest by the Castilian knight and Spanish national hero El Cid.

 The iron sword was found in Valencia’s old town north of the ancient Roman Forum in a house from the Islamic era. It had been stuck in the ground inside a grave and was discovered in an upright position, giving rise to its nickname “Excalibur.” It is 46 cm (18 inches) long with a blade that curves slightly towards the tip. The hilt is decorated with bronze plates and has small notches for ease of handling. There is no hand guard, however, which suggests it may have been a cavalry weapon from the caliphal era. The curved blade is more typical of Visigothic swords. These mixed characteristics are the reason why it has taken so long to determine its maker and period. It was the sediment sample recovered from the find site that finally allowed researchers to date it to the 10th century.

 The sword, which has been restored, has been dated within the framework of the archeology scholarship organized annually by the Valencia City Council. In the 2023-2024 edition, the scholarship has been dedicated entirely to the analysis of metallic objects. The fact that the beneficiary of this scholarship is an archaeologist specialized in metals has favored the exact dating of the sword.

 The Councilor for Cultural Action, Heritage and Cultural Resources, José Luis Moreno, has assured that “thanks to the archeology grant organized by the Valencia City Council, the archaeologist José Miguel Osuna is carrying out a detailed analysis study of metal objects ranging from the Roman era to the late medieval period and where a new and exceptional discovery has come to light, which we have called the Excalibur of Roc Chabàs due to its similarity to the legendary sword of King Arthur.” According to the councilor, “this sword has a unique design that gives it great archaeological and heritage value, so we have a new treasure in this Islamic Excalibur and a historical legacy of ancient Balansiya.”

 1 Comment on “Excalibur” identified as 10th c. Islamic sword

 17th c. coin hoard found in farmhouse kitchen reno

 April 26, 2024 Modern(ish)

 Robert and Betty Fooks were already living a history nerd’s dream when they bought a 17th century Dorset farmhouse fixer upper in 2019. That escalated into full-on history nerd fantasyland when Robert took a pickaxe to the floor of their kitchen and discovered 1,029 gold and silver coins from the English Civil War (1642-1644).

 South Poorton Farm in a small West Dorset hamlet was 400 years old when the Fooks’ bought it and in need of extensive renovation. They decided to remove the modern concrete floor to create more head space and ultimately dug down through almost two feet, passing through old flagstones and bare earth. Robert was putting in some sweat equity one October evening, digging up a bare earth area with his pickaxe when he encountered a glazed pottery bowl full of coins. The bowl was smashed, either by the pickaxe or earlier, but the coins were unscathed.

 The discovery was reported to the local Finds Liaison Officer and the hoard was transferred to the British Museum for cleaning, documentation and valuation. The hoard contains gold coins, silver half crowns, shillings and sixpences of James I and Charles I, and silver shillings and sixpences of Elizabeth I, Phillip and Mary. They were deposited in a single event between 1642 and 1644, the early years of the First English Civil War.

 Dorset, its arsenals and its ports were taken by Parliament when war broke out in August 1642, but Royalist troops regained a lot of that ground in 1643. Parliament still controlled the ports. While no major battles took place in the county, there was plenty of troop movement on both sides, lots of requisitioning of supplies, sieges, clashes, towns getting burned, just general wartorn misery all around. The kind of turbulence that leads people to put their life savings in a pot and bury it under the floor.

 The hoard is older than 300 years, contains precious metal and is a grouping of multiple coins, it fits the definition of official Treasure. Typically this type of find would end up property of the Crown and a local museum would be given the opportunity to acquire it for the price of the assessed valuation. No museum must have wanted it or been able to raise the cash, because the hoard was returned to the finders and the couple put the hoard up for auction at Duke’s Auctioneers in Dorchester. The total pre-sale estimate for was £35,000. The auction took place on April 23rd, and all together, the coins sold for £60,740. A 1636 Charles I Gold Unite Crown was the biggest seller going for £5,000. A 1627 Charles I Gold Unite took second place with £3,800. The oldest coins, a lot of three Philip and Mary silver shillings from around 1554-1558, sold for £240.

 Leave a Comment on 17th c. coin hoard found in farmhouse kitchen reno

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Skip to content 
The Stone of Destiny, the oblong block red sandstone used in the coronation of Scottish monarchs until it was snatched by King Edward I in 1296 and used in the coronation of English and British monarchs thereafter, started out as a step or threshold. A recent analysis of the 335-pound stone found the wear pattern on top of the stone was likely caused by many a foot treading upon it rather than by many royal butts perched upon or over it.
   
The first historical record of the Stone of Destiny being used for a coronation is Alexander III’s in 1249. It was reportedly covered in gold silk cloth, so its heavily worn surface was obscured from view. When Edward Longshanks pillaged it, he had it built in to his throne at Westminster, so again the stepped-upon surface was not visible. It was officially returned to Scotland in 1996 and displayed in the Crown Room of Edinburgh Castle with other Scottish regalia.
It left Scotland again last year for a very brief stint back inside Edward’s throne for the coronation of Charles III. Before its departure, researchers examined the stone in detail using digital technology to scan the surface, revealing the wear pattern of steps that can’t be seen at a glance. This indicates it had a long history of non-coronation use, perhaps as the step to a monumental structure like an early church or maybe even a Roman building.
 Dr Nicki Scott, Senior Cultural Significance Advisor at HES, said: “While we know some inauguration rituals did involve the individual being inaugurated to step onto the stone, such as at Dunadd Hillfort, the level of wear on the Stone of Destiny doesn’t support such use.
“Even several hundred years of such a ritual wouldn’t create the level of wear we see. It’s more likely that the stone had earlier served as a step, although we don’t know the context for this.”
Professor Dauvit Broun, Chair of Scottish History at the University of Glasgow, who contributed to the new interpretation at Perth Museum, said: “The evidence is quite compelling. It means that, at some point, the Stone was repurposed as an inaugural throne. 
Unfortunately there are no surviving origin stories with a plausible kernel of truth that could help explain the scientific findings. The legends about the Stone of Destiny all claim exotic provenance and quasi-miraculous journeys from distant lands. One of the myths about the stone is that it was “Jacob’s pillow,” the stone Jacob laid his head on when he dreamt about the ladder to heaven (Genesis 28:10-18). Another says that it was transported to Tara in Ireland by the daughter of a pharaoh and then brought to Scone by Kenneth MacAlpin, the legendary founder of Scotland.
After the coronation of Charles III, the stone returned not to Edinburgh, but to its ancient homeland in Perth for the first time in 700 years. It is now the centerpiece of the new Perth Museum.
  The Casa Buonarroti museum in Florence has embarked on a new project to digitize figure studies, architectural designs and handwritten notes by Michelangelo and make the ultra-high resolution images available on their website. The goal is to upload the most significant drawings in the Casa Buonarroti’s collection to create an online catalogue of Michelangelo’s greatest works on paper, and now first 20 pages have now been uploaded.
  The 20 pages include some recto and verso (front and back) sheets, denoted on the thumbnail with two arrows in the upper right corner. It’s a fascinating glimpse into Michelangelo’s art and life, seeing, for example, an iconic image like the dynamic male nude preparatory study for his Battle of Cascina fresco on one side of the page and his literal shopping list on the other. Or anatomical studies for one of his Pietà sculptures backed by anatomical studies for figures in the Last Judgement in the Sistine Chapel.
The digitization of these materials gives artists, scholars and anyone else with even a passing interest access to works that are too fragile to be widely handled. The paper has to be protected from exposure to light, fluctuating temperatures and humidity levels, so the sheets are kept in carefully controlled environments. The pages were conserved before digitization, removing the artifacts of previous interventions and revealing some drawings that were obscured by flawed restoration attempts. Each sheet is also extensively annotated with background information, transcripts of texts and historic and artistic commentary.
Here’s one passage from a Madonna and Child study illustrating how content-rich the curator’s comments are:
   The observation of the drawing allows one to follow the entire compositional process. First of all, Michelangelo sketched out both protagonists in black chalk, with a highly spontaneous handling: the fast, parallel hatching is combined with a soft, loose outline, drawn with a tormented manner. Initially, the face of the Madonna appears faintly sketched to the left, intent on looking down, in profile, at the Child in her arms, to be modified and rotated up three-quarters to the right, while gazing into the distance with an absorbed expression. Perhaps lost in the premonition of future pains, the Virgin’s head is executed on a smaller dimensional scale than the rest of the imposing body and with much more finished results, thanks to a soft chiaroscuro obtained with a broad-tipped black chalk, which lends the face a veil of shaded melancholy. This initial phase of compositional analysis was followed by the pictorial deepening of part of the figure of the Infant Jesus, perfectly executed even in the colouring, thanks to the overlapping of multiple techniques, all typical of Michelangelo’s heritage. The artist outlined the profile, already characterised by numerous pentimenti, with a red chalk, which he used together with a very shaded black chalk also to model the body with its rosy complexion, and interpreted the precious chiaroscuro effects with highlights of white lead, applied with chalk for the parts in light, and retouches of brown ink wash, applied with a very fine-tipped brush, for the areas of greater darkness. At this point, Michelangelo had to abandon work on the sheet, leaving the drawing with a distinct difference in finish, intentional and related to his graphic interests. 
  The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, has returned an ancient Egyptian clay child sarcophagus to Uppsala University’s Museum Gustavianum more than 50 years after it was stolen under mysterious circumstances.
Made of alluvial clay, the sarcophagus dates to the 19th Dynasty (1295–1186 B.C.). It is 43 inches high and vividly painted. The child is depicted wearing a headdress of blue and yellow stripes tied with a headband of white, blue and red lotuses. Lotus petals cover the collar on his chest. The head and chest are on a cut-out section that can be removed to access the interior. Beneath the collar are more lotus flowers, wadjet eyes and the goddess Nut with outstretched wings flanked by Anubis seated jackals. The bottom part of the sarcophagus is covered with hieroglyphs identifying the deceased as a boy named Pa-nefer-neb.
  The MFA Boston acquired it in 1985, and the ownership record seemed to be thorough and above-board, even at a time when museum’s paid zero attention to that sort of thing. It was sold by one Olaf Liden claiming to be an agent of Swedish artist Eric Ståhl (1918–1999). A letter ostensibly written by Ståhl described how he had personally discovered the sarcophagus in Amada, Egypt, in 1937, and the Egyptian government had later gifted it to him for his aid in the archaeological rescue operations before construction of the Aswan Dam. The coffin’s authenticity was attested to in writing by Swedish experts.
  It was the MFA itself that realized this story was complete fiction, that Ståhl was never involved in any archaeological excavations in Egypt, that the letter and authentication documents were forged and the sarcophagus had been purloined from the Swedish museum, smuggled to Boston and fraudulently sold. The trigger was the 2008 publication of previously unseen photographs from the archive of the Petrie Museum. The sarcophagus was in one of the pictures: a shot of a 1920 archaeological excavation in Gurob, Egypt, by the British School of Archaeology under the direction of British archaeologist Flinders Petrie. A note with the photograph stated the coffin had been given to Uppsala University in 1922 as part of the partage system that was common at the time. All institutions involved in digs got a cut of the artifacts, basically, in exchange for their funding and fieldwork.
MFA curators initiated an investigation and contacted the Gustavianum to let them know about the discrepancy. Provenance researchers from both museums cooperated and shared information during the process. They found that the sarcophagus went missing from the museum’s stores in 1970 or earlier. It was not deaccessioned or traded. Both parties came to the same conclusion: the coffin had been taken from the Gustavianum illegally and should be returned.
“It is very gratifying that this return has now come to pass. The child’s sarcophagus is an important item in our collections and it means a lot to the museum and the University that it has now been returned to us. The sarcophagus is an excellent complement to our Egyptian collections and will now be available for research,” says Mikael Ahlund, Museum Director of Gustavianum, or Uppsala University Museum. “But the sarcophagus needs some work and it will be some time before it can be shown to the public in Gustavianum,” he adds.
You can see the petite coffin being unpacked upon its return to Sweden in this video. 
  A sword discovered in Valencia in 1994 has been identified as an early Islamic era weapon dating to the 10th century. It is the first sword from the Islamic period to be found in Valencia.
Founded by Roman consul Decimus Junius Brutus Callaicus in 138 B.C. as a veterans colony, Valencia was conquered by invading Muslim forces in 714 A.D. The Islamic city, known as Balansiya in Arabic, prospered and by the 10th century was a regional hub of trade. The Moorish taifa kingdom of Valencia, established in 1010, was frequently troubled with dynastic conflict, assassination and for one brief stretch at the end of the 11th century, conquest by the Castilian knight and Spanish national hero El Cid.
  The iron sword was found in Valencia’s old town north of the ancient Roman Forum in a house from the Islamic era. It had been stuck in the ground inside a grave and was discovered in an upright position, giving rise to its nickname “Excalibur.” It is 46 cm (18 inches) long with a blade that curves slightly towards the tip. The hilt is decorated with bronze plates and has small notches for ease of handling. There is no hand guard, however, which suggests it may have been a cavalry weapon from the caliphal era. The curved blade is more typical of Visigothic swords. These mixed characteristics are the reason why it has taken so long to determine its maker and period. It was the sediment sample recovered from the find site that finally allowed researchers to date it to the 10th century.
   The sword, which has been restored, has been dated within the framework of the archeology scholarship organized annually by the Valencia City Council. In the 2023-2024 edition, the scholarship has been dedicated entirely to the analysis of metallic objects. The fact that the beneficiary of this scholarship is an archaeologist specialized in metals has favored the exact dating of the sword.
The Councilor for Cultural Action, Heritage and Cultural Resources, José Luis Moreno, has assured that “thanks to the archeology grant organized by the Valencia City Council, the archaeologist José Miguel Osuna is carrying out a detailed analysis study of metal objects ranging from the Roman era to the late medieval period and where a new and exceptional discovery has come to light, which we have called the Excalibur of Roc Chabàs due to its similarity to the legendary sword of King Arthur.” According to the councilor, “this sword has a unique design that gives it great archaeological and heritage value, so we have a new treasure in this Islamic Excalibur and a historical legacy of ancient Balansiya.” 
  Robert and Betty Fooks were already living a history nerd’s dream when they bought a 17th century Dorset farmhouse fixer upper in 2019. That escalated into full-on history nerd fantasyland when Robert took a pickaxe to the floor of their kitchen and discovered 1,029 gold and silver coins from the English Civil War (1642-1644).
  South Poorton Farm in a small West Dorset hamlet was 400 years old when the Fooks’ bought it and in need of extensive renovation. They decided to remove the modern concrete floor to create more head space and ultimately dug down through almost two feet, passing through old flagstones and bare earth. Robert was putting in some sweat equity one October evening, digging up a bare earth area with his pickaxe when he encountered a glazed pottery bowl full of coins. The bowl was smashed, either by the pickaxe or earlier, but the coins were unscathed.
  The discovery was reported to the local Finds Liaison Officer and the hoard was transferred to the British Museum for cleaning, documentation and valuation. The hoard contains gold coins, silver half crowns, shillings and sixpences of James I and Charles I, and silver shillings and sixpences of Elizabeth I, Phillip and Mary. They were deposited in a single event between 1642 and 1644, the early years of the First English Civil War.
Dorset, its arsenals and its ports were taken by Parliament when war broke out in August 1642, but Royalist troops regained a lot of that ground in 1643. Parliament still controlled the ports. While no major battles took place in the county, there was plenty of troop movement on both sides, lots of requisitioning of supplies, sieges, clashes, towns getting burned, just general wartorn misery all around. The kind of turbulence that leads people to put their life savings in a pot and bury it under the floor.
  The hoard is older than 300 years, contains precious metal and is a grouping of multiple coins, it fits the definition of official Treasure. Typically this type of find would end up property of the Crown and a local museum would be given the opportunity to acquire it for the price of the assessed valuation. No museum must have wanted it or been able to raise the cash, because the hoard was returned to the finders and the couple put the hoard up for auction at Duke’s Auctioneers in Dorchester. The total pre-sale estimate for was £35,000. The auction took place on April 23rd, and all together, the coins sold for £60,740. A 1636 Charles I Gold Unite Crown was the biggest seller going for £5,000. A 1627 Charles I Gold Unite took second place with £3,800. The oldest coins, a lot of three Philip and Mary silver shillings from around 1554-1558, sold for £240.
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The History Blog
http://www.thehistoryblog.com/
https://waitbutwhy.com/2014/05/fermi-paradox.html
The Fermi Paradox - Wait But Why
2014-05-21
Tim Urban
<div><div><p><em><strong>PDF: </strong>We made a fancy PDF of this post for printing and offline viewing. <a href="https://gum.co/wbw-fermi">Buy it here.</a> (Or see a <a href="https://waitbutwhy.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/fermi-paradox-preview.pdf">preview</a>.)</em></p>
<p>___________</p>
<p>Everyone feels something when they’re in a really good starry place on a really good starry night and they look up and see this:</p>
<p><a href="https://149909199.v2.pressablecdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Stars-fixed.jpg"></a></p>
<p>Some people stick with the traditional, feeling struck by the epic beauty or blown away by the insane scale of the universe. Personally, I go for the old “existential meltdown followed by acting weird for the next half hour.” But everyone feels <em>something</em>.</p>
<p>Physicist Enrico Fermi felt something too—”Where is everybody?”</p>
<p>________________</p>
<p>A really starry sky seems <i>vast</i>—but all we’re looking at is our very local neighborhood. On the very best nights, we can see up to about 2,500 stars (roughly one hundred-millionth of the stars in our galaxy), and almost all of them are less than 1,000 light years away from us (or 1% of the diameter of the Milky Way). So what we’re really looking at is this:</p>
<p><a href="https://149909199.v2.pressablecdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Milky-Way.jpg"></a></p>
<p>Galaxy image: <a href="http://skysurvey.org/">Nick Risinger</a></p>
<p>When confronted with the topic of stars and galaxies, a question that tantalizes most humans is, “Is there other intelligent life out there?” Let’s put some numbers to it—</p>
<p>As many stars as there are in our galaxy (100 – 400 billion), there are roughly an equal number of galaxies in the observable universe—so for every star in the colossal Milky Way, there’s a whole <em>galaxy</em> out there. All together, that comes out to the typically quoted range of <strong>between 10<sup>22</sup> and 10<sup>24</sup> total stars</strong>, which means that for every grain of sand on every beach on Earth, there are <em>10,000 stars</em> out there.</p>
<p>The science world isn’t in total agreement about what percentage of those stars are “sun-like” (similar in size, temperature, and luminosity)—opinions typically range from 5% to 20%. Going with the most conservative side of that (5%), and the lower end for the number of total stars (10<sup>22</sup>), gives us 500 quintillion, or <strong>500 billion billion sun-like stars. </strong></p>
<p>There’s also a debate over what percentage of those sun-like stars might be orbited by an Earth-like planet (one with similar temperature conditions that could have liquid water and potentially support life similar to that on Earth). Some say it’s as high as 50%, but let’s go with the more conservative 22% that came out of <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2013/10/31/1319909110.abstract">a recent PNAS study</a>. That suggests that there’s a potentially-habitable Earth-like planet orbiting at least 1% of the total stars in the universe—a total of <strong>100 billion billion Earth-like planets.</strong></p>
<p>So there are <em>100 Earth-like planets</em> for every grain of sand in the world. Think about that next time you’re on the beach.</p>
<p>Moving forward, we have no choice but to get completely speculative. Let’s imagine that after billions of years in existence, 1% of Earth-like planets develop life (if that’s true, every grain of sand would represent one planet with life on it). And imagine that on 1% of <em>those </em>planets, the life advances to an intelligent level like it did here on Earth. That would mean there were 10 quadrillion, or <strong>10 million billion intelligent civilizations in the observable universe.</strong></p>
<p>Moving back to just our galaxy, and doing the same math on the lowest estimate for stars in the Milky Way (100 billion), we’d estimate that there are <strong>1 billion Earth-like planets and 100,000 intelligent civilizations in our galaxy.</strong><a href="#footnote2-1-1567">1</a>
</p><p>SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) is an organization dedicated to listening for signals from other intelligent life. If we’re right that there are 100,000 or more intelligent civilizations in our galaxy, and even a fraction of them are sending out radio waves or laser beams or other modes of attempting to contact others, shouldn’t SETI’s <a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/63/USA.NM.VeryLargeArray.02.jpg">satellite dish array</a> pick up all kinds of signals?</p>
<p>But it hasn’t. Not one. Ever.</p>
<p><em>Where is everybody?</em></p>
<p>It gets stranger. Our sun is relatively young in the lifespan of the universe. There are far older stars with far older Earth-like planets, which should in theory mean civilizations far more advanced than our own. As an example, let’s compare our 4.54-billion-year-old Earth to a hypothetical 8-billion-year-old Planet X.</p>
<p><a href="https://149909199.v2.pressablecdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/timeline.png"></a></p>
<p>If Planet X has a similar story to Earth, let’s look at where their civilization would be today (using the orange timespan as a reference to show how huge the green timespan is):</p>
<p><a href="https://149909199.v2.pressablecdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/timeline-22.png"></a></p>
<p>The technology and knowledge of a civilization only 1,000 years ahead of us could be as shocking to us as our world would be to a medieval person. A civilization 1 million years ahead of us might be as incomprehensible to us as human culture is to chimpanzees. And Planet X is 3.4 <em>billion </em>years ahead of us…</p>
<p>There’s something called <a href="http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Kardashev_scale.html">The Kardashev Scale</a>, which helps us group intelligent civilizations into three broad categories by the amount of energy they use:</p>
<p>A <strong>Type I Civilization</strong> has the ability to use all of the energy on their <strong>planet</strong>. We’re not quite a Type I Civilization, but we’re close (Carl Sagan created a formula for this scale which puts us at a Type 0.7 Civilization).</p>
<p>A <strong>Type II Civilization </strong>can harness all of the energy of their <strong>host star</strong>. Our feeble Type I brains can hardly imagine how someone would do this, but we’ve tried our best, imagining things like a <a href="http://www.islandone.org/LEOBiblio/SETI1.HTM">Dyson Sphere</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://149909199.v2.pressablecdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Dyson-Sphere.png"></a></p>
<p>A <strong>Type III Civilization</strong> blows the other two away, accessing power comparable to that of <strong>the entire Milky Way galaxy</strong>.</p>
<p>If this level of advancement sounds hard to believe, remember Planet X above and their 3.4 <em>billion</em> years of further development. If a civilization on Planet X were similar to ours and were able to survive all the way to Type III level, the natural thought is that they’d probably have mastered inter-stellar travel by now, possibly even colonizing the entire galaxy.</p>
<p>One hypothesis as to how galactic colonization could happen is by creating <a href="http://www.rfreitas.com/Astro/ReproJBISJuly1980.htm">machinery</a> that can travel to other planets, spend 500 years or so self-replicating using the raw materials on their new planet, and then send two replicas off to do the same thing. Even without traveling anywhere near the speed of light, this process would colonize the whole galaxy in 3.75 million years, a relative blink of an eye when talking in the scale of billions of years:</p>
<p><a href="https://149909199.v2.pressablecdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Colonize-Galaxy.png"></a></p>
<p><em>Source: <a href="http://www.nature.com/scientificamerican/journal/v283/n1/pdf/scientificamerican0700-38.pdf">Scientific American: “Where Are They”</a></em></p>
<p>Continuing to speculate, if 1% of intelligent life survives long enough to become a potentially galaxy-colonizing Type III Civilization, our calculations above suggest that there should be at least 1,000 Type III Civilizations in our galaxy alone—and given the power of such a civilization, their presence would likely be pretty noticeable. And yet, we see nothing, hear nothing, and we’re visited by no one.</p>
<p><strong>So where is everybody?</strong></p>
<p>_____________________</p>
<p>Welcome to the Fermi Paradox.</p>
<p>We have no answer to the Fermi Paradox—the best we can do is “possible explanations.” And if you ask ten different scientists what their hunch is about the correct one, you’ll get ten different answers. You know when you hear about humans of the past debating whether the Earth was round or if the sun revolved around the Earth or thinking that lightning happened because of Zeus, and they seem so primitive and in the dark? That’s about where we are with this topic.</p>
<p>In taking a look at some of the most-discussed possible explanations for the Fermi Paradox, let’s divide them into two broad categories—those explanations which assume that there’s no sign of Type II and Type III Civilizations because there <em>are </em>none of them out there, and those which assume they’re out there and we’re not seeing or hearing anything for other reasons.</p>
<p><strong>Explanation Group 1: There are no signs of higher (Type II and III) civilizations because there <em>are </em>no higher civilizations in existence.</strong></p>
<p>Those who subscribe to Group 1 explanations point to something called the non-exclusivity problem, which rebuffs any theory that says, “There are higher civilizations, but none of them have made any kind of contact with us because they all _____.” Group 1 people look at the math, which says there should be <em>so </em>many thousands (or millions) of higher civilizations, that at least <em>one </em>of them would be an exception to the rule. Even if a theory held for 99.99% of higher civilizations, the other .01% would behave differently and we’d become aware of their existence.</p>
<p>Therefore, say Group 1 explanations, it must be that there are no super-advanced civilizations. And since the math suggests that there are <em>thousands</em> of them just in our own galaxy, <em>something else must be going on</em>.</p>
<p>This something else is called <strong>The Great Filter.</strong></p>
<p>The Great Filter theory says that at some point from pre-life to Type III intelligence, there’s a wall that all or nearly all attempts at life hit. There’s some stage in that long evolutionary process that is extremely unlikely or impossible for life to get beyond. That stage is The Great Filter.</p>
<p><a href="https://149909199.v2.pressablecdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Great-Filter1.png"></a></p>
<p>If this theory is true, the big question is, <em>Where in the timeline does the Great Filter occur? </em></p>
<p>It turns out that when it comes to the fate of humankind, this question is very important. Depending on where The Great Filter occurs, we’re left with three possible realities: <strong>We’re rare, we’re first, or we’re fucked.</strong></p>
<p><strong>1. We’re Rare (The Great Filter is <em>Behind </em>Us)</strong></p>
<p>One hope we have is that The Great Filter is behind us—we managed to <em>surpass</em> it, which would mean it’s <em>extremely rare </em>for life to make it to our level of intelligence. The diagram below shows only two species making it past, and we’re one of them.</p>
<p><a href="https://149909199.v2.pressablecdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Great-Filter-RARE1.png"></a></p>
<p>This scenario would explain why there are no Type III Civilizations…but it would also mean that <em>we </em>could be one of the few exceptions now that we’ve made it this far. It would mean we have hope. On the surface, this sounds a bit like people 500 years ago suggesting that the Earth is the center of the universe—it implies that we’re <em>special</em>. However, something scientists call “observation selection effect” suggests that anyone who is pondering their own rarity is inherently part of an intelligent life “success story”—and whether they’re actually rare or quite common, the thoughts they ponder and conclusions they draw will be identical. This forces us to admit that being special is at least a possibility.</p>
<p>And if we are special, when exactly did we become special—i.e. <em>which step did we surpass that almost everyone else gets stuck on? </em></p>
<p><strong>One possibility: The Great Filter could be at the very beginning—it might be incredibly unusual for life to begin at all. </strong>This is a candidate because it took about a billion years of Earth’s existence to finally happen, and because we have tried extensively to replicate that event in labs and have never been able to do it. If this is indeed The Great Filter, it would mean that not only is there no intelligent life out there, there may be <em>no other life at all.</em></p>
<p><strong>Another possibility: The Great Filter could be the jump from the simple prokaryote cell to the complex eukaryote cell. </strong>After prokaryotes came into being, they remained that way for almost <em>two billion </em>years before making the evolutionary jump to being complex and having a nucleus. If this is The Great Filter, it would mean the universe is teeming with simple prokaryote cells and almost nothing beyond that.</p>
<p>There are a number of other possibilities—some even think the most recent leap we’ve made to our current intelligence is a Great Filter candidate. While the leap from semi-intelligent life (chimps) to intelligent life (humans) doesn’t at first seem like a miraculous step, Steven Pinker <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0042XA2XG/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=B0042XA2XG&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=wabuwh00-20&amp;linkId=2GTTCWKITTD4G4MR">rejects the idea</a> of an inevitable “climb upward” of evolution: “Since evolution does not strive for a goal but just happens, it uses the adaptation most useful for a given ecological niche, and the fact that, on Earth, this led to technological intelligence only once so far may suggest that this outcome of natural selection is rare and hence by no means a certain development of the evolution of a tree of life.”</p>
<p>Most leaps do <em>not </em>qualify as Great Filter candidates. Any possible Great Filter must be one-in-a-billion type thing where one or more total freak occurrences need to happen to provide a crazy exception—for that reason, something like the jump from single-cell to multi-cellular life is ruled out, because it has occurred as many as <a href="http://www-eve.ucdavis.edu/grosberg/Grosberg%20pdf%20papers/2007%20Grosberg%20%26%20Strathmann.AREES.pdf">46 times</a>, in isolated incidents, just on this planet alone. For the same reason, if we were to find a fossilized eukaryote cell on Mars, it would rule the above “simple-to-complex cell” leap out as a possible Great Filter (as well as anything before that point on the evolutionary chain)—because if it happened on <em>both </em>Earth and Mars, it’s almost definitely not a one-in-a-billion freak occurrence.</p>
<p>If we are indeed rare, it could be because of a fluky biological event, but it also could be attributed to what is called the <strong>Rare Earth Hypothesis</strong>, which suggests that though there may be many Earth-<em>like </em>planets, the <em>particular</em> conditions on Earth—whether related to the specifics of this solar system, its relationship with the moon (a moon that large is unusual for such a small planet and contributes to our particular weather and ocean conditions), or something about the planet itself—are exceptionally friendly to life.</p>
<p><strong>2. We’re the First</strong></p>
<p><a href="https://149909199.v2.pressablecdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Great-Filter-EARLY2.png"></a></p>
<p>For Group 1 Thinkers, if the Great Filter is <em>not </em>behind us, the <em>one </em>hope we have is that conditions in the universe are just recently, for the first time since the Big Bang, reaching a place that would allow intelligent life to develop. In that case, we and many other species may be <em>on our way </em>to super-intelligence, and it simply hasn’t happened yet. We happen to be here at the right time to become one of the first super-intelligent civilizations.</p>
<p>One example of a phenomenon that could make this realistic is the prevalence of gamma-ray bursts, insanely huge explosions that we’ve observed in distant galaxies. In the same way that it took the early Earth a few hundred million years before the asteroids and volcanoes died down and life became possible, it could be that the first chunk of the universe’s existence was full of cataclysmic events like gamma-ray bursts that would incinerate everything nearby from time to time and prevent any life from developing past a certain stage. Now, perhaps, we’re in the midst of an <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18855114">astrobiological phase transition</a> and this is the first time any life has been able to evolve for this long, uninterrupted.</p>
<p><strong>3. We’re Fucked (The Great Filter is <em>Ahead </em>of Us)</strong></p>
<p><a href="https://149909199.v2.pressablecdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Great-Filter-FUCKED1.png"></a></p>
<p>If we’re neither rare nor early, Group 1 thinkers conclude that The Great Filter <em>must </em>be in our future. This would suggest that life regularly evolves to where we are, but that <em>something</em> prevents life from going much further and reaching high intelligence in almost all cases—and we’re unlikely to be an exception.</p>
<p>One possible future Great Filter is a regularly-occurring cataclysmic natural event, like the above-mentioned gamma-ray bursts, except they’re unfortunately not done yet and it’s just a matter of time before all life on Earth is suddenly wiped out by one. Another candidate is the possible inevitability that nearly all intelligent civilizations end up destroying themselves once a certain level of technology is reached.</p>
<p>This is why Oxford University philosopher Nick Bostrom <a href="http://www.nickbostrom.com/extraterrestrial.pdf">says that</a> “no news is good news.” The discovery of even simple life on Mars would be devastating, because it would cut out a number of potential Great Filters <em>behind </em>us. And if we were to find fossilized <em>complex</em> life on Mars, Bostrom says “it would be by far the worst news ever printed on a newspaper cover,” because it would mean The Great Filter is almost definitely <i>ahead </i>of us—ultimately dooming the species. Bostrom believes that when it comes to The Fermi Paradox, “the silence of the night sky is golden.”</p>
<p><strong>Explanation Group 2: Type II and III intelligent civilizations <em>are</em> out there—and there are logical reasons why we might not have heard from them.</strong></p>
<p>Group 2 explanations get rid of any notion that we’re rare or special or the first at anything—on the contrary, they believe in the <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=ZkdqTFVNwmgC&amp;pg=PA20#v=onepage&amp;q&amp;f=false">Mediocrity Principle</a>, whose starting point is that there is nothing unusual or rare about our galaxy, solar system, planet, or level of intelligence, until evidence proves otherwise. They’re also much less quick to assume that the <em>lack</em> of evidence of higher intelligence beings is evidence of their nonexistence—emphasizing the fact that our search for signals stretches only about 100 light years away from us (0.1% across the galaxy) and suggesting a number of possible explanations. Here are 10:</p>
<p><strong>Possibility 1) Super-intelligent life could very well have already visited Earth, but before we were here. </strong>In the scheme of things, sentient humans have only been around for about 50,000 years, a little blip of time. If contact happened before then, it might have made some ducks flip out and run into the water and that’s it. Further, recorded history only goes back 5,500 years—a group of ancient hunter-gatherer tribes may have experienced some <em>crazy </em>alien shit, but they had no good way to tell anyone in the future about it.</p>
<p><strong>Possibility </strong><strong>2) The galaxy has been colonized, but we just live in some desolate rural area of the galaxy. </strong>The Americas may have been colonized by Europeans long before anyone in a small Inuit tribe in far northern Canada realized it had happened. There could be an urbanization component to the interstellar dwellings of higher species, in which all the neighboring solar systems in a certain area are colonized and in communication, and it would be impractical and purposeless for anyone to deal with coming all the way out to the random part of the spiral where we live.</p>
<p><strong>Possibility </strong><strong>3) The entire concept of physical colonization is a hilariously backward concept to a more advanced species. </strong>Remember the picture of the Type II Civilization above with the sphere around their star? With all that energy, they might have created a perfect environment for themselves that satisfies their every need. They might have crazy-advanced ways of reducing their need for resources and zero interest in leaving their happy utopia to explore the cold, empty, undeveloped universe.</p>
<p>An even more advanced civilization might view the <em>entire physical world</em> as a horribly primitive place, having long ago conquered their own biology and uploaded their brains to a virtual reality, eternal-life paradise. Living in the physical world of biology, mortality, wants, and needs might seem to them the way we view primitive ocean species living in the frigid, dark sea. FYI, thinking about another life form having bested mortality makes me incredibly jealous and upset.</p>
<p><strong>Possibility </strong><strong>4) There are scary predator civilizations out there, and most intelligent life knows better than to broadcast any outgoing signals and advertise their location. </strong>This is an unpleasant concept and would help explain the lack of any signals being received by the SETI satellites. It also means that we might be the super naive newbies who are being <em>unbelievably </em>stupid and risky by ever broadcasting outward signals. There’s a debate going on currently about whether we should engage in METI (Messaging to Extraterrestrial Intelligence—the reverse of SETI) or not, and most people say we should not. Stephen Hawking warns, “If aliens visit us, the outcome would be much as when Columbus landed in America, which didn’t turn out well for the Native Americans.” Even Carl Sagan (a general believer that any civilization advanced enough for interstellar travel would be altruistic, not hostile) <a href="http://www.kurzweilai.net/meti-should-we-be-shouting-at-the-cosmos">called</a> the practice of METI “deeply unwise and immature,” and recommended that “the newest children in a strange and uncertain cosmos should listen quietly for a long time, patiently learning about the universe and comparing notes, before shouting into an unknown jungle that we do not understand.” Scary.<a href="#footnote-1-1567">1</a>
</p><p><strong>Possibility </strong><strong>5) There’s only one instance of higher-intelligent life—a “superpredator” civilization (like humans are here on Earth)—that is <em>far</em> more advanced than everyone else and keeps it that way by exterminating any intelligent civilization once they get past a certain level. </strong>This would suck. The way it might work is that it’s an inefficient use of resources to exterminate all emerging intelligences, maybe because most die out on their own. But past a certain point, the super beings make their move—because to them, an emerging intelligent species becomes like a virus as it starts to grow and spread. This theory suggests that whoever was the <em>first</em> in the galaxy to reach intelligence won, and now no one else has a chance. This would explain the lack of activity out there because it would keep the number of super-intelligent civilizations to just one.</p>
<p><strong>Possibility </strong><strong>6) There’s plenty of activity and noise out there, but our technology is too primitive and we’re listening for the wrong things. </strong>Like walking into a modern-day office building, turning on a walkie-talkie, and when you hear no activity (which of course you wouldn’t hear because everyone’s texting, not using walkie-talkies), determining that the building must be empty. Or maybe, as Carl Sagan has pointed out, it could be that our minds work exponentially faster or slower than another form of intelligence out there—e.g. it takes them 12 years to say “Hello,” and when we hear that communication, it just sounds like white noise to us.</p>
<p><strong>Possibility </strong><b>7) We <em>are </em>receiving contact from other intelligent life, but the government is hiding it. </b>The more I learn about the topic, the more this seems like an idiotic theory, but I had to mention it because it’s talked about so much.</p>
<p><strong>Possibility </strong><b>8) Higher civilizations are aware of us and observing us (AKA the “Zoo Hypothesis”). </b>As far as we know, super-intelligent civilizations exist in a tightly-regulated galaxy, and our Earth is treated like part of a vast and protected national park, with a strict “Look but don’t touch” rule for planets like ours. We wouldn’t notice them, because if a far smarter species wanted to observe us, it would know how to easily do so without us realizing it. Maybe there’s a rule similar to the <i>Star Trek’s</i> “Prime Directive” which prohibits super-intelligent beings from making any open contact with lesser species like us or revealing themselves in any way, until the lesser species has reached a certain level of intelligence.</p>
<p><strong>Possibility </strong><strong>9) Higher civilizations are here, all around us. But we’re too primitive to perceive them. </strong>Michio Kaku <a href="http://dailygrail.com/features/michio-kaku-impossible-science">sums it up</a> like this: </p>
<p><em>Let’s say we have an anthill in the middle of the forest. And right next to the anthill, they’re building a ten-lane super-highway. And the question is “Would the ants be able to understand what a ten-lane super-highway is? Would the ants be able to understand the technology and the intentions of the beings building the highway next to them?”</em></p>
<p>So it’s not that we can’t pick up the signals from Planet X using our technology, it’s that we can’t even comprehend what the beings from Planet X <em>are</em> or what they’re trying to do. It’s <em>so </em>beyond us that even if they really wanted to enlighten us, it would be like trying to teach ants about the internet.</p>
<p>Along those lines, this may also be an answer to “Well if there are so many fancy Type III Civilizations, why haven’t they contacted us yet?” To answer that, let’s ask ourselves—when Pizarro made his way into Peru, did he stop for a while at an anthill to try to communicate? Was he magnanimous, trying to help the ants in the anthill? Did he become hostile and slow his original mission down in order to smash the anthill apart? Or was the anthill of complete and utter and eternal irrelevance to Pizarro? That might be our situation here.</p>
<p><strong>Possibility </strong><strong>10) We’re completely wrong about our reality. </strong>There are a lot of ways we could just be <em>totally </em>off with everything we think. The universe might appear one way and be something else entirely, like a <a href="http://www.nature.com/news/simulations-back-up-theory-that-universe-is-a-hologram-1.14328">hologram</a>. Or maybe <em>we’re</em> the aliens and we were planted here as an experiment or as a form of fertilizer. There’s even a chance that we’re all part of a computer simulation by some researcher from another world, and other forms of life simply weren’t programmed into the simulation.</p>
<p>________________</p>
<p>As we continue along with our possibly-futile search for extraterrestrial intelligence, I’m not really sure what I’m rooting for. Frankly, learning either that we’re officially alone in the universe or that we’re officially joined by others would be creepy, which is a theme with all of the surreal storylines listed above—<em>whatever</em> the truth actually is, it’s mindblowing.</p>
<p>Beyond its shocking science fiction component, The Fermi Paradox also leaves me with a deep humbling. Not just the normal “Oh yeah, I’m microscopic and my existence lasts for three seconds” humbling that the universe always triggers. The Fermi Paradox brings out a sharper, more personal humbling, one that can only happen after spending hours of research hearing your species’ most renowned scientists present <em>insane </em>theories, change their minds again and again, and wildly contradict each other—reminding us that future generations will look at us the same way we see the ancient people who were <em>sure </em>that the stars were the underside of the dome of heaven, and they’ll think “Wow they really had <em>no </em>idea what was going on.”</p>
<p>Compounding all of this is the blow to our species’ self-esteem that comes with all of this talk about Type II and III Civilizations. Here on Earth, we’re the king of our little castle, proud ruler of the huge group of imbeciles who share the planet with us. And in this bubble with no competition and no one to judge us, it’s rare that we’re ever confronted with the concept of being a dramatically inferior species to anyone. But after spending a lot of time with Type II and III Civilizations over the past week, our power and pride are seeming a bit David Brent-esque.</p>
<p>That said, given that my normal outlook is that humanity is a lonely orphan on a tiny rock in the middle of a desolate universe, the humbling fact that we’re probably not as smart as we think we are, and the possibility that a lot of what we’re sure about might be wrong, sounds wonderful. It opens the door just a crack that maybe, <em>just maybe</em>, there might be more to the story than we realize.</p>
<p><strong>Three more Wait But Why mind-benders:</strong></p>
<p><strong><a href="https://waitbutwhy.com/2015/08/how-and-why-spacex-will-colonize-mars.html">How (and Why) SpaceX Will Colonize Mars</a></strong> – A post I got to work on with Elon Musk and one that reframed my mental picture of the future.</p>
<p><strong><a href="https://waitbutwhy.com/2015/01/artificial-intelligence-revolution-1.html">The AI Revolution: Road to Superintelligence</a></strong> – Why any aliens that do visit us are likely to be artificial, not biological. We may not be the king of our castle for very much longer…</p>
<p><strong><a href="https://waitbutwhy.com/2014/12/what-makes-you-you.html">What Makes You You</a></strong> – It’s a harder question than you think.</p>
<p><strong>Some other popular Wait But Why posts:</strong></p>
<p><a href="https://waitbutwhy.com/2013/10/why-procrastinators-procrastinate.html">Why Procrastinators Procrastinate</a><a href="https://waitbutwhy.com/2014/02/pick-life-partner.html"><br />
How to Pick Your Life Partner<br />
</a><a href="https://waitbutwhy.com/2015/12/the-tail-end.html">The Tail End</a><br />
<a href="https://waitbutwhy.com/2014/05/life-weeks.html">Your Life in Weeks</a><br />
<a href="https://waitbutwhy.com/2014/10/religion-for-the-nonreligious.html">Religion for the Nonreligious</a></p>
<p>If you’re interested in supporting Wait But Why, <a href="https://www.patreon.com/waitbutwhy">here’s our Patreon</a>.<strong><br />
</strong></p>
<p><a href="https://gum.co/wbw-fermi"></a></p>
<p><strong>Sources:</strong><br />
PNAS: <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2013/10/31/1319909110.abstract">Prevalence of Earth-size planets orbiting Sun-like stars</a><br />
SETI: <a href="http://www.seti.org/drakeequation">The Drake Equation</a><br />
NASA: <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/58040076/Workshop-Report-on-the-Future-of-Intelligence-In-The-Cosmos-NASA-2007">Workshop Report on the Future of Intelligence In The Cosmos</a><br />
Keith Wiley: <a href="http://arxiv.org/abs/1111.6131">The Fermi Paradox, Self-Replicating Probes, and the Interstellar Transportation Bandwidth</a><br />
NCBI: <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18855114">Astrobiological phase transition: towards resolution of Fermi’s paradox</a><br />
André Kukla: <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=ZkdqTFVNwmgC&amp;pg=PA20#v=onepage&amp;q&amp;f=false">Extraterrestrials: A Philosophical Perspective</a><br />
Nick Bostrom: <a href="http://www.nickbostrom.com/extraterrestrial.pdf">Where Are They?</a><br />
Science Direct: <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1384107606000492">Galactic gradients, postbiological evolution and the apparent failure of SETI</a><br />
Nature: <a href="http://www.nature.com/news/simulations-back-up-theory-that-universe-is-a-hologram-1.14328">Simulations back up theory that Universe is a hologram</a><br />
Robin Hanson: <a href="http://hanson.gmu.edu/greatfilter.html">The Great Filter – Are We Almost Past It?</a><br />
John Dyson: <a href="http://www.islandone.org/LEOBiblio/SETI1.HTM">Search for Artificial Stellar Sources of Infrared Radiation</a></p>
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 The Fermi Paradox

 May 21, 2014 By Tim Urban


 PDF: We made a fancy PDF of this post for printing and offline viewing. Buy it here. (Or see a preview.)

 ___________

 Everyone feels something when they’re in a really good starry place on a really good starry night and they look up and see this:

 Some people stick with the traditional, feeling struck by the epic beauty or blown away by the insane scale of the universe. Personally, I go for the old “existential meltdown followed by acting weird for the next half hour.” But everyone feels something.

 Physicist Enrico Fermi felt something too—”Where is everybody?”

 ________________

 A really starry sky seems vast—but all we’re looking at is our very local neighborhood. On the very best nights, we can see up to about 2,500 stars (roughly one hundred-millionth of the stars in our galaxy), and almost all of them are less than 1,000 light years away from us (or 1% of the diameter of the Milky Way). So what we’re really looking at is this:

 Galaxy image: Nick Risinger

 When confronted with the topic of stars and galaxies, a question that tantalizes most humans is, “Is there other intelligent life out there?” Let’s put some numbers to it—

 As many stars as there are in our galaxy (100 – 400 billion), there are roughly an equal number of galaxies in the observable universe—so for every star in the colossal Milky Way, there’s a whole galaxy out there. All together, that comes out to the typically quoted range of between 1022 and 1024 total stars, which means that for every grain of sand on every beach on Earth, there are 10,000 stars out there.

 The science world isn’t in total agreement about what percentage of those stars are “sun-like” (similar in size, temperature, and luminosity)—opinions typically range from 5% to 20%. Going with the most conservative side of that (5%), and the lower end for the number of total stars (1022), gives us 500 quintillion, or 500 billion billion sun-like stars.

 There’s also a debate over what percentage of those sun-like stars might be orbited by an Earth-like planet (one with similar temperature conditions that could have liquid water and potentially support life similar to that on Earth). Some say it’s as high as 50%, but let’s go with the more conservative 22% that came out of a recent PNAS study. That suggests that there’s a potentially-habitable Earth-like planet orbiting at least 1% of the total stars in the universe—a total of 100 billion billion Earth-like planets.

 So there are 100 Earth-like planets for every grain of sand in the world. Think about that next time you’re on the beach.

 Moving forward, we have no choice but to get completely speculative. Let’s imagine that after billions of years in existence, 1% of Earth-like planets develop life (if that’s true, every grain of sand would represent one planet with life on it). And imagine that on 1% of those planets, the life advances to an intelligent level like it did here on Earth. That would mean there were 10 quadrillion, or 10 million billion intelligent civilizations in the observable universe.

 Moving back to just our galaxy, and doing the same math on the lowest estimate for stars in the Milky Way (100 billion), we’d estimate that there are 1 billion Earth-like planets and 100,000 intelligent civilizations in our galaxy.1

 SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) is an organization dedicated to listening for signals from other intelligent life. If we’re right that there are 100,000 or more intelligent civilizations in our galaxy, and even a fraction of them are sending out radio waves or laser beams or other modes of attempting to contact others, shouldn’t SETI’s satellite dish array pick up all kinds of signals?

 But it hasn’t. Not one. Ever.

 Where is everybody?

 It gets stranger. Our sun is relatively young in the lifespan of the universe. There are far older stars with far older Earth-like planets, which should in theory mean civilizations far more advanced than our own. As an example, let’s compare our 4.54-billion-year-old Earth to a hypothetical 8-billion-year-old Planet X.

 If Planet X has a similar story to Earth, let’s look at where their civilization would be today (using the orange timespan as a reference to show how huge the green timespan is):

 The technology and knowledge of a civilization only 1,000 years ahead of us could be as shocking to us as our world would be to a medieval person. A civilization 1 million years ahead of us might be as incomprehensible to us as human culture is to chimpanzees. And Planet X is 3.4 billion years ahead of us…

 There’s something called The Kardashev Scale, which helps us group intelligent civilizations into three broad categories by the amount of energy they use:

 A Type I Civilization has the ability to use all of the energy on their planet. We’re not quite a Type I Civilization, but we’re close (Carl Sagan created a formula for this scale which puts us at a Type 0.7 Civilization).

 A Type II Civilization can harness all of the energy of their host star. Our feeble Type I brains can hardly imagine how someone would do this, but we’ve tried our best, imagining things like a Dyson Sphere.

 A Type III Civilization blows the other two away, accessing power comparable to that of the entire Milky Way galaxy.

 If this level of advancement sounds hard to believe, remember Planet X above and their 3.4 billion years of further development. If a civilization on Planet X were similar to ours and were able to survive all the way to Type III level, the natural thought is that they’d probably have mastered inter-stellar travel by now, possibly even colonizing the entire galaxy.

 One hypothesis as to how galactic colonization could happen is by creating machinery that can travel to other planets, spend 500 years or so self-replicating using the raw materials on their new planet, and then send two replicas off to do the same thing. Even without traveling anywhere near the speed of light, this process would colonize the whole galaxy in 3.75 million years, a relative blink of an eye when talking in the scale of billions of years:

 Source: Scientific American: “Where Are They”

 Continuing to speculate, if 1% of intelligent life survives long enough to become a potentially galaxy-colonizing Type III Civilization, our calculations above suggest that there should be at least 1,000 Type III Civilizations in our galaxy alone—and given the power of such a civilization, their presence would likely be pretty noticeable. And yet, we see nothing, hear nothing, and we’re visited by no one.

 So where is everybody?

 _____________________

 Welcome to the Fermi Paradox.

 We have no answer to the Fermi Paradox—the best we can do is “possible explanations.” And if you ask ten different scientists what their hunch is about the correct one, you’ll get ten different answers. You know when you hear about humans of the past debating whether the Earth was round or if the sun revolved around the Earth or thinking that lightning happened because of Zeus, and they seem so primitive and in the dark? That’s about where we are with this topic.

 In taking a look at some of the most-discussed possible explanations for the Fermi Paradox, let’s divide them into two broad categories—those explanations which assume that there’s no sign of Type II and Type III Civilizations because there are none of them out there, and those which assume they’re out there and we’re not seeing or hearing anything for other reasons.

 Explanation Group 1: There are no signs of higher (Type II and III) civilizations because there are no higher civilizations in existence.

 Those who subscribe to Group 1 explanations point to something called the non-exclusivity problem, which rebuffs any theory that says, “There are higher civilizations, but none of them have made any kind of contact with us because they all _____.” Group 1 people look at the math, which says there should be so many thousands (or millions) of higher civilizations, that at least one of them would be an exception to the rule. Even if a theory held for 99.99% of higher civilizations, the other .01% would behave differently and we’d become aware of their existence.

 Therefore, say Group 1 explanations, it must be that there are no super-advanced civilizations. And since the math suggests that there are thousands of them just in our own galaxy, something else must be going on.

 This something else is called The Great Filter.

 The Great Filter theory says that at some point from pre-life to Type III intelligence, there’s a wall that all or nearly all attempts at life hit. There’s some stage in that long evolutionary process that is extremely unlikely or impossible for life to get beyond. That stage is The Great Filter.

 If this theory is true, the big question is, Where in the timeline does the Great Filter occur?

 It turns out that when it comes to the fate of humankind, this question is very important. Depending on where The Great Filter occurs, we’re left with three possible realities: We’re rare, we’re first, or we’re fucked.

 1. We’re Rare (The Great Filter is Behind Us)

 One hope we have is that The Great Filter is behind us—we managed to surpass it, which would mean it’s extremely rare for life to make it to our level of intelligence. The diagram below shows only two species making it past, and we’re one of them.

 This scenario would explain why there are no Type III Civilizations…but it would also mean that we could be one of the few exceptions now that we’ve made it this far. It would mean we have hope. On the surface, this sounds a bit like people 500 years ago suggesting that the Earth is the center of the universe—it implies that we’re special. However, something scientists call “observation selection effect” suggests that anyone who is pondering their own rarity is inherently part of an intelligent life “success story”—and whether they’re actually rare or quite common, the thoughts they ponder and conclusions they draw will be identical. This forces us to admit that being special is at least a possibility.

 And if we are special, when exactly did we become special—i.e. which step did we surpass that almost everyone else gets stuck on?

 One possibility: The Great Filter could be at the very beginning—it might be incredibly unusual for life to begin at all. This is a candidate because it took about a billion years of Earth’s existence to finally happen, and because we have tried extensively to replicate that event in labs and have never been able to do it. If this is indeed The Great Filter, it would mean that not only is there no intelligent life out there, there may be no other life at all.

 Another possibility: The Great Filter could be the jump from the simple prokaryote cell to the complex eukaryote cell. After prokaryotes came into being, they remained that way for almost two billion years before making the evolutionary jump to being complex and having a nucleus. If this is The Great Filter, it would mean the universe is teeming with simple prokaryote cells and almost nothing beyond that.

 There are a number of other possibilities—some even think the most recent leap we’ve made to our current intelligence is a Great Filter candidate. While the leap from semi-intelligent life (chimps) to intelligent life (humans) doesn’t at first seem like a miraculous step, Steven Pinker rejects the idea of an inevitable “climb upward” of evolution: “Since evolution does not strive for a goal but just happens, it uses the adaptation most useful for a given ecological niche, and the fact that, on Earth, this led to technological intelligence only once so far may suggest that this outcome of natural selection is rare and hence by no means a certain development of the evolution of a tree of life.”

 Most leaps do not qualify as Great Filter candidates. Any possible Great Filter must be one-in-a-billion type thing where one or more total freak occurrences need to happen to provide a crazy exception—for that reason, something like the jump from single-cell to multi-cellular life is ruled out, because it has occurred as many as 46 times , in isolated incidents, just on this planet alone. For the same reason, if we were to find a fossilized eukaryote cell on Mars, it would rule the above “simple-to-complex cell” leap out as a possible Great Filter (as well as anything before that point on the evolutionary chain)—because if it happened on both Earth and Mars, it’s almost definitely not a one-in-a-billion freak occurrence.

 If we are indeed rare, it could be because of a fluky biological event, but it also could be attributed to what is called the Rare Earth Hypothesis, which suggests that though there may be many Earth-like planets, the particular conditions on Earth—whether related to the specifics of this solar system, its relationship with the moon (a moon that large is unusual for such a small planet and contributes to our particular weather and ocean conditions), or something about the planet itself—are exceptionally friendly to life.

 2. We’re the First

 For Group 1 Thinkers, if the Great Filter is not behind us, the one hope we have is that conditions in the universe are just recently, for the first time since the Big Bang, reaching a place that would allow intelligent life to develop. In that case, we and many other species may be on our way to super-intelligence, and it simply hasn’t happened yet. We happen to be here at the right time to become one of the first super-intelligent civilizations.

 One example of a phenomenon that could make this realistic is the prevalence of gamma-ray bursts, insanely huge explosions that we’ve observed in distant galaxies. In the same way that it took the early Earth a few hundred million years before the asteroids and volcanoes died down and life became possible, it could be that the first chunk of the universe’s existence was full of cataclysmic events like gamma-ray bursts that would incinerate everything nearby from time to time and prevent any life from developing past a certain stage. Now, perhaps, we’re in the midst of an astrobiological phase transition and this is the first time any life has been able to evolve for this long, uninterrupted.

 3. We’re Fucked (The Great Filter is Ahead of Us)

 If we’re neither rare nor early, Group 1 thinkers conclude that The Great Filter must be in our future. This would suggest that life regularly evolves to where we are, but that something prevents life from going much further and reaching high intelligence in almost all cases—and we’re unlikely to be an exception.

 One possible future Great Filter is a regularly-occurring cataclysmic natural event, like the above-mentioned gamma-ray bursts, except they’re unfortunately not done yet and it’s just a matter of time before all life on Earth is suddenly wiped out by one. Another candidate is the possible inevitability that nearly all intelligent civilizations end up destroying themselves once a certain level of technology is reached.

 This is why Oxford University philosopher Nick Bostrom says that “no news is good news.” The discovery of even simple life on Mars would be devastating, because it would cut out a number of potential Great Filters behind us. And if we were to find fossilized complex life on Mars, Bostrom says “it would be by far the worst news ever printed on a newspaper cover,” because it would mean The Great Filter is almost definitely ahead of us—ultimately dooming the species. Bostrom believes that when it comes to The Fermi Paradox, “the silence of the night sky is golden.”

 Explanation Group 2: Type II and III intelligent civilizations are out there—and there are logical reasons why we might not have heard from them.

 Group 2 explanations get rid of any notion that we’re rare or special or the first at anything—on the contrary, they believe in the Mediocrity Principle, whose starting point is that there is nothing unusual or rare about our galaxy, solar system, planet, or level of intelligence, until evidence proves otherwise. They’re also much less quick to assume that the lack of evidence of higher intelligence beings is evidence of their nonexistence—emphasizing the fact that our search for signals stretches only about 100 light years away from us (0.1% across the galaxy) and suggesting a number of possible explanations. Here are 10:

 Possibility 1) Super-intelligent life could very well have already visited Earth, but before we were here. In the scheme of things, sentient humans have only been around for about 50,000 years, a little blip of time. If contact happened before then, it might have made some ducks flip out and run into the water and that’s it. Further, recorded history only goes back 5,500 years—a group of ancient hunter-gatherer tribes may have experienced some crazy alien shit, but they had no good way to tell anyone in the future about it.

 Possibility 2) The galaxy has been colonized, but we just live in some desolate rural area of the galaxy. The Americas may have been colonized by Europeans long before anyone in a small Inuit tribe in far northern Canada realized it had happened. There could be an urbanization component to the interstellar dwellings of higher species, in which all the neighboring solar systems in a certain area are colonized and in communication, and it would be impractical and purposeless for anyone to deal with coming all the way out to the random part of the spiral where we live.

 Possibility 3) The entire concept of physical colonization is a hilariously backward concept to a more advanced species. Remember the picture of the Type II Civilization above with the sphere around their star? With all that energy, they might have created a perfect environment for themselves that satisfies their every need. They might have crazy-advanced ways of reducing their need for resources and zero interest in leaving their happy utopia to explore the cold, empty, undeveloped universe.

 An even more advanced civilization might view the entire physical world as a horribly primitive place, having long ago conquered their own biology and uploaded their brains to a virtual reality, eternal-life paradise. Living in the physical world of biology, mortality, wants, and needs might seem to them the way we view primitive ocean species living in the frigid, dark sea. FYI, thinking about another life form having bested mortality makes me incredibly jealous and upset.

 Possibility 4) There are scary predator civilizations out there, and most intelligent life knows better than to broadcast any outgoing signals and advertise their location. This is an unpleasant concept and would help explain the lack of any signals being received by the SETI satellites. It also means that we might be the super naive newbies who are being unbelievably stupid and risky by ever broadcasting outward signals. There’s a debate going on currently about whether we should engage in METI (Messaging to Extraterrestrial Intelligence—the reverse of SETI) or not, and most people say we should not. Stephen Hawking warns, “If aliens visit us, the outcome would be much as when Columbus landed in America, which didn’t turn out well for the Native Americans.” Even Carl Sagan (a general believer that any civilization advanced enough for interstellar travel would be altruistic, not hostile) called the practice of METI “deeply unwise and immature,” and recommended that “the newest children in a strange and uncertain cosmos should listen quietly for a long time, patiently learning about the universe and comparing notes, before shouting into an unknown jungle that we do not understand.” Scary.1

 Possibility 5) There’s only one instance of higher-intelligent life—a “superpredator” civilization (like humans are here on Earth)—that is far more advanced than everyone else and keeps it that way by exterminating any intelligent civilization once they get past a certain level. This would suck. The way it might work is that it’s an inefficient use of resources to exterminate all emerging intelligences, maybe because most die out on their own. But past a certain point, the super beings make their move—because to them, an emerging intelligent species becomes like a virus as it starts to grow and spread. This theory suggests that whoever was the first in the galaxy to reach intelligence won, and now no one else has a chance. This would explain the lack of activity out there because it would keep the number of super-intelligent civilizations to just one.

 Possibility 6) There’s plenty of activity and noise out there, but our technology is too primitive and we’re listening for the wrong things. Like walking into a modern-day office building, turning on a walkie-talkie, and when you hear no activity (which of course you wouldn’t hear because everyone’s texting, not using walkie-talkies), determining that the building must be empty. Or maybe, as Carl Sagan has pointed out, it could be that our minds work exponentially faster or slower than another form of intelligence out there—e.g. it takes them 12 years to say “Hello,” and when we hear that communication, it just sounds like white noise to us.

 Possibility 7) We are receiving contact from other intelligent life, but the government is hiding it. The more I learn about the topic, the more t his seems like an idiotic theory, but I had to mention it because it’s talked about so much.

 Possibility 8) Higher civilizations are aware of us and observing us (AKA the “Zoo Hypothesis”). As far as we know, super-intelligent civilizations exist in a tightly-regulated galaxy, and our Earth is treated like part of a vast and protected national park, with a strict “Look but don’t touch” rule for planets like ours. We wouldn’t notice them, because i f a far smarter species wanted to observe us , it would know how to easi ly do so without us realizing it . Maybe there’s a rule similar to the Star Trek’s “Prime Directive” which prohibits super-intelligent beings from making any open contact with lesser species like us or revealing themselves in any way, until the lesser species has reached a certain level of intelligence.

 Possibility 9) Higher civilizations are here, all around us. But we’re too primitive to perceive them. Michio Kaku sums it up like this:

 Let’s say we have an anthill in the middle of the forest. And right next to the anthill, they’re building a ten-lane super-highway. And the question is “Would the ants be able to understand what a ten-lane super-highway is? Would the ants be able to understand the technology and the intentions of the beings building the highway next to them?”

 So it’s not that we can’t pick up the signals from Planet X using our technology, it’s that we can’t even comprehend what the beings from Planet X are or what they’re trying to do. It’s so beyond us that even if they really wanted to enlighten us, it would be like trying to teach ants about the internet.

 Along those lines, this may also be an answer to “Well if there are so many fancy Type III Civilizations, why haven’t they contacted us yet?” To answer that, let’s ask ourselves—when Pizarro made his way into Peru, did he stop for a while at an anthill to try to communicate? Was he magnanimous, trying to help the ants in the anthill? Did he become hostile and slow his original mission down in order to smash the anthill apart? Or was the anthill of complete and utter and eternal irrelevance to Pizarro? That might be our situation here.

 Possibility 10) We’re completely wrong about our reality . There are a lot of ways we could just be totally off with everything we think. The universe might appear one way and be something else entirely, like a hologram. Or maybe we’re the aliens and we were planted here as an experiment or as a form of fertilizer. There’s even a chance that we’re all part of a computer simulation by some researcher from another world, and other forms of life simply weren’t programmed into the simulation.

 ________________

 As we continue along with our possibly-futile search for extraterrestrial intelligence, I’m not really sure what I’m rooting for. Frankly, learning either that we’re officially alone in the universe or that we’re officially joined by others would be creepy, which is a theme with all of the surreal storylines listed above—whatever the truth actually is, it’s mindblowing.

 Beyond its shocking science fiction component, The Fermi Paradox also leaves me with a deep humbling. No t just the normal “Oh yeah, I’m microscopic and my existence lasts for three seconds” humbling that the universe always triggers. The Fermi Paradox brings out a sharper, more personal humbling, one that can only happen after spending hours of research hearing your species’ most renowned scientists present insane theories, change their minds again and again, and wildly contradict each other—reminding us that future generations will look at us the same way we see the ancient people who were sure that the stars were the underside of the dome of heaven, and they’ll think “Wow they really had no idea what was going on.”

 Compounding all of this is the blow to our species’ self-esteem that comes with all of this talk about Type II and III Civilizations. Here on Earth, we’re the king of our little castle, proud ruler of the huge group of imbeciles who share the planet with us. And in this bubble with no competition and no one to judge us, it’s rare that we’re ever confronted with the concept of being a dramatically inferior species to anyone. But after spending a lot of time with Type II and III Civilizations over the past week, our power and pride are seeming a bit David Brent-esque.

 That said, given that my normal outlook is that humanity is a lonely orphan on a tiny rock in the middle of a desolate universe, the humbling fact that we’re probably not as smart as we think we are, and the possibility that a lot of what we’re sure about might be wrong, sounds wonderful. It opens the door just a crack that maybe, just maybe, there might be more to the story than we realize.

 Three more Wait But Why mind-benders:

 How (and Why) SpaceX Will Colonize Mars – A post I got to work on with Elon Musk and one that reframed my mental picture of the future.

 The AI Revolution: Road to Superintelligence – Why any aliens that do visit us are likely to be artificial, not biological. We may not be the king of our castle for very much longer…

 What Makes You You – It’s a harder question than you think.

 Some other popular Wait But Why posts:

 Why Procrastinators Procrastinate
 How to Pick Your Life Partner
 The Tail End
 Your Life in Weeks
 Religion for the Nonreligious

 If you’re interested in supporting Wait But Why, here’s our Patreon.

 Sources:
 PNAS: Prevalence of Earth-size planets orbiting Sun-like stars
 SETI: The Drake Equation
 NASA: Workshop Report on the Future of Intelligence In The Cosmos
 Keith Wiley: The Fermi Paradox, Self-Replicating Probes, and the Interstellar Transportation Bandwidth
 NCBI: Astrobiological phase transition: towards resolution of Fermi’s paradox
 André Kukla: Extraterrestrials: A Philosophical Perspective
 Nick Bostrom: Where Are They?
 Science Direct: Galactic gradients, postbiological evolution and the apparent failure of SETI
 Nature: Simulations back up theory that Universe is a hologram
 Robin Hanson: The Great Filter – Are We Almost Past It?
 John Dyson: Search for Artificial Stellar Sources of Infrared Radiation

 1. Thinking about this logically, I think we should disregard all the warnings and get the outgoing signals rolling. If we catch the attention of super-advanced beings, yes, they might decide to wipe out our whole existence, but that’s not that different than our current fate (to each die within a century). And maybe, instead, they’d invite us to upload our brains into their eternal virtual utopia, which would solve the death problem and also probably allow me to achieve my childhood dream of bouncing around on the clouds. Sounds like a good gamble to me.↩

 1. The Drake Equation provides a formal method for this narrowing-down process we’re doing.↩

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Everyone feels something when they’re in a really good starry place on a really good starry night and they look up and see this:
   
Some people stick with the traditional, feeling struck by the epic beauty or blown away by the insane scale of the universe. Personally, I go for the old “existential meltdown followed by acting weird for the next half hour.” But everyone feels something.
Physicist Enrico Fermi felt something too—”Where is everybody?”
________________
A really starry sky seems vast—but all we’re looking at is our very local neighborhood. On the very best nights, we can see up to about 2,500 stars (roughly one hundred-millionth of the stars in our galaxy), and almost all of them are less than 1,000 light years away from us (or 1% of the diameter of the Milky Way). So what we’re really looking at is this:
   
Galaxy image: Nick Risinger 
When confronted with the topic of stars and galaxies, a question that tantalizes most humans is, “Is there other intelligent life out there?” Let’s put some numbers to it—
As many stars as there are in our galaxy (100 – 400 billion), there are roughly an equal number of galaxies in the observable universe—so for every star in the colossal Milky Way, there’s a whole galaxy out there. All together, that comes out to the typically quoted range of between 1022 and 1024 total stars, which means that for every grain of sand on every beach on Earth, there are 10,000 stars out there.
The science world isn’t in total agreement about what percentage of those stars are “sun-like” (similar in size, temperature, and luminosity)—opinions typically range from 5% to 20%. Going with the most conservative side of that (5%), and the lower end for the number of total stars (1022), gives us 500 quintillion, or 500 billion billion sun-like stars.  
There’s also a debate over what percentage of those sun-like stars might be orbited by an Earth-like planet (one with similar temperature conditions that could have liquid water and potentially support life similar to that on Earth). Some say it’s as high as 50%, but let’s go with the more conservative 22% that came out of a recent PNAS study. That suggests that there’s a potentially-habitable Earth-like planet orbiting at least 1% of the total stars in the universe—a total of 100 billion billion Earth-like planets. 
So there are 100 Earth-like planets for every grain of sand in the world. Think about that next time you’re on the beach.
Moving forward, we have no choice but to get completely speculative. Let’s imagine that after billions of years in existence, 1% of Earth-like planets develop life (if that’s true, every grain of sand would represent one planet with life on it). And imagine that on 1% of those planets, the life advances to an intelligent level like it did here on Earth. That would mean there were 10 quadrillion, or 10 million billion intelligent civilizations in the observable universe. 
Moving back to just our galaxy, and doing the same math on the lowest estimate for stars in the Milky Way (100 billion), we’d estimate that there are 1 billion Earth-like planets and 100,000 intelligent civilizations in our galaxy. 1
 SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) is an organization dedicated to listening for signals from other intelligent life. If we’re right that there are 100,000 or more intelligent civilizations in our galaxy, and even a fraction of them are sending out radio waves or laser beams or other modes of attempting to contact others, shouldn’t SETI’s satellite dish array pick up all kinds of signals?
But it hasn’t. Not one. Ever.
 Where is everybody? 
It gets stranger. Our sun is relatively young in the lifespan of the universe. There are far older stars with far older Earth-like planets, which should in theory mean civilizations far more advanced than our own. As an example, let’s compare our 4.54-billion-year-old Earth to a hypothetical 8-billion-year-old Planet X.
   
If Planet X has a similar story to Earth, let’s look at where their civilization would be today (using the orange timespan as a reference to show how huge the green timespan is):
   
The technology and knowledge of a civilization only 1,000 years ahead of us could be as shocking to us as our world would be to a medieval person. A civilization 1 million years ahead of us might be as incomprehensible to us as human culture is to chimpanzees. And Planet X is 3.4 billion years ahead of us…
There’s something called The Kardashev Scale, which helps us group intelligent civilizations into three broad categories by the amount of energy they use:
A Type I Civilization has the ability to use all of the energy on their planet. We’re not quite a Type I Civilization, but we’re close (Carl Sagan created a formula for this scale which puts us at a Type 0.7 Civilization).
A Type II Civilization can harness all of the energy of their host star. Our feeble Type I brains can hardly imagine how someone would do this, but we’ve tried our best, imagining things like a Dyson Sphere.
   
A Type III Civilization blows the other two away, accessing power comparable to that of the entire Milky Way galaxy.
If this level of advancement sounds hard to believe, remember Planet X above and their 3.4 billion years of further development. If a civilization on Planet X were similar to ours and were able to survive all the way to Type III level, the natural thought is that they’d probably have mastered inter-stellar travel by now, possibly even colonizing the entire galaxy.
One hypothesis as to how galactic colonization could happen is by creating machinery that can travel to other planets, spend 500 years or so self-replicating using the raw materials on their new planet, and then send two replicas off to do the same thing. Even without traveling anywhere near the speed of light, this process would colonize the whole galaxy in 3.75 million years, a relative blink of an eye when talking in the scale of billions of years:
   
 Source: Scientific American: “Where Are They”  
Continuing to speculate, if 1% of intelligent life survives long enough to become a potentially galaxy-colonizing Type III Civilization, our calculations above suggest that there should be at least 1,000 Type III Civilizations in our galaxy alone—and given the power of such a civilization, their presence would likely be pretty noticeable. And yet, we see nothing, hear nothing, and we’re visited by no one.
 So where is everybody? 
_____________________
Welcome to the Fermi Paradox.
We have no answer to the Fermi Paradox—the best we can do is “possible explanations.” And if you ask ten different scientists what their hunch is about the correct one, you’ll get ten different answers. You know when you hear about humans of the past debating whether the Earth was round or if the sun revolved around the Earth or thinking that lightning happened because of Zeus, and they seem so primitive and in the dark? That’s about where we are with this topic.
In taking a look at some of the most-discussed possible explanations for the Fermi Paradox, let’s divide them into two broad categories—those explanations which assume that there’s no sign of Type II and Type III Civilizations because there are none of them out there, and those which assume they’re out there and we’re not seeing or hearing anything for other reasons.
 Explanation Group 1: There are no signs of higher (Type II and III) civilizations because there are no higher civilizations in existence. 
Those who subscribe to Group 1 explanations point to something called the non-exclusivity problem, which rebuffs any theory that says, “There are higher civilizations, but none of them have made any kind of contact with us because they all _____.” Group 1 people look at the math, which says there should be so many thousands (or millions) of higher civilizations, that at least one of them would be an exception to the rule. Even if a theory held for 99.99% of higher civilizations, the other .01% would behave differently and we’d become aware of their existence.
Therefore, say Group 1 explanations, it must be that there are no super-advanced civilizations. And since the math suggests that there are thousands of them just in our own galaxy, something else must be going on.
This something else is called The Great Filter. 
The Great Filter theory says that at some point from pre-life to Type III intelligence, there’s a wall that all or nearly all attempts at life hit. There’s some stage in that long evolutionary process that is extremely unlikely or impossible for life to get beyond. That stage is The Great Filter.
   
If this theory is true, the big question is, Where in the timeline does the Great Filter occur?  
It turns out that when it comes to the fate of humankind, this question is very important. Depending on where The Great Filter occurs, we’re left with three possible realities: We’re rare, we’re first, or we’re fucked. 
 1. We’re Rare (The Great Filter is Behind Us) 
One hope we have is that The Great Filter is behind us—we managed to surpass it, which would mean it’s extremely rare for life to make it to our level of intelligence. The diagram below shows only two species making it past, and we’re one of them.
   
This scenario would explain why there are no Type III Civilizations…but it would also mean that we could be one of the few exceptions now that we’ve made it this far. It would mean we have hope. On the surface, this sounds a bit like people 500 years ago suggesting that the Earth is the center of the universe—it implies that we’re special. However, something scientists call “observation selection effect” suggests that anyone who is pondering their own rarity is inherently part of an intelligent life “success story”—and whether they’re actually rare or quite common, the thoughts they ponder and conclusions they draw will be identical. This forces us to admit that being special is at least a possibility.
And if we are special, when exactly did we become special—i.e. which step did we surpass that almost everyone else gets stuck on?  
 One possibility: The Great Filter could be at the very beginning—it might be incredibly unusual for life to begin at all. This is a candidate because it took about a billion years of Earth’s existence to finally happen, and because we have tried extensively to replicate that event in labs and have never been able to do it. If this is indeed The Great Filter, it would mean that not only is there no intelligent life out there, there may be no other life at all. 
 Another possibility: The Great Filter could be the jump from the simple prokaryote cell to the complex eukaryote cell. After prokaryotes came into being, they remained that way for almost two billion years before making the evolutionary jump to being complex and having a nucleus. If this is The Great Filter, it would mean the universe is teeming with simple prokaryote cells and almost nothing beyond that.
There are a number of other possibilities—some even think the most recent leap we’ve made to our current intelligence is a Great Filter candidate. While the leap from semi-intelligent life (chimps) to intelligent life (humans) doesn’t at first seem like a miraculous step, Steven Pinker rejects the idea of an inevitable “climb upward” of evolution: “Since evolution does not strive for a goal but just happens, it uses the adaptation most useful for a given ecological niche, and the fact that, on Earth, this led to technological intelligence only once so far may suggest that this outcome of natural selection is rare and hence by no means a certain development of the evolution of a tree of life.”
Most leaps do not qualify as Great Filter candidates. Any possible Great Filter must be one-in-a-billion type thing where one or more total freak occurrences need to happen to provide a crazy exception—for that reason, something like the jump from single-cell to multi-cellular life is ruled out, because it has occurred as many as 46 times, in isolated incidents, just on this planet alone. For the same reason, if we were to find a fossilized eukaryote cell on Mars, it would rule the above “simple-to-complex cell” leap out as a possible Great Filter (as well as anything before that point on the evolutionary chain)—because if it happened on both Earth and Mars, it’s almost definitely not a one-in-a-billion freak occurrence.
If we are indeed rare, it could be because of a fluky biological event, but it also could be attributed to what is called the Rare Earth Hypothesis, which suggests that though there may be many Earth-like planets, the particular conditions on Earth—whether related to the specifics of this solar system, its relationship with the moon (a moon that large is unusual for such a small planet and contributes to our particular weather and ocean conditions), or something about the planet itself—are exceptionally friendly to life.
 2. We’re the First 
   
For Group 1 Thinkers, if the Great Filter is not behind us, the one hope we have is that conditions in the universe are just recently, for the first time since the Big Bang, reaching a place that would allow intelligent life to develop. In that case, we and many other species may be on our way to super-intelligence, and it simply hasn’t happened yet. We happen to be here at the right time to become one of the first super-intelligent civilizations.
One example of a phenomenon that could make this realistic is the prevalence of gamma-ray bursts, insanely huge explosions that we’ve observed in distant galaxies. In the same way that it took the early Earth a few hundred million years before the asteroids and volcanoes died down and life became possible, it could be that the first chunk of the universe’s existence was full of cataclysmic events like gamma-ray bursts that would incinerate everything nearby from time to time and prevent any life from developing past a certain stage. Now, perhaps, we’re in the midst of an astrobiological phase transition and this is the first time any life has been able to evolve for this long, uninterrupted.
 3. We’re Fucked (The Great Filter is Ahead of Us) 
   
If we’re neither rare nor early, Group 1 thinkers conclude that The Great Filter must be in our future. This would suggest that life regularly evolves to where we are, but that something prevents life from going much further and reaching high intelligence in almost all cases—and we’re unlikely to be an exception.
One possible future Great Filter is a regularly-occurring cataclysmic natural event, like the above-mentioned gamma-ray bursts, except they’re unfortunately not done yet and it’s just a matter of time before all life on Earth is suddenly wiped out by one. Another candidate is the possible inevitability that nearly all intelligent civilizations end up destroying themselves once a certain level of technology is reached.
This is why Oxford University philosopher Nick Bostrom says that “no news is good news.” The discovery of even simple life on Mars would be devastating, because it would cut out a number of potential Great Filters behind us. And if we were to find fossilized complex life on Mars, Bostrom says “it would be by far the worst news ever printed on a newspaper cover,” because it would mean The Great Filter is almost definitely ahead of us—ultimately dooming the species. Bostrom believes that when it comes to The Fermi Paradox, “the silence of the night sky is golden.”
 Explanation Group 2: Type II and III intelligent civilizations are out there—and there are logical reasons why we might not have heard from them. 
Group 2 explanations get rid of any notion that we’re rare or special or the first at anything—on the contrary, they believe in the Mediocrity Principle, whose starting point is that there is nothing unusual or rare about our galaxy, solar system, planet, or level of intelligence, until evidence proves otherwise. They’re also much less quick to assume that the lack of evidence of higher intelligence beings is evidence of their nonexistence—emphasizing the fact that our search for signals stretches only about 100 light years away from us (0.1% across the galaxy) and suggesting a number of possible explanations. Here are 10:
 Possibility 1) Super-intelligent life could very well have already visited Earth, but before we were here. In the scheme of things, sentient humans have only been around for about 50,000 years, a little blip of time. If contact happened before then, it might have made some ducks flip out and run into the water and that’s it. Further, recorded history only goes back 5,500 years—a group of ancient hunter-gatherer tribes may have experienced some crazy alien shit, but they had no good way to tell anyone in the future about it.
 Possibility  2) The galaxy has been colonized, but we just live in some desolate rural area of the galaxy. The Americas may have been colonized by Europeans long before anyone in a small Inuit tribe in far northern Canada realized it had happened. There could be an urbanization component to the interstellar dwellings of higher species, in which all the neighboring solar systems in a certain area are colonized and in communication, and it would be impractical and purposeless for anyone to deal with coming all the way out to the random part of the spiral where we live.
 Possibility  3) The entire concept of physical colonization is a hilariously backward concept to a more advanced species. Remember the picture of the Type II Civilization above with the sphere around their star? With all that energy, they might have created a perfect environment for themselves that satisfies their every need. They might have crazy-advanced ways of reducing their need for resources and zero interest in leaving their happy utopia to explore the cold, empty, undeveloped universe.
An even more advanced civilization might view the entire physical world as a horribly primitive place, having long ago conquered their own biology and uploaded their brains to a virtual reality, eternal-life paradise. Living in the physical world of biology, mortality, wants, and needs might seem to them the way we view primitive ocean species living in the frigid, dark sea. FYI, thinking about another life form having bested mortality makes me incredibly jealous and upset.
 Possibility  4) There are scary predator civilizations out there, and most intelligent life knows better than to broadcast any outgoing signals and advertise their location. This is an unpleasant concept and would help explain the lack of any signals being received by the SETI satellites. It also means that we might be the super naive newbies who are being unbelievably stupid and risky by ever broadcasting outward signals. There’s a debate going on currently about whether we should engage in METI (Messaging to Extraterrestrial Intelligence—the reverse of SETI) or not, and most people say we should not. Stephen Hawking warns, “If aliens visit us, the outcome would be much as when Columbus landed in America, which didn’t turn out well for the Native Americans.” Even Carl Sagan (a general believer that any civilization advanced enough for interstellar travel would be altruistic, not hostile) called the practice of METI “deeply unwise and immature,” and recommended that “the newest children in a strange and uncertain cosmos should listen quietly for a long time, patiently learning about the universe and comparing notes, before shouting into an unknown jungle that we do not understand.” Scary.1
  Possibility  5) There’s only one instance of higher-intelligent life—a “superpredator” civilization (like humans are here on Earth)—that is far more advanced than everyone else and keeps it that way by exterminating any intelligent civilization once they get past a certain level. This would suck. The way it might work is that it’s an inefficient use of resources to exterminate all emerging intelligences, maybe because most die out on their own. But past a certain point, the super beings make their move—because to them, an emerging intelligent species becomes like a virus as it starts to grow and spread. This theory suggests that whoever was the first in the galaxy to reach intelligence won, and now no one else has a chance. This would explain the lack of activity out there because it would keep the number of super-intelligent civilizations to just one.
 Possibility  6) There’s plenty of activity and noise out there, but our technology is too primitive and we’re listening for the wrong things. Like walking into a modern-day office building, turning on a walkie-talkie, and when you hear no activity (which of course you wouldn’t hear because everyone’s texting, not using walkie-talkies), determining that the building must be empty. Or maybe, as Carl Sagan has pointed out, it could be that our minds work exponentially faster or slower than another form of intelligence out there—e.g. it takes them 12 years to say “Hello,” and when we hear that communication, it just sounds like white noise to us.
 Possibility  7) We are receiving contact from other intelligent life, but the government is hiding it. The more I learn about the topic, the more this seems like an idiotic theory, but I had to mention it because it’s talked about so much.
 Possibility  8) Higher civilizations are aware of us and observing us (AKA the “Zoo Hypothesis”). As far as we know, super-intelligent civilizations exist in a tightly-regulated galaxy, and our Earth is treated like part of a vast and protected national park, with a strict “Look but don’t touch” rule for planets like ours. We wouldn’t notice them, because if a far smarter species wanted to observe us, it would know how to easily do so without us realizing it. Maybe there’s a rule similar to the Star Trek’s “Prime Directive” which prohibits super-intelligent beings from making any open contact with lesser species like us or revealing themselves in any way, until the lesser species has reached a certain level of intelligence.
 Possibility  9) Higher civilizations are here, all around us. But we’re too primitive to perceive them. Michio Kaku sums it up like this: 
 Let’s say we have an anthill in the middle of the forest. And right next to the anthill, they’re building a ten-lane super-highway. And the question is “Would the ants be able to understand what a ten-lane super-highway is? Would the ants be able to understand the technology and the intentions of the beings building the highway next to them?” 
So it’s not that we can’t pick up the signals from Planet X using our technology, it’s that we can’t even comprehend what the beings from Planet X are or what they’re trying to do. It’s so beyond us that even if they really wanted to enlighten us, it would be like trying to teach ants about the internet.
Along those lines, this may also be an answer to “Well if there are so many fancy Type III Civilizations, why haven’t they contacted us yet?” To answer that, let’s ask ourselves—when Pizarro made his way into Peru, did he stop for a while at an anthill to try to communicate? Was he magnanimous, trying to help the ants in the anthill? Did he become hostile and slow his original mission down in order to smash the anthill apart? Or was the anthill of complete and utter and eternal irrelevance to Pizarro? That might be our situation here.
 Possibility  10) We’re completely wrong about our reality. There are a lot of ways we could just be totally off with everything we think. The universe might appear one way and be something else entirely, like a hologram. Or maybe we’re the aliens and we were planted here as an experiment or as a form of fertilizer. There’s even a chance that we’re all part of a computer simulation by some researcher from another world, and other forms of life simply weren’t programmed into the simulation.
________________
As we continue along with our possibly-futile search for extraterrestrial intelligence, I’m not really sure what I’m rooting for. Frankly, learning either that we’re officially alone in the universe or that we’re officially joined by others would be creepy, which is a theme with all of the surreal storylines listed above—whatever the truth actually is, it’s mindblowing.
Beyond its shocking science fiction component, The Fermi Paradox also leaves me with a deep humbling. Not just the normal “Oh yeah, I’m microscopic and my existence lasts for three seconds” humbling that the universe always triggers. The Fermi Paradox brings out a sharper, more personal humbling, one that can only happen after spending hours of research hearing your species’ most renowned scientists present insane theories, change their minds again and again, and wildly contradict each other—reminding us that future generations will look at us the same way we see the ancient people who were sure that the stars were the underside of the dome of heaven, and they’ll think “Wow they really had no idea what was going on.”
Compounding all of this is the blow to our species’ self-esteem that comes with all of this talk about Type II and III Civilizations. Here on Earth, we’re the king of our little castle, proud ruler of the huge group of imbeciles who share the planet with us. And in this bubble with no competition and no one to judge us, it’s rare that we’re ever confronted with the concept of being a dramatically inferior species to anyone. But after spending a lot of time with Type II and III Civilizations over the past week, our power and pride are seeming a bit David Brent-esque.
That said, given that my normal outlook is that humanity is a lonely orphan on a tiny rock in the middle of a desolate universe, the humbling fact that we’re probably not as smart as we think we are, and the possibility that a lot of what we’re sure about might be wrong, sounds wonderful. It opens the door just a crack that maybe, just maybe, there might be more to the story than we realize.
 Three more Wait But Why mind-benders: 
  How (and Why) SpaceX Will Colonize Mars  – A post I got to work on with Elon Musk and one that reframed my mental picture of the future.
  The AI Revolution: Road to Superintelligence  – Why any aliens that do visit us are likely to be artificial, not biological. We may not be the king of our castle for very much longer…
  What Makes You You  – It’s a harder question than you think.
 Some other popular Wait But Why posts: 
 Why Procrastinators Procrastinate  
How to Pick Your Life Partner
 The Tail End 
Your Life in Weeks 
Religion for the Nonreligious 
If you’re interested in supporting Wait But Why, here’s our Patreon. 
 
   
 Sources: 
PNAS: Prevalence of Earth-size planets orbiting Sun-like stars 
SETI: The Drake Equation 
NASA: Workshop Report on the Future of Intelligence In The Cosmos 
Keith Wiley: The Fermi Paradox, Self-Replicating Probes, and the Interstellar Transportation Bandwidth 
NCBI: Astrobiological phase transition: towards resolution of Fermi’s paradox 
André Kukla: Extraterrestrials: A Philosophical Perspective 
Nick Bostrom: Where Are They? 
Science Direct: Galactic gradients, postbiological evolution and the apparent failure of SETI 
Nature: Simulations back up theory that Universe is a hologram 
Robin Hanson: The Great Filter – Are We Almost Past It? 
John Dyson: Search for Artificial Stellar Sources of Infrared Radiation
The Fermi Paradox - Wait But Why
https://waitbutwhy.com/2014/05/fermi-paradox.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog
Blog
2001-11-01
Authority control databases National France BnF data Israel United States Latvia
<div><div>
<p>A <b>blog</b> (a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clipping_(morphology)">truncation</a> of "<b>weblog</b>")<sup><a href="#cite_note-1">[1]</a></sup> is an informational <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Website">website</a> consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverse_chronology">reverse chronological order</a> so that the most recent post appears first, at the top of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_page">web page</a>. Until 2009, blogs were often the work of a single individual, occasionally of a small group, and often covered a single subject or topic. In the 2010s, "multi-author blogs" (MABs) emerged, featuring the writing of multiple <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Author">authors</a> and sometimes professionally <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Editing">edited</a>. MABs from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newspaper">newspapers</a>, other <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/News_media">media outlets</a>, universities, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Think_tank">think tanks</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advocacy_group">advocacy groups</a>, and similar institutions account for an increasing quantity of blog <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_traffic">traffic</a>. The rise of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twitter">Twitter</a> and other "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microblogging">microblogging</a>" systems helps integrate MABs and single-author blogs into the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/News_media">news media</a>. <i>Blog</i> can also be used as a verb, meaning <i>to maintain or add content to a blog</i>.
</p><p>The emergence and growth of blogs in the late 1990s coincided with the advent of web publishing tools that facilitated the posting of content by non-technical users who did not have much experience with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTML">HTML</a> or <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_programming">computer programming</a>. Previously, knowledge of such technologies as HTML and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_Transfer_Protocol">File Transfer Protocol</a> had been required to publish content on the Web, and early Web users therefore tended to be <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacker">hackers</a> and computer enthusiasts. As of the 2010s, the majority are interactive <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2.0">Web 2.0</a> websites, allowing visitors to leave online comments, and it is this interactivity that distinguishes them from other static websites.<sup><a href="#cite_note-2">[2]</a></sup> In that sense, blogging can be seen as a form of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_networking_service">social networking service</a>. Indeed, bloggers not only produce content to post on their blogs but also often build social relations with their readers and other bloggers.<sup><a href="#cite_note-3">[3]</a></sup> Blog owners or authors often <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_forum#Moderators">moderate</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wordfilter">filter</a> online comments to remove <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hate_speech">hate speech</a> or other offensive content. There are also high-readership blogs which do not allow comments.
</p><p>Many blogs provide commentary on a particular subject or topic, ranging from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy">philosophy</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion">religion</a>, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art">arts</a> to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science">science</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics">politics</a>, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sport">sports</a>. Others function as more personal <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_diary">online diaries</a> or <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_advertising">online brand advertising</a> of a particular individual or company. A typical blog combines text, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_image">digital images</a>, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperlink">links</a> to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its topic. Most blogs are primarily textual, although some focus on art (<i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_blog">art blogs</a></i>), photographs (<i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photoblog">photoblogs</a></i>), videos (<i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_blog">video blogs</a></i> or "<i>vlogs</i>"), music (<i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MP3_blog">MP3 blogs</a></i>), and audio (<i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podcast">podcasts</a></i>). In education, blogs can be used as instructional resources; these are referred to as <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edublog">edublogs</a></i>. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microblogging">Microblogging</a> is another type of blogging, featuring very short posts.
</p><p>'Blog' and 'blogging' are now loosely used for content creation and sharing on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_media">social media</a>, especially when the content is long-form and one creates and shares content on regular basis. So, one could be maintaining a blog on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook">Facebook</a> or blogging on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instagram">Instagram</a>. Blogging is writing about what you like. In other words, writing about what you know and providing valuable information to people searching for it.
</p><p>A 2022 estimate suggested that there were over 600 million public blogs out of more than 1.9 billion websites.<sup><a href="#cite_note-4">[4]</a></sup>
</p>
<h2></h2>
<figure><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Eastcampusfire_glog_crop.png"></a><figcaption>An early example of a "diary" style blog consisting of text and images transmitted wirelessly in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real-time_computing">real-time</a> from a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wearable_computer">wearable computer</a> with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head-up_display">head-up display</a>, February 22, 1995</figcaption></figure>
<p>The term "weblog" was coined by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jorn_Barger">Jorn Barger</a><sup><a href="#cite_note-5">[5]</a></sup> on December 17, 1997. The short form "blog" was coined by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Peter_Merholz&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Peter Merholz</a>, who jokingly broke the word <i>weblog</i> into the phrase <i>we blog</i> in the sidebar of his blog Peterme.com in May 1999.<sup><a href="#cite_note-6">[6]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-7">[7]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-8">[8]</a></sup> Shortly thereafter, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evan_Williams_(Internet_entrepreneur)">Evan Williams</a> at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyra_Labs">Pyra Labs</a> used "blog" as both a noun and verb ("to blog", meaning "to edit one's weblog or to post to one's weblog") and devised the term "blogger" in connection with Pyra Labs' <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blogger_(service)">Blogger</a> product, leading to the popularization of the terms.<sup><a href="#cite_note-9">[9]</a></sup>
</p>
<h3></h3>
<p>Before blogging became popular, digital communities took many forms, including <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usenet">Usenet</a>, commercial online services such as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GEnie">GEnie</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byte_Information_Exchange">Byte Information Exchange</a> (BIX) and the early <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CompuServe">CompuServe</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_mailing_list">e-mail lists</a>,<sup><a href="#cite_note-10">[10]</a></sup> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulletin_Board_System">Bulletin Board Systems</a> (BBS). In the 1990s, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_forum">Internet forum</a> software created running conversations with "threads". Threads are topical connections between messages on a virtual "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulletin_board">corkboard</a>".<sup>[<i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Please_clarify"></a></i>]</sup>
</p><p>Berners-Lee also created what is considered by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica">Encyclopedia Britannica</a> to be "the first 'blog" in 1992 to discuss the progress made on creating the World Wide Web and software used for it.<sup><a href="#cite_note-11">[11]</a></sup>
</p><p>From June 14, 1993, Mosaic Communications Corporation maintained their "What's New"<sup><a href="#cite_note-12">[12]</a></sup> list of new websites, updated daily and archived monthly. The page was accessible by a special "What's New" button in the Mosaic web browser.
</p><p>In November 1993 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ranjit_Bhatnagar&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Ranjit Bhatnagar</a> started writing about interesting sites, pages and discussion groups he found on the internet, as well as some personal information, on his website Moonmilk, arranging them chronologically in a special section called Ranjit's HTTP Playground.<sup><a href="#cite_note-13">[13]</a></sup> Other early pioneers of blogging, such as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_Hall">Justin Hall</a>, credit him with being an inspiration.<sup><a href="#cite_note-14">[14]</a></sup>
</p><p>The earliest instance of a commercial blog was on the first <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_to_consumer">business to consumer</a> Web site created in 1995 by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ty_Inc">Ty, Inc.</a>, which featured a blog in a section called "Online Diary". The entries were maintained by featured <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beanie_Babies">Beanie Babies</a> that were voted for monthly by Web site visitors.<sup><a href="#cite_note-BeanieBabies-15">[15]</a></sup>
</p><p>The modern blog evolved from the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_diary">online diary</a> where people would keep a running account of the events in their personal lives. Most such writers called themselves diarists, journalists, or journalers. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_Hall">Justin Hall</a>, who began personal blogging in 1994 while a student at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swarthmore_College">Swarthmore College</a>, is generally recognized as one of the earlier bloggers,<sup><a href="#cite_note-16">[16]</a></sup> as is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Pournelle">Jerry Pournelle</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-17">[17]</a></sup> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Winer">Dave Winer</a>'s Scripting News is also credited with being one of the older and longer running weblogs.<sup><a href="#cite_note-18">[18]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-19">[19]</a></sup> The Australian Netguide magazine maintained the Daily Net News<sup><a href="#cite_note-20">[20]</a></sup> on their web site from 1996. Daily Net News ran links and daily reviews of new websites, mostly in Australia.
</p><p>Another early blog was Wearable Wireless Webcam, an online shared diary of a person's personal life combining text, digital video, and digital pictures transmitted live from a wearable computer and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EyeTap">EyeTap</a> device to a web site in 1994. This practice of semi-automated blogging with live video together with text was referred to as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sousveillance">sousveillance</a>, and such journals were also used as evidence in legal matters. Some early bloggers, such as The Misanthropic Bitch, who began in 1997, actually referred to their online presence as a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zine">zine</a>, before the term blog entered common usage.
</p><p>The first research paper about blogging was <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Torill_Mortensen&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Torill Mortensen</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jill_Walker_Rettberg">Jill Walker Rettberg</a>'s paper "Blogging Thoughts",<sup><a href="#cite_note-21">[21]</a></sup> which analysed how blogs were being used to foster research communities and the exchange of ideas and scholarship, and how this new means of networking overturns traditional power structures.
</p>
<h3></h3>
<p>Early blogs were simply manually updated components of common Websites. In 1995, the "Online Diary" on the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ty,_Inc.">Ty, Inc.</a> Web site was produced and updated manually before any blogging programs were available. Posts were made to appear in reverse chronological order by manually updating text-based <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTML">HTML</a> code using <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FTP">FTP</a> software in real time several times a day. To users, this offered the appearance of a live diary that contained multiple new entries per day. At the beginning of each new day, new diary entries were manually coded into a new HTML file, and at the start of each month, diary entries were archived into their own folder, which contained a separate HTML page for every day of the month. Then, menus that contained links to the most recent diary entry were updated manually throughout the site. This text-based method of organizing thousands of files served as a springboard to define future blogging styles that were captured by blogging software developed years later.<sup><a href="#cite_note-BeanieBabies-15">[15]</a></sup>
</p><p>The evolution of electronic and software tools to facilitate the production and maintenance of Web articles posted in reverse chronological order made the publishing process feasible for a much larger and less technically-inclined population. Ultimately, this resulted in the distinct class of online publishing that produces blogs we recognize today. For instance, the use of some sort of browser-based software is now a typical aspect of "blogging". Blogs can be hosted by dedicated <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog_hosting_service">blog hosting services</a>, on regular <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_hosting_service">web hosting services</a>, or run using blog software.
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<h3></h3>
<p>After a slow start, blogging rapidly gained in popularity. Blog usage spread during 1999 and the years following, being further popularized by the near-simultaneous arrival of the first hosted blog tools:
</p>
<ul><li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Ableson">Bruce Ableson</a> launched <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Diary">Open Diary</a> in October 1998, which soon grew to thousands of online diaries. Open Diary innovated the reader comment, becoming the first blog community where readers could add comments to other writers' blog entries.</li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brad_Fitzpatrick">Brad Fitzpatrick</a> started <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LiveJournal">LiveJournal</a> in March 1999.</li>
<li>Andrew Smales created Pitas.com in July 1999 as an easier alternative to maintaining a "news page" on a Web site, followed by DiaryLand in September 1999, focusing more on a personal diary community.<sup><a href="#cite_note-22">[22]</a></sup></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evan_Williams_(Internet_entrepreneur)">Evan Williams</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meg_Hourihan">Meg Hourihan</a> (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyra_Labs">Pyra Labs</a>) launched <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blogger.com">Blogger.com</a> in August 1999 (purchased by Google in February 2003)</li></ul>
<h3></h3>
<figure><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Talkingpointsmemo2.png"></a><figcaption>On December 6, 2002, Josh Marshall's talkingpointsmemo.com blog called attention to U.S. Senator <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trent_Lott">Lott's</a> comments regarding Senator Thurmond. Senator Lott was eventually to resign his Senate leadership position over the matter.</figcaption></figure>
<p>An early milestone in the rise in importance of blogs came in 2002, when many bloggers focused on comments by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate_Majority_Leader">U.S. Senate Majority Leader</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trent_Lott">Trent Lott</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-massing_essay-23">[23]</a></sup> Senator Lott, at a party honoring <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate">U.S. Senator</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strom_Thurmond">Strom Thurmond</a>, praised Senator Thurmond by suggesting that the United States would have been better off had Thurmond been elected president. Lott's critics saw these comments as tacit approval of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racial_segregation">racial segregation</a>, a policy advocated by Thurmond's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1948_United_States_presidential_election">1948 presidential campaign</a>. This view was reinforced by documents and recorded interviews dug up by bloggers. (See <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josh_Marshall">Josh Marshall</a>'s <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talking_Points_Memo">Talking Points Memo</a></i>.) Though Lott's comments were made at a public event attended by the media, no major media organizations reported on his controversial comments until after blogs broke the story. Blogging helped to create a political crisis that forced Lott to step down as majority leader.
</p><p>Similarly, blogs were among the driving forces behind the "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rathergate">Rathergate</a>" scandal. Television journalist <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Rather">Dan Rather</a> presented documents on the CBS show <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/60_Minutes">60 Minutes</a></i> that conflicted with accepted accounts of President Bush's military service record. Bloggers declared the documents to be <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forgery">forgeries</a> and presented evidence and arguments in support of that view. Consequently, CBS apologized for what it said were inadequate reporting techniques (see: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Green_Footballs">Little Green Footballs</a>). The impact of these stories gave greater credibility to blogs as a medium of news dissemination. 
</p><p>In Russia, some political bloggers have started to challenge the dominance of official, overwhelmingly pro-government media. Bloggers such as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rustem_Adagamov">Rustem Adagamov</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexei_Navalny">Alexei Navalny</a> have many followers, and the latter's nickname for the ruling <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Russia">United Russia</a> party as the "party of crooks and thieves" has been adopted by anti-regime protesters.<sup><a href="#cite_note-24">[24]</a></sup> This led to <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wall_Street_Journal">The Wall Street Journal</a></i> calling Navalny "the man <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Putin">Vladimir Putin</a> fears most" in March 2012.<sup><a href="#cite_note-25">[25]</a></sup>
</p>
<h3></h3>
<p>By 2004, the role of blogs became increasingly mainstream, as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_consultant">political consultants</a>, news services, and candidates began using them as tools for outreach and opinion forming. Blogging was established by politicians and political candidates to express opinions on war and other issues and cemented blogs' role as a news source. (See <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Dean">Howard Dean</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wesley_Clark">Wesley Clark</a>.) Even politicians not actively campaigning, such as the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labour_Party_(UK)">UK's Labour Party's</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Member_of_Parliament_(United_Kingdom)">Member of Parliament</a> (MP) <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Watson_(Labour_politician)">Tom Watson</a>, began to blog to bond with constituents. In January 2005, <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortune_(magazine)">Fortune</a></i> magazine listed eight bloggers whom business people "could not ignore": <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engadget">Peter Rojas</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xeni_Jardin">Xeni Jardin</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Trott">Ben Trott</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mena_Trott">Mena Trott</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_I._Schwartz">Jonathan Schwartz</a>, Jason Goldman, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Scoble">Robert Scoble</a>, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_Calacanis">Jason Calacanis</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-26">[26]</a></sup>
</p><p>Israel was among the first national governments to set up an official blog.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Ynet-27">[27]</a></sup> Under <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Saranga">David Saranga</a>, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli_Ministry_of_Foreign_Affairs">Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs</a> became active in adopting <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2.0">Web 2.0</a> initiatives, including an official <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_blog">video blog</a><sup><a href="#cite_note-Ynet-27">[27]</a></sup> and a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_blog">political blog</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Ynet3-28">[28]</a></sup> The Foreign Ministry also held a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microblogging">microblogging</a> press conference via Twitter about its <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008%E2%80%932009_Israel%E2%80%93Gaza_conflict">war with Hamas</a>, with Saranga answering questions from the public in common text-messaging abbreviations during a live worldwide press conference.<sup><a href="#cite_note-JP-29">[29]</a></sup> The questions and answers were later posted on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IsraelPolitik">IsraelPolitik</a>, the country's official political blog.<sup><a href="#cite_note-NYTs-30">[30]</a></sup>
</p><p>The impact of blogging on the mainstream media has also been acknowledged by governments. In 2009, the presence of the American journalism industry had declined to the point that several newspaper corporations were filing for bankruptcy, resulting in less direct competition between newspapers within the same circulation area. Discussion emerged as to whether the newspaper industry would benefit from a stimulus package by the federal government. U.S. President <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama">Barack Obama</a> acknowledged the emerging influence of blogging upon society by saying, "if the direction of the news is all blogosphere, all opinions, with no serious fact-checking, no serious attempts to put stories in context, then what you will end up getting is people shouting at each other across the void, but not a lot of mutual understanding".<sup><a href="#cite_note-31">[31]</a></sup> Between 2009 and 2012, an <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orwell_Prize">Orwell Prize</a> for blogging was awarded.
</p>
<h2></h2>
<figure><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:BlogActive.com_Screenshot_2004.jpg"></a><figcaption>A screenshot from the BlogActive website</figcaption></figure>
<p>There are many different types of blogs, differing not only in the type of content, but also in the way that content is delivered or written.
</p>
<dl><dt>Personal blogs</dt>
<dd>The personal blog is an ongoing online diary or commentary written by an individual, rather than a corporation or organization. While the vast majority of personal blogs attract very few readers, other than the blogger's immediate family and friends, a small number of personal blogs have become popular, to the point that they have attracted lucrative advertising sponsorship. A tiny number of personal bloggers have become famous, both in the online community and in the real world.</dd></dl>
<dl><dt>Collaborative blogs or group blogs</dt>
<dd>A type of weblog in which posts are written and published by more than one author. The majority of high-profile collaborative blogs are organised according to a single uniting theme, such as politics, technology or advocacy. In recent years, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blogosphere">blogosphere</a> has seen the emergence and growing popularity of more collaborative efforts, often set up by already established bloggers wishing to pool time and resources, both to reduce the pressure of maintaining a popular website and to attract a larger readership.</dd></dl>
<dl><dt><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microblogging">Microblogging</a></dt>
<dd>Microblogging is the practice of posting small pieces of digital content—which could be text, pictures, links, short videos, or other media—on the internet. Microblogging offers a portable communication mode that feels organic and spontaneous to many users. It has captured the public imagination, in part because the short posts are easy to read on the go or when waiting. Friends use it to keep in touch, business associates use it to coordinate meetings or share useful resources, and celebrities and politicians (or their publicists) microblog about concert dates, lectures, book releases, or tour schedules. A wide and growing range of add-on tools enables sophisticated updates and interaction with other applications. The resulting profusion of functionality is helping to define new possibilities for this type of communication.<sup><a href="#cite_note-32">[32]</a></sup> Examples of these include Twitter, Facebook, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tumblr">Tumblr</a> and, by far the largest, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sina_Weibo">Weibo</a>.</dd></dl>
<dl><dt>Corporate and organizational blogs</dt>
<dd>A blog can be private, as in most cases, or it can be for business or <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Not-for-profit_organization">not-for-profit organization</a> or government purposes. Blogs used internally and only available to employees via an <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intranet">Intranet</a> are called <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_blog">corporate blogs</a>. Companies use internal corporate blogs to enhance the communication, culture and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Employee_engagement">employee engagement</a> in a corporation. Internal corporate blogs can be used to communicate news about company policies or procedures, build employee <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esprit_de_corps">esprit de corps</a> and improve <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morale">morale</a>. Companies and other organizations also use external, publicly accessible blogs for marketing, branding, or <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_relations">public relations</a> purposes. Some organizations have a blog authored by their executive; in practice, many of these executive blog posts are penned by a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghostwriter">ghostwriter</a> who makes posts in the style of the credited author. Similar blogs for clubs and societies are called club blogs, group blogs, or by similar names; typical use is to inform members and other interested parties of club and member activities.</dd></dl>
<dl><dt>Aggregated blogs</dt>
<dd>Individuals or organization may aggregate selected feeds on a specific topic, product or service and provide a combined view for its readers. This allows readers to concentrate on reading instead of searching for quality on-topic content and managing subscriptions. Many such aggregations called planets from name of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planet_(software)">Planet (software)</a> that perform such aggregation, hosting sites usually have <i>planet.</i> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subdomain">subdomain</a> in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domain_name">domain name</a> (like <a href="http://planet.gnome.org/">http://planet.gnome.org/</a>).</dd></dl>
<dl><dt>By genre</dt>
<dd>Some blogs focus on a particular subject, such as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_blog">political blogs</a>, journalism blogs, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_blog">health blogs</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Travel_literature">travel blogs</a> (also known as <i>travelogs</i>), gardening blogs, house blogs, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_Blog">Book Blogs</a>,<sup><a href="#cite_note-33">[33]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-34">[34]</a></sup> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fashion_blog">fashion blogs</a>, beauty blogs, lifestyle blogs, party blogs, wedding blogs, photography blogs, project blogs, psychology blogs, sociology blogs, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edublog">education blogs</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niche_blogging">niche blogs</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_music_blog">classical music blogs</a>, quizzing blogs, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_blogs">legal blogs</a> (often referred to as a blawgs), or <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dream_diary">dreamlogs</a>. How-to/<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tutorial">Tutorial</a> blogs are becoming increasing popular.<sup><a href="#cite_note-35">[35]</a></sup> Two common types of genre blogs are <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_blog">art blogs</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MP3_blog">music blogs</a>. A blog featuring discussions, especially about <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homemaking">home</a> and family is not uncommonly called a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_family-and-homemaking_blogs">mom blog</a>. While not a legitimate type of blog, one used for the sole purpose of spamming is known as a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spam_blog">splog</a>.</dd></dl>
<dl><dt>By media type</dt>
<dd>A blog comprising videos is called a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_blog">vlog</a>, one comprising links is called a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linklog">linklog</a>, a site containing a portfolio of sketches is called a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sketchblog">sketchblog</a> or one comprising photos is called a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photoblog">photoblog</a>. Blogs with shorter posts and mixed media types are called <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tumblelog">tumblelogs</a>. Blogs that are written on typewriters and then scanned are called typecast or typecast blogs. A rare type of blog hosted on the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gopher_Protocol">Gopher Protocol</a> is known as a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phlog">phlog</a>.</dd></dl>
<dl><dt>By device</dt>
<dd>A blog can also be defined by which type of device is used to compose it. A blog written by a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_device">mobile device</a> like a mobile phone or <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_digital_assistant">PDA</a> could be called a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moblog">moblog</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-36">[36]</a></sup> One early blog was Wearable Wireless Webcam, an online shared diary of a person's personal life combining text, video, and pictures transmitted live from a wearable computer and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EyeTap">EyeTap</a> device to a web site. This practice of semi-automated blogging with live video together with text was referred to as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sousveillance">sousveillance</a>. Such journals have been used as evidence in legal matters.<sup>[<i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed"></a></i>]</sup></dd></dl>
<dl><dt><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverse_blog">Reverse blog</a></dt>
<dd>A reverse blog is composed by its users rather than a single blogger. This system has the characteristics of a blog and the writing of several authors. These can be written by several contributing authors on a topic or opened up for anyone to write. There is typically some limit to the number of entries to keep it from operating like a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_forum">web forum</a>.<sup>[<i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed"></a></i>]</sup></dd></dl>
<h2></h2>
<figure><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Blogosphere_map.jpg"></a><figcaption>An artist's depiction of the interconnections between blogs and blog authors in the "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blogosphere">blogosphere</a>" in 2007</figcaption></figure>
<dl><dt><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blogosphere">Blogosphere</a></dt>
<dd>The collective community of all blogs and blog authors, particularly notable and widely read blogs, is known as the <i>blogosphere</i>. Since all blogs are on the internet by definition, they may be seen as interconnected and socially networked, through blogrolls, comments, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linkback">linkbacks</a> (refbacks, trackbacks or pingbacks), and backlinks. Discussions "in the blogosphere" were occasionally used by the media as a gauge of public opinion on various issues. Because new, untapped communities of bloggers and their readers can emerge in the space of a few years, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_marketing">Internet marketers</a> pay close attention to "trends in the blogosphere".<sup><a href="#cite_note-37">[37]</a></sup></dd></dl>
<dl><dt><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_search_engines#Blog">Blog search engines</a></dt>
<dd>Several blog search engines have been used to search blog contents, such as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloglines">Bloglines</a> (defunct), <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BlogScope">BlogScope</a> (defunct), and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technorati">Technorati</a> (defunct).</dd></dl>
<dl><dt>Blogging communities and directories</dt>
<dd>Several <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_communities">online communities</a> exist that connect people to blogs and bloggers to other bloggers. Interest-specific blogging platforms are also available. For instance, Blogster has a sizable community of political bloggers among its members. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Voices_Online">Global Voices</a> aggregates international bloggers, "with emphasis on voices that are not ordinarily heard in international mainstream media."<sup><a href="#cite_note-38">[38]</a></sup></dd></dl>
<dl><dt>Blogging and advertising</dt>
<dd>It is common for blogs to feature <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banner_advertisement">banner advertisements</a> or promotional content, either to financially benefit the blogger, support website hosting costs, or to promote the blogger's favourite causes or products. The popularity of blogs has also given rise to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fake_blog">"fake blogs"</a> in which a company will create a fictional blog as a marketing tool to promote a product.<sup><a href="#cite_note-39">[39]</a></sup></dd></dl>
<p>As the popularity of blogging continued to rise (as of 2006), the commercialisation of blogging is rapidly increasing. Many corporations and companies collaborate with bloggers to increase advertising and engage online communities with their products. In the book <i>Fans, Bloggers, and Gamers</i>, Henry Jenkins stated that "Bloggers take knowledge into their own hands, enabling successful navigation within and between these emerging knowledge cultures. One can see such behaviour as co-optation into commodity culture insofar as it sometimes collaborates with corporate interests, but one can also see it as increasing the diversity of media culture, providing opportunities for greater inclusiveness, and making more responsive to consumers."<sup><a href="#cite_note-40">[40]</a></sup>
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<h2></h2>
<ul><li><b>Before 2006:</b> The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blogdex">blogdex</a> project was launched by researchers in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIT_Media_Lab">MIT Media Lab</a> to crawl the Web and gather data from thousands of blogs to investigate their social properties. Information was gathered by the tool for over four years, during which it autonomously tracked the most contagious information spreading in the blog community, ranking it by recency and popularity. It can, therefore,<sup>[<i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:No_original_research"></a></i>]</sup> be considered the first instantiation of a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memetracker">memetracker</a>. The project was replaced by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tailrank.com">tailrank.com</a>, which in turn has been replaced by spinn3r.com.</li>
<li><b>2006:</b> Blogs are given rankings by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexa_Internet">Alexa Internet</a> (web hits of Alexa Toolbar users), and formerly by blog search engine <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technorati">Technorati</a> based on the number of incoming links (Technorati stopped doing this in 2014). In August 2006, Technorati found that the most linked-to blog on the internet was that of Chinese actress <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xu_Jinglei">Xu Jinglei</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Fickling-41">[41]</a></sup> Chinese media <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xinhua">Xinhua</a> reported that this blog received more than 50 million page views, claiming it to be the most popular blog in the world.<sup><a href="#cite_note-42">[42]</a></sup><sup>[<i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:NOTRS"></a></i>]</sup> Technorati rated <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boing_Boing">Boing Boing</a> to be the most-read group-written blog.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Fickling-41">[41]</a></sup></li>
<li><b>2008:</b> As of 2008, blogging had become such a mania that a new blog was created every second of every minute of every hour of every day.<sup><a href="#cite_note-43">[43]</a></sup> Researchers have actively analyzed the dynamics of how blogs become popular. There are essentially two measures of this: popularity through citations, as well as popularity through affiliation (i.e., blogroll). The basic conclusion from studies of the structure of blogs is that while it takes time for a blog to become popular through blogrolls, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permalink">permalinks</a> can boost popularity more quickly and are perhaps more indicative of popularity and authority than blogrolls since they denote that people are actually reading the blog's content and deem it valuable or noteworthy in specific cases.<sup><a href="#cite_note-44">[44]</a></sup></li></ul>
<h2></h2>
<p>Many bloggers, particularly those engaged in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizen_journalism">participatory journalism</a>, are amateur journalists, and thus they differentiate themselves from the professional reporters and editors who work in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mainstream_media">mainstream media</a> organizations. Other bloggers are media professionals who are publishing online, rather than via a TV station or newspaper, either as an add-on to a traditional media presence (e.g., hosting a radio show or writing a column in a paper newspaper), or as their sole journalistic output. Some institutions and organizations see blogging as a means of "getting around the filter" of media "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gatekeeper">gatekeepers</a>" and pushing their messages directly to the public. Many mainstream journalists, meanwhile, write their own blogs—well over 300, according to CyberJournalist.net's J-blog list.<sup>[<i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed"></a></i>]</sup> The first known use of a blog on a news site was in August 1998, when <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Dube">Jonathan Dube</a> of <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Charlotte_Observer">The Charlotte Observer</a></i> published one chronicling <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Bonnie_(1998)">Hurricane Bonnie</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-45">[45]</a></sup>
</p><p>Some bloggers have moved over to other media. The following bloggers (and others) have appeared on radio and television: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atrios">Duncan Black</a> (known widely by his pseudonym, Atrios), <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenn_Reynolds">Glenn Reynolds</a> (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instapundit">Instapundit</a>), <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markos_Moulitsas_Z%C3%BAniga">Markos Moulitsas Zúniga</a> (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daily_Kos">Daily Kos</a>), <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Steffen">Alex Steffen</a> (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worldchanging">Worldchanging</a>), <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ana_Marie_Cox">Ana Marie Cox</a> (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wonkette">Wonkette</a>), <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nate_Silver">Nate Silver</a> (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FiveThirtyEight.com">FiveThirtyEight.com</a>), and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ezra_Klein">Ezra Klein</a> (Ezra Klein blog in <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_American_Prospect">The American Prospect</a>,</i> now in <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Washington_Post">The Washington Post</a>''</i>). In counterpoint, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Hewitt">Hugh Hewitt</a> exemplifies a mass media personality who has moved in the other direction, adding to his reach in "old media" by being an influential blogger. Similarly, it was <i>Emergency Preparedness and Safety Tips On Air and Online</i> blog articles that captured <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surgeon_General_of_the_United_States">Surgeon General of the United States</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Carmona">Richard Carmona</a>'s attention and earned his kudos for the associated broadcasts by talk show host <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WVOX#Notable_Past_Programming">Lisa Tolliver</a> and Westchester Emergency Volunteer Reserves-<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_Reserve_Corps">Medical Reserve Corps</a> Director Marianne Partridge.<sup><a href="#cite_note-46">[46]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-47">[47]</a></sup>
</p><p>Blogs have also had an influence on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minority_language">minority languages</a>, bringing together scattered speakers and learners; this is particularly so with blogs in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goidelic_language">Gaelic languages</a>. Minority language publishing (which may lack economic feasibility) can find its audience through inexpensive blogging. There are examples of bloggers who have published books based on their blogs, e.g., <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salam_Pax">Salam Pax</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellen_Simonetti">Ellen Simonetti</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jessica_Cutler">Jessica Cutler</a>, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ScrappleFace">ScrappleFace</a>. Blog-based books have been given the name <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blook">blook</a>. A prize for the best blog-based book was initiated in 2005,<sup><a href="#cite_note-48">[48]</a></sup> the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lulu_Blooker_Prize">Lulu Blooker Prize</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-49">[49]</a></sup> However, success has been elusive offline, with many of these books not selling as well as their blogs. The book based on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julie_Powell">Julie Powell</a>'s blog "The Julie/Julia Project" was made into the film <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julie_%26_Julia">Julie &amp; Julia</a></i>, apparently the first to do so.
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<h2></h2>
<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumer-generated_advertising">Consumer-generated advertising</a> is a relatively new and controversial development, and it has created a new model of marketing communication from businesses to consumers. Among the various forms of advertising on blog, the most controversial are the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sponsored_post">sponsored posts</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-50">[50]</a></sup> These are blog entries or posts and may be in the form of feedback, reviews, opinion, videos, etc. and usually contain a link back to the desired site using a keyword or several keywords. Blogs have led to some <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disintermediation">disintermediation</a> and a breakdown of the traditional advertising model, where companies can skip over the advertising agencies (previously the only interface with the customer) and contact the customers directly via social media websites. On the other hand, new companies specialised in blog advertising have been established to take advantage of this new development as well. However, there are many people who look negatively on this new development. Some believe that any form of commercial activity on blogs will destroy the blogosphere's credibility.<sup><a href="#cite_note-51">[51]</a></sup>
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<h2></h2>
<p>
Blogging can result in a range of legal liabilities and other <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unforeseen_consequence">unforeseen consequences</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-52">[52]</a></sup>
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<h3></h3>
<p>Several cases have been brought before the national courts against bloggers concerning issues of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slander_and_libel">defamation or liability</a>. U.S. payouts related to blogging totalled $17.4 million by 2009; in some cases these have been covered by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umbrella_insurance">umbrella insurance</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-53">[53]</a></sup> The courts have returned with mixed verdicts. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Service_Provider">Internet Service Providers</a> (ISPs), in general, are immune from liability for information that originates with third parties (U.S. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communications_Decency_Act">Communications Decency Act</a> and the EU Directive 2000/31/EC). In <i>Doe v. Cahill</i>, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delaware_Supreme_Court">Delaware Supreme Court</a> held that stringent standards had to be met to unmask the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anonymous_bloggers">anonymous bloggers</a> and also took the unusual step of dismissing the libel case itself (as unfounded under American libel law) rather than referring it back to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trial_court">trial court</a> for reconsideration.<sup><a href="#cite_note-54">[54]</a></sup> In a bizarre twist, the Cahills were able to obtain the identity of John Doe, who turned out to be the person they suspected: the town's mayor, Councilman Cahill's political rival. The Cahills amended their original complaint, and the mayor settled the case rather than going to trial.
</p><p>In January 2007, two prominent Malaysian political bloggers, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Ooi">Jeff Ooi</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahirudin_Attan">Ahirudin Attan</a>, were sued by a pro-government newspaper, The New Straits Times Press (Malaysia) Berhad, Kalimullah bin Masheerul Hassan, Hishamuddin bin Aun and Brenden John <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaysian_names#Indian_names">a/l</a> John Pereira over alleged defamation. The plaintiff was supported by the Malaysian government.<sup><a href="#cite_note-55">[55]</a></sup> Following the suit, the Malaysian government proposed to "register" all bloggers in Malaysia to better control parties against their interests.<sup><a href="#cite_note-56">[56]</a></sup> This is the first such legal case against bloggers in the country. In the United States, blogger Aaron Wall was sued by Traffic Power for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defamation">defamation</a> and publication of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trade_secrets">trade secrets</a> in 2005.<sup><a href="#cite_note-57">[57]</a></sup> According to <i>Wired</i> magazine, Traffic Power had been "banned from Google for allegedly rigging search engine results."<sup><a href="#cite_note-58">[58]</a></sup> Wall and other "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_hat_(computer_security)">white hat</a>" <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Search_engine_optimization">search engine optimization</a> consultants had exposed Traffic Power in what they claim was an effort to protect the public. The case was dismissed for lack of personal jurisdiction, and Traffic Power failed to appeal within the allowed time.<sup><a href="#cite_note-59">[59]</a></sup>
</p><p>In 2009, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NDTV">NDTV</a> issued a legal notice to Indian blogger Kunte for a blog post criticizing their coverage of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumbai_attacks">Mumbai attacks</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-hootbarkha-60">[60]</a></sup> The blogger unconditionally withdrew his post, which resulted in several Indian bloggers criticizing NDTV for trying to silence critics.<sup><a href="#cite_note-61">[61]</a></sup>
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<h3></h3>
<p>Employees who blog about elements of their place of employment can begin to affect the reputation of their employer, either in a positive way, if the employee is praising the employer and its workplaces, or in a negative way, if the blogger is making negative comments about the company or its practices.
</p><p>In general, attempts by employee bloggers to protect themselves by maintaining anonymity have proved ineffective.<sup><a href="#cite_note-62">[62]</a></sup> In 2009, a controversial and landmark decision by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Eady">The Hon. Mr Justice Eady</a> refused to grant an order to protect the anonymity of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Horton_(blogger)">Richard Horton</a>. Horton was a police officer in the United Kingdom who blogged about his job under the name "NightJack".<sup><a href="#cite_note-63">[63]</a></sup>
</p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delta_Air_Lines">Delta Air Lines</a> fired <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight_attendant">flight attendant</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellen_Simonetti">Ellen Simonetti</a> because she posted photographs of herself in uniform on an aeroplane and because of comments posted on her blog "Queen of Sky: Diary of a Flight Attendant" which the employer deemed inappropriate.<sup><a href="#cite_note-64">[64]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-65">[65]</a></sup> This case highlighted the issue of personal blogging and freedom of expression versus employer rights and responsibilities, and so it received wide media attention. Simonetti took legal action against the airline for "wrongful termination, defamation of character and lost future wages".<sup><a href="#cite_note-66">[66]</a></sup> The suit was postponed while Delta was in bankruptcy proceedings.<sup><a href="#cite_note-67">[67]</a></sup>
</p><p>In early 2006, Erik Ringmar, a senior lecturer at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_School_of_Economics">London School of Economics</a>, was ordered by the convenor of his department to "take down and destroy" his blog in which he discussed the quality of education at the school.<sup><a href="#cite_note-68">[68]</a></sup>
</p><p>Mark Jen was terminated in 2005 after 10 days of employment as an assistant product manager at Google for discussing corporate secrets on his personal blog, then called 99zeros and hosted on the Google-owned <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blogger.com">Blogger</a> service.<sup><a href="#cite_note-69">[69]</a></sup> He blogged about unreleased products and company finances a week before the company's earnings announcement. He was fired two days after he complied with his employer's request to remove the sensitive material from his blog.<sup><a href="#cite_note-70">[70]</a></sup>
</p><p>In India, blogger Gaurav Sabnis resigned from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM">IBM</a> after his posts questioned the claims made by a management school.<sup><a href="#cite_note-71">[71]</a></sup> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jessica_Cutler">Jessica Cutler</a>, aka "The Washingtonienne", blogged about her sex life while employed as a congressional assistant. After the blog was discovered and she was fired,<sup><a href="#cite_note-72">[72]</a></sup> she wrote a novel based on her experiences and blog: <i>The Washingtonienne: A Novel</i>. As of 2006, Cutler is being sued by one of her former lovers in a case that could establish the extent to which bloggers are obligated to protect the privacy of their real life associates.<sup><a href="#cite_note-73">[73]</a></sup>
</p><p>Catherine Sanderson, a.k.a. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petite_Anglaise">Petite Anglaise</a>, lost her job in Paris at a British accountancy firm because of blogging.<sup><a href="#cite_note-74">[74]</a></sup> Although given in the blog in a fairly anonymous manner, some of the descriptions of the firm and some of its people were less than flattering. Sanderson later won a compensation claim case against the British firm, however.<sup><a href="#cite_note-75">[75]</a></sup>
</p><p>On the other hand, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penelope_Trunk">Penelope Trunk</a> wrote an upbeat article in <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Boston_Globe">The Boston Globe</a></i> in 2006, entitled "Blogs 'essential' to a good career".<sup><a href="#cite_note-76">[76]</a></sup> She was one of the first journalists to point out that a large portion of bloggers are professionals and that a well-written blog can help attract employers.
</p>
<h4></h4>
<p>Business owners who blog about their business can also run into legal consequences. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Cuban">Mark Cuban</a>, owner of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dallas_Mavericks">Dallas Mavericks</a>, was fined during the 2006 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Basketball_Association">NBA</a> playoffs for criticizing NBA officials on the court and in his blog.<sup><a href="#cite_note-77">[77]</a></sup>
</p>
<h3></h3>
<p>Blogging can sometimes have unforeseen consequences in politically sensitive areas. In some countries, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_police">Internet police</a> or <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secret_police">secret police</a> may monitor blogs and arrest blog authors or commentators. Blogs can be much harder to control than broadcast or print media because a person can create a blog whose authorship is hard to trace by using anonymity technology such as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tor_(network)">Tor</a>. As a result, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Totalitarianism">totalitarian</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Authoritarianism">authoritarian</a> regimes often seek to suppress blogs and punish those who maintain them.
</p><p>In Singapore, two ethnic Chinese individuals were <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imprisoned">imprisoned</a> under the country's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sedition_Act_(Singapore)">anti-sedition law</a> for posting <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamophobia">anti-Muslim</a> remarks in their blogs.<sup><a href="#cite_note-78">[78]</a></sup> Egyptian blogger <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kareem_Amer">Kareem Amer</a> was charged with insulting the Egyptian president <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hosni_Mubarak">Hosni Mubarak</a> and an <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam">Islamic</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Azhar_University">institution</a> through his blog. It is the first time in the history of Egypt that a blogger was prosecuted. After a brief trial session that took place in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandria">Alexandria</a>, the blogger was found guilty and sentenced to prison terms of three years for insulting <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam">Islam</a> and inciting sedition and one year for insulting Mubarak.<sup><a href="#cite_note-79">[79]</a></sup> Egyptian blogger Abdel Monem Mahmoud was arrested in April 2007 for anti-government writings in his blog. Monem is a member of the then banned <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muslim_Brotherhood">Muslim Brotherhood</a>. After the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Egyptian_revolution">2011 Egyptian revolution</a>, the Egyptian blogger <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maikel_Nabil_Sanad">Maikel Nabil Sanad</a> was charged with insulting the military for an article he wrote on his personal blog and sentenced to three years.<sup><a href="#cite_note-80">[80]</a></sup>
</p><p>After expressing opinions in his personal blog about the state of the Sudanese armed forces, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Pronk">Jan Pronk</a>, United Nations Special Representative for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudan">Sudan</a>, was given three days notice to leave Sudan. The Sudanese army had demanded his deportation.<sup><a href="#cite_note-81">[81]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-82">[82]</a></sup> In <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myanmar">Myanmar</a>, Nay Phone Latt, a blogger, was sentenced to 20 years in jail for posting a cartoon critical of head of state <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Than_Shwe">Than Shwe</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-83">[83]</a></sup>
</p>
<h3></h3>
<p>One consequence of blogging is the possibility of online or in-person attacks or threats against the blogger, sometimes without apparent reason. In some cases, bloggers have faced <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyberbullying">cyberbullying</a>. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathy_Sierra">Kathy Sierra</a>, author of the blog "Creating Passionate Users",<sup><a href="#cite_note-84">[84]</a></sup> was the target of threats and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misogynistic">misogynistic</a> insults to the point that she cancelled her keynote speech at a technology conference in San Diego, fearing for her safety.<sup><a href="#cite_note-85">[85]</a></sup> While a blogger's anonymity is often tenuous, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troll_(Internet)">Internet trolls</a> who would attack a blogger with threats or insults can be emboldened by the anonymity of the online environment, where some users are known only by a pseudonymous "username" (e.g., "Hacker1984"). Sierra and supporters initiated an online discussion aimed at countering abusive online behaviour<sup><a href="#cite_note-86">[86]</a></sup> and developed a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blogger%27s_Code_of_Conduct">Blogger's Code of Conduct</a>, which set out a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_of_conduct">rules for behaviour</a> in the online space.
</p>
<h3></h3>
<p>The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blogger%27s_Code_of_Conduct">Blogger's Code of Conduct</a> is a list of seven proposed ideas.
</p>
<h2></h2>
<div>
<ul><li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog_award">Blog award</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BROG">BROG</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chat_room">Chat room</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizen_journalism">Citizen journalism</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collaborative_blog">Collaborative blog</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_free_blog_hosting_services">Comparison of free blog hosting services</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Customer_engagement">Customer engagement</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_blogging">Glossary of blogging</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interactive_journalism">Interactive journalism</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_think_tank">Internet think tank</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israblog">Israblog</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_blogs">List of blogs</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_family-and-homemaking_blogs">List of family-and-homemaking blogs</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_collaboration">Mass collaboration</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perzine">Perzine</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prison_blogs">Prison blogs</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sideblog">Sideblog</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microblogging">Social blogging</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Think_aloud_protocol">Think aloud protocol</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Webmaster">Webmaster</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_template_system">Web template system</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_traffic">Web traffic</a></li></ul>
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<div>
<ul><li>Alavi, Nasrin. <i>We Are Iran: The Persian Blogs</i>, Soft Skull Press, New York, 2005. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/1-933368-05-5">1-933368-05-5</a>.</li>
<li>Bruns, Axel, and Joanne Jacobs, eds. <i>Uses of Blogs</i>, Peter Lang, New York, 2006. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-8204-8124-6">0-8204-8124-6</a>.</li>
<li>Blood, Rebecca. <a href="http://www.rebeccablood.net/essays/weblog_history.html">"Weblogs: A History and Perspective"</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150530144950/http://www.rebeccablood.net/essays/weblog_history.html">Archived</a> May 30, 2015, at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayback_Machine">Wayback Machine</a>. "Rebecca's Pocket".</li>
<li>Kline, David; Burstein, Dan. <i>Blog!: How the Newest Media Revolution is Changing Politics, Business, and Culture</i>, Squibnocket Partners, L.L.C., 2005. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/1-59315-141-1">1-59315-141-1</a>.</li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Gorman_(librarian)">Gorman, Michael</a>. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150407161907/http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2005/02/ljarchives/backtalk-revenge-of-the-blog-people/">"Revenge of the Blog People!"</a>. <i>Library Journal</i>.</li>
<li>Heriot, Gail, <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=898176">Are Modern Bloggers Following in the Footsteps of Publius (and Other Musings on Blogging by Legal Scholars...)</a>, 8 Wash. U. L. Rev. 1113 (2006).</li>
<li>Ringmar, Erik. <a href="https://archive.org/download/ABloggersManifestoFreeSpeechAndCensorshipInTheAgeOfTheInternet/ErikRingmarABloggersManifesto.pdf">A Blogger's Manifesto: Free Speech and Censorship in the Age of the Internet</a> (London: Anthem Press, 2007).</li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Rosenberg_(journalist)">Rosenberg, Scott</a>, <a href="https://archive.org/details/sayeverythinghow00rose"><i>Say Everything: how blogging Began, what it's becoming, and why it matters</i></a>, New York : Crown Publishers, 2009. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-307-45136-1">978-0-307-45136-1</a></li>
<li><cite><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Weinberger">Weinberger, David</a> (August 31, 2015), <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2015/08/30/why-blogging-still-matters/JkzFdTxoySZZwsyrFw7yMI/story.html">"Why blogging still matters"</a>, <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Boston_Globe">The Boston Globe</a></i></cite></li></ul>
</div>
<h2></h2>
<div>
<p></p>
<p>Look up <i><b><a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Special:Search/blog">blog</a></b></i> in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.</p></div>
<div>
<p></p>
<p>Wikiquote has quotations related to <i><b><a href="https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Blogging">Blogging</a></b></i>.</p></div>
<div>
<p></p>
<p>Wikimedia Commons has media related to .</p></div>
<ul><li><a href="https://archive.today/20150218205600/http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&amp;_udi=B6VB3-4JH47F6-5&amp;_user=10&amp;_handle=V-WA-A-W-AB-MsSAYZW-UUA-U-AAVYYUUEZC-AAVZBYADZC-YBADCWEZW-AB-U&amp;_fmt=summary&amp;_coverDate=12/31/2006&amp;_rdoc=5&amp;_orig=browse&amp;_srch=%23toc%235915%232006%23999779997%23619171!&amp;_cdi=5915&amp;view=c&amp;_acct=C000050221&amp;_version=1&amp;;_urlVersion=0&amp;_userid=10&amp;md5=3a78d26b9ff73d0a9c37060c8bed6dbc">Computer Law and Security Report Volume 22 Issue 2, Pages 127–136</a> blogs, Lies and the Doocing by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylvia_Kierkegaard">Sylvia Kierkegaard</a> (2006)</li>
<li><a href="https://www.eff.org/bloggers/lg/">Legal Guide for bloggers</a> by the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_Frontier_Foundation">Electronic Frontier Foundation</a></li>
<li><a href="http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/lcwa/html/lawlb/lawlb-overview.html">Law Library Legal Blawgs Web Archive</a> from the U.S. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library_of_Congress">Library of Congress</a></li></ul>
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 * Application 
 * Social network 
 By content format 
 * File 
 * Image 
 * Video 
 * Music 
 Other types 
 * Remote backup 
 * Game server 
 * Home server 
 * DNS 
 * Email 
 * v 
 * t 
 * e 
 

 A blog (a truncation of "weblog")[1] is an informational website consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order so that the most recent post appears first, at the top of the web page. Until 2009, blogs were often the work of a single individual, occasionally of a small group, and often covered a single subject or topic. In the 2010s, "multi-author blogs" (MABs) emerged, featuring the writing of multiple authors and sometimes professionally edited. MABs from newspapers, other media outlets, universities, think tanks, advocacy groups, and similar institutions account for an increasing quantity of blog traffic. The rise of Twitter and other "microblogging" systems helps integrate MABs and single-author blogs into the news media. Blog can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.

 The emergence and growth of blogs in the late 1990s coincided with the advent of web publishing tools that facilitated the posting of content by non-technical users who did not have much experience with HTML or computer programming. Previously, knowledge of such technologies as HTML and File Transfer Protocol had been required to publish content on the Web, and early Web users therefore tended to be hackers and computer enthusiasts. As of the 2010s, the majority are interactive Web 2.0 websites, allowing visitors to leave online comments, and it is this interactivity that distinguishes them from other static websites.[2] In that sense, blogging can be seen as a form of social networking service. Indeed, bloggers not only produce content to post on their blogs but also often build social relations with their readers and other bloggers.[3] Blog owners or authors often moderate and filter online comments to remove hate speech or other offensive content. There are also high-readership blogs which do not allow comments.

 Many blogs provide commentary on a particular subject or topic, ranging from philosophy, religion, and arts to science, politics, and sports. Others function as more personal online diaries or online brand advertising of a particular individual or company. A typical blog combines text, digital images, and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its topic. Most blogs are primarily textual, although some focus on art (art blogs), photographs (photoblogs), videos (video blogs or "vlogs"), music (MP3 blogs), and audio (podcasts). In education, blogs can be used as instructional resources; these are referred to as edublogs. Microblogging is another type of blogging, featuring very short posts.

 'Blog' and 'blogging' are now loosely used for content creation and sharing on social media, especially when the content is long-form and one creates and shares content on regular basis. So, one could be maintaining a blog on Facebook or blogging on Instagram. Blogging is writing about what you like. In other words, writing about what you know and providing valuable information to people searching for it.

 A 2022 estimate suggested that there were over 600 million public blogs out of more than 1.9 billion websites.[4]

 History

 Main articles: History of blogging and online diary

 An early example of a "diary" style blog consisting of text and images transmitted wirelessly in real-time from a wearable computer with head-up display, February 22, 1995

 The term "weblog" was coined by Jorn Barger[5] on December 17, 1997. The short form "blog" was coined by Peter Merholz, who jokingly broke the word weblog into the phrase we blog in the sidebar of his blog Peterme.com in May 1999.[6][7][8] Shortly thereafter, Evan Williams at Pyra Labs used "blog" as both a noun and verb ("to blog", meaning "to edit one's weblog or to post to one's weblog") and devised the term "blogger" in connection with Pyra Labs' Blogger product, leading to the popularization of the terms.[9]

 Origins

 Before blogging became popular, digital communities took many forms, including Usenet, commercial online services such as GEnie, Byte Information Exchange (BIX) and the early CompuServe, e-mail lists,[10] and Bulletin Board Systems (BBS). In the 1990s, Internet forum software created running conversations with "threads". Threads are topical connections between messages on a virtual "corkboard".[ further explanation needed ]

 Berners-Lee also created what is considered by Encyclopedia Britannica to be "the first 'blog ' " in 1992 to discuss the progress made on creating the World Wide Web and software used for it.[11]

 From June 14, 1993, Mosaic Communications Corporation maintained their "What's New"[12] list of new websites, updated daily and archived monthly. The page was accessible by a special "What's New" button in the Mosaic web browser.

 In November 1993 Ranjit Bhatnagar started writing about interesting sites, pages and discussion groups he found on the internet, as well as some personal information, on his website Moonmilk, arranging them chronologically in a special section called Ranjit's HTTP Playground.[13] Other early pioneers of blogging, such as Justin Hall, credit him with being an inspiration.[14]

 The earliest instance of a commercial blog was on the first business to consumer Web site created in 1995 by Ty, Inc., which featured a blog in a section called "Online Diary". The entries were maintained by featured Beanie Babies that were voted for monthly by Web site visitors.[15]

 The modern blog evolved from the online diary where people would keep a running account of the events in their personal lives. Most such writers called themselves diarists, journalists, or journalers. Justin Hall, who began personal blogging in 1994 while a student at Swarthmore College, is generally recognized as one of the earlier bloggers,[16] as is Jerry Pournelle.[17] Dave Winer's Scripting News is also credited with being one of the older and longer running weblogs.[18][19] The Australian Netguide magazine maintained the Daily Net News[20] on their web site from 1996. Daily Net News ran links and daily reviews of new websites, mostly in Australia.

 Another early blog was Wearable Wireless Webcam, an online shared diary of a person's personal life combining text, digital video, and digital pictures transmitted live from a wearable computer and EyeTap device to a web site in 1994. This practice of semi-automated blogging with live video together with text was referred to as sousveillance, and such journals were also used as evidence in legal matters. Some early bloggers, such as The Misanthropic Bitch, who began in 1997, actually referred to their online presence as a zine, before the term blog entered common usage.

 The first research paper about blogging was Torill Mortensen and Jill Walker Rettberg's paper "Blogging Thoughts",[21] which analysed how blogs were being used to foster research communities and the exchange of ideas and scholarship, and how this new means of networking overturns traditional power structures.

 Technology

 Early blogs were simply manually updated components of common Websites. In 1995, the "Online Diary" on the Ty, Inc. Web site was produced and updated manually before any blogging programs were available. Posts were made to appear in reverse chronological order by manually updating text-based HTML code using FTP software in real time several times a day. To users, this offered the appearance of a live diary that contained multiple new entries per day. At the beginning of each new day, new diary entries were manually coded into a new HTML file, and at the start of each month, diary entries were archived into their own folder, which contained a separate HTML page for every day of the month. Then, menus that contained links to the most recent diary entry were updated manually throughout the site. This text-based method of organizing thousands of files served as a springboard to define future blogging styles that were captured by blogging software developed years later.[15]

 The evolution of electronic and software tools to facilitate the production and maintenance of Web articles posted in reverse chronological order made the publishing process feasible for a much larger and less technically-inclined population. Ultimately, this resulted in the distinct class of online publishing that produces blogs we recognize today. For instance, the use of some sort of browser-based software is now a typical aspect of "blogging". Blogs can be hosted by dedicated blog hosting services, on regular web hosting services, or run using blog software.

 Rise in popularity

 After a slow start, blogging rapidly gained in popularity. Blog usage spread during 1999 and the years following, being further popularized by the near-simultaneous arrival of the first hosted blog tools:

 * Bruce Ableson launched Open Diary in October 1998, which soon grew to thousands of online diaries. Open Diary innovated the reader comment, becoming the first blog community where readers could add comments to other writers' blog entries.
 * Brad Fitzpatrick started LiveJournal in March 1999.
 * Andrew Smales created Pitas.com in July 1999 as an easier alternative to maintaining a "news page" on a Web site, followed by DiaryLand in September 1999, focusing more on a personal diary community.[22]
 * Evan Williams and Meg Hourihan (Pyra Labs) launched Blogger.com in August 1999 (purchased by Google in February 2003)

 Political impact

 On December 6, 2002, Josh Marshall's talkingpointsmemo.com blog called attention to U.S. Senator Lott's comments regarding Senator Thurmond. Senator Lott was eventually to resign his Senate leadership position over the matter.

 An early milestone in the rise in importance of blogs came in 2002, when many bloggers focused on comments by U.S. Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott.[23] Senator Lott, at a party honoring U.S. Senator Strom Thurmond, praised Senator Thurmond by suggesting that the United States would have been better off had Thurmond been elected president. Lott's critics saw these comments as tacit approval of racial segregation, a policy advocated by Thurmond's 1948 presidential campaign. This view was reinforced by documents and recorded interviews dug up by bloggers. (See Josh Marshall's Talking Points Memo.) Though Lott's comments were made at a public event attended by the media, no major media organizations reported on his controversial comments until after blogs broke the story. Blogging helped to create a political crisis that forced Lott to step down as majority leader.

 Similarly, blogs were among the driving forces behind the "Rathergate" scandal. Television journalist Dan Rather presented documents on the CBS show 60 Minutes that conflicted with accepted accounts of President Bush's military service record. Bloggers declared the documents to be forgeries and presented evidence and arguments in support of that view. Consequently, CBS apologized for what it said were inadequate reporting techniques (see: Little Green Footballs). The impact of these stories gave greater credibility to blogs as a medium of news dissemination.

 In Russia, some political bloggers have started to challenge the dominance of official, overwhelmingly pro-government media. Bloggers such as Rustem Adagamov and Alexei Navalny have many followers, and the latter's nickname for the ruling United Russia party as the "party of crooks and thieves" has been adopted by anti-regime protesters.[24] This led to The Wall Street Journal calling Navalny "the man Vladimir Putin fears most" in March 2012.[25]

 Mainstream popularity

 By 2004, the role of blogs became increasingly mainstream, as political consultants, news services, and candidates began using them as tools for outreach and opinion forming. Blogging was established by politicians and political candidates to express opinions on war and other issues and cemented blogs' role as a news source. (See Howard Dean and Wesley Clark.) Even politicians not actively campaigning, such as the UK's Labour Party's Member of Parliament (MP) Tom Watson, began to blog to bond with constituents. In January 2005, Fortune magazine listed eight bloggers whom business people "could not ignore": Peter Rojas, Xeni Jardin, Ben Trott, Mena Trott, Jonathan Schwartz, Jason Goldman, Robert Scoble, and Jason Calacanis.[26]

 Israel was among the first national governments to set up an official blog.[27] Under David Saranga, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs became active in adopting Web 2.0 initiatives, including an official video blog[27] and a political blog.[28] The Foreign Ministry also held a microblogging press conference via Twitter about its war with Hamas, with Saranga answering questions from the public in common text-messaging abbreviations during a live worldwide press conference.[29] The questions and answers were later posted on IsraelPolitik, the country's official political blog.[30]

 The impact of blogging on the mainstream media has also been acknowledged by governments. In 2009, the presence of the American journalism industry had declined to the point that several newspaper corporations were filing for bankruptcy, resulting in less direct competition between newspapers within the same circulation area. Discussion emerged as to whether the newspaper industry would benefit from a stimulus package by the federal government. U.S. President Barack Obama acknowledged the emerging influence of blogging upon society by saying, "if the direction of the news is all blogosphere, all opinions, with no serious fact-checking, no serious attempts to put stories in context, then what you will end up getting is people shouting at each other across the void, but not a lot of mutual understanding".[31] Between 2009 and 2012, an Orwell Prize for blogging was awarded.

 Types

 A screenshot from the BlogActive website

 There are many different types of blogs, differing not only in the type of content, but also in the way that content is delivered or written.

 Personal blogs The personal blog is an ongoing online diary or commentary written by an individual, rather than a corporation or organization. While the vast majority of personal blogs attract very few readers, other than the blogger's immediate family and friends, a small number of personal blogs have become popular, to the point that they have attracted lucrative advertising sponsorship. A tiny number of personal bloggers have become famous, both in the online community and in the real world. Collaborative blogs or group blogs A type of weblog in which posts are written and published by more than one author. The majority of high-profile collaborative blogs are organised according to a single uniting theme, such as politics, technology or advocacy. In recent years, the blogosphere has seen the emergence and growing popularity of more collaborative efforts, often set up by already established bloggers wishing to pool time and resources, both to reduce the pressure of maintaining a popular website and to attract a larger readership. Microblogging Microblogging is the practice of posting small pieces of digital content—which could be text, pictures, links, short videos, or other media—on the internet. Microblogging offers a portable communication mode that feels organic and spontaneous to many users. It has captured the public imagination, in part because the short posts are easy to read on the go or when waiting. Friends use it to keep in touch, business associates use it to coordinate meetings or share useful resources, and celebrities and politicians (or their publicists) microblog about concert dates, lectures, book releases, or tour schedules. A wide and growing range of add-on tools enables sophisticated updates and interaction with other applications. The resulting profusion of functionality is helping to define new possibilities for this type of communication.[32] Examples of these include Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and, by far the largest, Weibo. Corporate and organizational blogs A blog can be private, as in most cases, or it can be for business or not-for-profit organization or government purposes. Blogs used internally and only available to employees via an Intranet are called corporate blogs. Companies use internal corporate blogs to enhance the communication, culture and employee engagement in a corporation. Internal corporate blogs can be used to communicate news about company policies or procedures, build employee esprit de corps and improve morale. Companies and other organizations also use external, publicly accessible blogs for marketing, branding, or public relations purposes. Some organizations have a blog authored by their executive; in practice, many of these executive blog posts are penned by a ghostwriter who makes posts in the style of the credited author. Similar blogs for clubs and societies are called club blogs, group blogs, or by similar names; typical use is to inform members and other interested parties of club and member activities. Aggregated blogs Individuals or organization may aggregate selected feeds on a specific topic, product or service and provide a combined view for its readers. This allows readers to concentrate on reading instead of searching for quality on-topic content and managing subscriptions. Many such aggregations called planets from name of Planet (software) that perform such aggregation, hosting sites usually have planet. subdomain in domain name (like http://planet.gnome.org/). By genre Some blogs focus on a particular subject, such as political blogs, journalism blogs, health blogs, travel blogs (also known as travelogs), gardening blogs, house blogs, Book Blogs,[33][34] fashion blogs, beauty blogs, lifestyle blogs, party blogs, wedding blogs, photography blogs, project blogs, psychology blogs, sociology blogs, education blogs, niche blogs, classical music blogs, quizzing blogs, legal blogs (often referred to as a blawgs), or dreamlogs. How-to/Tutorial blogs are becoming increasing popular.[35] Two common types of genre blogs are art blogs and music blogs. A blog featuring discussions, especially about home and family is not uncommonly called a mom blog. While not a legitimate type of blog, one used for the sole purpose of spamming is known as a splog. By media type A blog comprising videos is called a vlog, one comprising links is called a linklog, a site containing a portfolio of sketches is called a sketchblog or one comprising photos is called a photoblog. Blogs with shorter posts and mixed media types are called tumblelogs. Blogs that are written on typewriters and then scanned are called typecast or typecast blogs. A rare type of blog hosted on the Gopher Protocol is known as a phlog. By device A blog can also be defined by which type of device is used to compose it. A blog written by a mobile device like a mobile phone or PDA could be called a moblog.[36] One early blog was Wearable Wireless Webcam, an online shared diary of a person's personal life combining text, video, and pictures transmitted live from a wearable computer and EyeTap device to a web site. This practice of semi-automated blogging with live video together with text was referred to as sousveillance. Such journals have been used as evidence in legal matters.[ citation needed ] Reverse blog A reverse blog is composed by its users rather than a single blogger. This system has the characteristics of a blog and the writing of several authors. These can be written by several contributing authors on a topic or opened up for anyone to write. There is typically some limit to the number of entries to keep it from operating like a web forum.[ citation needed ]

 Community and cataloging

 An artist's depiction of the interconnections between blogs and blog authors in the "blogosphere" in 2007

 Blogosphere The collective community of all blogs and blog authors, particularly notable and widely read blogs, is known as the blogosphere. Since all blogs are on the internet by definition, they may be seen as interconnected and socially networked, through blogrolls, comments, linkbacks (refbacks, trackbacks or pingbacks), and backlinks. Discussions "in the blogosphere" were occasionally used by the media as a gauge of public opinion on various issues. Because new, untapped communities of bloggers and their readers can emerge in the space of a few years, Internet marketers pay close attention to "trends in the blogosphere".[37] Blog search engines Several blog search engines have been used to search blog contents, such as Bloglines (defunct), BlogScope (defunct), and Technorati (defunct). Blogging communities and directories Several online communities exist that connect people to blogs and bloggers to other bloggers. Interest-specific blogging platforms are also available. For instance, Blogster has a sizable community of political bloggers among its members. Global Voices aggregates international bloggers, "with emphasis on voices that are not ordinarily heard in international mainstream media."[38] Blogging and advertising It is common for blogs to feature banner advertisements or promotional content, either to financially benefit the blogger, support website hosting costs, or to promote the blogger's favourite causes or products. The popularity of blogs has also given rise to "fake blogs" in which a company will create a fictional blog as a marketing tool to promote a product.[39]

 As the popularity of blogging continued to rise (as of 2006), the commercialisation of blogging is rapidly increasing. Many corporations and companies collaborate with bloggers to increase advertising and engage online communities with their products. In the book Fans, Bloggers, and Gamers, Henry Jenkins stated that "Bloggers take knowledge into their own hands, enabling successful navigation within and between these emerging knowledge cultures. One can see such behaviour as co-optation into commodity culture insofar as it sometimes collaborates with corporate interests, but one can also see it as increasing the diversity of media culture, providing opportunities for greater inclusiveness, and making more responsive to consumers."[40]

 Early popularity

 * Before 2006: The blogdex project was launched by researchers in the MIT Media Lab to crawl the Web and gather data from thousands of blogs to investigate their social properties. Information was gathered by the tool for over four years, during which it autonomously tracked the most contagious information spreading in the blog community, ranking it by recency and popularity. It can, therefore,[ original research? ] be considered the first instantiation of a memetracker. The project was replaced by tailrank.com, which in turn has been replaced by spinn3r.com.
 * 2006: Blogs are given rankings by Alexa Internet (web hits of Alexa Toolbar users), and formerly by blog search engine Technorati based on the number of incoming links (Technorati stopped doing this in 2014). In August 2006, Technorati found that the most linked-to blog on the internet was that of Chinese actress Xu Jinglei.[41] Chinese media Xinhua reported that this blog received more than 50 million page views, claiming it to be the most popular blog in the world.[42][ better source needed ] Technorati rated Boing Boing to be the most-read group-written blog.[41]
 * 2008: As of 2008, blogging had become such a mania that a new blog was created every second of every minute of every hour of every day.[43] Researchers have actively analyzed the dynamics of how blogs become popular. There are essentially two measures of this: popularity through citations, as well as popularity through affiliation (i.e., blogroll). The basic conclusion from studies of the structure of blogs is that while it takes time for a blog to become popular through blogrolls, permalinks can boost popularity more quickly and are perhaps more indicative of popularity and authority than blogrolls since they denote that people are actually reading the blog's content and deem it valuable or noteworthy in specific cases.[44]

 Blurring with the mass media

 Many bloggers, particularly those engaged in participatory journalism, are amateur journalists, and thus they differentiate themselves from the professional reporters and editors who work in mainstream media organizations. Other bloggers are media professionals who are publishing online, rather than via a TV station or newspaper, either as an add-on to a traditional media presence (e.g., hosting a radio show or writing a column in a paper newspaper), or as their sole journalistic output. Some institutions and organizations see blogging as a means of "getting around the filter" of media "gatekeepers" and pushing their messages directly to the public. Many mainstream journalists, meanwhile, write their own blogs—well over 300, according to CyberJournalist.net's J-blog list.[ citation needed ] The first known use of a blog on a news site was in August 1998, when Jonathan Dube of The Charlotte Observer published one chronicling Hurricane Bonnie.[45]

 Some bloggers have moved over to other media. The following bloggers (and others) have appeared on radio and television: Duncan Black (known widely by his pseudonym, Atrios), Glenn Reynolds (Instapundit), Markos Moulitsas Zúniga (Daily Kos), Alex Steffen (Worldchanging), Ana Marie Cox (Wonkette), Nate Silver (FiveThirtyEight.com), and Ezra Klein (Ezra Klein blog in The American Prospect, now in The Washington Post''). In counterpoint, Hugh Hewitt exemplifies a mass media personality who has moved in the other direction, adding to his reach in "old media" by being an influential blogger. Similarly, it was Emergency Preparedness and Safety Tips On Air and Online blog articles that captured Surgeon General of the United States Richard Carmona's attention and earned his kudos for the associated broadcasts by talk show host Lisa Tolliver and Westchester Emergency Volunteer Reserves-Medical Reserve Corps Director Marianne Partridge.[46][47]

 Blogs have also had an influence on minority languages, bringing together scattered speakers and learners; this is particularly so with blogs in Gaelic languages. Minority language publishing (which may lack economic feasibility) can find its audience through inexpensive blogging. There are examples of bloggers who have published books based on their blogs, e.g., Salam Pax, Ellen Simonetti, Jessica Cutler, and ScrappleFace. Blog-based books have been given the name blook. A prize for the best blog-based book was initiated in 2005,[48] the Lulu Blooker Prize.[49] However, success has been elusive offline, with many of these books not selling as well as their blogs. The book based on Julie Powell's blog "The Julie/Julia Project" was made into the film Julie & Julia, apparently the first to do so.

 Consumer-generated advertising

 Consumer-generated advertising is a relatively new and controversial development, and it has created a new model of marketing communication from businesses to consumers. Among the various forms of advertising on blog, the most controversial are the sponsored posts.[50] These are blog entries or posts and may be in the form of feedback, reviews, opinion, videos, etc. and usually contain a link back to the desired site using a keyword or several keywords. Blogs have led to some disintermediation and a breakdown of the traditional advertising model, where companies can skip over the advertising agencies (previously the only interface with the customer) and contact the customers directly via social media websites. On the other hand, new companies specialised in blog advertising have been established to take advantage of this new development as well. However, there are many people who look negatively on this new development. Some believe that any form of commercial activity on blogs will destroy the blogosphere's credibility.[51]

 Legal and social consequences

 Blogging can result in a range of legal liabilities and other unforeseen consequences.[52]

 Defamation or liability

 Several cases have been brought before the national courts against bloggers concerning issues of defamation or liability. U.S. payouts related to blogging totalled $17.4 million by 2009; in some cases these have been covered by umbrella insurance.[53] The courts have returned with mixed verdicts. Internet Service Providers (ISPs), in general, are immune from liability for information that originates with third parties (U.S. Communications Decency Act and the EU Directive 2000/31/EC). In Doe v. Cahill, the Delaware Supreme Court held that stringent standards had to be met to unmask the anonymous bloggers and also took the unusual step of dismissing the libel case itself (as unfounded under American libel law) rather than referring it back to the trial court for reconsideration.[54] In a bizarre twist, the Cahills were able to obtain the identity of John Doe, who turned out to be the person they suspected: the town's mayor, Councilman Cahill's political rival. The Cahills amended their original complaint, and the mayor settled the case rather than going to trial.

 In January 2007, two prominent Malaysian political bloggers, Jeff Ooi and Ahirudin Attan, were sued by a pro-government newspaper, The New Straits Times Press (Malaysia) Berhad, Kalimullah bin Masheerul Hassan, Hishamuddin bin Aun and Brenden John a/l John Pereira over alleged defamation. The plaintiff was supported by the Malaysian government.[55] Following the suit, the Malaysian government proposed to "register" all bloggers in Malaysia to better control parties against their interests.[56] This is the first such legal case against bloggers in the country. In the United States, blogger Aaron Wall was sued by Traffic Power for defamation and publication of trade secrets in 2005.[57] According to Wired magazine, Traffic Power had been "banned from Google for allegedly rigging search engine results."[58] Wall and other "white hat" search engine optimization consultants had exposed Traffic Power in what they claim was an effort to protect the public. The case was dismissed for lack of personal jurisdiction, and Traffic Power failed to appeal within the allowed time.[59]

 In 2009, NDTV issued a legal notice to Indian blogger Kunte for a blog post criticizing their coverage of the Mumbai attacks.[60] The blogger unconditionally withdrew his post, which resulted in several Indian bloggers criticizing NDTV for trying to silence critics.[61]

 Employment

 Employees who blog about elements of their place of employment can begin to affect the reputation of their employer, either in a positive way, if the employee is praising the employer and its workplaces, or in a negative way, if the blogger is making negative comments about the company or its practices.

 In general, attempts by employee bloggers to protect themselves by maintaining anonymity have proved ineffective.[62] In 2009, a controversial and landmark decision by The Hon. Mr Justice Eady refused to grant an order to protect the anonymity of Richard Horton. Horton was a police officer in the United Kingdom who blogged about his job under the name "NightJack".[63]

 Delta Air Lines fired flight attendant Ellen Simonetti because she posted photographs of herself in uniform on an aeroplane and because of comments posted on her blog "Queen of Sky: Diary of a Flight Attendant" which the employer deemed inappropriate.[64][65] This case highlighted the issue of personal blogging and freedom of expression versus employer rights and responsibilities, and so it received wide media attention. Simonetti took legal action against the airline for "wrongful termination, defamation of character and lost future wages".[66] The suit was postponed while Delta was in bankruptcy proceedings.[67]

 In early 2006, Erik Ringmar, a senior lecturer at the London School of Economics, was ordered by the convenor of his department to "take down and destroy" his blog in which he discussed the quality of education at the school.[68]

 Mark Jen was terminated in 2005 after 10 days of employment as an assistant product manager at Google for discussing corporate secrets on his personal blog, then called 99zeros and hosted on the Google-owned Blogger service.[69] He blogged about unreleased products and company finances a week before the company's earnings announcement. He was fired two days after he complied with his employer's request to remove the sensitive material from his blog.[70]

 In India, blogger Gaurav Sabnis resigned from IBM after his posts questioned the claims made by a management school.[71] Jessica Cutler, aka "The Washingtonienne", blogged about her sex life while employed as a congressional assistant. After the blog was discovered and she was fired,[72] she wrote a novel based on her experiences and blog: The Washingtonienne: A Novel. As of 2006, Cutler is being sued by one of her former lovers in a case that could establish the extent to which bloggers are obligated to protect the privacy of their real life associates.[73]

 Catherine Sanderson, a.k.a. Petite Anglaise, lost her job in Paris at a British accountancy firm because of blogging.[74] Although given in the blog in a fairly anonymous manner, some of the descriptions of the firm and some of its people were less than flattering. Sanderson later won a compensation claim case against the British firm, however.[75]

 On the other hand, Penelope Trunk wrote an upbeat article in The Boston Globe in 2006, entitled "Blogs 'essential' to a good career".[76] She was one of the first journalists to point out that a large portion of bloggers are professionals and that a well-written blog can help attract employers.

 Business owners

 Business owners who blog about their business can also run into legal consequences. Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, was fined during the 2006 NBA playoffs for criticizing NBA officials on the court and in his blog.[77]

 Political dangers

 See also: Political repression of cyber-dissidents

 Blogging can sometimes have unforeseen consequences in politically sensitive areas. In some countries, Internet police or secret police may monitor blogs and arrest blog authors or commentators. Blogs can be much harder to control than broadcast or print media because a person can create a blog whose authorship is hard to trace by using anonymity technology such as Tor. As a result, totalitarian and authoritarian regimes often seek to suppress blogs and punish those who maintain them.

 In Singapore, two ethnic Chinese individuals were imprisoned under the country's anti-sedition law for posting anti-Muslim remarks in their blogs.[78] Egyptian blogger Kareem Amer was charged with insulting the Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and an Islamic institution through his blog. It is the first time in the history of Egypt that a blogger was prosecuted. After a brief trial session that took place in Alexandria, the blogger was found guilty and sentenced to prison terms of three years for insulting Islam and inciting sedition and one year for insulting Mubarak.[79] Egyptian blogger Abdel Monem Mahmoud was arrested in April 2007 for anti-government writings in his blog. Monem is a member of the then banned Muslim Brotherhood. After the 2011 Egyptian revolution, the Egyptian blogger Maikel Nabil Sanad was charged with insulting the military for an article he wrote on his personal blog and sentenced to three years.[80]

 After expressing opinions in his personal blog about the state of the Sudanese armed forces, Jan Pronk, United Nations Special Representative for Sudan, was given three days notice to leave Sudan. The Sudanese army had demanded his deportation.[81][82] In Myanmar, Nay Phone Latt, a blogger, was sentenced to 20 years in jail for posting a cartoon critical of head of state Than Shwe.[83]

 Personal safety

 See also: Cyberstalking and Internet homicide

 One consequence of blogging is the possibility of online or in-person attacks or threats against the blogger, sometimes without apparent reason. In some cases, bloggers have faced cyberbullying. Kathy Sierra, author of the blog "Creating Passionate Users",[84] was the target of threats and misogynistic insults to the point that she cancelled her keynote speech at a technology conference in San Diego, fearing for her safety.[85] While a blogger's anonymity is often tenuous, Internet trolls who would attack a blogger with threats or insults can be emboldened by the anonymity of the online environment, where some users are known only by a pseudonymous "username" (e.g., "Hacker1984"). Sierra and supporters initiated an online discussion aimed at countering abusive online behaviour[86] and developed a Blogger's Code of Conduct, which set out a rules for behaviour in the online space.

 Behaviour

 The Blogger's Code of Conduct is a list of seven proposed ideas.

 See also

 * Internet portal
 * Journalism portal
 * Blog award
 * BROG
 * Chat room
 * Citizen journalism
 * Collaborative blog
 * Comparison of free blog hosting services
 * Customer engagement
 * Glossary of blogging
 * Interactive journalism
 * Internet think tank
 * Israblog
 * List of blogs
 * List of family-and-homemaking blogs
 * Mass collaboration
 * Perzine
 * Prison blogs
 * Sideblog
 * Social blogging
 * Think aloud protocol
 * Webmaster
 * Web template system
 * Web traffic

 References

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 2. ^ Mutum, Dilip; Wang, Qing (2010). "Consumer Generated Advertising in Blogs". In Neal M. Burns; Terry Daugherty; Matthew S. Eastin (eds.). Handbook of Research on Digital Media and Advertising: User Generated Content Consumption. Vol. 1. IGI Global. pp. 248–261.
 3. ^ Gaudeul, Alexia & Peroni, Chiara (2010). "Reciprocal attention and norm of reciprocity in blogging networks". Economics Bulletin. 30 (3): 2230–2248.
 4. ^ Hardwick, Si Quan Ong, Rebecca Liew, Joshua (February 3, 2022). "71 Blogging Statistics for 2022". SEO Blog by Ahrefs . Retrieved December 30, 2022 .{{cite web}} : CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list ( link )
 5. ^ "After 10 Years of Blogs, the Future's Brighter Than Ever". Wired. December 17, 2007 . Retrieved June 5, 2008 .
 6. ^ "It's the links, stupid". The Economist. April 20, 2006 . Retrieved June 5, 2008 .
 7. ^ Merholz, Peter (1999). "Peterme.com". Internet Archive. Archived from the original on October 13, 1999 . Retrieved June 5, 2008 .
 8. ^ Kottke, Jason (August 26, 2003). "It's 'weblog' not 'web log'". kottke.org . Retrieved June 5, 2008 .
 9. ^ Origins of "Blog" and "Blogger" Archived November 3, 2014, at the Wayback Machine , American Dialect Society Mailing List (April 20, 2008).
 10. ^ The term "e-log" has been used to describe journal entries sent out via e-mail since as early as March 1996. Norman, David (July 13, 2005). "Users confused by blogs". Archived from the original on June 7, 2007 . Retrieved June 5, 2008 . "Research staff and students welcome 'E-Log'". University College London. December 2003. Archived from the original on August 12, 2007 . Retrieved June 5, 2008 .
 11. ^ Dennis, Michael Aaron; Hosch, William L.; Tikkanen, Amy (April 11, 2007). "blog". Encyclopedia Britannica . Retrieved May 3, 2023 .
 12. ^ " What's New! ". Mosaic Communications Corporation. Retrieved June 15, 2013.
 13. ^ "Ranjit's HTTP playground". Moonmilk. May 19, 1998. Archived from the original on May 19, 1998 . Retrieved November 26, 2023 .
 14. ^ Rosenberg, Scott (September 23, 2008). "Scott Rosenberg Traces the Blogosphere's Origins". Mediashift (Interview). Interviewed by Simon Owens. PBS . Retrieved November 26, 2023 . "For instance, Justin Hall started his site in January 1994, before most of us had heard of the web. I asked him, 'Well, you're one of the first bloggers, was there anyone out there who you were getting inspiration from?' And he pointed me to this other guy named Ranjit Bhatnagar who was keeping a site at moonmilk.com in 1993. And, sure enough, it was a reverse chronological list of stuff he found on the web."
 15. ^ a b Bissonnette, Zac (March 2015). "The $12-per-hour Sociology Major Who Made Ty Warner a Billionaire". The Great Beanie Baby Bubble: Mass Delusion and the Dark Side of Cute. Penguin Books. pp. 107–121. ISBN 978-1591846024.
 16. ^ Harmanci, Reyhan (February 20, 2005). "Time to get a life — pioneer blogger Justin Hall bows out at 31". San Francisco Chronicle . Retrieved June 5, 2008 .
 17. ^ Pournelle, Jerry. "Chaos Manor in Perspective". Jerry Pournelle's blog. ""I can make some claim to this being The Original Blog and Daybook. I certainly started keeping a day book well before most, and long before the term "blog" or Web Log was invented. BIX, the Byte information exchange, preceded the Web by a lot, and I also had a daily journal on GE Genie. All that was long before the World Wide Web." – Jerry Pournelle"
 18. ^ Festa, Paul (February 25, 2003). "Newsmaker: Blogging comes to Harvard". CNET . Retrieved January 25, 2007 .
 19. ^ "...Dave Winer... whose Scripting News (scripting.com) is one of the oldest blogs." Gallagher, David F. (June 10, 2002). "Technology; A rift among bloggers". The New York Times.
 20. ^ Australian Net Guide . Web.archive.org (November 12, 1996). Retrieved June 15, 2013.
 21. ^ Mortensen 1, Torill 2; Walker, Jill (2002). "Blogging thoughts: personal publication as an online research tool" (PDF) . Researching ICTs in Context: 249–279.{{cite journal}} : CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list ( link )
 22. ^ "San Antonio Attorneys". Archived from the original on April 11, 2008 . Retrieved March 29, 2008 .
 23. ^ Massing, Michael (August 13, 2009). "The News About the Internet". New York Review of Books. 56 (13): 29–32 . Retrieved October 10, 2009 .
 24. ^ Daniel Sandford , BBC News : "Russians tire of corruption spectacle", https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15972326
 25. ^ Kaminski, Matthew (March 3, 2012). "The Man Vladimir Putin Fears Most (the weekend interview)". The Wall Street Journal.
 26. ^ Kirkpatrick, David; Roth, Daniel. "Why There's No Escaping the Blog". Fortune. Archived from the original on January 1, 2005 . Retrieved January 30, 2014 .
 27. ^ a b Israel Video Blog aims to show the world 'the beautiful face of real Israel' , Ynet, February 24, 2008.
 28. ^ Latest PR venture of Israel's diplomatic mission in New York attracts large Arab audience , Ynet, June 21, 2007.
 29. ^ Haviv Rettig Gur (December 30, 2008). "Battlefront Twitter". The Jerusalem Post. Archived from the original on November 10, 2011.
 30. ^ The Toughest Q's Answered in the Briefest Tweets , Noam Cohen, The New York Times , January 3, 2009. Retrieved January 5, 2009.
 31. ^ Journalists deserve subsidies too Archived March 24, 2014, at the Wayback Machine , Robert W. McChesney and John Nichols , Delaware Online , November 3, 2009. Retrieved November 10, 2009.
 32. ^ "7 Things You Should Know About Microblogging". Educause.Edu. July 7, 2009 . Retrieved October 25, 2012 .
 33. ^ Stephan Metcalf, "Fixing a Hole", The New York Times , March 2006
 34. ^ Jennifer Saranow, "Blogwatch: This Old House", The Wall Street Journal , September 2007
 35. ^ "52 Types of Blog Posts that Are Proven to Work". Problogger.net. September 2, 2011 . Retrieved July 18, 2017 .
 36. ^ "Blogging goes mobile". BBC News. February 23, 2003 . Retrieved June 5, 2008 .
 37. ^ See for instance:
 + Mesure, Susie (August 23, 2009). "Is it a diary? Is it an ad? It's a mummy blog". The Independent. London. p. 11 . Retrieved October 10, 2009 .
 38. ^ "Global Voices: About". GlobalVoices.org . Retrieved April 2, 2011 .
 39. ^ Gogoi, Pallavi (October 9, 2006). "Wal-Mart's Jim and Laura: The Real Story". Bloomberg BusinessWeek. Archived from the original on September 26, 2008 . Retrieved August 6, 2008 .
 40. ^ Jenkins, Henry (2006). Fans, Bloggers, and Gamers. New York: New York University Press. p. 151. ISBN 978-0814742853.
 41. ^ a b Fickling, David, Internet killed the TV star , The Guardian NewsBlog, August 15, 2006
 42. ^ "Xu Jinglei most popular blogger in world". China Daily. August 24, 2006 . Retrieved June 5, 2008 .
 43. ^ Keen, Andrew (2008). The Cult of the Amateur: How Today's Internet Is Killing Our Culture. New York: Nicholas Brealey Publishing. p. 3. ISBN 978-1857885200.
 44. ^ Marlow, C. Audience, structure and authority in the weblog community . Presented at the International Communication Association Conference, May 2004, New Orleans, LA.
 45. ^ "Blogging Bonnie". Poynter.org. September 18, 2003.
 46. ^ "National Safety Month". Nsc.org. Archived from the original on June 16, 2014 . Retrieved April 9, 2010 .
 47. ^ "Flavor Flav Celebrates National Safety Month". Blogcritics. Archived from the original on February 13, 2009.
 48. ^ "Blooker rewards books from blogs". BBC News. October 11, 2005 . Retrieved June 5, 2008 .
 49. ^ "Blooker prize honours best blogs". BBC News. March 17, 2007 . Retrieved June 5, 2008 .
 50. ^ Mutum, Dilip and Wang, Qing (2010). "Consumer Generated Advertising in Blogs". In Neal M. Burns, Terry Daugherty, Matthew S. Eastin (Eds) Handbook of Research on Digital Media and Advertising: User Generated Content Consumption (Vol 1), IGI Global, 248–261.
 51. ^ "PayPerPost.com offers to sell your soul". TechCrunch. June 30, 2006 . Retrieved July 18, 2017 .
 52. ^ "Article Window". The Times of India . Retrieved October 25, 2012 .
 53. ^ McQueen MP. (2009). Bloggers, Beware: What You Write Can Get You Sued . The Wall Street Journal .
 54. ^ Doe v. Cahill , 884 A.2d 451 (Del. 2005).
 55. ^ "New Straits Times staffers sue two bloggers". Reporters Without Borders. January 19, 2007. Archived from the original on June 8, 2008 . Retrieved June 5, 2008 .
 56. ^ "Government plans to force bloggers to register". Reporters Without Borders. April 6, 2007. Archived from the original on June 11, 2008 . Retrieved June 5, 2008 .
 57. ^ Kesmodel, David (August 31, 2005). "Blogger Faces Lawsuit Over Comments Posted by Readers". The Wall Street Journal . Retrieved June 5, 2008 .
 58. ^ Wired Magazine , Legal Showdown in Search Fracas , September 8, 2005
 59. ^ Sullivan, Danny (April 13, 2006). "SearchEngineWatch". Blog.searchenginewatch.com. Archived from the original on February 4, 2009 . Retrieved July 31, 2010 .
 60. ^ "Barkha versus blogger". The Hoot . Retrieved February 2, 2009 .
 61. ^ "Indian bloggers criticizing NDTV". Abhishekarora.com. February 8, 2009. Archived from the original on February 12, 2009 . Retrieved April 21, 2013 .
 62. ^ Sanderson, Cathrine (April 2, 2007). "Blogger beware!". The Guardian. London . Retrieved April 2, 2007 .
 63. ^ "Ruling on NightJack author Richard Horton kills blogger anonymity". Archived from the original on August 29, 2011.
 64. ^ Twist, Jo (November 3, 2004). "US Blogger Fired by her Airline". BBC News . Retrieved June 5, 2008 .
 65. ^ "Delta employee fired for blogging sues airline". USA Today. September 8, 2005 . Retrieved June 5, 2008 .
 66. ^ "Queen of the Sky gets marching orders". The Register. November 3, 2004 . Retrieved June 5, 2008 .
 67. ^ "Twelfth Omnibus Claims Objection" (PDF) . Retrieved July 8, 2014 .
 68. ^ MacLeod, Donald (May 3, 2006). "Lecturer's Blog Sparks Free Speech Row". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on June 12, 2008 . Retrieved June 5, 2008 . See also "Forget the Footnotes". Archived from the original on April 13, 2006.
 69. ^ Hansen, Evan (February 8, 2005). "Google blogger has left the building". CNET News . Retrieved April 4, 2007 .
 70. ^ "Plaxoed! » the official story, straight from the source [Mark Jen's life @ Plaxo]". Archived from the original on July 25, 2008 . Retrieved September 10, 2008 .
 71. ^ "Bloggers join hands against B-school". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on December 14, 2005 . Retrieved January 30, 2011 .
 72. ^ "The Hill's Sex Diarist Reveals All (Well, Some)". The Washington Post. May 23, 2004 . Retrieved June 5, 2008 .
 73. ^ "Steamy D.C. Sex Blog Scandal Heads to Court". NBC News. December 27, 2006 . Retrieved June 5, 2008 .
 74. ^ "Bridget Jones Blogger Fire Fury". CNN. July 19, 2006 . Retrieved June 5, 2008 .
 75. ^ "Sacked 'petite anglaise' blogger wins compensation claim". The Sydney Morning Herald. March 31, 2007 . Retrieved February 6, 2015 .
 76. ^ Trunk, Penelope (April 16, 2006). "Blogs 'essential' to a good career". The Boston Globe . Retrieved April 21, 2013 .
 77. ^ "NBA fines Cuban $200K for antics on, off court". ESPN. May 11, 2006 . Retrieved June 5, 2008 .
 78. ^ Kierkegaard, Sylvia (2006). "Blogs, lies and the doocing: The next hotbed of litigation?". Computer Law & Security Report. 22 (2): 127. doi:10.1016/j.clsr.2006.01.002.
 79. ^ "Egypt blogger jailed for insult". BBC News. February 22, 2007 . Retrieved June 5, 2008 .
 80. ^ Knafo, Saki (September 15, 2011). "Maikel Nabil Sanad, On Hunger Strike in Egypt, Is Dying". HuffPost . Retrieved December 29, 2011 .
 81. ^ "Sudan expels U.N. envoy for blog". CNN. October 22, 2006 . Retrieved March 14, 2007 .
 82. ^ "UN envoy leaves after Sudan row". BBC News. BBC. October 23, 2006 . Retrieved October 24, 2006 .
 83. ^ "Burma blogger jailed for 20 years". BBC News. November 11, 2008 . Retrieved March 26, 2010 .
 84. ^ "Headrush.typepad.com". Headrush.typepad.com . Retrieved April 21, 2013 .
 85. ^ Pham, Alex (March 31, 2007). "Abuse, threats quiet bloggers' keyboards" (PDF) . Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on June 25, 2008 . Retrieved June 5, 2008 .
 86. ^ "Blog death threats spark debate". BBC News. March 27, 2007 . Retrieved June 5, 2008 .

 Further reading

 * Alavi, Nasrin. We Are Iran: The Persian Blogs, Soft Skull Press, New York, 2005. ISBN 1-933368-05-5.
 * Bruns, Axel, and Joanne Jacobs, eds. Uses of Blogs, Peter Lang, New York, 2006. ISBN 0-8204-8124-6.
 * Blood, Rebecca. "Weblogs: A History and Perspective" Archived May 30, 2015, at the Wayback Machine. "Rebecca's Pocket".
 * Kline, David; Burstein, Dan. Blog!: How the Newest Media Revolution is Changing Politics, Business, and Culture, Squibnocket Partners, L.L.C., 2005. ISBN 1-59315-141-1.
 * Gorman, Michael. "Revenge of the Blog People!". Library Journal.
 * Heriot, Gail, Are Modern Bloggers Following in the Footsteps of Publius (and Other Musings on Blogging by Legal Scholars...), 8 Wash. U. L. Rev. 1113 (2006).
 * Ringmar, Erik. A Blogger's Manifesto: Free Speech and Censorship in the Age of the Internet (London: Anthem Press, 2007).
 * Rosenberg, Scott, Say Everything: how blogging Began, what it's becoming, and why it matters, New York : Crown Publishers, 2009. ISBN 978-0-307-45136-1
 * Weinberger, David (August 31, 2015), "Why blogging still matters", The Boston Globe

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A blog (a truncation of "weblog") [1]  is an informational website consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order so that the most recent post appears first, at the top of the web page. Until 2009, blogs were often the work of a single individual, occasionally of a small group, and often covered a single subject or topic. In the 2010s, "multi-author blogs" (MABs) emerged, featuring the writing of multiple authors and sometimes professionally edited. MABs from newspapers, other media outlets, universities, think tanks, advocacy groups, and similar institutions account for an increasing quantity of blog traffic. The rise of Twitter and other "microblogging" systems helps integrate MABs and single-author blogs into the news media. Blog can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.
 The emergence and growth of blogs in the late 1990s coincided with the advent of web publishing tools that facilitated the posting of content by non-technical users who did not have much experience with HTML or computer programming. Previously, knowledge of such technologies as HTML and File Transfer Protocol had been required to publish content on the Web, and early Web users therefore tended to be hackers and computer enthusiasts. As of the 2010s, the majority are interactive Web 2.0 websites, allowing visitors to leave online comments, and it is this interactivity that distinguishes them from other static websites. [2]  In that sense, blogging can be seen as a form of social networking service. Indeed, bloggers not only produce content to post on their blogs but also often build social relations with their readers and other bloggers. [3]  Blog owners or authors often moderate and filter online comments to remove hate speech or other offensive content. There are also high-readership blogs which do not allow comments.
 Many blogs provide commentary on a particular subject or topic, ranging from philosophy, religion, and arts to science, politics, and sports. Others function as more personal online diaries or online brand advertising of a particular individual or company. A typical blog combines text, digital images, and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its topic. Most blogs are primarily textual, although some focus on art ( art blogs ), photographs ( photoblogs ), videos ( video blogs  or "vlogs"), music ( MP3 blogs ), and audio ( podcasts ). In education, blogs can be used as instructional resources; these are referred to as  edublogs . Microblogging is another type of blogging, featuring very short posts.
 'Blog' and 'blogging' are now loosely used for content creation and sharing on social media, especially when the content is long-form and one creates and shares content on regular basis. So, one could be maintaining a blog on Facebook or blogging on Instagram. Blogging is writing about what you like. In other words, writing about what you know and providing valuable information to people searching for it.
 A 2022 estimate suggested that there were over 600 million public blogs out of more than 1.9 billion websites. [4] 
 
   An early example of a "diary" style blog consisting of text and images transmitted wirelessly in real-time from a wearable computer with head-up display, February 22, 1995 
The term "weblog" was coined by Jorn Barger  [5]  on December 17, 1997. The short form "blog" was coined by Peter Merholz, who jokingly broke the word weblog into the phrase we blog in the sidebar of his blog Peterme.com in May 1999. [6]   [7]   [8]  Shortly thereafter, Evan Williams at Pyra Labs used "blog" as both a noun and verb ("to blog", meaning "to edit one's weblog or to post to one's weblog") and devised the term "blogger" in connection with Pyra Labs' Blogger product, leading to the popularization of the terms. [9] 
 
Before blogging became popular, digital communities took many forms, including Usenet, commercial online services such as GEnie, Byte Information Exchange (BIX) and the early CompuServe, e-mail lists, [10]  and Bulletin Board Systems (BBS). In the 1990s, Internet forum software created running conversations with "threads". Threads are topical connections between messages on a virtual "corkboard".[   ]
 Berners-Lee also created what is considered by Encyclopedia Britannica to be "the first 'blog" in 1992 to discuss the progress made on creating the World Wide Web and software used for it. [11] 
 From June 14, 1993, Mosaic Communications Corporation maintained their "What's New" [12]  list of new websites, updated daily and archived monthly. The page was accessible by a special "What's New" button in the Mosaic web browser.
 In November 1993 Ranjit Bhatnagar started writing about interesting sites, pages and discussion groups he found on the internet, as well as some personal information, on his website Moonmilk, arranging them chronologically in a special section called Ranjit's HTTP Playground. [13]  Other early pioneers of blogging, such as Justin Hall, credit him with being an inspiration. [14] 
 The earliest instance of a commercial blog was on the first business to consumer Web site created in 1995 by Ty, Inc., which featured a blog in a section called "Online Diary". The entries were maintained by featured Beanie Babies that were voted for monthly by Web site visitors. [15] 
 The modern blog evolved from the online diary where people would keep a running account of the events in their personal lives. Most such writers called themselves diarists, journalists, or journalers. Justin Hall, who began personal blogging in 1994 while a student at Swarthmore College, is generally recognized as one of the earlier bloggers, [16]  as is Jerry Pournelle. [17]  Dave Winer's Scripting News is also credited with being one of the older and longer running weblogs. [18]   [19]  The Australian Netguide magazine maintained the Daily Net News [20]  on their web site from 1996. Daily Net News ran links and daily reviews of new websites, mostly in Australia.
 Another early blog was Wearable Wireless Webcam, an online shared diary of a person's personal life combining text, digital video, and digital pictures transmitted live from a wearable computer and EyeTap device to a web site in 1994. This practice of semi-automated blogging with live video together with text was referred to as sousveillance, and such journals were also used as evidence in legal matters. Some early bloggers, such as The Misanthropic Bitch, who began in 1997, actually referred to their online presence as a zine, before the term blog entered common usage.
 The first research paper about blogging was Torill Mortensen and Jill Walker Rettberg's paper "Blogging Thoughts", [21]  which analysed how blogs were being used to foster research communities and the exchange of ideas and scholarship, and how this new means of networking overturns traditional power structures.
 
Early blogs were simply manually updated components of common Websites. In 1995, the "Online Diary" on the Ty, Inc. Web site was produced and updated manually before any blogging programs were available. Posts were made to appear in reverse chronological order by manually updating text-based HTML code using FTP software in real time several times a day. To users, this offered the appearance of a live diary that contained multiple new entries per day. At the beginning of each new day, new diary entries were manually coded into a new HTML file, and at the start of each month, diary entries were archived into their own folder, which contained a separate HTML page for every day of the month. Then, menus that contained links to the most recent diary entry were updated manually throughout the site. This text-based method of organizing thousands of files served as a springboard to define future blogging styles that were captured by blogging software developed years later. [15] 
 The evolution of electronic and software tools to facilitate the production and maintenance of Web articles posted in reverse chronological order made the publishing process feasible for a much larger and less technically-inclined population. Ultimately, this resulted in the distinct class of online publishing that produces blogs we recognize today. For instance, the use of some sort of browser-based software is now a typical aspect of "blogging". Blogs can be hosted by dedicated blog hosting services, on regular web hosting services, or run using blog software.
 
After a slow start, blogging rapidly gained in popularity. Blog usage spread during 1999 and the years following, being further popularized by the near-simultaneous arrival of the first hosted blog tools:
  Bruce Ableson launched Open Diary in October 1998, which soon grew to thousands of online diaries. Open Diary innovated the reader comment, becoming the first blog community where readers could add comments to other writers' blog entries.
 Brad Fitzpatrick started LiveJournal in March 1999.
Andrew Smales created Pitas.com in July 1999 as an easier alternative to maintaining a "news page" on a Web site, followed by DiaryLand in September 1999, focusing more on a personal diary community. [22]  
 Evan Williams and Meg Hourihan (Pyra Labs) launched Blogger.com in August 1999 (purchased by Google in February 2003) 
 
   On December 6, 2002, Josh Marshall's talkingpointsmemo.com blog called attention to U.S. Senator Lott's comments regarding Senator Thurmond. Senator Lott was eventually to resign his Senate leadership position over the matter. 
An early milestone in the rise in importance of blogs came in 2002, when many bloggers focused on comments by U.S. Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott. [23]  Senator Lott, at a party honoring U.S. Senator Strom Thurmond, praised Senator Thurmond by suggesting that the United States would have been better off had Thurmond been elected president. Lott's critics saw these comments as tacit approval of racial segregation, a policy advocated by Thurmond's 1948 presidential campaign. This view was reinforced by documents and recorded interviews dug up by bloggers. (See Josh Marshall's  Talking Points Memo .) Though Lott's comments were made at a public event attended by the media, no major media organizations reported on his controversial comments until after blogs broke the story. Blogging helped to create a political crisis that forced Lott to step down as majority leader.
 Similarly, blogs were among the driving forces behind the "Rathergate" scandal. Television journalist Dan Rather presented documents on the CBS show  60 Minutes  that conflicted with accepted accounts of President Bush's military service record. Bloggers declared the documents to be forgeries and presented evidence and arguments in support of that view. Consequently, CBS apologized for what it said were inadequate reporting techniques (see: Little Green Footballs). The impact of these stories gave greater credibility to blogs as a medium of news dissemination. 
 In Russia, some political bloggers have started to challenge the dominance of official, overwhelmingly pro-government media. Bloggers such as Rustem Adagamov and Alexei Navalny have many followers, and the latter's nickname for the ruling United Russia party as the "party of crooks and thieves" has been adopted by anti-regime protesters. [24]  This led to  The Wall Street Journal  calling Navalny "the man Vladimir Putin fears most" in March 2012. [25] 
 
By 2004, the role of blogs became increasingly mainstream, as political consultants, news services, and candidates began using them as tools for outreach and opinion forming. Blogging was established by politicians and political candidates to express opinions on war and other issues and cemented blogs' role as a news source. (See Howard Dean and Wesley Clark.) Even politicians not actively campaigning, such as the UK's Labour Party's Member of Parliament (MP) Tom Watson, began to blog to bond with constituents. In January 2005,  Fortune  magazine listed eight bloggers whom business people "could not ignore": Peter Rojas, Xeni Jardin, Ben Trott, Mena Trott, Jonathan Schwartz, Jason Goldman, Robert Scoble, and Jason Calacanis. [26] 
 Israel was among the first national governments to set up an official blog. [27]  Under David Saranga, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs became active in adopting Web 2.0 initiatives, including an official video blog  [27]  and a political blog. [28]  The Foreign Ministry also held a microblogging press conference via Twitter about its war with Hamas, with Saranga answering questions from the public in common text-messaging abbreviations during a live worldwide press conference. [29]  The questions and answers were later posted on IsraelPolitik, the country's official political blog. [30] 
 The impact of blogging on the mainstream media has also been acknowledged by governments. In 2009, the presence of the American journalism industry had declined to the point that several newspaper corporations were filing for bankruptcy, resulting in less direct competition between newspapers within the same circulation area. Discussion emerged as to whether the newspaper industry would benefit from a stimulus package by the federal government. U.S. President Barack Obama acknowledged the emerging influence of blogging upon society by saying, "if the direction of the news is all blogosphere, all opinions, with no serious fact-checking, no serious attempts to put stories in context, then what you will end up getting is people shouting at each other across the void, but not a lot of mutual understanding". [31]  Between 2009 and 2012, an Orwell Prize for blogging was awarded.
 
   A screenshot from the BlogActive website 
There are many different types of blogs, differing not only in the type of content, but also in the way that content is delivered or written.
 Personal blogs
The personal blog is an ongoing online diary or commentary written by an individual, rather than a corporation or organization. While the vast majority of personal blogs attract very few readers, other than the blogger's immediate family and friends, a small number of personal blogs have become popular, to the point that they have attracted lucrative advertising sponsorship. A tiny number of personal bloggers have become famous, both in the online community and in the real world. 
 Collaborative blogs or group blogs
A type of weblog in which posts are written and published by more than one author. The majority of high-profile collaborative blogs are organised according to a single uniting theme, such as politics, technology or advocacy. In recent years, the blogosphere has seen the emergence and growing popularity of more collaborative efforts, often set up by already established bloggers wishing to pool time and resources, both to reduce the pressure of maintaining a popular website and to attract a larger readership. 
  Microblogging 
Microblogging is the practice of posting small pieces of digital content—which could be text, pictures, links, short videos, or other media—on the internet. Microblogging offers a portable communication mode that feels organic and spontaneous to many users. It has captured the public imagination, in part because the short posts are easy to read on the go or when waiting. Friends use it to keep in touch, business associates use it to coordinate meetings or share useful resources, and celebrities and politicians (or their publicists) microblog about concert dates, lectures, book releases, or tour schedules. A wide and growing range of add-on tools enables sophisticated updates and interaction with other applications. The resulting profusion of functionality is helping to define new possibilities for this type of communication. [32]  Examples of these include Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and, by far the largest, Weibo. 
 Corporate and organizational blogs
A blog can be private, as in most cases, or it can be for business or not-for-profit organization or government purposes. Blogs used internally and only available to employees via an Intranet are called corporate blogs. Companies use internal corporate blogs to enhance the communication, culture and employee engagement in a corporation. Internal corporate blogs can be used to communicate news about company policies or procedures, build employee esprit de corps and improve morale. Companies and other organizations also use external, publicly accessible blogs for marketing, branding, or public relations purposes. Some organizations have a blog authored by their executive; in practice, many of these executive blog posts are penned by a ghostwriter who makes posts in the style of the credited author. Similar blogs for clubs and societies are called club blogs, group blogs, or by similar names; typical use is to inform members and other interested parties of club and member activities. 
 Aggregated blogs
Individuals or organization may aggregate selected feeds on a specific topic, product or service and provide a combined view for its readers. This allows readers to concentrate on reading instead of searching for quality on-topic content and managing subscriptions. Many such aggregations called planets from name of Planet (software) that perform such aggregation, hosting sites usually have planet. subdomain in domain name (like http://planet.gnome.org/). 
 By genre
Some blogs focus on a particular subject, such as political blogs, journalism blogs, health blogs, travel blogs (also known as travelogs), gardening blogs, house blogs, Book Blogs, [33]   [34]  fashion blogs, beauty blogs, lifestyle blogs, party blogs, wedding blogs, photography blogs, project blogs, psychology blogs, sociology blogs, education blogs, niche blogs, classical music blogs, quizzing blogs, legal blogs (often referred to as a blawgs), or dreamlogs. How-to/Tutorial blogs are becoming increasing popular. [35]  Two common types of genre blogs are art blogs and music blogs. A blog featuring discussions, especially about home and family is not uncommonly called a mom blog. While not a legitimate type of blog, one used for the sole purpose of spamming is known as a splog. 
 By media type
A blog comprising videos is called a vlog, one comprising links is called a linklog, a site containing a portfolio of sketches is called a sketchblog or one comprising photos is called a photoblog. Blogs with shorter posts and mixed media types are called tumblelogs. Blogs that are written on typewriters and then scanned are called typecast or typecast blogs. A rare type of blog hosted on the Gopher Protocol is known as a phlog. 
 By device
A blog can also be defined by which type of device is used to compose it. A blog written by a mobile device like a mobile phone or PDA could be called a moblog. [36]  One early blog was Wearable Wireless Webcam, an online shared diary of a person's personal life combining text, video, and pictures transmitted live from a wearable computer and EyeTap device to a web site. This practice of semi-automated blogging with live video together with text was referred to as sousveillance. Such journals have been used as evidence in legal matters.[   ]  
  Reverse blog 
A reverse blog is composed by its users rather than a single blogger. This system has the characteristics of a blog and the writing of several authors. These can be written by several contributing authors on a topic or opened up for anyone to write. There is typically some limit to the number of entries to keep it from operating like a web forum.[   ]  
 
   An artist's depiction of the interconnections between blogs and blog authors in the "blogosphere" in 2007 
  Blogosphere 
The collective community of all blogs and blog authors, particularly notable and widely read blogs, is known as the blogosphere. Since all blogs are on the internet by definition, they may be seen as interconnected and socially networked, through blogrolls, comments, linkbacks (refbacks, trackbacks or pingbacks), and backlinks. Discussions "in the blogosphere" were occasionally used by the media as a gauge of public opinion on various issues. Because new, untapped communities of bloggers and their readers can emerge in the space of a few years, Internet marketers pay close attention to "trends in the blogosphere". [37]   
  Blog search engines 
Several blog search engines have been used to search blog contents, such as Bloglines (defunct), BlogScope (defunct), and Technorati (defunct). 
 Blogging communities and directories
Several online communities exist that connect people to blogs and bloggers to other bloggers. Interest-specific blogging platforms are also available. For instance, Blogster has a sizable community of political bloggers among its members. Global Voices aggregates international bloggers, "with emphasis on voices that are not ordinarily heard in international mainstream media." [38]   
 Blogging and advertising
It is common for blogs to feature banner advertisements or promotional content, either to financially benefit the blogger, support website hosting costs, or to promote the blogger's favourite causes or products. The popularity of blogs has also given rise to "fake blogs" in which a company will create a fictional blog as a marketing tool to promote a product. [39]   
As the popularity of blogging continued to rise (as of 2006), the commercialisation of blogging is rapidly increasing. Many corporations and companies collaborate with bloggers to increase advertising and engage online communities with their products. In the book Fans, Bloggers, and Gamers, Henry Jenkins stated that "Bloggers take knowledge into their own hands, enabling successful navigation within and between these emerging knowledge cultures. One can see such behaviour as co-optation into commodity culture insofar as it sometimes collaborates with corporate interests, but one can also see it as increasing the diversity of media culture, providing opportunities for greater inclusiveness, and making more responsive to consumers." [40] 
 
  Before 2006: The blogdex project was launched by researchers in the MIT Media Lab to crawl the Web and gather data from thousands of blogs to investigate their social properties. Information was gathered by the tool for over four years, during which it autonomously tracked the most contagious information spreading in the blog community, ranking it by recency and popularity. It can, therefore,[   ] be considered the first instantiation of a memetracker. The project was replaced by tailrank.com, which in turn has been replaced by spinn3r.com.
 2006: Blogs are given rankings by Alexa Internet (web hits of Alexa Toolbar users), and formerly by blog search engine Technorati based on the number of incoming links (Technorati stopped doing this in 2014). In August 2006, Technorati found that the most linked-to blog on the internet was that of Chinese actress Xu Jinglei. [41]  Chinese media Xinhua reported that this blog received more than 50 million page views, claiming it to be the most popular blog in the world. [42]  [   ] Technorati rated Boing Boing to be the most-read group-written blog. [41]  
 2008: As of 2008, blogging had become such a mania that a new blog was created every second of every minute of every hour of every day. [43]  Researchers have actively analyzed the dynamics of how blogs become popular. There are essentially two measures of this: popularity through citations, as well as popularity through affiliation (i.e., blogroll). The basic conclusion from studies of the structure of blogs is that while it takes time for a blog to become popular through blogrolls, permalinks can boost popularity more quickly and are perhaps more indicative of popularity and authority than blogrolls since they denote that people are actually reading the blog's content and deem it valuable or noteworthy in specific cases. [44]   
 
Many bloggers, particularly those engaged in participatory journalism, are amateur journalists, and thus they differentiate themselves from the professional reporters and editors who work in mainstream media organizations. Other bloggers are media professionals who are publishing online, rather than via a TV station or newspaper, either as an add-on to a traditional media presence (e.g., hosting a radio show or writing a column in a paper newspaper), or as their sole journalistic output. Some institutions and organizations see blogging as a means of "getting around the filter" of media "gatekeepers" and pushing their messages directly to the public. Many mainstream journalists, meanwhile, write their own blogs—well over 300, according to CyberJournalist.net's J-blog list.[   ] The first known use of a blog on a news site was in August 1998, when Jonathan Dube of  The Charlotte Observer  published one chronicling Hurricane Bonnie. [45] 
 Some bloggers have moved over to other media. The following bloggers (and others) have appeared on radio and television: Duncan Black (known widely by his pseudonym, Atrios), Glenn Reynolds (Instapundit), Markos Moulitsas Zúniga (Daily Kos), Alex Steffen (Worldchanging), Ana Marie Cox (Wonkette), Nate Silver (FiveThirtyEight.com), and Ezra Klein (Ezra Klein blog in  The American Prospect, now in  The Washington Post''). In counterpoint, Hugh Hewitt exemplifies a mass media personality who has moved in the other direction, adding to his reach in "old media" by being an influential blogger. Similarly, it was Emergency Preparedness and Safety Tips On Air and Online blog articles that captured Surgeon General of the United States Richard Carmona's attention and earned his kudos for the associated broadcasts by talk show host Lisa Tolliver and Westchester Emergency Volunteer Reserves-Medical Reserve Corps Director Marianne Partridge. [46]   [47] 
 Blogs have also had an influence on minority languages, bringing together scattered speakers and learners; this is particularly so with blogs in Gaelic languages. Minority language publishing (which may lack economic feasibility) can find its audience through inexpensive blogging. There are examples of bloggers who have published books based on their blogs, e.g., Salam Pax, Ellen Simonetti, Jessica Cutler, and ScrappleFace. Blog-based books have been given the name blook. A prize for the best blog-based book was initiated in 2005, [48]  the Lulu Blooker Prize. [49]  However, success has been elusive offline, with many of these books not selling as well as their blogs. The book based on Julie Powell's blog "The Julie/Julia Project" was made into the film  Julie &amp; Julia , apparently the first to do so.
 
 Consumer-generated advertising is a relatively new and controversial development, and it has created a new model of marketing communication from businesses to consumers. Among the various forms of advertising on blog, the most controversial are the sponsored posts. [50]  These are blog entries or posts and may be in the form of feedback, reviews, opinion, videos, etc. and usually contain a link back to the desired site using a keyword or several keywords. Blogs have led to some disintermediation and a breakdown of the traditional advertising model, where companies can skip over the advertising agencies (previously the only interface with the customer) and contact the customers directly via social media websites. On the other hand, new companies specialised in blog advertising have been established to take advantage of this new development as well. However, there are many people who look negatively on this new development. Some believe that any form of commercial activity on blogs will destroy the blogosphere's credibility. [51] 
 
Blogging can result in a range of legal liabilities and other unforeseen consequences. [52] 
 
Several cases have been brought before the national courts against bloggers concerning issues of defamation or liability. U.S. payouts related to blogging totalled $17.4 million by 2009; in some cases these have been covered by umbrella insurance. [53]  The courts have returned with mixed verdicts. Internet Service Providers (ISPs), in general, are immune from liability for information that originates with third parties (U.S. Communications Decency Act and the EU Directive 2000/31/EC). In Doe v. Cahill, the Delaware Supreme Court held that stringent standards had to be met to unmask the anonymous bloggers and also took the unusual step of dismissing the libel case itself (as unfounded under American libel law) rather than referring it back to the trial court for reconsideration. [54]  In a bizarre twist, the Cahills were able to obtain the identity of John Doe, who turned out to be the person they suspected: the town's mayor, Councilman Cahill's political rival. The Cahills amended their original complaint, and the mayor settled the case rather than going to trial.
 In January 2007, two prominent Malaysian political bloggers, Jeff Ooi and Ahirudin Attan, were sued by a pro-government newspaper, The New Straits Times Press (Malaysia) Berhad, Kalimullah bin Masheerul Hassan, Hishamuddin bin Aun and Brenden John a/l John Pereira over alleged defamation. The plaintiff was supported by the Malaysian government. [55]  Following the suit, the Malaysian government proposed to "register" all bloggers in Malaysia to better control parties against their interests. [56]  This is the first such legal case against bloggers in the country. In the United States, blogger Aaron Wall was sued by Traffic Power for defamation and publication of trade secrets in 2005. [57]  According to Wired magazine, Traffic Power had been "banned from Google for allegedly rigging search engine results." [58]  Wall and other "white hat" search engine optimization consultants had exposed Traffic Power in what they claim was an effort to protect the public. The case was dismissed for lack of personal jurisdiction, and Traffic Power failed to appeal within the allowed time. [59] 
 In 2009, NDTV issued a legal notice to Indian blogger Kunte for a blog post criticizing their coverage of the Mumbai attacks. [60]  The blogger unconditionally withdrew his post, which resulted in several Indian bloggers criticizing NDTV for trying to silence critics. [61] 
 
Employees who blog about elements of their place of employment can begin to affect the reputation of their employer, either in a positive way, if the employee is praising the employer and its workplaces, or in a negative way, if the blogger is making negative comments about the company or its practices.
 In general, attempts by employee bloggers to protect themselves by maintaining anonymity have proved ineffective. [62]  In 2009, a controversial and landmark decision by The Hon. Mr Justice Eady refused to grant an order to protect the anonymity of Richard Horton. Horton was a police officer in the United Kingdom who blogged about his job under the name "NightJack". [63] 
  Delta Air Lines fired flight attendant Ellen Simonetti because she posted photographs of herself in uniform on an aeroplane and because of comments posted on her blog "Queen of Sky: Diary of a Flight Attendant" which the employer deemed inappropriate. [64]   [65]  This case highlighted the issue of personal blogging and freedom of expression versus employer rights and responsibilities, and so it received wide media attention. Simonetti took legal action against the airline for "wrongful termination, defamation of character and lost future wages". [66]  The suit was postponed while Delta was in bankruptcy proceedings. [67] 
 In early 2006, Erik Ringmar, a senior lecturer at the London School of Economics, was ordered by the convenor of his department to "take down and destroy" his blog in which he discussed the quality of education at the school. [68] 
 Mark Jen was terminated in 2005 after 10 days of employment as an assistant product manager at Google for discussing corporate secrets on his personal blog, then called 99zeros and hosted on the Google-owned Blogger service. [69]  He blogged about unreleased products and company finances a week before the company's earnings announcement. He was fired two days after he complied with his employer's request to remove the sensitive material from his blog. [70] 
 In India, blogger Gaurav Sabnis resigned from IBM after his posts questioned the claims made by a management school. [71]  Jessica Cutler, aka "The Washingtonienne", blogged about her sex life while employed as a congressional assistant. After the blog was discovered and she was fired, [72]  she wrote a novel based on her experiences and blog: The Washingtonienne: A Novel. As of 2006, Cutler is being sued by one of her former lovers in a case that could establish the extent to which bloggers are obligated to protect the privacy of their real life associates. [73] 
 Catherine Sanderson, a.k.a. Petite Anglaise, lost her job in Paris at a British accountancy firm because of blogging. [74]  Although given in the blog in a fairly anonymous manner, some of the descriptions of the firm and some of its people were less than flattering. Sanderson later won a compensation claim case against the British firm, however. [75] 
 On the other hand, Penelope Trunk wrote an upbeat article in  The Boston Globe  in 2006, entitled "Blogs 'essential' to a good career". [76]  She was one of the first journalists to point out that a large portion of bloggers are professionals and that a well-written blog can help attract employers.
 
Business owners who blog about their business can also run into legal consequences. Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, was fined during the 2006 NBA playoffs for criticizing NBA officials on the court and in his blog. [77] 
 
Blogging can sometimes have unforeseen consequences in politically sensitive areas. In some countries, Internet police or secret police may monitor blogs and arrest blog authors or commentators. Blogs can be much harder to control than broadcast or print media because a person can create a blog whose authorship is hard to trace by using anonymity technology such as Tor. As a result, totalitarian and authoritarian regimes often seek to suppress blogs and punish those who maintain them.
 In Singapore, two ethnic Chinese individuals were imprisoned under the country's anti-sedition law for posting anti-Muslim remarks in their blogs. [78]  Egyptian blogger Kareem Amer was charged with insulting the Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and an Islamic institution through his blog. It is the first time in the history of Egypt that a blogger was prosecuted. After a brief trial session that took place in Alexandria, the blogger was found guilty and sentenced to prison terms of three years for insulting Islam and inciting sedition and one year for insulting Mubarak. [79]  Egyptian blogger Abdel Monem Mahmoud was arrested in April 2007 for anti-government writings in his blog. Monem is a member of the then banned Muslim Brotherhood. After the 2011 Egyptian revolution, the Egyptian blogger Maikel Nabil Sanad was charged with insulting the military for an article he wrote on his personal blog and sentenced to three years. [80] 
 After expressing opinions in his personal blog about the state of the Sudanese armed forces, Jan Pronk, United Nations Special Representative for Sudan, was given three days notice to leave Sudan. The Sudanese army had demanded his deportation. [81]   [82]  In Myanmar, Nay Phone Latt, a blogger, was sentenced to 20 years in jail for posting a cartoon critical of head of state Than Shwe. [83] 
 
One consequence of blogging is the possibility of online or in-person attacks or threats against the blogger, sometimes without apparent reason. In some cases, bloggers have faced cyberbullying. Kathy Sierra, author of the blog "Creating Passionate Users", [84]  was the target of threats and misogynistic insults to the point that she cancelled her keynote speech at a technology conference in San Diego, fearing for her safety. [85]  While a blogger's anonymity is often tenuous, Internet trolls who would attack a blogger with threats or insults can be emboldened by the anonymity of the online environment, where some users are known only by a pseudonymous "username" (e.g., "Hacker1984"). Sierra and supporters initiated an online discussion aimed at countering abusive online behaviour [86]  and developed a Blogger's Code of Conduct, which set out a rules for behaviour in the online space.
 
The Blogger's Code of Conduct is a list of seven proposed ideas.
 
  Blog award 
 BROG 
 Chat room 
 Citizen journalism 
 Collaborative blog 
 Comparison of free blog hosting services 
 Customer engagement 
 Glossary of blogging 
 Interactive journalism 
 Internet think tank 
 Israblog 
 List of blogs 
 List of family-and-homemaking blogs 
 Mass collaboration 
 Perzine 
 Prison blogs 
 Sideblog 
 Social blogging 
 Think aloud protocol 
 Webmaster 
 Web template system 
 Web traffic  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Alavi, Nasrin. We Are Iran: The Persian Blogs, Soft Skull Press, New York, 2005. ISBN 1-933368-05-5.
Bruns, Axel, and Joanne Jacobs, eds. Uses of Blogs, Peter Lang, New York, 2006. ISBN 0-8204-8124-6.
Blood, Rebecca. "Weblogs: A History and Perspective" Archived May 30, 2015, at the Wayback Machine. "Rebecca's Pocket".
Kline, David; Burstein, Dan. Blog!: How the Newest Media Revolution is Changing Politics, Business, and Culture, Squibnocket Partners, L.L.C., 2005. ISBN 1-59315-141-1.
 Gorman, Michael. "Revenge of the Blog People!". Library Journal.
Heriot, Gail, Are Modern Bloggers Following in the Footsteps of Publius (and Other Musings on Blogging by Legal Scholars...), 8 Wash. U. L. Rev. 1113 (2006).
Ringmar, Erik. A Blogger's Manifesto: Free Speech and Censorship in the Age of the Internet (London: Anthem Press, 2007).
 Rosenberg, Scott,  Say Everything: how blogging Began, what it's becoming, and why it matters , New York : Crown Publishers, 2009. ISBN 978-0-307-45136-1 
  Weinberger, David (August 31, 2015), "Why blogging still matters",  The Boston Globe    
 
 
Look up   blog   in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. 
 
Wikiquote has quotations related to   Blogging  . 
 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to . 
  Computer Law and Security Report Volume 22 Issue 2, Pages 127–136 blogs, Lies and the Doocing by Sylvia Kierkegaard (2006)
 Legal Guide for bloggers by the Electronic Frontier Foundation 
 Law Library Legal Blawgs Web Archive from the U.S. Library of Congress
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How to Write a Blog Post in 2023: The Ultimate Guide
2021-06-29
Liz Careathers
<div><div><p>There are many tutorials that can teach you how to write a blog post.</p>
<p>They can educate you on the mechanics of blogging, what to do, and what not to do.</p>
<p>Read through them and you can learn how to craft a perfectly serviceable blog post. Heck, you might even write something that wins you an adoring fan or two.</p>
<p>But if you dream bigger, if you want to know how to write a successful blog post that cuts through the noise and wins you <em>legions of fans</em>, you need something better than a run-of-the-mill tutorial.</p>
<p><strong>You need an ultimate guide.</strong></p>
<p>In this post — this ultimate, step-by-step guide — we’ll share <a href="https://smartblogger.com/freelance-writing-jobs/">tips used by professional freelance writers</a> to create spellbinding posts that are adored by thousands. You’ll learn the secrets to crafting irresistible headlines, seducing introductions, captivating advice, and motivational closings.</p>
<p>You’ll even learn how the pros refine and polish their posts once they’re finished writing them.</p>
<p>These are secrets many bloggers would gladly pay real money to learn, but it won’t cost you a thing — other than a few minutes of your time.</p>
<div>
<h2>Table of Contents</h2>
<ol>
<li><a href="#step_1">Craft a Great Headline That Readers Can’t Resist</a></li>
<li><a href="#step_2">Write an Introduction That Grabs and Seduces</a></li>
<li><a href="#step_3">Deliver Advice That’s Easy to Consume and Impossible to Ignore</a></li>
<li><a href="#step_4">Close with a Motivational Bang</a></li>
<li><a href="#step_5">Polish Your Post So It’s Smoother Than a Slip ‘n Slide</a></li>
</ol>
</div>
<p>Let’s dive in.</p>
<h2>1. Craft a Great Headline That Readers Can’t Resist</h2>
<p></p>
<p>Want to know one of the biggest mistakes bloggers make?</p>
<p>Writing blog posts before the headlines (aka the post title).</p>
<p>Without a headline, they have no roadmap to follow. And so their post goes in multiple directions, leaving readers feeling dizzy, confused and disoriented.</p>
<p>And then they try to create a headline that embraces all that madness. Bloggers, have mercy!</p>
<p>If you want to write a great blog post full of clarity, conciseness, and conviction, spend some time <a href="https://smartblogger.com/how-to-write-a-headline-that-converts/">crafting a blog title</a> that sets a clear destination, lures readers in, and leaves them eager for your advice.</p>
<p>Your blog title will be your map, your writing navigation system, letting you know which literary roads to choose and which to avoid so that readers reach the intended destination as easily and efficiently as possible.</p>
<p><strong>Follow these 8 rules to craft your killer headline:</strong></p>
<h3>Headline Rule #1. Pick a Mouth-Watering Topic</h3>
<p>Want your blog post to get opened?</p>
<p>Then your headline must promise readers the very answer to whatever is tormenting them. The thing that keeps them up at night.</p>
<p>Your headline should not promise them a trip to the moon and back — readers are way too swift for such shenanigans. Keep the benefit specific and narrow, and readers will feel compelled to click and get the solution to what’s bugging them.</p>
<p>How do you find out what’s bugging your readers? How do you know which of your many <a href="https://smartblogger.com/blog-post-ideas/">blog post idea</a> (we know, you have many) should be pursued?</p>
<p>Research:</p>
<ul>
<li>Review comments on your posts and on posts of other sites in your niche.</li>
<li>Send your subscribers surveys asking them what their greatest struggles are.</li>
<li>Use tools like BuzzSumo to find out what the most popular posts in your niche are (which gives insight into your target readers’ needs).</li>
<li>Read the reviews of books in your niche on Amazon (you’ll find a gold mine of feedback to explore).</li>
</ul>
<p>You have one responsibility as a blogger — yup, just one. And that is to serve your audience. The better you know them, the better you serve.</p>
<p>Before you know it, you’ll know them so intimately they’ll feel like you’re reading their minds, and your headlines will reflect that.</p>
<h4>Example:</h4>
<p>Let’s say you’re in the self-improvement space and you wrote the headline below:</p>
<blockquote><p>How to Create an Amazing Life</p></blockquote>
<p>This headline is so broad it’s unlikely to draw readers in. No one loses sleep over “wanting to create an amazing life.” They lose sleep over specific aspects of their lives that have left them unfulfilled.</p>
<p>So you are better off narrowing in on something specific that’s bugging your readers, such as:</p>
<blockquote><p>How to Boldly Pursue Your Dreams Even if You’re Scared and Insecure</p></blockquote>
<p>Narrowing in on something specific makes readers feel like you have the answers they’re looking for.</p>
<h3>Headline Rule #2. Steal from the Pros</h3>
<p>Okay, you’ve done your research and you know exactly what your readers need. Now it’s time to turn your topic into a killer headline.</p>
<p>The easiest way to master the art of writing headlines?</p>
<p>Steal.</p>
<p>Not in the unethical way. In the smart and efficient way.</p>
<p>Decades of <a href="https://smartblogger.com/copywriting-examples/">copywriting</a> and advertising research have revealed the types of headlines that have proven to be successful. The types of headlines that zap readers out of their info-overload comas and compel them to open. Why mess with that research?</p>
<p>If you want your headlines to grab readers, stick with what works.</p>
<p>No, your headlines don’t need to sound like they came straight from BuzzFeed. They can reflect your voice and style.</p>
<p>But until your writing skills match Jon Morrow’s, let the proven templates be your guide (how do you think he got so good at writing headlines?).</p>
<p>Blogging is hard enough, so if you have templates at your fingertips, why not use them?</p>
<p>The easiest templates to start with? “How to” headlines and list post headlines. They are classics and they work. In fact, 75% of Smart Blogger’s most popular posts use these formats.</p>
<h4>Examples:</h4>
<p>Here are a number of Smart Blogger headlines that follow the “how to” and list post templates.</p>
<p><strong>“How to” Headlines:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://smartblogger.com/how-to-start-a-blog/">How to Start a Blog: Easy, Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners</a></li>
<li><a href="https://smartblogger.com/make-money-writing/">How to Make Money Writing: 5 Ways to Get Paid to Write in 2023</a></li>
<li><a href="https://smartblogger.com/make-money-blogging/">How to Make Money Blogging (Free Guide for 2023)</a></li>
</ul>
<p><strong>List Post Headlines:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://smartblogger.com/ebook-mistakes/">21 Dumb Mistakes to Avoid When Writing Your First E-book</a></li>
<li><a href="https://smartblogger.com/blogging-platforms/">The 5 Best Free Blogging Platforms in 2023 (100% Unbiased)</a></li>
<li><a href="https://smartblogger.com/writers-block/">Writer’s Block: 27 Ways to Overcome It Forever</a></li>
<li><a href="https://smartblogger.com/free-wordpress-themes/">8 Best Free WordPress Themes of 2023 (Chosen by Experts)</a></li>
<li><a href="https://smartblogger.com/blogging-tips/">12 Blogging Tips for Beginners (+ Lots of Free Resources)</a></li>
<li><a href="https://smartblogger.com/gifts-for-writers/">4 Best Gifts for Writers: Ideas to Fit Any Budget (Even Yours)</a></li>
</ul>
<div><p><strong>Note:</strong> You can download Jon’s free <a href="https://smartblogger.com/headline-hacks">52 Headline Hacks</a>, where you’ll find more template options than you’ll ever need.<br />
</p></div>
<h3>Headline Rule #3. Engage Your Senses</h3>
<p>Vague headlines leave readers feeling empty. Tangible headlines leave them feeling understood.</p>
<p>How do you create tangible headlines?</p>
<p>Put yourself in the shoes of your reader.</p>
<p>How do they feel? What do they see, taste, or smell? What do they hear?</p>
<p>Engage all of your senses by using <a href="https://smartblogger.com/sensory-words/">sensory words</a>. The more your headline gives voice to their exact experience, the more they’ll feel like your quality content was written for them.</p>
<h4>Example:</h4>
<p>Let’s say you blog about health and wellness and you wrote a headline called:</p>
<blockquote><p>5 Steps to Take When a Migraine Hits</p></blockquote>
<p>This headline follows a proven list post formula, and it narrows in on something that’s bugging readers. All in all, it’s not too bad.</p>
<p>But it could be even more concrete.</p>
<p>To step it up a notch, put yourselves in the shoes of your readers. Think about exactly what they’re experiencing.</p>
<p>Perhaps that would lead you to the following:</p>
<blockquote><p>5 Ways to Soothe Pounding and Blinding Migraines</p></blockquote>
<p>If you suffer from migraines, there’s no way you could resist clicking such a headline.</p>
<h3>Headline Rule #4. Tease, Don’t Satisfy</h3>
<p>A common mistake you may not even realize you’re making?</p>
<p>Giving away too much in your headlines.</p>
<p>Your headlines should lure readers in like a literary temptress. They should catch readers’ attention and invoke their curiosity, not give a solution.</p>
<p>Give a solution in your headline and readers feel no need to go any further — they’re bored by the very thought of your post.</p>
<p>When this happens, not only do <em>you</em> lose but <em>your readers</em> lose as well, as they trade the richness of your perfect blog post’s advice for the quick fix offered by the headline.</p>
<h4>Example:</h4>
<p>Let’s say you blog about personal finance and you write the headline below:</p>
<blockquote><p>How to Save for Retirement by Creating a Monthly Budget</p></blockquote>
<p>Sadly, readers will see this and think they’ve got all the advice they need — if they want to save for retirement, they must create a monthly budget. No need to read more.</p>
<p>On the other hand, a possible revision could be:</p>
<blockquote><p>How to Save for Retirement When You’re Living Paycheck to Paycheck</p></blockquote>
<p>For anyone living paycheck to paycheck, this headline would pique their curiosity. Nothing is given away, it speaks to an audience with a very specific problem, and it promises a solution they’d love to get their hands on.</p>
<h3>Headline Rule #5. Honor the Headline Commandment</h3>
<p>When it comes to headlines, there is only one commandment you can never break:</p>
<p><em>“Thou shalt not deceive.”</em></p>
<p>This may seem obvious, but writers inadvertently do it all the time.</p>
<p>How?</p>
<p>They over-promise.</p>
<p>Big no-no. The content of your post must fully deliver on exactly what the headline promises.</p>
<p>If the post only delivers part of the solution, readers will feel misled and lose their trust in you.</p>
<p>Let’s never do that to them, yes?</p>
<h4>Examples:</h4>
<p>Let’s say you write a post called:</p>
<blockquote><p>How to Live a Happy and Peaceful Life</p></blockquote>
<p>But then the post only talks about following your dreams, which is really only one aspect of living a happy and peaceful life. Even though you didn’t intentionally deceive them, readers will feel shortchanged. You might as well have written an over-the-top “clickbait” headline — your readers would have been as equally disappointed.</p>
<p>Another example…</p>
<p>Perhaps you write a post called:</p>
<blockquote><p>5 Killer Ways to Attract New Clients to Your Coaching Business</p></blockquote>
<p>But then the fifth way contains no useful advice and instead leads to a sales page to get the solution … no bueno.</p>
<h3>Headline Rule #6. Trim the Fat</h3>
<p>Want to overwhelm readers right from the start?</p>
<p>Fill your headline with weak and flabby words.</p>
<p>What are weak and flabby words? Empty, unnecessary words that add no real value. Instead, they create clunky phrasing and leave readers scratching their heads in confusion.</p>
<p>The mistake many bloggers make is writing headlines the way they speak. While that’s okay when you write the post (to a certain extent), when you write headlines that way, it waters them down.</p>
<p>You want your headlines to be as ruthlessly concise and powerful as possible. So chop out weak words and throw in <a href="https://smartblogger.com/power-words/">power words</a> (if appropriate).</p>
<h4>Examples:</h4>
<p>Let’s say you draft the following headline:</p>
<blockquote><p>How to Find It In Your Heart to Forgive Someone Even if They’ve Hurt You Really Badly</p></blockquote>
<p>There are just so many words! We can cut them down as follows:</p>
<blockquote><p>How to Forgive Someone Who Hurt You Badly</p></blockquote>
<p>We can then add some power to it:</p>
<blockquote><p>How to Forgive a Soul-Crushing Betrayal</p></blockquote>
<p>Much better.</p>
<h4>Another Example:</h4>
<p>Here’s a mouthful:</p>
<blockquote><p>How to Stop Being Overly Doubtful of Yourself So You Can Finally Begin to Pursue Your Wildest Dreams</p></blockquote>
<p>My head is spinning. This can be cut down to:</p>
<blockquote><p>How to Stop Doubting Yourself and Pursue Your Wildest Dreams</p></blockquote>
<p>We could even make it more tangible and powerful:</p>
<blockquote><p>How to End Paralyzing Doubts and Conquer Your Wildest Dreams</p></blockquote>
<p>Nice and trim, but packs a punch.</p>
<h3>Headline Rule #7. Don’t Be a Smarty-Pants</h3>
<p>Your headline should make sense to all readers no matter where they’re coming from or in what context they’re approaching your post.</p>
<p>They shouldn’t have to guess what the benefit is. After all, you’re supposed to be reading <em>their</em> minds, not the other way around.</p>
<p>So you’ll want to avoid using metaphors (unless their meaning is painfully obvious), jargon, rhymes, made-up terms, or anything that tries to be overly clever or complicated when drafting your headlines.</p>
<h4>Examples:</h4>
<p>Where to begin with this one:</p>
<blockquote><p>How to Be Happy Without Acting Sappy</p></blockquote>
<p>A headline like this tries to be too clever — readers don’t give two hoots about not acting sappy, obviously. Don’t prioritize cute tactics like rhyming (or even <a href="https://smartblogger.com/alliteration-examples/">alliteration</a>) over-delivering clear benefits in your headlines.</p>
<blockquote><p>How to Raise a Child That Is the Apple of Your Eye</p></blockquote>
<p>A headline like this is also trying to be too clever. “Apple of Your Eye” is a <a href="https://smartblogger.com/metaphor-examples/">common metaphor</a> readers are likely familiar with, but there’s no concrete benefit being offered here. A headline must always contain a strong benefit, not a cute phrase.</p>
<blockquote><p>How to Follow the Path of Glory to Your Success</p></blockquote>
<p>No clue what this means … and I just wrote it. If there isn’t a singular and clear interpretation of what the headline’s benefit is, it’s trying too hard. So save the metaphors for the actual post where they will (hopefully) make more sense.</p>
<blockquote><p>How to Stop Treating Love Like a Captive Animal</p></blockquote>
<p>Perhaps you effectively explain in the post how people treat love like a captive animal, and it may make for a <a href="https://smartblogger.com/analogy/">great analogy</a>, but readers scanning headlines will have no clue why they should stop to read this, and so they likely won’t.</p>
<h3>Headline Rule #8. Rock Your Style</h3>
<p>The more consistent you are with your audience, the more trust they’ll feel for you.</p>
<p>If you generally keep your headlines pretty simple and then suddenly write one jam-packed with power words, your readers will feel confused.</p>
<p>The more you write, the more of a writing style you’ll develop. Once you determine what that style is, use it consistently (or make slow and gradual changes to it if necessary) so your audience learns and trusts your brand.</p>
<h4>Example:</h4>
<p>If most of your headlines read like this:</p>
<ul>
<li><em>How to Live With Courage</em></li>
<li><em>How to Overcome Social Anxiety</em></li>
<li><em>How to Confidently Embrace Uncertainty</em></li>
</ul>
<p>Then you might not want to suddenly write a headline that reads:</p>
<ul>
<li><em>How to Brazenly Squash the Agonizing Anxiety That Is Plaguing Your Life</em></li>
</ul>
<p>Your readers will think your blog got hacked!</p>
<h3>How to Write a Headline: Bonus Tip</h3>
<p>When writing a headline, try crafting 5–10 different versions of the same headline.</p>
<p>The more you play with the words, the better you will get at creating clear, concise, and curiosity-invoking headlines that readers cannot resist.</p>
<div>
<h4>Editor’s Note:</h4>
<p>I’d be remiss if I didn’t discuss a question we hear often:</p>
<blockquote><p>“How long/short should my headline be?”</p></blockquote>
<p>Ever notice how some headlines in SERPs (search engine results pages) are truncated?</p>
<p></p>
<p>It’s based on your headline’s width in pixels (a free tool like <a href="https://serpsim.com/">SERPsim</a> will show your headline’s width), but as a general rule:</p>
<p>At right around 60 characters, Google will cut off your headline.</p>
<p>Since a truncated headline can result in fewer people clicking your link in SERPs, it’s a common SEO practice to keep your headlines 60 characters or less.</p>
<p>Of course, things are never that easy.</p>
<p>In a <a href="https://backlinko.com/content-study">recent study</a>, Brian Dean of Backlinko found that longer (14-17 words) headlines generated more shares on social media than shorter headlines.</p>
<p>(76.7% more social shares, to be exact.)</p>
<p>As with all things, your mileage may vary.</p>
</div>
<h2>2. Write an Introduction That Grabs and Seduces</h2>
<p></p>
<p>You’ve lured readers in with your headline. Now you’ve got to keep them.</p>
<p>No easy task, my friend.</p>
<p>Readers are fickle. Known to take a quick glance and then vanish from your online sanctuary, lickety-split!</p>
<p>You must fight to keep them there, and the way you <a href="https://smartblogger.com/how-to-write-an-introduction/">craft your introduction</a> plays a huge role in their browsing commitment.</p>
<p><strong>Follow these rules to craft an introduction that captivates your readers:</strong></p>
<h3>Introduction Rule #1. Slip into Their Shoes</h3>
<p>A common mistake that reeks of amateur blogging?</p>
<p>Trying to sound too academic in your blog openings.</p>
<p>You know, those posts that start like this:</p>
<blockquote><p>“Research has proven that 92% of people <a href="https://smartblogger.com/writing-goals/">fail to achieve their goals</a> because they are unable to create and stick to habits that support those goals …”</p></blockquote>
<p>Don’t get me wrong — as a lawyer, I value solid research. But in the blogging context, this approach bores readers. If you want to captivate instead of bore, you must make readers feel like you’re reading their minds.</p>
<p>A powerful way to achieve this?</p>
<p>Empathy.</p>
<p>Step into the shoes of your target audience and write from their perspective. Show them you understand exactly what they’re going through.</p>
<p>After all, you likely struggled with the very topic you’re writing about and learned how to overcome it. We teach what we most wanted to learn, right?</p>
<p>So show readers that you “get it.” You’re not some corporate slog, you’re in it with them, fighting the good fight and sharing the tools that brought you to the other side.</p>
<h4>Example:</h4>
<p>This introduction is a masterclass in empathy:</p>
<blockquote><p>Do you feel that?</p>
<p>That little tugging sensation on your heart?</p>
<p>You’re not sure what, but something is pulling you to change. Not in a confess-your-sins-oh-ye-sinners way, but to shift directions, to embrace your calling, to finally do what you were put here to do:</p>
<p>Write.</p>
<p>You feel the ideas inside you. You sense them straining to escape. You know your job is to set them free, firing them like a cannon into a world in desperate need of them.</p>
<p>But you’re afraid.</p>
<p>You’re afraid of quitting your job and living without a safety net. You’re afraid of the concerned, disapproving looks your friends will give you when you tell them you’re giving it all up to write for a living. You’re afraid of not having enough money for food, of the power being cut off, of watching your family shivering and hungry, all because of your “selfishness”.</p>
<p>And most of all?</p>
<p>You’re afraid you’re wrong about yourself.</p></blockquote>
<p>As writers, we all share the deep longing to embrace our calling and express our ideas, but we also share the fears that so often sabotage those longings — the fear that we don’t have what it takes, that we’ll crash and burn, and that our dreams are just that — dreams.</p>
<p>In his introduction, <a href="https://smartblogger.com/quit-your-job/">Jon addresses all those longings and fears</a> and immediately makes you feel like he gets you so intimately, it’s almost creepy.</p>
<p>Creepy, but effective.</p>
<div><p><strong>Note:</strong> You don’t need to open like this in every post. There are certainly other approaches, like telling a powerful story. But if you’re working on mastering your craft and getting the most impact for time invested, an empathetic opening is an approach you’ll want to use frequently.<br />
</p></div>
<h3>Introduction Rule #2. Get into Character</h3>
<p>If you want to captivate readers, you must trigger their emotions.</p>
<p>So as you sit down to write, think of the feelings you want them to experience:</p>
<p>Fear, anger, sadness, hope, joy, disgust, shame, comfort, love, courage, and so on.</p>
<p>Then get into character and feel them yourself as you write, and your words will read with undeniable authenticity.</p>
<p>When <a href="https://smartblogger.com/writing-lessons/#lin_manuel_miranda">Lin-Manuel Miranda</a> wrote the heartbreaking lyrics in Hamilton that have left tears on the faces of millions, it was <em>his</em> eyes that first shed tears as he put his pen to paper.</p>
<p>So play with your emotions. Map out the emotional journey you’re taking readers on, and infuse those feelings into your writing. Feel what you want your audience to feel and your words will exude those emotions.</p>
<p>This tip applies to your whole post, but in no place is triggering your audience’s emotions more important than your introduction.</p>
<p>You feel me? 🙂</p>
<h4>Example:</h4>
<p>I once wrote an <a href="http://strongsensitivesouls.com/heal-our-souls/">emotional post about my two little girls</a> which addressed how delicate their emotions are, as well as my own vulnerabilities and my longing to give them the patience, presence, and love they deserve.</p>
<p>Here’s a portion of it:</p>
<blockquote><p>I told my three-year old daughter as we stood outside the car in her school parking lot, the rain pouring down on us as she sobbed breathlessly in my arms.</p>
<p>She didn’t want to go in the car. She just wanted me to stand there, holding her. And I didn’t want to rush her, or tell her to stop crying.</p>
<p>“I’ll hold you for as long as it takes.”</p></blockquote>
<p>I felt that longing intensely and definitely shed some tears as I wrote the introduction. The feedback I got from readers was that they felt the same intensity, and even cried as well.</p>
<p>When we write, our feelings seep into our words.</p>
<h3>Introduction Rule #3. Lure Readers Down the Page</h3>
<p>Want readers to commit to your post?</p>
<p>Accelerate their experience. Lure them down the page.</p>
<p>The faster they get pulled down, the more committed they’ll feel.</p>
<p>Too many bumps in the road early on, and off track they go, never to return.</p>
<p>Here are three <a href="https://smartblogger.com/writing-tips/">writing tips</a> to use in your intros to lure readers down the page:</p>
<h4>#1. Open With a Short Sentence or Question</h4>
<p>Kind of like how I opened this section. 🙂</p>
<p>This is how all of Smart Blogger’s posts open, and for good reason. It’s a <a href="https://smartblogger.com/how-to-become-a-copywriter/">copywriting technique</a> proven to pull readers in.</p>
<p>Start a post with a long clunky paragraph and they’ll feel exhausted just looking at it.</p>
<h4>#2. Take a Knife to Your Words</h4>
<p>Slash as many words as possible.</p>
<p>If the first draft of your introduction is 200 words, try cutting it down to 100. The more you practice this, the more efficient your blog writing process becomes.</p>
<p>And when you write efficiently, your words have power. That power will grab your readers.</p>
<h4>#3. Set the Rhythm</h4>
<p>All writing has a pace and rhythm.</p>
<p>You want your introduction’s pace and beat to be somewhat quick. You can slow things down later.</p>
<p>How do you achieve this?</p>
<ul>
<li>Use short sentences. Even sentence fragments (totally okay).</li>
<li>Make your paragraphs no more than one to three sentences long.</li>
<li>Use delayed <a href="https://smartblogger.com/transitional-phrases/">transitions</a> to weave sentences together.</li>
<li>Make each sentence and paragraph lure readers into the one that follows.</li>
<li>Read the post out loud to check the flow. Are things moving forward smoothly or stalling?</li>
</ul>
<p>The best writers, like the best music composers, take readers on a journey. Fast and slow, loud and soft, urgency and ease.</p>
<p>The more you pay attention to this, the more rhythm you’ll infuse into your words.</p>
<h4>Example:</h4>
<p>Shane Arthur sends readers’ eyes flying down the page by <a href="https://smartblogger.com/weak-writing/">using crisp sentences and short paragraphs</a> to create a fast rhythm:</p>
<blockquote><p>You’re not stupid.</p>
<p>You know what writing is truly about.</p>
<p>It’s a never-ending battle for your readers’ attention.</p>
<p>Every sentence is a link in a taut chain that connects your headline to your conclusion.</p>
<p>And you are just one weak sentence away from losing your reader forever.</p></blockquote>
<p>He then appropriately slows things down in the section that follows with longer sentences. A masterful composition!</p>
<h3>Introduction Rule #4. Make Them Beg</h3>
<p>Want readers begging for your solutions?</p>
<p>Add a little fear to your opening.</p>
<p>What are readers worried about? Do they know what will happen if they don’t solve the problem the post is addressing? What is the worst-case scenario?</p>
<p>Bring those fears to the surface. Expose them.</p>
<p>By doing so, not only will readers feel a camaraderie with you (because you understand their fears, so clearly you’ve tip-toed through the dark side yourself), but they’ll feel more eager than ever for the solution you present.</p>
<p>We all have fears. We think we need to hide them, but the more we give voice to them, the easier they are to set free.</p>
<p>Do that for your readers.</p>
<h4>Example:</h4>
<p>In his introduction, Glen Long brilliantly taps into the fear of failure all writers experience by addressing the dream of <a href="https://smartblogger.com/make-money-writing/">making a living as a writer</a> and then quickly smothering that dream with the doubts that creep up at the mere thought of it:</p>
<blockquote><p>So, who knows? Maybe the doubters are right. Maybe you are naive to think you could earn a living doing something you love, instead of something you just tolerate.</p></blockquote>
<p>The fear of failure is painful, yes. But giving voice to it is validating and makes readers eager for the solutions that will set that fear free.</p>
<h3>Introduction Rule #5. Hint at the Promised Land</h3>
<p>Finally, as you wrap up your intro, hint at the promised land.</p>
<p>The place readers will get to when they master your methods. The destination your post promises to take them.</p>
<p>But whatever you do, do not give it all away. Just one sentence that says too much satisfies your readers enough to send them clicking away.</p>
<p>Why? Because readers bore easily. You must keep them on their toes. And the point of an introduction is not to give answers, it’s to set the stage for all the hearty advice your post will provide.</p>
<h4>Example:</h4>
<p>In the introduction to Meera Kothand’s post, she addressed a problem all new bloggers face: <a href="https://smartblogger.com/reader-profile/">How do you get to know your audience when you don’t have one yet</a>?</p>
<p>She goes on to talk about the big mistake many of them make (making assumptions) and why that’s ineffective. Then, she uses the simplest phrase to hint at a solution:</p>
<blockquote><p>That kind of guessing is like throwing darts blindfolded and hoping you hit the bull’s eye.</p>
<p>Sometimes it works. Usually, it doesn’t.</p>
<p>Fortunately, there’s another way…</p></blockquote>
<p>How could anyone <em>not</em> want to keep reading?</p>
<h3>How to Write an Introduction: Bonus Tip</h3>
<p>When writing an introduction, try drafting two completely different versions approached from different angles and triggering different emotions.</p>
<p>Doing so will highlight the techniques and emotions that work best for both your audience and the content of your post.</p>
<div>
<h4>Editor’s Note:</h4>
<p>A word of caution:</p>
<p>No matter how eloquent your words…</p>
<p>No matter how powerful your prose…</p>
<p>If your introduction doesn’t satisfy search intent, readers will click the “back” button and never return.</p>
<p>What’s search intent?</p>
<p><strong>It’s the purpose behind the Google search.</strong></p>
<p>If someone searches for “how to lose weight” in Google, they’re expecting search results that will help them lose weight.</p>
<p>If they click a headline that reads “7 Easy Tips For Losing Weight Fast”, and the post begins with an amusing Nicolas Cage anecdote, there’s a good chance they will leave — never getting to read the rest of the post, which is filled with weight loss wisdom.</p>
<p>And when they leave, what they’re essentially telling Google is this:</p>
<blockquote><p>“At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.”</p></blockquote>
<p>And Google will respond by ranking your post lower in its search results.</p>
<p>Search intent is a big part of SEO (search engine optimization). When we do keyword research here at Smart Blogger, figuring out the keyword phrase’s intent is one of the first things we do. It shapes our headline, meta description, introduction, word count, and more.</p>
<p>The ins and outs of mastering it would be an article all by itself, so we’ll simply say this:</p>
<p>Taking the time to analyze the results in Google so you have a solid handle on why people enter the particular query your blog post will be targeting is time well spent. Figure out the intent, and then make sure your intro matches it.</p>
</div>
<h2>3. Deliver Advice That’s Easy to Consume and Impossible to Ignore</h2>
<p></p>
<p>Okay, you’re doing great.</p>
<p>You got readers to click on your headline, you lured them down the page with your intro, and now it’s time to deliver on all that you’ve promised.</p>
<p>If you want readers to love you and look forward to every good blog post you write, you’ll over-deliver.</p>
<p>If you want them to take a quick look and vanish for good, you’ll under-deliver.</p>
<p>The choice is yours.</p>
<p><strong>Use the guide below to deliver valuable and easy-to-consume advice:</strong></p>
<h3>Content Rule #1. Add Pitstops</h3>
<p>Subheads — use them.</p>
<p>Why? Because readers are scanners.</p>
<p>They have no choice. There’s a behemoth amount of content at their fingertips, and not all of it is good.</p>
<p>And so they scan (as do you, I’m sure).</p>
<p>Subheadings are your chance to prove to readers that your content holds value. To keep luring them back into your post, when their instinct is to leave.</p>
<p>Blogging is a battle, remember?</p>
<p><strong>Keep these four tips in mind when drafting your subheads:</strong></p>
<h4>#1. Add a Subhead Every Few Paragraphs</h4>
<p>Sprinkle subheaders throughout your post.</p>
<p>Why? Because they gently guide readers along the route your post is heading, making their experience feel clear, easy and enjoyable.</p>
<p>And never forget, your blog posts are all about your readers’ experience.</p>
<p>If readers see too much text when they’re scanning without enough pit stops, they’ll feel overwhelmed. It’s like getting on a bus tour and being told there will be no bathroom breaks … oh, the anxiety!</p>
<h4>Example:</h4>
<p><em>Every single post on Smart Blogger.</em></p>
<p>Seriously.</p>
<p>That’s how important this is.</p>
<h4>#2. Avoid the 3 Subhead Blunders That Make Readers Bounce</h4>
<p>Subheads have the same function as headlines; they must make readers curious so they keep reading. So you should follow similar rules when drafting them and <a href="https://smartblogger.com/subhead-blunders/">avoid the following common blunders</a>:</p>
<ol>
<li><strong>The Plain Label Subhead:</strong>  In case it bears repeating, never bore your readers. Labels are boring. Treat your subheads like mini-headlines and make sure they invoke curiosity.</li>
<li><strong>The Spoiler Subhead:</strong> Don’t give away too much in your subhead. If you do, readers will feel no compulsion to read the rest of your text.</li>
<li><strong>The Cryptic Subhead: </strong>Don’t try to be too clever. Readers don’t like to play guessing games. Adding curiosity should never come at the expense of clarity.</li>
</ol>
<h4>Example:</h4>
<p>Let’s say you’re writing a post about the impact sleep has on anxiety levels and you include the following subheads:</p>
<ul>
<li><em>The Importance of Sleep</em></li>
<li><em>Creating a Steady Sleeping Routine Will Reduce Anxiety</em></li>
<li><em>Refuse the Roast and Catch More Z’s</em></li>
</ul>
<p>See how the first subhead is way too plain, the second gives too much away, and the third, well, it probably made no sense to you, right?</p>
<p>The subheads below would do a better job at grabbing readers:</p>
<ul>
<li><em>The Easiest Way to Reduce Daily Anxiety</em></li>
<li><em>How to Beat Anxiety Without Resorting to Medication</em></li>
<li><em>The One Thing You Must Avoid to Sleep Better</em></li>
</ul>
<h4>#3. Compare Each Subhead to Your Main Headline</h4>
<p>Each subhead should clearly deliver on the overall headline of your post.</p>
<p>Again, if you’re viewing subheads as pit stops, they must all lead to the ultimate destination — what was promised by your headline.</p>
<p>If the subheads get off track and move away from that destination, readers are left feeling lost and confused.</p>
<p>In that case, either the subheads need to change or the headline needs rethinking.</p>
<h4>Example:</h4>
<p>Say you’re writing a post called “How to Silence Your Nagging Inner Critic” and you include the following subheads:</p>
<ul>
<li><em>Observe Your Thoughts</em></li>
<li><em>Prove Yourself Wrong</em></li>
<li><em>Ask Yourself This Powerful Question</em></li>
<li><em>Bravely Quit Your Day Job</em></li>
</ul>
<p>The fourth subhead’s sudden twist in topic is jarring. It does not deliver on the overall headline, which had nothing to do with your day job.</p>
<p>Perhaps you intended all along for the post to be about not letting doubts stop you from following your dreams and quitting your day job, but readers scanning subheads will not understand that.</p>
<p>They will simply feel confused.</p>
<h4>#4. Follow a Format</h4>
<p>If you are listing various “ways,” “steps,” “methods,” “signs,” etc., to achieve what the headline of the post promises, keep the format consistent.</p>
<p>If you don’t, the post comes across as unpolished. Bloggers overlook this all the time, but it’s easy to fix once you’re aware of it.</p>
<p>If you separate your subheads from the post and list them back to back, you can see if any stray from the course.</p>
<h4>Example:</h4>
<p>Say your post is called “12 Ways to Cure Insomnia” and you have a subhead for each of the 12 ways. You’ll want those subheads to follow a consistent format.</p>
<p>Let’s say your first few subheads read as follows:</p>
<ol>
<li><em>Exercise Every Morning</em></li>
<li><em>Avoid Caffeine Like the Plague</em></li>
<li><em>Wake Up at the Same Time Everyday</em></li>
<li><em>There is Nothing More Sleep-Inducing Than Nighttime Meditation</em></li>
</ol>
<p>Something there feel a little off?</p>
<p>The first three subheads start with an action verb instructing readers what to do. They are also fairly consistent in length.</p>
<p>But then the fourth subhead suddenly changes the format and breaks the flow. It doesn’t start with a verb and it’s much longer than the others.</p>
<p>This inconsistency may seem fairly innocent, but it’s distracting to readers.</p>
<h3>Content Rule #2. Unleash the Unexpected</h3>
<p>Let’s face it, readers today are info-holics. We all are.</p>
<p>So tired old advice isn’t going to cut it. Your post must be unique, bold, and eye-opening.</p>
<p>My advice? List your main points and see if you can add a unique perspective, experience, or twist to them. Something readers aren’t expecting.</p>
<p>What belief systems have you learned to challenge? What do you know that most people don’t? How can you shed new light on an old problem? What methods do you use that others won’t know about?</p>
<p>You don’t want to go overboard just for the sake of adding shock value. Your advice must be authentic and truly helpful. But regurgitating old advice doesn’t challenge you as a writer, nor does it enlighten your audience.</p>
<p>So pour your readers a little espresso for their info-hangover by delivering the unexpected.</p>
<h4>Example:</h4>
<p>Countless articles have been written about blogging, but how many have called you out for being dumb or told you to replace your friends?!</p>
<p>Jon does just that by knocking you over the head with some hard truth bombs about <a href="https://smartblogger.com/smart-blogger/">what it takes to make it as a blogger</a>.</p>
<h3>Content Rule #3. Follow a Formula</h3>
<p>Notice how this post follows a pretty consistent formula?</p>
<p>Each section is relatively similar in length. Every subhead follows a pattern. Each section ends with an example.</p>
<p>The more consistency you weave into your posts, the better the reader’s experience.</p>
<p>Let’s say you write a list post covering five steps to achieve something. If the first step is 500 words, the second and third steps are 100 words, the fourth step is 200 words and the fifth step is 400 words, it looks sloppy. As though you didn’t bother to proofread it before hitting publish.</p>
<p>Your readers deserve the best, and minor details like this matter as they affect the fluidity of their experience.</p>
<p>Want to go even more pro? Look at the beginning, middle, and end of each section you write, and create a guiding formula. Perhaps you start each section with a bold statement or personal experience. Then you flesh out your advice in the middle. And then you end each section with a one-sentence call to action.</p>
<p>The more formulas you add to your posts, the easier they are to write and the more they look like polished works of art.</p>
<h4>Example:</h4>
<p>In his post on <a href="https://smartblogger.com/twitter-traffic/">getting traffic from Twitter</a>, Brian Honigman uses hashtags for each subhead, each section is consistent in length, and each includes a graphic.</p>
<p>Readers know exactly what to expect from each section, making for a fluid reading experience.</p>
<h3>Content Rule #4. Be Ridiculously Generous</h3>
<p>Many bloggers worry about giving away too much in their posts. After all, they want readers to sign up for their paid coaching calls or products.</p>
<p>So they hold back, barely skimming the surface of their advice.</p>
<p>Truthfully, if you’re not generous with your readers in your posts, they won’t get a good impression of your paid products.</p>
<p>Don’t hold back on your readers. Fully work through the problem with them. Give them complete solutions and powerful advice. Wow them with your generosity and they will stick around as loyal readers and customers.</p>
<h4>Example:</h4>
<p>Want to learn everything there is to know about <a href="https://smartblogger.com/affiliate-marketing/">affiliate marketing</a>?</p>
<p>Holy smokes. At 10,000 words, that insanely generous post by Leanne Regalla is basically a textbook on the subject, and reader comments praise it as such. (Let’s all bookmark this one, yes?)</p>
<p>A post of this magnitude is quite an undertaking, but don’t let it scare you. You can also wow your audience with your generosity and thoughtfulness in a 1,000-word post.</p>
<h3>Content Rule #5. Start and End Strong</h3>
<p>Just as your introduction and conclusion should grab readers, you want the main body of your post to start and end strong as well.</p>
<p>Of course, every section should have <a href="https://smartblogger.com/evergreen-content/">great content</a>, but if you’re offering five ways to achieve something, save your absolute best tips for the first and fifth ways. The first way will grab your readers’ attention, and the fifth way will leave them feeling fully satisfied.</p>
<p>On the other hand, if each tip successively decreases in value, readers will feel like your post is deflating. And their excitement will deflate with it.</p>
<p>Let’s leave readers feeling pumped when they finish your post.</p>
<h4>Example:</h4>
<p>Linda Formichelli gives <a href="https://smartblogger.com/how-to-write-faster/">ten crafty ways to write 1,000 words per hour</a>.</p>
<p>While all ten ways are excellent, I’d argue that the first (about writing under the pressure of a full bladder) and last (about gambling with your reputation) are the most bold and attention-grabbing (bathroom break, anyone?).</p>
<h3>Writing a Blog Post: Bonus Tip</h3>
<p>Before writing the main sections of your post, flesh out an outline to nail your points down.</p>
<p>The clearer and more simplified your outline is, the more clarity and conviction your post will have.</p>
<h2>4. Close with a Motivational Bang</h2>
<p></p>
<p>We’re almost at the finish line! It’s time to close your post with a bang.</p>
<p>This is where you rally behind your readers. Show them that you believe in them.</p>
<p>Make them believe they can achieve the goal promised by your headline (because after reading your generous advice, they certainly can).</p>
<p><strong>Follow these rules when crafting your motivational conclusion: </strong></p>
<h3>Conclusion Rule #1. Give Your Readers a Pep Talk</h3>
<p>Motivate your readers.</p>
<p>Show them how far they’ve come, what they’re capable of, and what life will look like once they’ve implemented your advice.</p>
<p>Give them the pep talk you longed for when you were struggling with the topic your post presents.</p>
<p>Empower them by raising your expectations of them. They can’t just read your post and pretend it never happened — they must take action. Immediately.</p>
<p>Make them see that no matter what they’ve experienced or how hard they’ve struggled, their time is now.</p>
<h4>Example:</h4>
<p>In <a href="https://problogger.com/how-to-quit-your-job-move-to-paradise-and-get-paid-to-change-the-world/">this post’s conclusion</a>, Jon uses all he’s had to overcome in life to show readers that they have no excuses: no matter hard things get, they can accomplish anything they set their minds to.</p>
<p>He encourages readers by letting them know that he believes in them and then he raises his expectations of them by telling them they need to get started … “right freaking now.”</p>
<p>By the time you’re done reading the conclusion, you feel like you can conquer just about anything!</p>
<h3>Conclusion Rule #2. Avoid New Information</h3>
<p>A common mistake many bloggers make?</p>
<p>Suddenly inserting new information or tips in their conclusions.</p>
<p>It’s like reaching the last ten minutes of a spellbinding movie. You’re on pins and needles waiting to see how it ends, and suddenly a new character is introduced. <em>What the … ?!</em></p>
<p>It’s jarring. Don’t do that to your readers.</p>
<h4>Example:</h4>
<p>In his conclusion, Robert van Tongeren motivates you to <a href="https://smartblogger.com/repurposing-content/">repurpose old blog posts</a> by comparing them to epic musical classics; if they  disappeared into obscurity simply because they’re old, we’d all be at a great loss.</p>
<p>Imagine if in the midst of such a conclusion, Robert quickly threw in one more way to repurpose content, or one small caveat to his post’s advice, or one more general tip to keep in mind?</p>
<p>It would throw the whole closing off and leave readers feeling ruffled instead of jamming to Bohemian Rhapsody.</p>
<h3>How to Write a Conclusion: Bonus Tip</h3>
<p>When writing your conclusion, put yourself back in the shoes of your readers.</p>
<p>What will their lives be like if they accomplish the advice in your post? How will they feel?</p>
<p>The more you can hone in on your readers’ point of view, the more you can motivate them to take action.</p>
<div>
<h4>Editor’s Note:</h4>
<p>Too many bloggers put too little thought into their closings.</p>
<p>That’s a shame.</p>
<p>Let’s face it…</p>
<p>Most people don’t read 100% of our posts. Heck, most people don’t even read <em>half</em>.</p>
<p>So how do we reward the precious few who read and absorbed the words we poured our heart and soul into?</p>
<p><em>With a closing we whipped together in 20 seconds.</em></p>
<p>Someone who makes it to the end of your post is primed.</p>
<p>They trust you. They like you. They want you to tell them what to do next.</p>
<p>So tell them.</p>
<p>Don’t waste this opportunity.</p>
</div>
<h2>5. Polish Your Post So It’s Smoother Than a Slip ‘n Slide</h2>
<p></p>
<p>Phew! You’ve <a href="https://smartblogger.com/bucket-list/#writing_your_first_blog_post">written your post</a>. Next up?</p>
<p>Take a well-deserved break. Step away for a day or more so you can come back to it with fresh eyes.</p>
<p>Once you’re ready, it’s time to do some editing. I know, the mind reels that there’s more work to do!</p>
<p>But editing your post is essential. If your post doesn’t provide a smooth reading experience, your reader will lose attention and bail.</p>
<p><strong>Use this checklist when you’re ready to edit your post:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Take a Knife to It.</strong> Slash all unnecessary words, sentences, paragraphs, stories, etc. Include only what is absolutely essential to convey your message. Nothing more.</li>
<li><strong>Motivate, Don’t Lecture.</strong> Tweak any statements that hint of being the condescending professor. Make readers feel like you’re on their side and dedicated to their success (because you are).</li>
<li><strong>Add Emotion.</strong> Infuse your writing with <a href="https://smartblogger.com/how-to-find-your-passion/">passion</a>, energy, and enthusiasm. If you’re bored by your blog topic, readers will be too.</li>
<li><strong>Make it Easy on the Eye.</strong> Break up any large paragraphs (2–5 sentences maximum is your goal) and run-on sentences.</li>
<li><strong>Break it Down.</strong> Clarify overly complicated wording. If you can’t say it simply, don’t write it. You don’t want to confuse your readers.</li>
<li><strong>Speak Their Language.</strong> Add examples or metaphors to make complex ideas feel more tangible and easier to digest.</li>
<li><strong>Check Yourself.</strong> Remove any contradictory statements or repetitive ideas (trust me, they’re there).</li>
<li><strong>Don’t Yo-Yo.</strong> Ensure each sentence, paragraph and section drives the post forward toward the destination promised by the headline (no side routes or backtracking).</li>
<li><strong>Be Smooth.</strong> Make each sentence and paragraph flow seamlessly into the next. Each sentence should be completely dependent on the ones before and after it or the transitions will feel choppy.</li>
<li><strong>Avoid Sharp Turns.</strong> Adjust any abrupt changes in topic. They’re jarring to readers.</li>
<li><strong>Keep It Real.</strong> Don’t mimic styles that don’t come naturally to you. The more you write, the more you’ll find your authentic writing voice.</li>
<li><strong>Add Highlights.</strong> Use bold and italics to add stress where appropriate (but do so sparingly).</li>
<li><strong>Shoot Bullets.</strong> Use bullet points to group related topic ideas and make them more digestible.</li>
<li><strong>Spark the Senses.</strong> Be specific and concrete (describe things readers can see, feel, hear, smell or taste). Avoid abstract statements.</li>
<li><strong>Be Firm.</strong> Avoid words like “might,” “may,” “possibly” and “perhaps” when delivering your advice.</li>
<li><strong>Give Some Eye Candy.</strong> They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Add relevant images, screenshots, and infographics to your blog content.</li>
<li><strong>Respect Nature.</strong> Put things in their natural order (e.g., past to present, young to old, small to large, breakfast to dinner, etc.).</li>
<li><strong>Be Consistent.</strong> Make sure all points in a list belong to the same category; a list of steps should only list steps, a list of things should only list things, etc. This might sound like common sense, but this rule gets broken often.</li>
<li><strong>Don’t Be Lazy.</strong> Ensure all the necessary information is contained within the post itself. (External links should only provide supplemental information. A reader shouldn’t have to click a link to comprehend your post.)</li>
<li><strong>Kill the Weak.</strong> Eliminate weak and flabby words. Replace weak <a href="https://smartblogger.com/vivid-verbs/">verbs</a> (e.g., “she went”) with more concrete, visceral verbs (“she walked”), replace passive voice (e.g., “he was pushing”) with active voice (e.g., “he pushed”) and replace weak adjectives (e.g., “good”) with strong adjectives (e.g., “wonderful”).</li>
<li><strong>Feel the Beat.</strong> Be mindful of the pace and rhythm of each section. Speed things up or add some punch with crisp, short sentences. Slow things down with longer explanations. <a href="https://smartblogger.com/hub/freelance-writing/">Good writing uses both</a>.</li>
<li><strong>Do the Obvious.</strong> Fix any typos, spelling mistakes, or grammar mistakes (you can use <a href="https://smartblogger.com/best-grammar-checker/">grammar checkers</a> like <a href="https://smartblogger.com/grammarly-review/">Grammarly</a> and Hemingway App).</li>
<li><strong>Be Honest. </strong>Give credit where due.</li>
</ul>
<h3>How to Edit a Blog Post: Bonus Tip</h3>
<p>A great way to self-edit your posts is to read them out loud.</p>
<p>Doing so will help you catch many of the issues listed above, particularly things like overly complicated wording, run-on sentences and choppy rhythm.</p>
<h2>Win the Battle for Your Reader’s Attention</h2>
<p>Blogging is a battle.</p>
<p>A war to get your ideas the attention they deserve.</p>
<p>Your enemy? The dizzying array of online distractions that devour your readers.</p>
<p>This battle is not for the faint of heart.</p>
<p>There are so many learning curves. Blogging platforms and plugins you’ll need to install. Social networks you’ll need to employ. <a href="https://smartblogger.com/what-is-content-marketing/">Content marketing</a> techniques you’ll need to try.</p>
<p>But none of that stuff matters if you’re drowning your ideas in amateur writing. You might as well lay your sword down in defeat. Readers don’t have time for amateurs.</p>
<p>So before you venture any further down the blogging rabbit hole, you better make sure you know how to write a blog post like a pro.</p>
<p>Skip that step, and nothing can save you. Your battle is lost.</p>
<p>The good news is, writing good blog posts is a skill you can learn. And it’s one you <em>must</em> learn.</p>
<p>You have powerful words and ideas that can transform readers’ lives. Those ideas are worth fighting for.</p>
<p>So when you’re ready to enter the arena, arm yourself with this ultimate guide and fight the good fight.</p>
<p>Your readers are counting on you.</p>
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 How to Write a Blog Post in 2023: The Ultimate Guide

 by Liz Careathers

 on Jan 12, 2023

 Freebie: Ultimate Editing Checklist

 Freebie: Ultimate Editing Checklist

 There are many tutorials that can teach you how to write a blog post.

 They can educate you on the mechanics of blogging, what to do, and what not to do.

 Read through them and you can learn how to craft a perfectly serviceable blog post. Heck, you might even write something that wins you an adoring fan or two.

 But if you dream bigger, if you want to know how to write a successful blog post that cuts through the noise and wins you legions of fans, you need something better than a run-of-the-mill tutorial.

 You need an ultimate guide.

 In this post — this ultimate, step-by-step guide — we’ll share tips used by professional freelance writers to create spellbinding posts that are adored by thousands. You’ll learn the secrets to crafting irresistible headlines, seducing introductions, captivating advice, and motivational closings.

 You’ll even learn how the pros refine and polish their posts once they’re finished writing them.

 These are secrets many bloggers would gladly pay real money to learn, but it won’t cost you a thing — other than a few minutes of your time.

 Table of Contents

 1. Craft a Great Headline That Readers Can’t Resist
 2. Write an Introduction That Grabs and Seduces
 3. Deliver Advice That’s Easy to Consume and Impossible to Ignore
 4. Close with a Motivational Bang
 5. Polish Your Post So It’s Smoother Than a Slip ‘n Slide

 Let’s dive in.

 Back to Top

 1. Craft a Great Headline That Readers Can’t Resist

 Want to know one of the biggest mistakes bloggers make?

 Writing blog posts before the headlines (aka the post title).

 Without a headline, they have no roadmap to follow. And so their post goes in multiple directions, leaving readers feeling dizzy, confused and disoriented.

 And then they try to create a headline that embraces all that madness. Bloggers, have mercy!

 If you want to write a great blog post full of clarity, conciseness, and conviction, spend some time crafting a blog title that sets a clear destination, lures readers in, and leaves them eager for your advice.

 Your blog title will be your map, your writing navigation system, letting you know which literary roads to choose and which to avoid so that readers reach the intended destination as easily and efficiently as possible.

 Follow these 8 rules to craft your killer headline:

 Headline Rule #1. Pick a Mouth-Watering Topic

 Want your blog post to get opened?

 Then your headline must promise readers the very answer to whatever is tormenting them. The thing that keeps them up at night.

 Editor’s Note: Answering the “what keeps our readers up at night?” question is how posts like our recent Working From Home? 14 Sanity-Saving Tools (+ 35 Pro Tips) are born. More people are working remotely, but they’ve never done it before. We saw a pain point, so we addressed it.

 Your headline should not promise them a trip to the moon and back — readers are way too swift for such shenanigans. Keep the benefit specific and narrow, and readers will feel compelled to click and get the solution to what’s bugging them.

 How do you find out what’s bugging your readers? How do you know which of your many blog post idea (we know, you have many) should be pursued?

 Research:

 * Review comments on your posts and on posts of other sites in your niche.
 * Send your subscribers surveys asking them what their greatest struggles are.
 * Use tools like BuzzSumo to find out what the most popular posts in your niche are (which gives insight into your target readers’ needs).
 * Read the reviews of books in your niche on Amazon (you’ll find a gold mine of feedback to explore).

 You have one responsibility as a blogger — yup, just one. And that is to serve your audience. The better you know them, the better you serve.

 Before you know it, you’ll know them so intimately they’ll feel like you’re reading their minds, and your headlines will reflect that.

 Example:

 Let’s say you’re in the self-improvement space and you wrote the headline below:

 How to Create an Amazing Life

 This headline is so broad it’s unlikely to draw readers in. No one loses sleep over “wanting to create an amazing life.” They lose sleep over specific aspects of their lives that have left them unfulfilled.

 So you are better off narrowing in on something specific that’s bugging your readers, such as:

 How to Boldly Pursue Your Dreams Even if You’re Scared and Insecure

 Narrowing in on something specific makes readers feel like you have the answers they’re looking for.

 Download the Ultimate Editing Checklist (22-point cheatsheet for polishing your post to perfection)

 Headline Rule #2. Steal from the Pros

 Okay, you’ve done your research and you know exactly what your readers need. Now it’s time to turn your topic into a killer headline.

 The easiest way to master the art of writing headlines?

 Steal.

 Not in the unethical way. In the smart and efficient way.

 Decades of copywriting and advertising research have revealed the types of headlines that have proven to be successful. The types of headlines that zap readers out of their info-overload comas and compel them to open. Why mess with that research?

 If you want your headlines to grab readers, stick with what works.

 No, your headlines don’t need to sound like they came straight from BuzzFeed. They can reflect your voice and style.

 But until your writing skills match Jon Morrow’s, let the proven templates be your guide (how do you think he got so good at writing headlines?).

 Blogging is hard enough, so if you have templates at your fingertips, why not use them?

 The easiest templates to start with? “How to” headlines and list post headlines. They are classics and they work. In fact, 75% of Smart Blogger’s most popular posts use these formats.

 Examples:

 Here are a number of Smart Blogger headlines that follow the “how to” and list post templates.

 “How to” Headlines:

 * How to Start a Blog: Easy, Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners
 * How to Make Money Writing: 5 Ways to Get Paid to Write in 2023
 * How to Make Money Blogging (Free Guide for 2023)

 List Post Headlines:

 * 21 Dumb Mistakes to Avoid When Writing Your First E-book
 * The 5 Best Free Blogging Platforms in 2023 (100% Unbiased)
 * Writer’s Block: 27 Ways to Overcome It Forever
 * 8 Best Free WordPress Themes of 2023 (Chosen by Experts)
 * 12 Blogging Tips for Beginners (+ Lots of Free Resources)
 * 4 Best Gifts for Writers: Ideas to Fit Any Budget (Even Yours)
 Note: You can download Jon’s free 52 Headline Hacks, where you’ll find more template options than you’ll ever need.

 Headline Rule #3. Engage Your Senses

 Vague headlines leave readers feeling empty. Tangible headlines leave them feeling understood.

 How do you create tangible headlines?

 Put yourself in the shoes of your reader.

 How do they feel? What do they see, taste, or smell? What do they hear?

 Engage all of your senses by using sensory words. The more your headline gives voice to their exact experience, the more they’ll feel like your quality content was written for them.

 Example:

 Let’s say you blog about health and wellness and you wrote a headline called:

 5 Steps to Take When a Migraine Hits

 This headline follows a proven list post formula, and it narrows in on something that’s bugging readers. All in all, it’s not too bad.

 But it could be even more concrete.

 To step it up a notch, put yourselves in the shoes of your readers. Think about exactly what they’re experiencing.

 Perhaps that would lead you to the following:

 5 Ways to Soothe Pounding and Blinding Migraines

 If you suffer from migraines, there’s no way you could resist clicking such a headline.

 Headline Rule #4. Tease, Don’t Satisfy

 A common mistake you may not even realize you’re making?

 Giving away too much in your headlines.

 Your headlines should lure readers in like a literary temptress. They should catch readers’ attention and invoke their curiosity, not give a solution.

 Give a solution in your headline and readers feel no need to go any further — they’re bored by the very thought of your post.

 When this happens, not only do you lose but your readers lose as well, as they trade the richness of your perfect blog post’s advice for the quick fix offered by the headline.

 Example:

 Let’s say you blog about personal finance and you write the headline below:

 How to Save for Retirement by Creating a Monthly Budget

 Sadly, readers will see this and think they’ve got all the advice they need — if they want to save for retirement, they must create a monthly budget. No need to read more.

 On the other hand, a possible revision could be:

 How to Save for Retirement When You’re Living Paycheck to Paycheck

 For anyone living paycheck to paycheck, this headline would pique their curiosity. Nothing is given away, it speaks to an audience with a very specific problem, and it promises a solution they’d love to get their hands on.

 Headline Rule #5. Honor the Headline Commandment

 When it comes to headlines, there is only one commandment you can never break:

 “Thou shalt not deceive.”

 This may seem obvious, but writers inadvertently do it all the time.

 How?

 They over-promise.

 Big no-no. The content of your post must fully deliver on exactly what the headline promises.

 If the post only delivers part of the solution, readers will feel misled and lose their trust in you.

 Let’s never do that to them, yes?

 Examples:

 Let’s say you write a post called:

 How to Live a Happy and Peaceful Life

 But then the post only talks about following your dreams, which is really only one aspect of living a happy and peaceful life. Even though you didn’t intentionally deceive them, readers will feel shortchanged. You might as well have written an over-the-top “clickbait” headline — your readers would have been as equally disappointed.

 Another example…

 Perhaps you write a post called:

 5 Killer Ways to Attract New Clients to Your Coaching Business

 But then the fifth way contains no useful advice and instead leads to a sales page to get the solution … no bueno.

 Headline Rule #6. Trim the Fat

 Want to overwhelm readers right from the start?

 Fill your headline with weak and flabby words.

 What are weak and flabby words? Empty, unnecessary words that add no real value. Instead, they create clunky phrasing and leave readers scratching their heads in confusion.

 The mistake many bloggers make is writing headlines the way they speak. While that’s okay when you write the post (to a certain extent), when you write headlines that way, it waters them down.

 You want your headlines to be as ruthlessly concise and powerful as possible. So chop out weak words and throw in power words (if appropriate).

 Examples:

 Let’s say you draft the following headline:

 How to Find It In Your Heart to Forgive Someone Even if They’ve Hurt You Really Badly

 There are just so many words! We can cut them down as follows:

 How to Forgive Someone Who Hurt You Badly

 We can then add some power to it:

 How to Forgive a Soul-Crushing Betrayal

 Much better.

 Another Example:

 Here’s a mouthful:

 How to Stop Being Overly Doubtful of Yourself So You Can Finally Begin to Pursue Your Wildest Dreams

 My head is spinning. This can be cut down to:

 How to Stop Doubting Yourself and Pursue Your Wildest Dreams

 We could even make it more tangible and powerful:

 How to End Paralyzing Doubts and Conquer Your Wildest Dreams

 Nice and trim, but packs a punch.

 Headline Rule #7. Don’t Be a Smarty-Pants

 Your headline should make sense to all readers no matter where they’re coming from or in what context they’re approaching your post.

 They shouldn’t have to guess what the benefit is. After all, you’re supposed to be reading their minds, not the other way around.

 So you’ll want to avoid using metaphors (unless their meaning is painfully obvious), jargon, rhymes, made-up terms, or anything that tries to be overly clever or complicated when drafting your headlines.

 Examples:

 Where to begin with this one:

 How to Be Happy Without Acting Sappy

 A headline like this tries to be too clever — readers don’t give two hoots about not acting sappy, obviously. Don’t prioritize cute tactics like rhyming (or even alliteration) over-delivering clear benefits in your headlines.

 How to Raise a Child That Is the Apple of Your Eye

 A headline like this is also trying to be too clever. “Apple of Your Eye” is a common metaphor readers are likely familiar with, but there’s no concrete benefit being offered here. A headline must always contain a strong benefit, not a cute phrase.

 How to Follow the Path of Glory to Your Success

 No clue what this means … and I just wrote it. If there isn’t a singular and clear interpretation of what the headline’s benefit is, it’s trying too hard. So save the metaphors for the actual post where they will (hopefully) make more sense.

 How to Stop Treating Love Like a Captive Animal

 Perhaps you effectively explain in the post how people treat love like a captive animal, and it may make for a great analogy, but readers scanning headlines will have no clue why they should stop to read this, and so they likely won’t.

 Headline Rule #8. Rock Your Style

 The more consistent you are with your audience, the more trust they’ll feel for you.

 If you generally keep your headlines pretty simple and then suddenly write one jam-packed with power words, your readers will feel confused.

 The more you write, the more of a writing style you’ll develop. Once you determine what that style is, use it consistently (or make slow and gradual changes to it if necessary) so your audience learns and trusts your brand.

 Example:

 If most of your headlines read like this:

 * How to Live With Courage
 * How to Overcome Social Anxiety
 * How to Confidently Embrace Uncertainty

 Then you might not want to suddenly write a headline that reads:

 * How to Brazenly Squash the Agonizing Anxiety That Is Plaguing Your Life

 Your readers will think your blog got hacked!

 How to Write a Headline: Bonus Tip

 When writing a headline, try crafting 5–10 different versions of the same headline.

 The more you play with the words, the better you will get at creating clear, concise, and curiosity-invoking headlines that readers cannot resist.

 Editor’s Note:

 I’d be remiss if I didn’t discuss a question we hear often:

 “How long/short should my headline be?”

 Ever notice how some headlines in SERPs (search engine results pages) are truncated?

 It’s based on your headline’s width in pixels (a free tool like SERPsim will show your headline’s width), but as a general rule:

 At right around 60 characters, Google will cut off your headline.

 Since a truncated headline can result in fewer people clicking your link in SERPs, it’s a common SEO practice to keep your headlines 60 characters or less.

 Of course, things are never that easy.

 In a recent study, Brian Dean of Backlinko found that longer (14-17 words) headlines generated more shares on social media than shorter headlines.

 (76.7% more social shares, to be exact.)

 As with all things, your mileage may vary.

 Back to Top

 2. Write an Introduction That Grabs and Seduces

 You’ve lured readers in with your headline. Now you’ve got to keep them.

 No easy task, my friend.

 Readers are fickle. Known to take a quick glance and then vanish from your online sanctuary, lickety-split!

 You must fight to keep them there, and the way you craft your introduction plays a huge role in their browsing commitment.

 Follow these rules to craft an introduction that captivates your readers:

 Introduction Rule #1. Slip into Their Shoes

 A common mistake that reeks of amateur blogging?

 Trying to sound too academic in your blog openings.

 You know, those posts that start like this:

 “Research has proven that 92% of people fail to achieve their goals because they are unable to create and stick to habits that support those goals …”

 Don’t get me wrong — as a lawyer, I value solid research. But in the blogging context, this approach bores readers. If you want to captivate instead of bore, you must make readers feel like you’re reading their minds.

 A powerful way to achieve this?

 Empathy.

 Step into the shoes of your target audience and write from their perspective. Show them you understand exactly what they’re going through.

 After all, you likely struggled with the very topic you’re writing about and learned how to overcome it. We teach what we most wanted to learn, right?

 So show readers that you “get it.” You’re not some corporate slog, you’re in it with them, fighting the good fight and sharing the tools that brought you to the other side.

 Example:

 This introduction is a masterclass in empathy:

 Do you feel that?

 That little tugging sensation on your heart?

 You’re not sure what, but something is pulling you to change. Not in a confess-your-sins-oh-ye-sinners way, but to shift directions, to embrace your calling, to finally do what you were put here to do:

 Write.

 You feel the ideas inside you. You sense them straining to escape. You know your job is to set them free, firing them like a cannon into a world in desperate need of them.

 But you’re afraid.

 You’re afraid of quitting your job and living without a safety net. You’re afraid of the concerned, disapproving looks your friends will give you when you tell them you’re giving it all up to write for a living. You’re afraid of not having enough money for food, of the power being cut off, of watching your family shivering and hungry, all because of your “selfishness”.

 And most of all?

 You’re afraid you’re wrong about yourself.

 As writers, we all share the deep longing to embrace our calling and express our ideas, but we also share the fears that so often sabotage those longings — the fear that we don’t have what it takes, that we’ll crash and burn, and that our dreams are just that — dreams.

 In his introduction, Jon addresses all those longings and fears and immediately makes you feel like he gets you so intimately, it’s almost creepy.

 Creepy, but effective.

 Note: You don’t need to open like this in every post. There are certainly other approaches, like telling a powerful story. But if you’re working on mastering your craft and getting the most impact for time invested, an empathetic opening is an approach you’ll want to use frequently.

 Introduction Rule #2. Get into Character

 If you want to captivate readers, you must trigger their emotions.

 So as you sit down to write, think of the feelings you want them to experience:

 Fear, anger, sadness, hope, joy, disgust, shame, comfort, love, courage, and so on.

 Then get into character and feel them yourself as you write, and your words will read with undeniable authenticity.

 When Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote the heartbreaking lyrics in Hamilton that have left tears on the faces of millions, it was his eyes that first shed tears as he put his pen to paper.

 So play with your emotions. Map out the emotional journey you’re taking readers on, and infuse those feelings into your writing. Feel what you want your audience to feel and your words will exude those emotions.

 This tip applies to your whole post, but in no place is triggering your audience’s emotions more important than your introduction.

 You feel me? 🙂

 Example:

 I once wrote an emotional post about my two little girls which addressed how delicate their emotions are, as well as my own vulnerabilities and my longing to give them the patience, presence, and love they deserve.

 Here’s a portion of it:

 I told my three-year old daughter as we stood outside the car in her school parking lot, the rain pouring down on us as she sobbed breathlessly in my arms.

 She didn’t want to go in the car. She just wanted me to stand there, holding her. And I didn’t want to rush her, or tell her to stop crying.

 “I’ll hold you for as long as it takes.”

 I felt that longing intensely and definitely shed some tears as I wrote the introduction. The feedback I got from readers was that they felt the same intensity, and even cried as well.

 When we write, our feelings seep into our words.

 Introduction Rule #3. Lure Readers Down the Page

 Want readers to commit to your post?

 Accelerate their experience. Lure them down the page.

 The faster they get pulled down, the more committed they’ll feel.

 Too many bumps in the road early on, and off track they go, never to return.

 Here are three writing tips to use in your intros to lure readers down the page:

 #1. Open With a Short Sentence or Question

 Kind of like how I opened this section. 🙂

 This is how all of Smart Blogger’s posts open, and for good reason. It’s a copywriting technique proven to pull readers in.

 Start a post with a long clunky paragraph and they’ll feel exhausted just looking at it.

 #2. Take a Knife to Your Words

 Slash as many words as possible.

 If the first draft of your introduction is 200 words, try cutting it down to 100. The more you practice this, the more efficient your blog writing process becomes.

 And when you write efficiently, your words have power. That power will grab your readers.

 #3. Set the Rhythm

 All writing has a pace and rhythm.

 You want your introduction’s pace and beat to be somewhat quick. You can slow things down later.

 How do you achieve this?

 * Use short sentences. Even sentence fragments (totally okay).
 * Make your paragraphs no more than one to three sentences long.
 * Use delayed transitions to weave sentences together.
 * Make each sentence and paragraph lure readers into the one that follows.
 * Read the post out loud to check the flow. Are things moving forward smoothly or stalling?

 The best writers, like the best music composers, take readers on a journey. Fast and slow, loud and soft, urgency and ease.

 The more you pay attention to this, the more rhythm you’ll infuse into your words.

 Example:

 Shane Arthur sends readers’ eyes flying down the page by using crisp sentences and short paragraphs to create a fast rhythm:

 You’re not stupid.

 You know what writing is truly about.

 It’s a never-ending battle for your readers’ attention.

 Every sentence is a link in a taut chain that connects your headline to your conclusion.

 And you are just one weak sentence away from losing your reader forever.

 He then appropriately slows things down in the section that follows with longer sentences. A masterful composition!

 Introduction Rule #4. Make Them Beg

 Want readers begging for your solutions?

 Add a little fear to your opening.

 What are readers worried about? Do they know what will happen if they don’t solve the problem the post is addressing? What is the worst-case scenario?

 Bring those fears to the surface. Expose them.

 By doing so, not only will readers feel a camaraderie with you (because you understand their fears, so clearly you’ve tip-toed through the dark side yourself), but they’ll feel more eager than ever for the solution you present.

 We all have fears. We think we need to hide them, but the more we give voice to them, the easier they are to set free.

 Do that for your readers.

 Example:

 In his introduction, Glen Long brilliantly taps into the fear of failure all writers experience by addressing the dream of making a living as a writer and then quickly smothering that dream with the doubts that creep up at the mere thought of it:

 So, who knows? Maybe the doubters are right. Maybe you are naive to think you could earn a living doing something you love, instead of something you just tolerate.

 The fear of failure is painful, yes. But giving voice to it is validating and makes readers eager for the solutions that will set that fear free.

 Introduction Rule #5. Hint at the Promised Land

 Finally, as you wrap up your intro, hint at the promised land.

 The place readers will get to when they master your methods. The destination your post promises to take them.

 But whatever you do, do not give it all away. Just one sentence that says too much satisfies your readers enough to send them clicking away.

 Why? Because readers bore easily. You must keep them on their toes. And the point of an introduction is not to give answers, it’s to set the stage for all the hearty advice your post will provide.

 Example:

 In the introduction to Meera Kothand’s post, she addressed a problem all new bloggers face: How do you get to know your audience when you don’t have one yet?

 She goes on to talk about the big mistake many of them make (making assumptions) and why that’s ineffective. Then, she uses the simplest phrase to hint at a solution:

 That kind of guessing is like throwing darts blindfolded and hoping you hit the bull’s eye.

 Sometimes it works. Usually, it doesn’t.

 Fortunately, there’s another way…

 How could anyone not want to keep reading?

 How to Write an Introduction: Bonus Tip

 When writing an introduction, try drafting two completely different versions approached from different angles and triggering different emotions.

 Doing so will highlight the techniques and emotions that work best for both your audience and the content of your post.

 Editor’s Note:

 A word of caution:

 No matter how eloquent your words…

 No matter how powerful your prose…

 If your introduction doesn’t satisfy search intent, readers will click the “back” button and never return.

 What’s search intent?

 It’s the purpose behind the Google search.

 If someone searches for “how to lose weight” in Google, they’re expecting search results that will help them lose weight.

 If they click a headline that reads “7 Easy Tips For Losing Weight Fast”, and the post begins with an amusing Nicolas Cage anecdote, there’s a good chance they will leave — never getting to read the rest of the post, which is filled with weight loss wisdom.

 And when they leave, what they’re essentially telling Google is this:

 “At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.”

 And Google will respond by ranking your post lower in its search results.

 Search intent is a big part of SEO (search engine optimization). When we do keyword research here at Smart Blogger, figuring out the keyword phrase’s intent is one of the first things we do. It shapes our headline, meta description, introduction, word count, and more.

 The ins and outs of mastering it would be an article all by itself, so we’ll simply say this:

 Taking the time to analyze the results in Google so you have a solid handle on why people enter the particular query your blog post will be targeting is time well spent. Figure out the intent, and then make sure your intro matches it.

 Back to Top

 3. Deliver Advice That’s Easy to Consume and Impossible to Ignore

 Okay, you’re doing great.

 You got readers to click on your headline, you lured them down the page with your intro, and now it’s time to deliver on all that you’ve promised.

 If you want readers to love you and look forward to every good blog post you write, you’ll over-deliver.

 If you want them to take a quick look and vanish for good, you’ll under-deliver.

 The choice is yours.

 Use the guide below to deliver valuable and easy-to-consume advice:

 Content Rule #1. Add Pitstops

 Subheads — use them.

 Why? Because readers are scanners.

 They have no choice. There’s a behemoth amount of content at their fingertips, and not all of it is good.

 And so they scan (as do you, I’m sure).

 Subheadings are your chance to prove to readers that your content holds value. To keep luring them back into your post, when their instinct is to leave.

 Blogging is a battle, remember?

 Keep these four tips in mind when drafting your subheads:

 #1. Add a Subhead Every Few Paragraphs

 Sprinkle subheaders throughout your post.

 Why? Because they gently guide readers along the route your post is heading, making their experience feel clear, easy and enjoyable.

 And never forget, your blog posts are all about your readers’ experience.

 If readers see too much text when they’re scanning without enough pit stops, they’ll feel overwhelmed. It’s like getting on a bus tour and being told there will be no bathroom breaks … oh, the anxiety!

 Example:

 Every single post on Smart Blogger.

 Seriously.

 That’s how important this is.

 #2. Avoid the 3 Subhead Blunders That Make Readers Bounce

 Subheads have the same function as headlines; they must make readers curious so they keep reading. So you should follow similar rules when drafting them and avoid the following common blunders:

 1. The Plain Label Subhead: In case it bears repeating, never bore your readers. Labels are boring. Treat your subheads like mini-headlines and make sure they invoke curiosity.
 2. The Spoiler Subhead: Don’t give away too much in your subhead. If you do, readers will feel no compulsion to read the rest of your text.
 3. The Cryptic Subhead: Don’t try to be too clever. Readers don’t like to play guessing games. Adding curiosity should never come at the expense of clarity.

 Example:

 Let’s say you’re writing a post about the impact sleep has on anxiety levels and you include the following subheads:

 * The Importance of Sleep
 * Creating a Steady Sleeping Routine Will Reduce Anxiety
 * Refuse the Roast and Catch More Z’s

 See how the first subhead is way too plain, the second gives too much away, and the third, well, it probably made no sense to you, right?

 The subheads below would do a better job at grabbing readers:

 * The Easiest Way to Reduce Daily Anxiety
 * How to Beat Anxiety Without Resorting to Medication
 * The One Thing You Must Avoid to Sleep Better

 #3. Compare Each Subhead to Your Main Headline

 Each subhead should clearly deliver on the overall headline of your post.

 Again, if you’re viewing subheads as pit stops, they must all lead to the ultimate destination — what was promised by your headline.

 If the subheads get off track and move away from that destination, readers are left feeling lost and confused.

 In that case, either the subheads need to change or the headline needs rethinking.

 Example:

 Say you’re writing a post called “How to Silence Your Nagging Inner Critic” and you include the following subheads:

 * Observe Your Thoughts
 * Prove Yourself Wrong
 * Ask Yourself This Powerful Question
 * Bravely Quit Your Day Job

 The fourth subhead’s sudden twist in topic is jarring. It does not deliver on the overall headline, which had nothing to do with your day job.

 Perhaps you intended all along for the post to be about not letting doubts stop you from following your dreams and quitting your day job, but readers scanning subheads will not understand that.

 They will simply feel confused.

 #4. Follow a Format

 If you are listing various “ways,” “steps,” “methods,” “signs,” etc., to achieve what the headline of the post promises, keep the format consistent.

 If you don’t, the post comes across as unpolished. Bloggers overlook this all the time, but it’s easy to fix once you’re aware of it.

 If you separate your subheads from the post and list them back to back, you can see if any stray from the course.

 Example:

 Say your post is called “12 Ways to Cure Insomnia” and you have a subhead for each of the 12 ways. You’ll want those subheads to follow a consistent format.

 Let’s say your first few subheads read as follows:

 1. Exercise Every Morning
 2. Avoid Caffeine Like the Plague
 3. Wake Up at the Same Time Everyday
 4. There is Nothing More Sleep-Inducing Than Nighttime Meditation

 Something there feel a little off?

 The first three subheads start with an action verb instructing readers what to do. They are also fairly consistent in length.

 But then the fourth subhead suddenly changes the format and breaks the flow. It doesn’t start with a verb and it’s much longer than the others.

 This inconsistency may seem fairly innocent, but it’s distracting to readers.

 Content Rule #2. Unleash the Unexpected

 Let’s face it, readers today are info-holics. We all are.

 So tired old advice isn’t going to cut it. Your post must be unique, bold, and eye-opening.

 My advice? List your main points and see if you can add a unique perspective, experience, or twist to them. Something readers aren’t expecting.

 What belief systems have you learned to challenge? What do you know that most people don’t? How can you shed new light on an old problem? What methods do you use that others won’t know about?

 You don’t want to go overboard just for the sake of adding shock value. Your advice must be authentic and truly helpful. But regurgitating old advice doesn’t challenge you as a writer, nor does it enlighten your audience.

 So pour your readers a little espresso for their info-hangover by delivering the unexpected.

 Example:

 Countless articles have been written about blogging, but how many have called you out for being dumb or told you to replace your friends?!

 Jon does just that by knocking you over the head with some hard truth bombs about what it takes to make it as a blogger.

 Content Rule #3. Follow a Formula

 Notice how this post follows a pretty consistent formula?

 Each section is relatively similar in length. Every subhead follows a pattern. Each section ends with an example.

 The more consistency you weave into your posts, the better the reader’s experience.

 Let’s say you write a list post covering five steps to achieve something. If the first step is 500 words, the second and third steps are 100 words, the fourth step is 200 words and the fifth step is 400 words, it looks sloppy. As though you didn’t bother to proofread it before hitting publish.

 Your readers deserve the best, and minor details like this matter as they affect the fluidity of their experience.

 Want to go even more pro? Look at the beginning, middle, and end of each section you write, and create a guiding formula. Perhaps you start each section with a bold statement or personal experience. Then you flesh out your advice in the middle. And then you end each section with a one-sentence call to action.

 The more formulas you add to your posts, the easier they are to write and the more they look like polished works of art.

 Example:

 In his post on getting traffic from Twitter, Brian Honigman uses hashtags for each subhead, each section is consistent in length, and each includes a graphic.

 Readers know exactly what to expect from each section, making for a fluid reading experience.

 Content Rule #4. Be Ridiculously Generous

 Many bloggers worry about giving away too much in their posts. After all, they want readers to sign up for their paid coaching calls or products.

 So they hold back, barely skimming the surface of their advice.

 Truthfully, if you’re not generous with your readers in your posts, they won’t get a good impression of your paid products.

 Don’t hold back on your readers. Fully work through the problem with them. Give them complete solutions and powerful advice. Wow them with your generosity and they will stick around as loyal readers and customers.

 Example:

 Want to learn everything there is to know about affiliate marketing?

 Holy smokes. At 10,000 words, that insanely generous post by Leanne Regalla is basically a textbook on the subject, and reader comments praise it as such. (Let’s all bookmark this one, yes?)

 A post of this magnitude is quite an undertaking, but don’t let it scare you. You can also wow your audience with your generosity and thoughtfulness in a 1,000-word post.

 Content Rule #5. Start and End Strong

 Just as your introduction and conclusion should grab readers, you want the main body of your post to start and end strong as well.

 Of course, every section should have great content, but if you’re offering five ways to achieve something, save your absolute best tips for the first and fifth ways. The first way will grab your readers’ attention, and the fifth way will leave them feeling fully satisfied.

 On the other hand, if each tip successively decreases in value, readers will feel like your post is deflating. And their excitement will deflate with it.

 Let’s leave readers feeling pumped when they finish your post.

 Example:

 Linda Formichelli gives ten crafty ways to write 1,000 words per hour.

 While all ten ways are excellent, I’d argue that the first (about writing under the pressure of a full bladder) and last (about gambling with your reputation) are the most bold and attention-grabbing (bathroom break, anyone?).

 Writing a Blog Post: Bonus Tip

 Before writing the main sections of your post, flesh out an outline to nail your points down.

 The clearer and more simplified your outline is, the more clarity and conviction your post will have.

 Back to Top

 4. Close with a Motivational Bang

 We’re almost at the finish line! It’s time to close your post with a bang.

 This is where you rally behind your readers. Show them that you believe in them.

 Make them believe they can achieve the goal promised by your headline (because after reading your generous advice, they certainly can).

 Follow these rules when crafting your motivational conclusion:

 Conclusion Rule #1. Give Your Readers a Pep Talk

 Motivate your readers.

 Show them how far they’ve come, what they’re capable of, and what life will look like once they’ve implemented your advice.

 Give them the pep talk you longed for when you were struggling with the topic your post presents.

 Empower them by raising your expectations of them. They can’t just read your post and pretend it never happened — they must take action. Immediately.

 Make them see that no matter what they’ve experienced or how hard they’ve struggled, their time is now.

 Example:

 In this post’s conclusion, Jon uses all he’s had to overcome in life to show readers that they have no excuses: no matter hard things get, they can accomplish anything they set their minds to.

 He encourages readers by letting them know that he believes in them and then he raises his expectations of them by telling them they need to get started … “right freaking now.”

 By the time you’re done reading the conclusion, you feel like you can conquer just about anything!

 Conclusion Rule #2. Avoid New Information

 A common mistake many bloggers make?

 Suddenly inserting new information or tips in their conclusions.

 It’s like reaching the last ten minutes of a spellbinding movie. You’re on pins and needles waiting to see how it ends, and suddenly a new character is introduced. What the … ?!

 It’s jarring. Don’t do that to your readers.

 Example:

 In his conclusion, Robert van Tongeren motivates you to repurpose old blog posts by comparing them to epic musical classics; if they disappeared into obscurity simply because they’re old, we’d all be at a great loss.

 Imagine if in the midst of such a conclusion, Robert quickly threw in one more way to repurpose content, or one small caveat to his post’s advice, or one more general tip to keep in mind?

 It would throw the whole closing off and leave readers feeling ruffled instead of jamming to Bohemian Rhapsody.

 How to Write a Conclusion: Bonus Tip

 When writing your conclusion, put yourself back in the shoes of your readers.

 What will their lives be like if they accomplish the advice in your post? How will they feel?

 The more you can hone in on your readers’ point of view, the more you can motivate them to take action.

 Editor’s Note:

 Too many bloggers put too little thought into their closings.

 That’s a shame.

 Let’s face it…

 Most people don’t read 100% of our posts. Heck, most people don’t even read half.

 So how do we reward the precious few who read and absorbed the words we poured our heart and soul into?

 With a closing we whipped together in 20 seconds.

 Someone who makes it to the end of your post is primed.

 They trust you. They like you. They want you to tell them what to do next.

 So tell them.

 Don’t waste this opportunity.

 Back to Top

 5. Polish Your Post So It’s Smoother Than a Slip ‘n Slide

 Phew! You’ve written your post. Next up?

 Take a well-deserved break. Step away for a day or more so you can come back to it with fresh eyes.

 Once you’re ready, it’s time to do some editing. I know, the mind reels that there’s more work to do!

 But editing your post is essential. If your post doesn’t provide a smooth reading experience, your reader will lose attention and bail.

 Use this checklist when you’re ready to edit your post:

 * Take a Knife to It. Slash all unnecessary words, sentences, paragraphs, stories, etc. Include only what is absolutely essential to convey your message. Nothing more.
 * Motivate, Don’t Lecture. Tweak any statements that hint of being the condescending professor. Make readers feel like you’re on their side and dedicated to their success (because you are).
 * Add Emotion. Infuse your writing with passion, energy, and enthusiasm. If you’re bored by your blog topic, readers will be too.
 * Make it Easy on the Eye. Break up any large paragraphs (2–5 sentences maximum is your goal) and run-on sentences.
 * Break it Down. Clarify overly complicated wording. If you can’t say it simply, don’t write it. You don’t want to confuse your readers.
 * Speak Their Language. Add examples or metaphors to make complex ideas feel more tangible and easier to digest.
 * Check Yourself. Remove any contradictory statements or repetitive ideas (trust me, they’re there).
 * Don’t Yo-Yo. Ensure each sentence, paragraph and section drives the post forward toward the destination promised by the headline (no side routes or backtracking).
 * Be Smooth. Make each sentence and paragraph flow seamlessly into the next. Each sentence should be completely dependent on the ones before and after it or the transitions will feel choppy.
 * Avoid Sharp Turns. Adjust any abrupt changes in topic. They’re jarring to readers.
 * Keep It Real. Don’t mimic styles that don’t come naturally to you. The more you write, the more you’ll find your authentic writing voice.
 * Add Highlights. Use bold and italics to add stress where appropriate (but do so sparingly).
 * Shoot Bullets. Use bullet points to group related topic ideas and make them more digestible.
 * Spark the Senses. Be specific and concrete (describe things readers can see, feel, hear, smell or taste). Avoid abstract statements.
 * Be Firm. Avoid words like “might,” “may,” “possibly” and “perhaps” when delivering your advice.
 * Give Some Eye Candy. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Add relevant images, screenshots, and infographics to your blog content.
 * Respect Nature. Put things in their natural order (e.g., past to present, young to old, small to large, breakfast to dinner, etc.).
 * Be Consistent. Make sure all points in a list belong to the same category; a list of steps should only list steps, a list of things should only list things, etc. This might sound like common sense, but this rule gets broken often.
 * Don’t Be Lazy. Ensure all the necessary information is contained within the post itself. (External links should only provide supplemental information. A reader shouldn’t have to click a link to comprehend your post.)
 * Kill the Weak. Eliminate weak and flabby words. Replace weak verbs (e.g., “she went”) with more concrete, visceral verbs (“she walked”), replace passive voice (e.g., “he was pushing”) with active voice (e.g., “he pushed”) and replace weak adjectives (e.g., “good”) with strong adjectives (e.g., “wonderful”).
 * Feel the Beat. Be mindful of the pace and rhythm of each section. Speed things up or add some punch with crisp, short sentences. Slow things down with longer explanations. Good writing uses both.
 * Do the Obvious. Fix any typos, spelling mistakes, or grammar mistakes (you can use grammar checkers like Grammarly and Hemingway App).
 * Be Honest. Give credit where due.
 Download the Ultimate Editing Checklist (22-point cheatsheet for polishing your post to perfection)

 How to Edit a Blog Post: Bonus Tip

 A great way to self-edit your posts is to read them out loud.

 Doing so will help you catch many of the issues listed above, particularly things like overly complicated wording, run-on sentences and choppy rhythm.

 Back to Top

 Win the Battle for Your Reader’s Attention

 Blogging is a battle.

 A war to get your ideas the attention they deserve.

 Your enemy? The dizzying array of online distractions that devour your readers.

 This battle is not for the faint of heart.

 There are so many learning curves. Blogging platforms and plugins you’ll need to install. Social networks you’ll need to employ. Content marketing techniques you’ll need to try.

 But none of that stuff matters if you’re drowning your ideas in amateur writing. You might as well lay your sword down in defeat. Readers don’t have time for amateurs.

 So before you venture any further down the blogging rabbit hole, you better make sure you know how to write a blog post like a pro.

 Skip that step, and nothing can save you. Your battle is lost.

 The good news is, writing good blog posts is a skill you can learn. And it’s one you must learn.

 You have powerful words and ideas that can transform readers’ lives. Those ideas are worth fighting for.

 So when you’re ready to enter the arena, arm yourself with this ultimate guide and fight the good fight.

 Your readers are counting on you.

 Content Marketing

 Liz Careathers

 Liz Careathers, Esq. worked as an instructor in Jon’s guest blogging course for two years editing the posts of hundreds of students. She now writes to empower her readers at Strong Sensitive Souls while raising her two little girls.

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 Written by Liz Careathers

 Liz Careathers, Esq. worked as an instructor in Jon’s guest blogging course for two years editing the posts of hundreds of students. She now writes to empower her readers at Strong Sensitive Souls while raising her two little girls.

 180 thoughts on “How to Write a Blog Post in 2023: The Ultimate Guide”

 1. Kuldeep
 Mar 30, 2017 at 10:50 am

 Hi Liz,

 I must say, I am totally convinced to read the complete article. I have completed the step 1 but will complete the other soon. The main things most of the beginner bloggers think that topic is already covered by leaders, how i compete with them?

 So this guide will help them to find the answer.

 Good Read 🙂

 Reply
 + Liz
 Mar 30, 2017 at 11:15 am

 Thanks Kuldeep, I’m glad you found this helpful!

 Reply
 2. Kim Orr
 Mar 30, 2017 at 10:51 am

 Liz,
 I have benefitted from your blogging wisdom as your student. This is a wonderful summary of things you have taught me — things we need to be reminded of. Thanks to you and to Jon for this post.

 Also, if you chose the photo of Ste. Chapelle as the background to your “over deliver” statement — it’s the perfect illustration — did you know that? The French King who built that chapel had those walls of light created to meet the greatest challenge of Gothic architecture — to construct the highest possible walls of stained glass that could be created without crumbling. It has no rivals on that score.

 This is one of the best architectural illustrations of your point you could have chosen. Well written and well done!

 Reply
 + Liz
 Mar 30, 2017 at 11:18 am

 Thank you so much, Kim! I learn so much from you as well!

 The credit for that photo choice goes all to Heather on Jon’s team, she knows what she’s doing! 🙂

 Reply
 3. Ayodeji Awosika
 Mar 30, 2017 at 11:00 am

 Liz!!!

 So glad to see your post on here. It turned out amazing. My favorite points are tied to the idea of stealing and being simple. The number one mistake I see writers make is trying to be original, witty, and intelligent. People who think they’re above having to learn first principles always fail.

 Kudos on using lickety-split in your post too. haha.

 Off to share!

 Reply
 + Liz
 Mar 30, 2017 at 11:21 am

 Thank you so much, Ayo! You have me cracking up. Thank you for noticing I used lickety-split, I was quite proud of that word choice 🙂

 Reply
 4. Nadeem
 Mar 30, 2017 at 11:14 am

 Hey Liz,

 Wow!! Amazing guide… Thank you for putting it together! I’ll be sure to follow all these steps every time start writing my articles!!

 Off to share right away!

 -Nadeem

 Reply
 + Liz
 Mar 30, 2017 at 11:22 am

 Thank you Nadeem, so glad you found it useful!

 Reply
 5. Shawn Metivier
 Mar 30, 2017 at 12:52 pm

 Fantastic post!

 We have a website/blog and our way of motivating is by providing samples of Truth and Beauty. We do this through images, words, music, movies and wine! We blog every day so we try to keep it fairly succinct.

 Although our structure is a little different, I find this post to be extremely helpful and look forward to future posts. Thank You!

 –Shawn

 Reply
 + Liz
 Mar 30, 2017 at 5:25 pm

 Thanks, Shawn! So glad you found this useful

 Reply
 6. Jan Gioia
 Mar 30, 2017 at 1:51 pm

 Hi Liz,

 That was a great article. I will go back to it again. In fact, I’m going back to edit a post I thought was perfect…until I read yours. Glad I hadn’t published it quite yet. 🙂 Jan

 Reply
 + Liz
 Mar 30, 2017 at 5:29 pm

 Thanks, Jan! Glad you can refer to this when you write!

 Reply
 7. Jack Medland-Slater
 Mar 30, 2017 at 3:49 pm

 Hey Liz,

 Some great stuff in here! I resonated a lot with Avoid New Information – I’m always doing that with my blog posts. Too many great statistics to pack in!

 What made you decide to format this as a long-form document rather than separate posts? I would be concerned about people seeing the length of this bad boy and being put off!

 Jack

 Reply
 + Liz
 Mar 30, 2017 at 5:33 pm

 Ha, yes, you might be right Jack! This bad boy was quite a writing project all on its own. But since it’s an “ultimate guide” I just couldn’t leave anything out 🙂

 Reply
 8. Kat
 Mar 30, 2017 at 5:10 pm

 Hi Liz,

 Thank you for this incredible guide! As a new blogger, I have learned so much in this generous post. And now I’m itching to write using the steps that you’ve outlined above! I have bookmarked this post and will be returning to this guide often.

 Best,
 Kat

 Reply
 + Liz
 Mar 30, 2017 at 5:38 pm

 Thanks so much, Kat! So glad this guide will be helpful to you as you write 🙂

 Reply
 9. Liz
 Mar 30, 2017 at 5:26 pm

 You’re very welcome 🙂

 Reply
 10. Mikel
 Mar 30, 2017 at 8:37 pm

 Thank you Liz for this overwhelmingly important information. This is really called “ultimate” for a reason. 🙂

 Reply
 + Liz
 Mar 31, 2017 at 8:35 am

 Thanks so much, Mikel 🙂

 Reply
 11. Peter
 Mar 31, 2017 at 1:25 am

 Hey Liz, wonderful to read your post again. This article is an awesome checklist and will save us the trouble of Checking out the Blog Launch Formula video where Glen gave a kick ass presentation on the same topic. This is also a great resource for training new writers. Bookmarking this.

 Reply
 + Liz
 Mar 31, 2017 at 8:40 am

 Thanks Peter! I know you know most of these tricks already! I haven’t seen that video but everything I know I’ve learned from Glen 🙂

 Reply
 12. Sigrid
 Mar 31, 2017 at 3:31 am

 Hi, Liz. I´ve been reading Jon´s posts for a while now. Yep, he´s the master of empathy. Undoubtedly. And I found my courage from his articles to start blogging again.

 But as a loyal follower I read all the Smartblogger´s blog posts and you know what I´ve noticed? Jon has an incredibly sharp eye to choose his co-writers. Cause´ they are as talented and skillful as he is.

 In fact, your guide, Liz, has triggered me to write this comment. Which, by the way, is my first one not only here, but ever :).

 I know well how much time and effort it took to put this guide together. It seems so smooth, playful and professional, but in reality there`s loads of work hidden under the playfulness.

 So I simply say: thank you, Liz!

 I now bo back to my blog posts and work harder to be worthy of this guide, some day 🙂

 Cheers, Sigrid

 Reply
 + Liz
 Mar 31, 2017 at 8:45 am

 Thank you so much for these kind words, Sigrid! I can see just from your comment that you are a talented writer 🙂 And you are right about the amount of work that underlies the playfulness! Your words are very much appreciated!

 Reply
 13. Sigrid
 Mar 31, 2017 at 4:16 am

 Ups, I left my photo behind, that´s fixed now 🙂

 Sigrid

 Reply
 14. Miranda Hill
 Mar 31, 2017 at 7:11 am

 Hey Liz, what can I say except… Boom! You nailed it. Your post is an amazing and generous resource for bloggers. Every blogger should bookmark this goldmine of advice. I’ll stop there before Jon deletes it 😉

 Reply
 + Liz
 Mar 31, 2017 at 8:45 am

 Thanks so much, Miranda! 🙂

 Reply
 15. Susan Velez
 Mar 31, 2017 at 8:31 am

 Hi Liz,

 Wow amazing post with tons of actionable advice that will help us become better writers. I definitely took away a lot of gold nuggets just from reading it.

 I definitely need help crafting better headlines. This is something that I’ve been working on to get people to my blog. I’m going to check out the 52 Headline hacks to see what else I can learn.

 Also, love the tip of closing with a motivational bang. Definitely, makes a lot of sense and will make your reader feel better.

 Thanks again Liz for these useful tips. I’ve bookmarked this page so I can refer to it when I write my next blog post.

 Have a great day!

 – Susan

 Reply
 + Liz
 Mar 31, 2017 at 8:47 am

 Thank you Susan! You will love Jon’s Headline Hacks!

 Reply
 16. Bradley Shaw
 Mar 31, 2017 at 12:20 pm

 Even as someone who has written 100’s of blog posts over the years I found the suggestion and tips here great. I know for sure my headlines leave room for improvement!

 Keep up the good work.

 Reply
 + Liz
 Mar 31, 2017 at 1:16 pm

 Thanks Bradley! So glad this was helpful to you!

 Reply
 17. John
 Mar 31, 2017 at 3:16 pm

 This is a very informative article. Great hints. Bookmarking it. Thanks for sharing this information.

 Reply
 + Liz
 Apr 2, 2017 at 9:19 pm

 You’re very welcome, John!

 Reply
 18. Paris Wyome
 Mar 31, 2017 at 7:32 pm

 This much too long piece (especially in 2017) seems to be aimed at persons who have no writing experience. I have been a freelance and full-time journalist for more than 20 years. I have written/edited a wide variety of things, such as news stories, articles, newsletter copy, blog/web site copy, captions, subheads, and headlines.
 I have learned that conciseness, especially now, is very important since many persons now have very short attention spans. This piece needs a lot of editing. I probably could reduce the piece by at least 25%.

 Reply
 + Robert van Tongeren
 Apr 2, 2017 at 11:24 am

 The people who are passionate about your topic (i.e. your ideal audience) will happily sit down and read an in-depth guide like this, as the other comments here demonstrate. This is not meant as a read-it-and-leave-it fluff piece. This is a resource for people to bookmark and use when they sit down to write their posts. The audience we’re targeting will appreciate it. But to each their own.

 Reply
 o TANIA YAGER
 Oct 2, 2019 at 2:21 pm

 Hey Robert I agree with you. This is not just a short ordinary blog but an in-depth guide. Maybe Paris Wyome didn’t have her reading glasses on!

 I think Liz has done an excellent job. All new and seasoned writers need constant reminders on best practices when it comes to blogging.

 I’m a newbie to blogging so I’m lapping all the information up. You can never be complacent in life about anything. Learning news skills and picking up great information helps you move forward.

 So many thanks to Liz for her time and expertise.

 19. Joseph Dabon
 Mar 31, 2017 at 10:17 pm

 I have been a subscriber to Jon Morrow’s blog and there is no denying that he is treasure trove when it comes to blogging and I admire his writing style. He hs this flair to combine words into a sort of music. And he uses simple, easy to understand words.

 But what confuses me is that, while you guys are always talking about the short attention spans of people, your articles practically guarantee that when a reader gets to the last sentence, I’ll be damned if he can remember the first.

 They’re just way too long. Maybe you should not describe the flower too superfluously.

 Reply
 20. Tony Smith
 Apr 1, 2017 at 2:05 am

 Hi Liz,

 Great tips, whenever i need to find a topic i research it on buzzsumo to see which one has potential to go viral.

 Reply
 + Liz
 Apr 2, 2017 at 9:21 pm

 Thanks Tony. Yes, BuzzSumo is a great tool!

 Reply
 21. Sigrid
 Apr 1, 2017 at 3:06 am

 Just a few thoughts about post length.

 Yep, it´s likely possible to cut down all the Smartblogger`s posts (including this one), let´s say, into bullet-pointed lists. Or shorten them in some other way. So that people can just quickly jump in, get an answer and jump out. Within seconds.

 But I`ve got a question.

 Have you noticed one single ordinary-length post here in Smartblogger? I certainly haven´t. Why? Cause´ these articles here are not meant for ordinary people. They are not meant for get-my-results-quick-and-easy kind of people.

 No.

 They are meant for people who actually want to study, who are willing to put as much time and effort into reading these posts as the author put into creating. Moreover, they are meant for people who enjoy this particular writing style.

 And then.

 This article´s headline says Ultimate Guide. Headlines are supposed to deliver, right? And this one really does it by having a length of a mini course. Yet it´s not just the competition of who-can-write-longer-posts going on here, this is about actionable information. Yep, the competition is called who-can-write-most-actionable-and-thorough-posts.

 That´s the reason I´m Smartblogger`s reader. Whatever question I might have about blogging, they provide me an answer. Thorough and actionable. With style 🙂

 So I`ll take my time, make myself a nice cup of tea and start to read AND enjoy the posts.

 Just like a good book.

 Reply
 + Liz
 Apr 2, 2017 at 9:29 pm

 So beautifully put, Sigrid! I cannot imagine a better description of Smart Blogger’s posts and audience. Thank you for sharing such an insightful and positive perspective!

 Reply
 22. scott adlhoch
 Apr 1, 2017 at 3:32 am

 Seriously..!! Unbelievable.. I never ever read this type of articles in my 3-year career. I m glad that I found this blog from online Junk. I started my profession as a writer but later I started online blogging. Now, I started my own blog as I recently quit my job. I purchased a Domain and WordPress hosting scottadlhochwriter.com and started making changes. I am really inspired by your blog @Liz and this blog is really helpful for me.

 Reply
 + Liz
 Apr 2, 2017 at 9:36 pm

 Thanks so much, Scott! And that’s very exciting, I wish you the absolute best with your new blog 🙂

 Reply
 23. Hasan
 Apr 2, 2017 at 3:55 am

 hello sir,

 I was wondering how to find and omit grammatical mistakes from articles. As a non-native English speaker, it’s hard to grab those bugs.

 Grammarly and other proofreaders are ok but don’t give deep insights. So, the bugs remain.

 Is there any alternative tool that does the job you know of? Or some guide you’ll like to suggest so I can brush up on my grammars?

 Reply
 + Hasan
 Apr 2, 2017 at 3:58 am

 I meant, the free version of those tools don’t give a deep insight. And I’m unable to get the paid version for some reason.

 Reply
 o Liz
 Apr 2, 2017 at 9:57 pm

 Hi Hasan,

 I personally only know of Grammarly and Hemingway App. But I did find this article which lists a couple of other options you could check out – thewritelife.com/automatic-editing-tools/. If you read the comments section, readers also mention additional options and insights.

 I hope that helps!

 24. Abhinav Tyagi
 Apr 2, 2017 at 6:02 pm

 Gotta say that this post delivers on what it says. “The Ultimate Guide to writing a blogpost”. Wow. I’ve only been blogging for ~4 months and the difference between the post I wrote after reading this and before is almost staggering. This is what I produced based off of this post. http://many-wounds.com/how-to-change-my-life/ and before this http://many-wounds.com/genetics-luck-propaganda-youve-systematically-brainwashed-helpless/. Like I said, difference is staggering.

 Reply
 + Liz
 Apr 4, 2017 at 11:15 am

 Wow, what a way to put things into action, Abhinav! And yes what a difference in the two posts! Excellent job.

 Reply
 25. Drew Drake
 Apr 3, 2017 at 3:48 am

 Such a beauty! In a world where information is turning on us and has become toxic, it’s refreshing to read advice that offers clear, actionable steps.

 Find out what your audience actually wants! Sounds obvious and yet so many of us just write about what we think is interesting.

 Cheers Liz.

 Reply
 + Liz
 Apr 4, 2017 at 11:18 am

 Thanks Drew! So glad you found the advice here to be clear and actionable.

 Reply
 o Drew Drake
 Apr 4, 2017 at 12:34 pm

 So much so that I wrote an article yesterday and applied the points with a microscope. When it’s published I’ll share.

 26. arvind
 Apr 3, 2017 at 6:59 am

 Hi Liz,

 I think this is the best article i have come across for writing a blog post…you have really gave some useful tips to write some amazing blog post title…next time i am surely follow all these tips…thank you very very much Liz…this article has made my day..!!

 Arvind

 Reply
 + Liz
 Apr 4, 2017 at 11:19 am

 So glad to hear that, Arvind!

 Reply
 + Jigar Patel
 Apr 8, 2017 at 5:33 am

 The title is the most important phase of a post and should be powerful and clear enough to attract visitors and bring traffic.

 Reply
 27. Baby
 Apr 3, 2017 at 11:40 am

 Hi Liz,
 Thanks for the article. You are always informative to read. Always found something useful from your side since years.

 Reply
 + Liz
 Apr 4, 2017 at 11:21 am

 Thank you!

 Reply
 28. David James
 Apr 4, 2017 at 6:52 am

 Hi Liz

 I Appreciate you for this post. All These Five Steps in a Guide for writing a blog post helped me a lot to write an effective and unique content for posting. Keep Posting this type of informative blogs for learning.

 Reply
 + Liz
 Apr 4, 2017 at 11:21 am

 Thanks David!

 Reply
 29. Ourbusinessladder
 Apr 4, 2017 at 9:05 am

 Nice article, you have almost covered all the points that have to be considered while blogging. Thanks for sharing.

 Reply
 + Liz
 Apr 4, 2017 at 11:22 am

 Thank you!

 Reply
 30. Blake Powell
 Apr 4, 2017 at 1:57 pm

 Thank for this post Liz, what an amazing resource!

 It’s funny you mention giving too much away with this post that gives so much away – but it is so valuable, it only sparks my curiosity to read more from the site 🙂

 Loved the part about making your subheads uniform with the theme of the post. Especially the part about not introducing new ideas in the conclusion. I’ve definitely been guilty of that.

 Reply
 + Liz
 Apr 5, 2017 at 4:35 pm

 So happy you feel that way, Blake! This site is a treasure trove of blogging wisdom 🙂

 Reply
 31. Stewart Harding
 Apr 4, 2017 at 4:24 pm

 Great blog my friend 🙂

 Reply
 + Liz
 Apr 5, 2017 at 4:35 pm

 Thank you!

 Reply
 32. Emmerey Rose
 Apr 6, 2017 at 2:28 am

 Awesome tips Liz! I have been a blogger for several years but I always have new things to learn! Lots of learning here in your article! I was wondering, how often should we publish new content?

 Reply
 + Liz
 Apr 10, 2017 at 12:24 pm

 Thanks Emmerey! Everyone has different opinions on how often to publish, I would suggest picking a schedule (whether weekly, monthly, etc.) and just trying to be consistent with that schedule so your audience knows what to expect.

 Reply
 o Emmerey Rose
 Apr 13, 2017 at 9:52 am

 Hi Liz! Thank you for responding and for the tips! 🙂

 33. Elise Dopson
 Apr 6, 2017 at 6:56 am

 Oh, how I wish I found this blog post when I first started writing, haha! I spent so many hours trying (and failing) to create good blog posts – I’m sure this will help so many new bloggers.
 I found that the subhead of my posts made the biggest difference so I can definitely vouch for you on that one.

 Great post 🙂

 Reply
 + Liz
 Apr 10, 2017 at 12:24 pm

 Thank you Elise!

 Reply
 34. Amandah
 Apr 6, 2017 at 8:49 am

 I loved your comprehensive post, which would have come in handy when I started blogging in 2008.

 Headlines and subheads are important, but I can get stuck in my head and over analyze them (use the headline analyzer from Advanced Marketing Institute) for emotional value. Oh well. I guess that’s the accountant in me. 🙂

 Thanks again for the post! I always refer people to the website because of the value the writers provide. The courses are great, too.

 Reply
 + Liz
 Apr 10, 2017 at 12:26 pm

 Thanks Amandah! Yes Jon’s site and courses are amazing 🙂

 Reply
 35. Giovanni Zappavigna
 Apr 6, 2017 at 4:48 pm

 Hello Liz,

 Fantastic article, I’ve been writing my own articles for about two months now. Before that, I had zero experience in blogging and writing. I read blogs how to guides online and tried my best.

 I’ve improved quite a lot, I still need more experience and reading your article has given me more confidence in my writing. Thank you.

 Reply
 + Liz
 Apr 10, 2017 at 12:26 pm

 So glad to hear that, Giovanni!

 Reply
 36. Rahul Yadav
 Apr 7, 2017 at 5:04 am

 Great article! I’m working on an putting together an ultimate guide post, and this sparked some ideas.

 Reply
 37. Amar kumar
 Apr 7, 2017 at 5:13 am

 Hey Liz,

 We know very well, every post start with a powerful headline, it is the mainthing which have potential to engage audience for maximum time on post. Here you have shown amazing way to craft a powerful headline for a superb post.

 These are really great points and need to implement before crafting a headline for post. A perfect headline needs lot of research to make it outstanding to crawl on internet. Eventually, thanks for sharing your valuable tips with us.

 With best wishes,

 Amar kumar

 Reply
 38. ltb
 Apr 7, 2017 at 7:28 am

 Thank you for this article, this is what i needed and was searching for. I would like to start writing next summer and need tips like this. 🙂 Hope I will build a content that I will be later proud of.

 Reply
 39. Kesavan
 Apr 8, 2017 at 3:54 am

 Hey Liz,

 This article is very amazing since i am a new blog writer it helped me a lot. Your article was a real learning exercise to me and also its giving me lot of boosts to write more.

 Reply
 40. Deon Christie
 Apr 8, 2017 at 8:25 am

 Excellent read, your dedication shows in your content indeed. Great job! Quite a lot to take in, but most certainly worth applying. Learning to write high quality blog posts have a flip side to the coin, as online writing jobs become quite a favorite.

 Reply
 + Liz
 Apr 10, 2017 at 12:29 pm

 That’s a great point, Deon!

 Reply
 41. Anveksha
 Apr 9, 2017 at 3:46 pm

 Nice read, it was a worth to read full article. It really represents the completeness of information that you have presented for every newbie blogger. Thanks for sharing such a nice topic.

 Reply
 + Liz
 Apr 20, 2017 at 11:53 am

 Thanks for reading, Anveksha!

 Reply
 42. TenoBlog
 Apr 11, 2017 at 4:47 am

 Writing a blog post that gets a real audience attention is a challenge, finding a mouth-watering topic is a real plus in writing a blog post. So I ‘ll give a +1 to the point choosing a good topic.

 Reply
 43. Bhavesh Sharma
 Apr 11, 2017 at 5:58 am

 Hi Liz,
 great stuff, my favorite part of this post is selecting a mouth-watering topic, proper topic selection helps you to engage more traffic.We should alway provide unique information to the reader of which they haven’t heard about it ever before.

 Reply
 + Liz
 Apr 20, 2017 at 11:53 am

 Agreed Bhavesh! Thanks for reading.

 Reply
 44. Amanda Grace
 Apr 11, 2017 at 3:23 pm

 Hey Liz, you wrote an incredibly detailed post on a familiar topic in a splendid manner. I like the fact that you have offered plenty of advice that’s either new to me or breaks the norm. I agree with you that headlines that have numbers in them perform better than non-numeric headlines. I read a recent post by Neil Patel in a similar vein and he has tons of research that proves the same.

 Additionally, the approach of making the benefit clear right at the outset is beneficial for the CTR. However further reading and engagement would depend on whether the author actually delivers the promised goods.

 I hope to read more of you in the coming months. Keep up the great work!

 Reply
 + Liz Longacre
 Apr 20, 2017 at 11:49 am

 Thanks so much, Amanda!

 Reply
 45. Vicky Soni
 Apr 12, 2017 at 6:44 am

 Thanks for the article Liz, it will really help me to write down an article, although my english is not good and i am learning it through online portals and hopefully soon i will be able to write some good articles.

 Reply
 46. Yunar
 Apr 13, 2017 at 12:27 am

 Hi Liz,
 This is the longest posting i ever read. Full of useful points i need to apply on my blog and certainly need a lot of practice to master it. I usually run out of ideas after 700 words, always stops around that number. Great post.

 Reply
 + Liz
 Apr 20, 2017 at 11:51 am

 Glad you enjoyed it, Yunar!

 Reply
 47. mathew
 Apr 13, 2017 at 12:46 am

 Hi

 I have been trying but no traffic so which is the main issue , what do you suggest to get traffic for free and organic not long term

 Reply
 48. madalin stunt cars 2
 Apr 14, 2017 at 5:29 am

 This article is an awesome checklist and will save us the trouble of Checking out the Blog Launch Formula video where Glen gave a kick ass presentation on the same topic. This is also a great resource for training new writers. Bookmarking this.

 Reply
 49. Himanshu Thakur
 Apr 14, 2017 at 5:35 am

 I will keep in mind next time while i will write a blog.

 Reply
 50. Paul
 Apr 26, 2017 at 3:38 am

 Hi Liz

 Wonderful post, you are going to be the next Neil Patel.
 Have you written on ” Site traffic”. I mean I have awful traffic on my blog. How can that be improved.
 Anyways, I am going to implement your tips on writing from next time.

 Reply
 51. Kaustubh Patel
 Apr 26, 2017 at 1:13 pm

 Thank you for this beautiful post. Your post will be helpful for us in writing an effective blog post on our site.

 Reply
 52. Noelle Addison
 Apr 27, 2017 at 10:25 am

 Great post Liz! Thank you for sharing these tips on how to write a good blog post.

 Reply
 53. Peter Larsen
 Apr 28, 2017 at 12:33 pm

 I have a lot to learn creating blog posts. Hopefully the tips on this page will help me to create something I’m proud to post online. I have many posts I’ve started but never feel they are ready. I best dust them off (update them) and get them posted. 🙂

 Thanks Liz

 Reply
 54. Alex Kharal
 May 2, 2017 at 7:17 am

 I really appreciate your way of expressing all the points. It will really help me to write an awesome blog post. So thank you so much for providing this gem to us. Keep posting these type of articles. Thanks.

 Reply
 55. Kashish
 May 3, 2017 at 9:27 am

 This was a great article. I will definitely apply these methods in my blog posts. Still, have a long way to go. Thanks a lot!

 Reply
 56. Muhibul Haque
 May 3, 2017 at 12:15 pm

 You mentioned each and everything a writer should follow. I have read hundreds of post related to content writing, and this is one of the best instruction posts for writers. I appreciate your hard work. 🙂

 Reply
 57. Tally
 May 12, 2017 at 11:39 am

 Thank you very much for this informative post. Really comprehensive. I am going to use these step which you have mentioned.

 Reply
 58. Venu
 May 16, 2017 at 8:44 am

 Liz Longacre, one of the best articles I have read on blogging. This has covered all the basic tips and tells you not to write mediocre blogs. Catchy headlines and emotional connection are two major factors in a post that you have to practice. I like how you have meticulously discussed about blogging here. Amazing article and thanks a ton.

 Reply
 59. Ivan
 May 17, 2017 at 2:18 am

 I love adding inspirational bits in the end. I agree that blogposts should be written to change people’s lives.

 Reply
 60. BizEpic
 May 17, 2017 at 2:19 am

 Always go back to edit. No one writes perfectly in one go. Don’t be afraid to edit.

 Reply
 61. Marsha Kelly
 May 18, 2017 at 7:27 pm

 Really appreciated how you walked us through the process of writing a great blog post. Loved point #3 about “engaging the senses” I am using this point to make a previously dry review about small business startups more engaging to my readers

 Reply
 62. Philip Murphy
 May 26, 2017 at 7:01 am

 Hey Liz,

 Really great blog post. I’ve been an SEO for nearly 6 years now and I’m very good at keyword focus, coming up with topics, and writing and executing. That being said, design is one area that I find escapes me the most.

 I really enjoy the boxes you use to break up the text in the post, with the “examples” sections. How do you achieve this effect? It reminds me a lot of other nice blogs I see like Brian Dean’s and how he uses on-page elements to keep people on.

 I have really enjoyed this piece and others and look forward to using your tips to improve my own site and grow! Thanks

 Reply
 63. Chris Sobolev
 Apr 11, 2019 at 2:29 pm

 Fantastic article! So much great data!

 Reply
 + Liz
 Apr 12, 2019 at 11:25 am

 Thanks so much, Chris!

 Reply
 64. DJ Emir
 Apr 11, 2019 at 9:24 pm

 What a great and very in-depth article to improve our blogs! The examples of decent headlines and sub-headings versus exceptional headlines and subs are very helpful. We can clearly see the huge difference side by side and using your tips can now create better headlines ourselves. Obviously, it will take a little practice and some revisits to these tips, but I am looking forward to writing better blog posts and website pages. Thanks for all the help and advice.

 Reply
 + Liz
 Apr 12, 2019 at 11:26 am

 So glad you found it helpful DJ Emir!

 Reply
 65. manisha
 Apr 12, 2019 at 1:07 am

 Hi,
 Thanks for your fresh post. Here I have a question for you. If I am starting with blogger is there any problem with this? I am here that after sometime google will disable account? So which platform is better for me? Thanks

 Reply
 + Liz
 Apr 12, 2019 at 11:30 am

 I personally wouldn’t recommend starting with Blogger. Jon actually has a great article on this topic: https://smartblogger.com/how-to-start-a-blog/

 Best of luck!

 Reply
 66. charles
 Apr 12, 2019 at 7:11 am

 Nice post on how to write blog 2019, You really nailed it. Am impressed. Keep it up!

 Reply
 + Liz
 Apr 12, 2019 at 11:31 am

 Thanks so much, Charles!

 Reply
 67. Kuldeep Mathur
 Apr 15, 2019 at 5:38 am

 Hey Liz,
 Thanks for the wonderful post. Few questions:
 1) How important is the questionable headline (nowadays every other articles headlines with how/what..?)
 2) How important is the length of the content, 1500 or more as most of the top bloggers suggest?
 3) If anyone decides to write an article of 1500 or more words. Is it good to break it down into sub-headers or paragraphs will do the same as sub-headers?
 Would be curious to know your thoughts!
 Thanks,

 Reply
 + Liz
 Apr 16, 2019 at 10:25 am

 Hi Kuldeep, I might experiment with different types of headlines to see what works best for your audience but as mentioned in this post, ‘how to’ headlines are a great one to start with. In depth articles are good for SEO and perceived value but you can experiment with shorter articles as well if you like. For posts over 1,500 words, yes I would recommend breaking things up with subheads. My best advice is the more you write, the more you learn what works best for your audience so just keep writing 🙂

 Reply
 o Ku
 Apr 17, 2019 at 12:45 am

 Hi Liz,
 Thanks for your feedback. So its more about diving deep into your own data to see what works & action accordingly.

 68. Vicky Joseph
 Apr 16, 2019 at 4:04 am

 Hi Liz,
 Thank you for sharing this informative article. I learned new things from you. It helped me a lot and I hope that it will also help others. I appreciate your efforts.
 Have a good day ahead.

 Reply
 + Liz
 Apr 16, 2019 at 10:26 am

 Thanks Vicky, so glad this was helpful to you.

 Reply
 69. mirza sadaqat
 Apr 17, 2019 at 1:53 am

 Hi Liz,
 Thank you for sharing this informative article. I learned new things from you

 Reply
 + Liz
 Apr 17, 2019 at 11:57 am

 You’ve very welcome, Mirza!

 Reply
 70. Alberto
 Apr 17, 2019 at 7:08 am

 Great, great article!
 I’m a total beginner, in fact i still have to write my first full post. And I have been very nervous lately because I had no idea how to develop it.
 This guide helped me so much to point me in the right direction and cleared my thoughts.
 Thanks!!

 Reply
 + Liz
 Apr 17, 2019 at 11:57 am

 So glad to hear it, Alberto! Congrats on your first post!

 Reply
 71. Adam
 Apr 17, 2019 at 7:53 am

 Very useful tips on how to make money from blogging. What a great post, the information is well organized and very comprehensive. I can imagine the effort you put into this and especially appreciate you sharing it.

 Reply
 + Liz
 Apr 17, 2019 at 11:58 am

 Thanks so much Adam.

 Reply
 72. Susan Moore
 Apr 17, 2019 at 9:40 am

 Hi Liz,
 I am so grateful to have found your article. I’m an artist, and have finally gotten to a place where I am able to concentrate more on my art and to have an actual web page, (thanks to the help of my daughter) and to begin blogging.( I know that it is essential in today’s world for artists.) I’ve done a lot of research, as well as have a background in writing. You’re article is clear and informative, and I can’t wait to get started.
 Thank you!

 Reply
 + Liz
 Apr 17, 2019 at 11:59 am

 So glad to hear it, Susan! Best of luck with your blogging & artistic endeavors!

 Reply
 73. Hasan Habib
 Apr 20, 2019 at 9:21 am

 Hi Liz,
 I have read it four times. Every time I got something new from the same source. The is an example of evergreen content.

 Following your guideline, I have published a post today. I myself understand it become better than Else more posts in my blog.

 “Without a headline, they have no roadmap to follow. And so their post goes in multiple directions, leaving readers feeling dizzy, confused and disoriented.”

 This quote helps me a lot.
 Thanks for your efforts and generosity to us.

 Reply
 + Liz
 Apr 25, 2019 at 9:48 am

 So glad this was helpful to you, Hasan!

 Reply
 74. TechRecur
 Apr 23, 2019 at 7:30 am

 Got briefly explained within you post “How to Write a Blog Post in 2019: The Ultimate Guide” love it. I’ll try in my blog techrecur. Appreciate your work, Thank you.

 Reply
 + Liz
 Apr 25, 2019 at 9:48 am

 You’re most welcome!

 Reply
 75. Jonathan
 Apr 25, 2019 at 5:18 am

 I’ve noticed a lot of the examples of blogs used in the advice of Smartblogger articles always assumes the writer intends to write a “How To” blog, especially so in this article, particularly the section about motivation and advice the person can’t ignore.

 What if someone actually wants write a blog to entertain and enlighten people, or change minds, or share thoughts, or do something other than cater to the endless deluge of problems people have and their need for self-help? For example, I might like to write articles analyzing the philosophical themes or real world accuracy in fiction, or give my thoughts on controversial social issues, or some other kind of article focused purely on engaging discussion and analysis.

 This article’s focus seems too narrow and ill-equipped to give advice on such article topics.

 Reply
 + Liz
 Apr 25, 2019 at 9:51 am

 Hi Jonathan, this post is meant to be a guide for beginner writers but by no means is it meant to cage you in. Please feel free to be as creative in your writing as you like!

 Reply
 76. Aaron Finch
 Apr 26, 2019 at 2:13 am

 I agree with your thoughts as you said that catchy title is a necessity of a perfect article. It should be like this if someone read this then he/she should click on the title to read the article. I have work experience on Uc news with 30+ million impressions on my article. In the start, I used to write the simple title with all details in title due to this CTR was so much low but when I start using curiosity in my title then my CTR increase like 5times to 7 times.

 Reply
 + Liz
 May 1, 2019 at 11:24 am

 That’s great, Aaron! Thanks for reading!

 Reply
 77. Oshin Kamble
 Apr 30, 2019 at 1:15 am

 Hi Liz,

 Great Post.
 It’s by far the best guide for blogs I have read.
 I really liked how you said all the things in a not so boring way.
 In total Agreement with the thought of the catchy title.
 Keep writing such amazing blogs.

 Reply
 + Liz
 May 1, 2019 at 11:25 am

 Thanks so much for your kind words, Oshin! So glad this was helpful.

 Reply
 78. FutureTricks
 Apr 30, 2019 at 7:43 am

 Hey,

 Thanks for sharing this helpful & wonderful post. i really appreciate your hard work. this is very useful & informative for me.

 thanks for sharing with us. thanks a lot.

 Regards
 FutureTricks

 Reply
 + Liz
 May 1, 2019 at 11:26 am

 You’re most welcome & thanks for reading!

 Reply
 79. Hugh Culver
 May 2, 2019 at 10:26 pm

 Liz this is truly fantastic. As someone who with a team of 14 blog writers I loved this. You took a huge topic and made it manageable. What I really loved was this was all about SEO, keywords, meta tags, blah, blah. It was about creating damn good writing. Take good care of your girls.

 Reply
 + Liz
 May 3, 2019 at 11:06 am

 Hugh, I so appreciate this. Thank you so much for these kind words.

 Reply
 80. Digiwalebabu
 May 10, 2019 at 9:56 pm

 Hey Liz,

 Really great blog post. I’ve been an SEO for nearly 6 years now and I’m very good at keyword focus, coming up with topics, and writing and executing. That being said, design is one area that I find escapes me the most.

 I really enjoy the boxes you use to break up the text in the post, with the “examples” sections. How do you achieve this effect? It reminds me a lot of other nice blogs I see like Brian Dean’s and how he uses on-page elements to keep people on.

 I have really enjoyed this piece and others and look forward to using your tips to improve my own site and grow! Thanks

 Reply
 + Liz
 Jun 10, 2019 at 9:40 am

 Hi there, thanks so much! As far as the design here goes, I’m not quite sure, Jon’s team actually took care of that.

 Reply
 81. Valerie Deveza
 May 20, 2019 at 9:11 am

 Hi Liz,

 I agree with Step #5. Gone are the days that we write with a very formal and serious tone. The goal of a blog post is to entertain and that’s what I’m doing with my blog right now. I’d like to entertain as well as educate my readers. Thanks for this comprehensive blog post.

 Regards,
 Valerie

 Reply
 + Liz
 Jun 10, 2019 at 9:41 am

 Thanks for reading, Valerie!

 Reply
 82. gyaanbank
 May 24, 2019 at 12:36 am

 very useful tips on how to make money from blogging. What a great post, the information is well organized and very comprehensive

 Reply
 83. Rebecca
 Jun 4, 2019 at 10:30 pm

 This is probably the most comprehensive guide to writing a blog post I’ve seen yet and I’ve read a lot of them. I’m a freelance writer in my real life so I thought writing amazing blog posts in my blogging life would be super easy — but not so much. I’m really struggling to create killer headlines that grab attention. That’s a great tip on comparing subheads to your headline to make sure they match, and that they don’t give too little or too much away.

 Reply
 + Liz
 Jun 10, 2019 at 9:44 am

 Thanks so much, Rebecca! I can imagine how different it must feel to jump from freelance writing to blogging!

 Reply
 84. Prasad
 Jun 6, 2019 at 4:11 pm

 A Very Very Comprehensive article for copywriters like me for building content especially for small business blogs.Thanks for the Share Liz..

 Reply
 + Liz
 Jun 10, 2019 at 9:45 am

 Thanks Prasad!

 Reply
 85. Rahul Ahlawat
 Jul 4, 2019 at 6:07 am

 This is a really comprehensive and well-explained article. Great work !!!

 Reply
 86. Kalyan Panja
 Aug 3, 2019 at 8:43 am

 Thanks for sharing this inspiring article which can help many to decide on the choices they make for a better blog writing experience.

 Reply
 87. Helen Gordon
 Sep 12, 2019 at 4:14 pm

 Thank you Liz for this wonderful writeup. I’m not a very good writer but your article has helped improve my skills. Thanks for your help

 Reply
 88. Md Kawsar Ahammed
 Sep 15, 2019 at 5:17 am

 Hey Liz
 Thanks a lot for your helpful article.
 I always try to write about somethin. But i can not write. Because i had not any writing skill and i do not khow how to write a proper article. After reading this helpful article, i think that i have learnt something and which help me to increase my writing skill.
 Thanks Liz

 Reply
 89. Lintara Charlie
 Sep 19, 2019 at 1:42 am

 I learned so much! It was a lot of information but your format helped so much. It made note-taking so much easier! Thanks for a great article!

 Reply
 90. Derrick Washington
 Nov 7, 2019 at 3:54 pm

 Hi, Liz, nice article. These tips will definitely improve anyones blogging skills. Thanks for sharing.

 Reply
 91. Ezekiel
 Dec 4, 2019 at 2:17 pm

 Hello Liz,
 What a masterpiece and an insightful guide! I wish I discovered this guide before I started my blog. Noted that I have been doing things wrongly, but I am glad that someone has opened my eyes. Thanks, Liz for this

 Reply
 92. smith
 Dec 13, 2019 at 9:44 am

 hey Liz,
 I am to this, thats why i was confused how to start blogging. But after ready you guide, i found my lost confidence. Thanks a lot for sharing.

 Reply
 93. Ghaziabad
 Dec 24, 2019 at 12:30 am

 I was actually looking for the format of a blog but this is very helpful and I will keep this in mind.

 Reply
 94. JC Keen
 Dec 31, 2019 at 5:06 am

 Liz,
 I used to think I was good at writing until I started blogging. Now I realize how bad at this I am. Your guide is a great roadmap. Thanks

 Reply
 95. Sharad Gupta
 Jan 9, 2020 at 9:02 am

 I totally agree with you that creating clear, concise and curiosity-invoking headlines makes a blog post more interesting!

 Reply
 96. Aaron Paker
 Jan 10, 2020 at 3:41 am

 Agreed with you Liz. Amazing information you have shared with us. Everyone should read this.

 Reply
 97. Sebastian
 Jan 10, 2020 at 7:05 am

 Well, like you said, give credit where its due. I believe this is one of the few articles that read from top to bottom. I was researching tips on how to write articles and blog posts that will engage your audience and I found your blog post. I already sent this article to my content team and advise them on reading through your article from top to bottom, because there is value to this.
 Thank you LIZ.

 Reply
 98. Nam Nguyen
 Jan 10, 2020 at 10:24 am

 Liz – I just bookmarked this article (and I NEVER bookmark blog articles). My favourite is “quality over quantity”

 Reply
 99. MacDonald
 Jan 24, 2020 at 3:50 pm

 Hi Liz, thanks for the article I must say I learnt something new today

 Reply
 100. Akinade Eniolabi
 Feb 14, 2020 at 7:21 pm

 Attention grabbing headlines and data driven posts are a way to go. You also want to include influencers in your post so as to help later when you start promoting. Thanks for sharing 🙂

 Reply
 101. Divine
 Feb 17, 2020 at 3:10 am

 Hello Liz
 Most of post that i read in past one thing is common that is user intent. It is the base of any article and post the intent is most useful thing. When you write something the basic information as writer is intent.Thanks for great work & good to know some more information
 Cheers !

 Reply
 102. Laura
 Feb 21, 2020 at 2:57 am

 Fantastic!

 Your step by step guide will help me to write well optimized the blog posts for my site. Thanks for sharing this with us.

 Reply
 103. Appu
 Feb 22, 2020 at 12:07 am

 A very good guide. Content is King and every blogger knows that. Writing a Quality blog post is very important in blogging. You have crafted some amazing tips to write a good blog post. Keep Going.

 Reply
 104. Rishad
 Mar 7, 2020 at 2:20 pm

 very informative guide on Writing a Blog Post, i will use your tips for my blog, i want to increase my user engagement by writing google quality article, now i know how to do this, thanks for sharing this guide

 Reply
 105. Oscar CHOKOLA
 Apr 17, 2020 at 5:31 am

 Dear Liz, I don’t know which words used to tell you that this guide is the richest complete article I have ever found on the web. I read this article for at least 4 hours line by line to make sure I didn’t miss even one line.

 I congratulate you deeply. I love all the sincere advice you share in the article, especially when you say you have to be generous and leave advice that is hard to forget. Share everything with the reader, it’s like attracting him to register or buy services. Without lying to you, the character you talk about in the conclusion is me. ahahah.

 I am the one who always concludes the articles and I throw a new tips or advice in the conclusions. I learned a lot. Sincerely, thank you and I would not hesitate to recommend this guide to other friends even if they are more French-speaking.

 Oscar.

 Reply
 106. Aria Mathew
 Apr 24, 2020 at 12:32 am

 Hey Liz,

 Most alluring articles I have read in recent days. The hardest part is to articulate the strategies that would understand people with ease. You are a girl boss in articulating strategies. I am going to work out this strategy in my upcoming articles. Keep posting interesting ones.

 Reply
 107. Deepankshu Das
 Apr 30, 2020 at 12:08 pm

 I have recently started writing blogs for a company that I work for called Job Vacancy Result. I am also planning to start with my own blog page. This content was surely insightful. Helped me understand the nitty-gritty of Blog writing.
 Thank you!

 Reply
 108. Kailash Kumar
 May 1, 2020 at 10:06 am

 This is something perfect. I was looking for this guide for so long. finally!
 I would like to implement it on my blog as well.
 Thank you.

 Reply
 109. Fadila
 May 4, 2020 at 11:36 pm

 Hello Liz,
 thank you for the extensive instructions! That saved me some beginner mistakes.
 I only recently started my own blog (on finance and saving money) and have been on your side ever since when I want to know something about WordPress and the like.

 Best regards,
 Fadila

 Reply
 110. Sambit Mahapatra
 Jul 3, 2020 at 11:04 am

 Hey Liz, Thanks a lot for bringing this entire information in one post. This is really helpful. I would definitely get back with the results after implementing them.

 Reply
 111. Mohit sharma
 Jul 10, 2020 at 3:12 pm

 Fantastic!
 Your step by step guide will help me to write well optimized the blog posts for my site. Thanks for sharing this with us.

 Reply
 112. Abhisek
 Jul 16, 2020 at 7:55 am

 Hello Liz,

 This a fantastic post.
 Your subheading is so accurate and intriguing, which made me read the complete content.
 The checklist is definitely handy.

 Thanks,
 Abhisek

 Reply
 113. Denver Nario
 Aug 18, 2020 at 4:27 am

 Your blog is a great resource for me as I am building my own. I think I’m going to learn a lot from you.

 Reply
 114. Sweety Joshi
 Oct 14, 2020 at 11:54 am

 Hey Liz,

 Excellent post. Wanna thank you so much for bringing this such an informative article to us. It really gonna helps many of us.

 Thankyou again
 Best Regards 🙂

 Reply
 115. Andy Globe
 Nov 23, 2021 at 6:41 am

 Very good article. Thanks for sharing such an informative blog. 🙂

 Reply
 116. Nitin Dabas
 Dec 18, 2021 at 4:26 am

 I always wonder, why my blog post doesn’t outrank my competitors. Then I Google it to find how to write a great blog post, thankfully I reached here. I got the answer and am ready to craft a blog post that fulfills users’ intent along with search engines.
 Thank you, Liz.

 Reply

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There are many tutorials that can teach you how to write a blog post.
They can educate you on the mechanics of blogging, what to do, and what not to do.
Read through them and you can learn how to craft a perfectly serviceable blog post. Heck, you might even write something that wins you an adoring fan or two.
But if you dream bigger, if you want to know how to write a successful blog post that cuts through the noise and wins you legions of fans, you need something better than a run-of-the-mill tutorial.
 You need an ultimate guide. 
In this post — this ultimate, step-by-step guide — we’ll share tips used by professional freelance writers to create spellbinding posts that are adored by thousands. You’ll learn the secrets to crafting irresistible headlines, seducing introductions, captivating advice, and motivational closings.
You’ll even learn how the pros refine and polish their posts once they’re finished writing them.
These are secrets many bloggers would gladly pay real money to learn, but it won’t cost you a thing — other than a few minutes of your time.
Table of Contents
 Craft a Great Headline That Readers Can’t Resist 
 Write an Introduction That Grabs and Seduces 
 Deliver Advice That’s Easy to Consume and Impossible to Ignore 
 Close with a Motivational Bang 
 Polish Your Post So It’s Smoother Than a Slip ‘n Slide 
Let’s dive in.
1. Craft a Great Headline That Readers Can’t Resist
 
Want to know one of the biggest mistakes bloggers make?
Writing blog posts before the headlines (aka the post title).
Without a headline, they have no roadmap to follow. And so their post goes in multiple directions, leaving readers feeling dizzy, confused and disoriented.
And then they try to create a headline that embraces all that madness. Bloggers, have mercy!
If you want to write a great blog post full of clarity, conciseness, and conviction, spend some time crafting a blog title that sets a clear destination, lures readers in, and leaves them eager for your advice.
Your blog title will be your map, your writing navigation system, letting you know which literary roads to choose and which to avoid so that readers reach the intended destination as easily and efficiently as possible.
 Follow these 8 rules to craft your killer headline: 
Headline Rule #1. Pick a Mouth-Watering Topic
Want your blog post to get opened?
Then your headline must promise readers the very answer to whatever is tormenting them. The thing that keeps them up at night.
Your headline should not promise them a trip to the moon and back — readers are way too swift for such shenanigans. Keep the benefit specific and narrow, and readers will feel compelled to click and get the solution to what’s bugging them.
How do you find out what’s bugging your readers? How do you know which of your many blog post idea (we know, you have many) should be pursued?
Research:
Review comments on your posts and on posts of other sites in your niche.
Send your subscribers surveys asking them what their greatest struggles are.
Use tools like BuzzSumo to find out what the most popular posts in your niche are (which gives insight into your target readers’ needs).
Read the reviews of books in your niche on Amazon (you’ll find a gold mine of feedback to explore).
You have one responsibility as a blogger — yup, just one. And that is to serve your audience. The better you know them, the better you serve.
Before you know it, you’ll know them so intimately they’ll feel like you’re reading their minds, and your headlines will reflect that.
Example:
Let’s say you’re in the self-improvement space and you wrote the headline below:
 How to Create an Amazing Life 
This headline is so broad it’s unlikely to draw readers in. No one loses sleep over “wanting to create an amazing life.” They lose sleep over specific aspects of their lives that have left them unfulfilled.
So you are better off narrowing in on something specific that’s bugging your readers, such as:
 How to Boldly Pursue Your Dreams Even if You’re Scared and Insecure 
Narrowing in on something specific makes readers feel like you have the answers they’re looking for.
Headline Rule #2. Steal from the Pros
Okay, you’ve done your research and you know exactly what your readers need. Now it’s time to turn your topic into a killer headline.
The easiest way to master the art of writing headlines?
Steal.
Not in the unethical way. In the smart and efficient way.
Decades of copywriting and advertising research have revealed the types of headlines that have proven to be successful. The types of headlines that zap readers out of their info-overload comas and compel them to open. Why mess with that research?
If you want your headlines to grab readers, stick with what works.
No, your headlines don’t need to sound like they came straight from BuzzFeed. They can reflect your voice and style.
But until your writing skills match Jon Morrow’s, let the proven templates be your guide (how do you think he got so good at writing headlines?).
Blogging is hard enough, so if you have templates at your fingertips, why not use them?
The easiest templates to start with? “How to” headlines and list post headlines. They are classics and they work. In fact, 75% of Smart Blogger’s most popular posts use these formats.
Examples:
Here are a number of Smart Blogger headlines that follow the “how to” and list post templates.
 “How to” Headlines: 
 How to Start a Blog: Easy, Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners 
 How to Make Money Writing: 5 Ways to Get Paid to Write in 2023 
 How to Make Money Blogging (Free Guide for 2023) 
 List Post Headlines: 
 21 Dumb Mistakes to Avoid When Writing Your First E-book 
 The 5 Best Free Blogging Platforms in 2023 (100% Unbiased) 
 Writer’s Block: 27 Ways to Overcome It Forever 
 8 Best Free WordPress Themes of 2023 (Chosen by Experts) 
 12 Blogging Tips for Beginners (+ Lots of Free Resources) 
 4 Best Gifts for Writers: Ideas to Fit Any Budget (Even Yours) 
  Note: You can download Jon’s free 52 Headline Hacks, where you’ll find more template options than you’ll ever need.
 
Headline Rule #3. Engage Your Senses
Vague headlines leave readers feeling empty. Tangible headlines leave them feeling understood.
How do you create tangible headlines?
Put yourself in the shoes of your reader.
How do they feel? What do they see, taste, or smell? What do they hear?
Engage all of your senses by using sensory words. The more your headline gives voice to their exact experience, the more they’ll feel like your quality content was written for them.
Example:
Let’s say you blog about health and wellness and you wrote a headline called:
 5 Steps to Take When a Migraine Hits 
This headline follows a proven list post formula, and it narrows in on something that’s bugging readers. All in all, it’s not too bad.
But it could be even more concrete.
To step it up a notch, put yourselves in the shoes of your readers. Think about exactly what they’re experiencing.
Perhaps that would lead you to the following:
 5 Ways to Soothe Pounding and Blinding Migraines 
If you suffer from migraines, there’s no way you could resist clicking such a headline.
Headline Rule #4. Tease, Don’t Satisfy
A common mistake you may not even realize you’re making?
Giving away too much in your headlines.
Your headlines should lure readers in like a literary temptress. They should catch readers’ attention and invoke their curiosity, not give a solution.
Give a solution in your headline and readers feel no need to go any further — they’re bored by the very thought of your post.
When this happens, not only do you lose but your readers lose as well, as they trade the richness of your perfect blog post’s advice for the quick fix offered by the headline.
Example:
Let’s say you blog about personal finance and you write the headline below:
 How to Save for Retirement by Creating a Monthly Budget 
Sadly, readers will see this and think they’ve got all the advice they need — if they want to save for retirement, they must create a monthly budget. No need to read more.
On the other hand, a possible revision could be:
 How to Save for Retirement When You’re Living Paycheck to Paycheck 
For anyone living paycheck to paycheck, this headline would pique their curiosity. Nothing is given away, it speaks to an audience with a very specific problem, and it promises a solution they’d love to get their hands on.
Headline Rule #5. Honor the Headline Commandment
When it comes to headlines, there is only one commandment you can never break:
 “Thou shalt not deceive.” 
This may seem obvious, but writers inadvertently do it all the time.
How?
They over-promise.
Big no-no. The content of your post must fully deliver on exactly what the headline promises.
If the post only delivers part of the solution, readers will feel misled and lose their trust in you.
Let’s never do that to them, yes?
Examples:
Let’s say you write a post called:
 How to Live a Happy and Peaceful Life 
But then the post only talks about following your dreams, which is really only one aspect of living a happy and peaceful life. Even though you didn’t intentionally deceive them, readers will feel shortchanged. You might as well have written an over-the-top “clickbait” headline — your readers would have been as equally disappointed.
Another example…
Perhaps you write a post called:
 5 Killer Ways to Attract New Clients to Your Coaching Business 
But then the fifth way contains no useful advice and instead leads to a sales page to get the solution … no bueno.
Headline Rule #6. Trim the Fat
Want to overwhelm readers right from the start?
Fill your headline with weak and flabby words.
What are weak and flabby words? Empty, unnecessary words that add no real value. Instead, they create clunky phrasing and leave readers scratching their heads in confusion.
The mistake many bloggers make is writing headlines the way they speak. While that’s okay when you write the post (to a certain extent), when you write headlines that way, it waters them down.
You want your headlines to be as ruthlessly concise and powerful as possible. So chop out weak words and throw in power words (if appropriate).
Examples:
Let’s say you draft the following headline:
 How to Find It In Your Heart to Forgive Someone Even if They’ve Hurt You Really Badly 
There are just so many words! We can cut them down as follows:
 How to Forgive Someone Who Hurt You Badly 
We can then add some power to it:
 How to Forgive a Soul-Crushing Betrayal 
Much better.
Another Example:
Here’s a mouthful:
 How to Stop Being Overly Doubtful of Yourself So You Can Finally Begin to Pursue Your Wildest Dreams 
My head is spinning. This can be cut down to:
 How to Stop Doubting Yourself and Pursue Your Wildest Dreams 
We could even make it more tangible and powerful:
 How to End Paralyzing Doubts and Conquer Your Wildest Dreams 
Nice and trim, but packs a punch.
Headline Rule #7. Don’t Be a Smarty-Pants
Your headline should make sense to all readers no matter where they’re coming from or in what context they’re approaching your post.
They shouldn’t have to guess what the benefit is. After all, you’re supposed to be reading their minds, not the other way around.
So you’ll want to avoid using metaphors (unless their meaning is painfully obvious), jargon, rhymes, made-up terms, or anything that tries to be overly clever or complicated when drafting your headlines.
Examples:
Where to begin with this one:
 How to Be Happy Without Acting Sappy 
A headline like this tries to be too clever — readers don’t give two hoots about not acting sappy, obviously. Don’t prioritize cute tactics like rhyming (or even alliteration) over-delivering clear benefits in your headlines.
 How to Raise a Child That Is the Apple of Your Eye 
A headline like this is also trying to be too clever. “Apple of Your Eye” is a common metaphor readers are likely familiar with, but there’s no concrete benefit being offered here. A headline must always contain a strong benefit, not a cute phrase.
 How to Follow the Path of Glory to Your Success 
No clue what this means … and I just wrote it. If there isn’t a singular and clear interpretation of what the headline’s benefit is, it’s trying too hard. So save the metaphors for the actual post where they will (hopefully) make more sense.
 How to Stop Treating Love Like a Captive Animal 
Perhaps you effectively explain in the post how people treat love like a captive animal, and it may make for a great analogy, but readers scanning headlines will have no clue why they should stop to read this, and so they likely won’t.
Headline Rule #8. Rock Your Style
The more consistent you are with your audience, the more trust they’ll feel for you.
If you generally keep your headlines pretty simple and then suddenly write one jam-packed with power words, your readers will feel confused.
The more you write, the more of a writing style you’ll develop. Once you determine what that style is, use it consistently (or make slow and gradual changes to it if necessary) so your audience learns and trusts your brand.
Example:
If most of your headlines read like this:
 How to Live With Courage 
 How to Overcome Social Anxiety 
 How to Confidently Embrace Uncertainty 
Then you might not want to suddenly write a headline that reads:
 How to Brazenly Squash the Agonizing Anxiety That Is Plaguing Your Life 
Your readers will think your blog got hacked!
How to Write a Headline: Bonus Tip
When writing a headline, try crafting 5–10 different versions of the same headline.
The more you play with the words, the better you will get at creating clear, concise, and curiosity-invoking headlines that readers cannot resist.
Editor’s Note:
I’d be remiss if I didn’t discuss a question we hear often:
 “How long/short should my headline be?” 
Ever notice how some headlines in SERPs (search engine results pages) are truncated?
 
It’s based on your headline’s width in pixels (a free tool like SERPsim will show your headline’s width), but as a general rule:
At right around 60 characters, Google will cut off your headline.
Since a truncated headline can result in fewer people clicking your link in SERPs, it’s a common SEO practice to keep your headlines 60 characters or less.
Of course, things are never that easy.
In a recent study, Brian Dean of Backlinko found that longer (14-17 words) headlines generated more shares on social media than shorter headlines.
(76.7% more social shares, to be exact.)
As with all things, your mileage may vary.
2. Write an Introduction That Grabs and Seduces
 
You’ve lured readers in with your headline. Now you’ve got to keep them.
No easy task, my friend.
Readers are fickle. Known to take a quick glance and then vanish from your online sanctuary, lickety-split!
You must fight to keep them there, and the way you craft your introduction plays a huge role in their browsing commitment.
 Follow these rules to craft an introduction that captivates your readers: 
Introduction Rule #1. Slip into Their Shoes
A common mistake that reeks of amateur blogging?
Trying to sound too academic in your blog openings.
You know, those posts that start like this:
 “Research has proven that 92% of people fail to achieve their goals because they are unable to create and stick to habits that support those goals …” 
Don’t get me wrong — as a lawyer, I value solid research. But in the blogging context, this approach bores readers. If you want to captivate instead of bore, you must make readers feel like you’re reading their minds.
A powerful way to achieve this?
Empathy.
Step into the shoes of your target audience and write from their perspective. Show them you understand exactly what they’re going through.
After all, you likely struggled with the very topic you’re writing about and learned how to overcome it. We teach what we most wanted to learn, right?
So show readers that you “get it.” You’re not some corporate slog, you’re in it with them, fighting the good fight and sharing the tools that brought you to the other side.
Example:
This introduction is a masterclass in empathy:
 Do you feel that?
That little tugging sensation on your heart?
You’re not sure what, but something is pulling you to change. Not in a confess-your-sins-oh-ye-sinners way, but to shift directions, to embrace your calling, to finally do what you were put here to do:
Write.
You feel the ideas inside you. You sense them straining to escape. You know your job is to set them free, firing them like a cannon into a world in desperate need of them.
But you’re afraid.
You’re afraid of quitting your job and living without a safety net. You’re afraid of the concerned, disapproving looks your friends will give you when you tell them you’re giving it all up to write for a living. You’re afraid of not having enough money for food, of the power being cut off, of watching your family shivering and hungry, all because of your “selfishness”.
And most of all?
You’re afraid you’re wrong about yourself. 
As writers, we all share the deep longing to embrace our calling and express our ideas, but we also share the fears that so often sabotage those longings — the fear that we don’t have what it takes, that we’ll crash and burn, and that our dreams are just that — dreams.
In his introduction, Jon addresses all those longings and fears and immediately makes you feel like he gets you so intimately, it’s almost creepy.
Creepy, but effective.
  Note: You don’t need to open like this in every post. There are certainly other approaches, like telling a powerful story. But if you’re working on mastering your craft and getting the most impact for time invested, an empathetic opening is an approach you’ll want to use frequently.
 
Introduction Rule #2. Get into Character
If you want to captivate readers, you must trigger their emotions.
So as you sit down to write, think of the feelings you want them to experience:
Fear, anger, sadness, hope, joy, disgust, shame, comfort, love, courage, and so on.
Then get into character and feel them yourself as you write, and your words will read with undeniable authenticity.
When Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote the heartbreaking lyrics in Hamilton that have left tears on the faces of millions, it was his eyes that first shed tears as he put his pen to paper.
So play with your emotions. Map out the emotional journey you’re taking readers on, and infuse those feelings into your writing. Feel what you want your audience to feel and your words will exude those emotions.
This tip applies to your whole post, but in no place is triggering your audience’s emotions more important than your introduction.
You feel me? 🙂
Example:
I once wrote an emotional post about my two little girls which addressed how delicate their emotions are, as well as my own vulnerabilities and my longing to give them the patience, presence, and love they deserve.
Here’s a portion of it:
 I told my three-year old daughter as we stood outside the car in her school parking lot, the rain pouring down on us as she sobbed breathlessly in my arms.
She didn’t want to go in the car. She just wanted me to stand there, holding her. And I didn’t want to rush her, or tell her to stop crying.
“I’ll hold you for as long as it takes.” 
I felt that longing intensely and definitely shed some tears as I wrote the introduction. The feedback I got from readers was that they felt the same intensity, and even cried as well.
When we write, our feelings seep into our words.
Introduction Rule #3. Lure Readers Down the Page
Want readers to commit to your post?
Accelerate their experience. Lure them down the page.
The faster they get pulled down, the more committed they’ll feel.
Too many bumps in the road early on, and off track they go, never to return.
Here are three writing tips to use in your intros to lure readers down the page:
#1. Open With a Short Sentence or Question
Kind of like how I opened this section. 🙂
This is how all of Smart Blogger’s posts open, and for good reason. It’s a copywriting technique proven to pull readers in.
Start a post with a long clunky paragraph and they’ll feel exhausted just looking at it.
#2. Take a Knife to Your Words
Slash as many words as possible.
If the first draft of your introduction is 200 words, try cutting it down to 100. The more you practice this, the more efficient your blog writing process becomes.
And when you write efficiently, your words have power. That power will grab your readers.
#3. Set the Rhythm
All writing has a pace and rhythm.
You want your introduction’s pace and beat to be somewhat quick. You can slow things down later.
How do you achieve this?
Use short sentences. Even sentence fragments (totally okay).
Make your paragraphs no more than one to three sentences long.
Use delayed transitions to weave sentences together.
Make each sentence and paragraph lure readers into the one that follows.
Read the post out loud to check the flow. Are things moving forward smoothly or stalling?
The best writers, like the best music composers, take readers on a journey. Fast and slow, loud and soft, urgency and ease.
The more you pay attention to this, the more rhythm you’ll infuse into your words.
Example:
Shane Arthur sends readers’ eyes flying down the page by using crisp sentences and short paragraphs to create a fast rhythm:
 You’re not stupid.
You know what writing is truly about.
It’s a never-ending battle for your readers’ attention.
Every sentence is a link in a taut chain that connects your headline to your conclusion.
And you are just one weak sentence away from losing your reader forever. 
He then appropriately slows things down in the section that follows with longer sentences. A masterful composition!
Introduction Rule #4. Make Them Beg
Want readers begging for your solutions?
Add a little fear to your opening.
What are readers worried about? Do they know what will happen if they don’t solve the problem the post is addressing? What is the worst-case scenario?
Bring those fears to the surface. Expose them.
By doing so, not only will readers feel a camaraderie with you (because you understand their fears, so clearly you’ve tip-toed through the dark side yourself), but they’ll feel more eager than ever for the solution you present.
We all have fears. We think we need to hide them, but the more we give voice to them, the easier they are to set free.
Do that for your readers.
Example:
In his introduction, Glen Long brilliantly taps into the fear of failure all writers experience by addressing the dream of making a living as a writer and then quickly smothering that dream with the doubts that creep up at the mere thought of it:
 So, who knows? Maybe the doubters are right. Maybe you are naive to think you could earn a living doing something you love, instead of something you just tolerate. 
The fear of failure is painful, yes. But giving voice to it is validating and makes readers eager for the solutions that will set that fear free.
Introduction Rule #5. Hint at the Promised Land
Finally, as you wrap up your intro, hint at the promised land.
The place readers will get to when they master your methods. The destination your post promises to take them.
But whatever you do, do not give it all away. Just one sentence that says too much satisfies your readers enough to send them clicking away.
Why? Because readers bore easily. You must keep them on their toes. And the point of an introduction is not to give answers, it’s to set the stage for all the hearty advice your post will provide.
Example:
In the introduction to Meera Kothand’s post, she addressed a problem all new bloggers face: How do you get to know your audience when you don’t have one yet?
She goes on to talk about the big mistake many of them make (making assumptions) and why that’s ineffective. Then, she uses the simplest phrase to hint at a solution:
 That kind of guessing is like throwing darts blindfolded and hoping you hit the bull’s eye.
Sometimes it works. Usually, it doesn’t.
Fortunately, there’s another way… 
How could anyone not want to keep reading?
How to Write an Introduction: Bonus Tip
When writing an introduction, try drafting two completely different versions approached from different angles and triggering different emotions.
Doing so will highlight the techniques and emotions that work best for both your audience and the content of your post.
Editor’s Note:
A word of caution:
No matter how eloquent your words…
No matter how powerful your prose…
If your introduction doesn’t satisfy search intent, readers will click the “back” button and never return.
What’s search intent?
 It’s the purpose behind the Google search. 
If someone searches for “how to lose weight” in Google, they’re expecting search results that will help them lose weight.
If they click a headline that reads “7 Easy Tips For Losing Weight Fast”, and the post begins with an amusing Nicolas Cage anecdote, there’s a good chance they will leave — never getting to read the rest of the post, which is filled with weight loss wisdom.
And when they leave, what they’re essentially telling Google is this:
 “At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.” 
And Google will respond by ranking your post lower in its search results.
Search intent is a big part of SEO (search engine optimization). When we do keyword research here at Smart Blogger, figuring out the keyword phrase’s intent is one of the first things we do. It shapes our headline, meta description, introduction, word count, and more.
The ins and outs of mastering it would be an article all by itself, so we’ll simply say this:
Taking the time to analyze the results in Google so you have a solid handle on why people enter the particular query your blog post will be targeting is time well spent. Figure out the intent, and then make sure your intro matches it.
3. Deliver Advice That’s Easy to Consume and Impossible to Ignore
 
Okay, you’re doing great.
You got readers to click on your headline, you lured them down the page with your intro, and now it’s time to deliver on all that you’ve promised.
If you want readers to love you and look forward to every good blog post you write, you’ll over-deliver.
If you want them to take a quick look and vanish for good, you’ll under-deliver.
The choice is yours.
 Use the guide below to deliver valuable and easy-to-consume advice: 
Content Rule #1. Add Pitstops
Subheads — use them.
Why? Because readers are scanners.
They have no choice. There’s a behemoth amount of content at their fingertips, and not all of it is good.
And so they scan (as do you, I’m sure).
Subheadings are your chance to prove to readers that your content holds value. To keep luring them back into your post, when their instinct is to leave.
Blogging is a battle, remember?
 Keep these four tips in mind when drafting your subheads: 
#1. Add a Subhead Every Few Paragraphs
Sprinkle subheaders throughout your post.
Why? Because they gently guide readers along the route your post is heading, making their experience feel clear, easy and enjoyable.
And never forget, your blog posts are all about your readers’ experience.
If readers see too much text when they’re scanning without enough pit stops, they’ll feel overwhelmed. It’s like getting on a bus tour and being told there will be no bathroom breaks … oh, the anxiety!
Example:
 Every single post on Smart Blogger. 
Seriously.
That’s how important this is.
#2. Avoid the 3 Subhead Blunders That Make Readers Bounce
Subheads have the same function as headlines; they must make readers curious so they keep reading. So you should follow similar rules when drafting them and avoid the following common blunders:
 The Plain Label Subhead:  In case it bears repeating, never bore your readers. Labels are boring. Treat your subheads like mini-headlines and make sure they invoke curiosity.
 The Spoiler Subhead: Don’t give away too much in your subhead. If you do, readers will feel no compulsion to read the rest of your text.
 The Cryptic Subhead: Don’t try to be too clever. Readers don’t like to play guessing games. Adding curiosity should never come at the expense of clarity.
Example:
Let’s say you’re writing a post about the impact sleep has on anxiety levels and you include the following subheads:
 The Importance of Sleep 
 Creating a Steady Sleeping Routine Will Reduce Anxiety 
 Refuse the Roast and Catch More Z’s 
See how the first subhead is way too plain, the second gives too much away, and the third, well, it probably made no sense to you, right?
The subheads below would do a better job at grabbing readers:
 The Easiest Way to Reduce Daily Anxiety 
 How to Beat Anxiety Without Resorting to Medication 
 The One Thing You Must Avoid to Sleep Better 
#3. Compare Each Subhead to Your Main Headline
Each subhead should clearly deliver on the overall headline of your post.
Again, if you’re viewing subheads as pit stops, they must all lead to the ultimate destination — what was promised by your headline.
If the subheads get off track and move away from that destination, readers are left feeling lost and confused.
In that case, either the subheads need to change or the headline needs rethinking.
Example:
Say you’re writing a post called “How to Silence Your Nagging Inner Critic” and you include the following subheads:
 Observe Your Thoughts 
 Prove Yourself Wrong 
 Ask Yourself This Powerful Question 
 Bravely Quit Your Day Job 
The fourth subhead’s sudden twist in topic is jarring. It does not deliver on the overall headline, which had nothing to do with your day job.
Perhaps you intended all along for the post to be about not letting doubts stop you from following your dreams and quitting your day job, but readers scanning subheads will not understand that.
They will simply feel confused.
#4. Follow a Format
If you are listing various “ways,” “steps,” “methods,” “signs,” etc., to achieve what the headline of the post promises, keep the format consistent.
If you don’t, the post comes across as unpolished. Bloggers overlook this all the time, but it’s easy to fix once you’re aware of it.
If you separate your subheads from the post and list them back to back, you can see if any stray from the course.
Example:
Say your post is called “12 Ways to Cure Insomnia” and you have a subhead for each of the 12 ways. You’ll want those subheads to follow a consistent format.
Let’s say your first few subheads read as follows:
 Exercise Every Morning 
 Avoid Caffeine Like the Plague 
 Wake Up at the Same Time Everyday 
 There is Nothing More Sleep-Inducing Than Nighttime Meditation 
Something there feel a little off?
The first three subheads start with an action verb instructing readers what to do. They are also fairly consistent in length.
But then the fourth subhead suddenly changes the format and breaks the flow. It doesn’t start with a verb and it’s much longer than the others.
This inconsistency may seem fairly innocent, but it’s distracting to readers.
Content Rule #2. Unleash the Unexpected
Let’s face it, readers today are info-holics. We all are.
So tired old advice isn’t going to cut it. Your post must be unique, bold, and eye-opening.
My advice? List your main points and see if you can add a unique perspective, experience, or twist to them. Something readers aren’t expecting.
What belief systems have you learned to challenge? What do you know that most people don’t? How can you shed new light on an old problem? What methods do you use that others won’t know about?
You don’t want to go overboard just for the sake of adding shock value. Your advice must be authentic and truly helpful. But regurgitating old advice doesn’t challenge you as a writer, nor does it enlighten your audience.
So pour your readers a little espresso for their info-hangover by delivering the unexpected.
Example:
Countless articles have been written about blogging, but how many have called you out for being dumb or told you to replace your friends?!
Jon does just that by knocking you over the head with some hard truth bombs about what it takes to make it as a blogger.
Content Rule #3. Follow a Formula
Notice how this post follows a pretty consistent formula?
Each section is relatively similar in length. Every subhead follows a pattern. Each section ends with an example.
The more consistency you weave into your posts, the better the reader’s experience.
Let’s say you write a list post covering five steps to achieve something. If the first step is 500 words, the second and third steps are 100 words, the fourth step is 200 words and the fifth step is 400 words, it looks sloppy. As though you didn’t bother to proofread it before hitting publish.
Your readers deserve the best, and minor details like this matter as they affect the fluidity of their experience.
Want to go even more pro? Look at the beginning, middle, and end of each section you write, and create a guiding formula. Perhaps you start each section with a bold statement or personal experience. Then you flesh out your advice in the middle. And then you end each section with a one-sentence call to action.
The more formulas you add to your posts, the easier they are to write and the more they look like polished works of art.
Example:
In his post on getting traffic from Twitter, Brian Honigman uses hashtags for each subhead, each section is consistent in length, and each includes a graphic.
Readers know exactly what to expect from each section, making for a fluid reading experience.
Content Rule #4. Be Ridiculously Generous
Many bloggers worry about giving away too much in their posts. After all, they want readers to sign up for their paid coaching calls or products.
So they hold back, barely skimming the surface of their advice.
Truthfully, if you’re not generous with your readers in your posts, they won’t get a good impression of your paid products.
Don’t hold back on your readers. Fully work through the problem with them. Give them complete solutions and powerful advice. Wow them with your generosity and they will stick around as loyal readers and customers.
Example:
Want to learn everything there is to know about affiliate marketing?
Holy smokes. At 10,000 words, that insanely generous post by Leanne Regalla is basically a textbook on the subject, and reader comments praise it as such. (Let’s all bookmark this one, yes?)
A post of this magnitude is quite an undertaking, but don’t let it scare you. You can also wow your audience with your generosity and thoughtfulness in a 1,000-word post.
Content Rule #5. Start and End Strong
Just as your introduction and conclusion should grab readers, you want the main body of your post to start and end strong as well.
Of course, every section should have great content, but if you’re offering five ways to achieve something, save your absolute best tips for the first and fifth ways. The first way will grab your readers’ attention, and the fifth way will leave them feeling fully satisfied.
On the other hand, if each tip successively decreases in value, readers will feel like your post is deflating. And their excitement will deflate with it.
Let’s leave readers feeling pumped when they finish your post.
Example:
Linda Formichelli gives ten crafty ways to write 1,000 words per hour.
While all ten ways are excellent, I’d argue that the first (about writing under the pressure of a full bladder) and last (about gambling with your reputation) are the most bold and attention-grabbing (bathroom break, anyone?).
Writing a Blog Post: Bonus Tip
Before writing the main sections of your post, flesh out an outline to nail your points down.
The clearer and more simplified your outline is, the more clarity and conviction your post will have.
4. Close with a Motivational Bang
 
We’re almost at the finish line! It’s time to close your post with a bang.
This is where you rally behind your readers. Show them that you believe in them.
Make them believe they can achieve the goal promised by your headline (because after reading your generous advice, they certainly can).
 Follow these rules when crafting your motivational conclusion:  
Conclusion Rule #1. Give Your Readers a Pep Talk
Motivate your readers.
Show them how far they’ve come, what they’re capable of, and what life will look like once they’ve implemented your advice.
Give them the pep talk you longed for when you were struggling with the topic your post presents.
Empower them by raising your expectations of them. They can’t just read your post and pretend it never happened — they must take action. Immediately.
Make them see that no matter what they’ve experienced or how hard they’ve struggled, their time is now.
Example:
In this post’s conclusion, Jon uses all he’s had to overcome in life to show readers that they have no excuses: no matter hard things get, they can accomplish anything they set their minds to.
He encourages readers by letting them know that he believes in them and then he raises his expectations of them by telling them they need to get started … “right freaking now.”
By the time you’re done reading the conclusion, you feel like you can conquer just about anything!
Conclusion Rule #2. Avoid New Information
A common mistake many bloggers make?
Suddenly inserting new information or tips in their conclusions.
It’s like reaching the last ten minutes of a spellbinding movie. You’re on pins and needles waiting to see how it ends, and suddenly a new character is introduced. What the … ?! 
It’s jarring. Don’t do that to your readers.
Example:
In his conclusion, Robert van Tongeren motivates you to repurpose old blog posts by comparing them to epic musical classics; if they  disappeared into obscurity simply because they’re old, we’d all be at a great loss.
Imagine if in the midst of such a conclusion, Robert quickly threw in one more way to repurpose content, or one small caveat to his post’s advice, or one more general tip to keep in mind?
It would throw the whole closing off and leave readers feeling ruffled instead of jamming to Bohemian Rhapsody.
How to Write a Conclusion: Bonus Tip
When writing your conclusion, put yourself back in the shoes of your readers.
What will their lives be like if they accomplish the advice in your post? How will they feel?
The more you can hone in on your readers’ point of view, the more you can motivate them to take action.
Editor’s Note:
Too many bloggers put too little thought into their closings.
That’s a shame.
Let’s face it…
Most people don’t read 100% of our posts. Heck, most people don’t even read half.
So how do we reward the precious few who read and absorbed the words we poured our heart and soul into?
 With a closing we whipped together in 20 seconds. 
Someone who makes it to the end of your post is primed.
They trust you. They like you. They want you to tell them what to do next.
So tell them.
Don’t waste this opportunity.
5. Polish Your Post So It’s Smoother Than a Slip ‘n Slide
 
Phew! You’ve written your post. Next up?
Take a well-deserved break. Step away for a day or more so you can come back to it with fresh eyes.
Once you’re ready, it’s time to do some editing. I know, the mind reels that there’s more work to do!
But editing your post is essential. If your post doesn’t provide a smooth reading experience, your reader will lose attention and bail.
 Use this checklist when you’re ready to edit your post: 
 Take a Knife to It. Slash all unnecessary words, sentences, paragraphs, stories, etc. Include only what is absolutely essential to convey your message. Nothing more.
 Motivate, Don’t Lecture. Tweak any statements that hint of being the condescending professor. Make readers feel like you’re on their side and dedicated to their success (because you are).
 Add Emotion. Infuse your writing with passion, energy, and enthusiasm. If you’re bored by your blog topic, readers will be too.
 Make it Easy on the Eye. Break up any large paragraphs (2–5 sentences maximum is your goal) and run-on sentences.
 Break it Down. Clarify overly complicated wording. If you can’t say it simply, don’t write it. You don’t want to confuse your readers.
 Speak Their Language. Add examples or metaphors to make complex ideas feel more tangible and easier to digest.
 Check Yourself. Remove any contradictory statements or repetitive ideas (trust me, they’re there).
 Don’t Yo-Yo. Ensure each sentence, paragraph and section drives the post forward toward the destination promised by the headline (no side routes or backtracking).
 Be Smooth. Make each sentence and paragraph flow seamlessly into the next. Each sentence should be completely dependent on the ones before and after it or the transitions will feel choppy.
 Avoid Sharp Turns. Adjust any abrupt changes in topic. They’re jarring to readers.
 Keep It Real. Don’t mimic styles that don’t come naturally to you. The more you write, the more you’ll find your authentic writing voice.
 Add Highlights. Use bold and italics to add stress where appropriate (but do so sparingly).
 Shoot Bullets. Use bullet points to group related topic ideas and make them more digestible.
 Spark the Senses. Be specific and concrete (describe things readers can see, feel, hear, smell or taste). Avoid abstract statements.
 Be Firm. Avoid words like “might,” “may,” “possibly” and “perhaps” when delivering your advice.
 Give Some Eye Candy. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Add relevant images, screenshots, and infographics to your blog content.
 Respect Nature. Put things in their natural order (e.g., past to present, young to old, small to large, breakfast to dinner, etc.).
 Be Consistent. Make sure all points in a list belong to the same category; a list of steps should only list steps, a list of things should only list things, etc. This might sound like common sense, but this rule gets broken often.
 Don’t Be Lazy. Ensure all the necessary information is contained within the post itself. (External links should only provide supplemental information. A reader shouldn’t have to click a link to comprehend your post.)
 Kill the Weak. Eliminate weak and flabby words. Replace weak verbs (e.g., “she went”) with more concrete, visceral verbs (“she walked”), replace passive voice (e.g., “he was pushing”) with active voice (e.g., “he pushed”) and replace weak adjectives (e.g., “good”) with strong adjectives (e.g., “wonderful”).
 Feel the Beat. Be mindful of the pace and rhythm of each section. Speed things up or add some punch with crisp, short sentences. Slow things down with longer explanations. Good writing uses both.
 Do the Obvious. Fix any typos, spelling mistakes, or grammar mistakes (you can use grammar checkers like Grammarly and Hemingway App).
 Be Honest. Give credit where due.
How to Edit a Blog Post: Bonus Tip
A great way to self-edit your posts is to read them out loud.
Doing so will help you catch many of the issues listed above, particularly things like overly complicated wording, run-on sentences and choppy rhythm.
Win the Battle for Your Reader’s Attention
Blogging is a battle.
A war to get your ideas the attention they deserve.
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Amazing History Blogs To Add To Your Reading List Today
2015-03-13
Jessica Festa
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<p>Whether you’re a traveler, a student or just a curious world citizen, learning about history is enriching on both an intellectual and a personal level. One of the easiest and most interesting ways to brush up on your history knowledge is through blogs. There are a lot of untrustworthy sites out there, but if you know where to look, you can discover a treasure trove of sources to help you increase your knowledge and understanding of the world around (and behind) you.</p>
<h3>Here are ten of the best history blogs on the internet:</h3>
<div><p><a href="https://epicureandculture.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/The-FairyTale-Traveler-e1423572627166.jpg"></a></p><p><em>Image courtesy of The Fairy Tale Traveler.</em></p></div>
<h2>1. The Fairytale Traveler</h2>
<p>Infused with an atmosphere of mystical whimsy, <a href="http://thefairytaletraveler.com/travel/">The Fairytale Traveler</a> specializes in histories of the unusual, the unknown and the supernatural. Read about New Orleans’ Voodoo history, Medieval kings and castles or the history of moonshine in the Smoky Mountains.</p>
<div><p><a href="https://epicureandculture.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Crash-Course-e1423572661520.jpg"></a></p><p><em>Image courtesy of Crash Course.</em></p></div>
<h2>2. Crash Course</h2>
<p>Having watched every history video <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/crashcourse">Crash Course</a> has to offer, I can testify that their run-through of major events in US and World History is thorough and flat-out fascinating. Each episode is presented on YouTube in the form of fifteen-minute vlogs, narrated by author John Green and illustrated with informative graphics. Particular highlights are World War II viewed from a food resources perspective, the American Sixties and the French Revolution.</p>
<div><p><a href="https://epicureandculture.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Marie-Antoinette-e1423572721181.png"></a></p><p><em>Image courtesy of Marie Antoinette’s Gossip Guide to the Eighteenth Century.</em></p></div>
<h2>3. Marie Antoinette’s Gossip Guide to the Eighteenth Century</h2>
<p>The title may seem tongue-in-cheek, and <a href="https://marie-antoinettequeenoffrance.blogspot.com.au/">Marie Antoinette’s Gossip Guide to the Eighteenth Century</a> is certainly a lavishly playful perspective on the luxe of the upper-class world of the 18<sup>th</sup> century. If you’re interested in historical fashion, this is the blog for you. But it’s also an excellent site for learning about Marie Antoinette’s remarkable life and what it was like to be a lady in the age of Louis XVI.</p>
<div><p><a href="https://epicureandculture.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/If-It-Happened-Yesterday-e1423572758328.png"></a></p><p><em>Image courtesy of If It Happened Yesterday, It’s History.</em></p></div>
<h2>4. If It Happened Yesterday, It’s History</h2>
<p><a href="https://roberthorvat30.wordpress.com/">If It Happened Yesterday, It’s History</a> offers up a range of fascinating articles on historical events ranging from the infamous Christmas truce of 1914 to the practices of Aztec human sacrifice. The focus is largely on warfare and military history, but there’s plenty of other cultural history in there too.</p>
<div><p><a href="https://epicureandculture.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Women-of-History-e1423572788129.png"></a></p><p><em>Image courtesy of Women of History.</em></p></div>
<h2>5. Women of History</h2>
<p>Women have long been neglected in the writing of history. The blog <a href="https://womenofhistory.blogspot.com.au/">Women of History</a> seeks to rectify that, focusing on the contributions of a wide range of women to historical events. Read about powerful individuals, historical attitudes towards women and feminine customs through the ages.</p>
<div><p><a href="https://epicureandculture.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Ancient-Foods-e1423572824796.png"></a></p><p><em>Image courtesy of Ancient Foods.</em></p></div>
<h2>6. Ancient Foods</h2>
<p>Of particular interest to us Epicurious travelers, <a href="https://ancientfoods.wordpress.com/">Ancient Foods</a> is a history blog focused on the background of food and drink. Learn about the discovery of bones revealing how ancient peoples ate, or about all manner of food preparation, hunting and dining customs revealed through archaeology.</p>
<div><p><a href="https://epicureandculture.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Mental-Floss-e1423572850489.png"></a></p><p><em>Image courtesy of Mental Floss.</em></p></div>
<h2>7. Mental Floss</h2>
<p>Fascinated by the weird and the wonderful, <a href="https://www.mentalfloss.com/">Mental Floss</a> is one of the most useful – and dangerous – history-related procrastination tools out there. Go down the rabbit hole and spend hours learning about scientific, political and cultural history through articles, listicles and videos. Their pieces on etymology are always brilliant, too.</p>
<div><p><a href="https://epicureandculture.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Two-Nerdy-History-Girls-e1423572889600.png"></a></p><p><em>Image courtesy of Two Nerdy History Girls.</em></p></div>
<h2>8. Two Nerdy History Girls</h2>
<p>Who better to run a history blog than a historical romance author and a historical novelist? Loretta and Susan of <a href="https://twonerdyhistorygirls.blogspot.com.au/">Two Nerdy History Girls</a> combine their love of the literary and the historical in this fascinating blog. They write about snippets of history, precious and found items and visits to historical sites.</p>
<div><p><a href="https://epicureandculture.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Stuff-you-missed-in-history-class-e1423572920538.jpg"></a></p><p><em>Image courtesy of Stuff You Missed in History Class.</em></p></div>
<h2>9. Stuff You Missed in History Class</h2>
<p>If you’re looking for a different format to shake up your history blog consumption, or something to listen to while driving, a podcast may be the perfect solution. And when it comes to history podcasts, there’s nothing like <a href="http://www.missedinhistory.com/">Stuff You Missed in History Class</a>. Episodes include histories of China’s Cultural Revolution, Stonehenge and Spam. Yes, spam. There’s a standard written blog to accompany it, too.</p>
<div><p><a href="https://epicureandculture.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Victorian-Paris-e1423572954903.png"></a></p><p><em>Image courtesy of Victorian Paris.</em></p></div>
<h2>10. Victorian Paris</h2>
<p>Lovers of the City of Light, especially in the Victorian era, must head to <a href="https://victorianparis.wordpress.com/">Victorian Paris</a>, where novelist Iva Polansky shares her in-depth research on 19<sup>th</sup>-century Paris. Read about the literature, fashion, architecture and social norms of this fascinating historical period.</p>
<h3><em>What are your favorite history blogs? Please share in the comments below.</em></h3>
<div><p>The following two tabs change content below.</p><ul><li><a href="#ts-fab-bio-below">Bio</a></li><li><a href="#ts-fab-latest-posts-below">Latest Posts</a></li></ul><div>
	<p>Jessica Festa is the editor of Epicure &amp; Culture as well as <a href="http://jessieonajourney.com/">Jessie on a Journey</a>. She enjoys getting lost in new cities and having experiences you don’t read about in guidebooks. Some of her favorite travel experiences have been teaching English in Thailand, trekking her way through South America, backpacking Europe solo, road tripping through Australia, agritouring through Tuscany, and volunteering in Ghana.</p>
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 Amazing History Blogs To Add To Your Reading List Today

 By Jessica Festa on Mar 13, 201531 Comments

 Photo courtesy of bikeriderlondon via Shutterstock.

 Whether you’re a traveler, a student or just a curious world citizen, learning about history is enriching on both an intellectual and a personal level. One of the easiest and most interesting ways to brush up on your history knowledge is through blogs. There are a lot of untrustworthy sites out there, but if you know where to look, you can discover a treasure trove of sources to help you increase your knowledge and understanding of the world around (and behind) you.

 Here are ten of the best history blogs on the internet:

 Image courtesy of The Fairy Tale Traveler.

 1. The Fairytale Traveler

 Infused with an atmosphere of mystical whimsy, The Fairytale Traveler specializes in histories of the unusual, the unknown and the supernatural. Read about New Orleans’ Voodoo history, Medieval kings and castles or the history of moonshine in the Smoky Mountains.

 Image courtesy of Crash Course.

 2. Crash Course

 Having watched every history video Crash Course has to offer, I can testify that their run-through of major events in US and World History is thorough and flat-out fascinating. Each episode is presented on YouTube in the form of fifteen-minute vlogs, narrated by author John Green and illustrated with informative graphics. Particular highlights are World War II viewed from a food resources perspective, the American Sixties and the French Revolution.

 Image courtesy of Marie Antoinette’s Gossip Guide to the Eighteenth Century.

 3. Marie Antoinette’s Gossip Guide to the Eighteenth Century

 The title may seem tongue-in-cheek, and Marie Antoinette’s Gossip Guide to the Eighteenth Century is certainly a lavishly playful perspective on the luxe of the upper-class world of the 18th century. If you’re interested in historical fashion, this is the blog for you. But it’s also an excellent site for learning about Marie Antoinette’s remarkable life and what it was like to be a lady in the age of Louis XVI.

 Image courtesy of If It Happened Yesterday, It’s History.

 4. If It Happened Yesterday, It’s History

 If It Happened Yesterday, It’s History offers up a range of fascinating articles on historical events ranging from the infamous Christmas truce of 1914 to the practices of Aztec human sacrifice. The focus is largely on warfare and military history, but there’s plenty of other cultural history in there too.

 Image courtesy of Women of History.

 5. Women of History

 Women have long been neglected in the writing of history. The blog Women of History seeks to rectify that, focusing on the contributions of a wide range of women to historical events. Read about powerful individuals, historical attitudes towards women and feminine customs through the ages.

 Image courtesy of Ancient Foods.

 6. Ancient Foods

 Of particular interest to us Epicurious travelers, Ancient Foods is a history blog focused on the background of food and drink. Learn about the discovery of bones revealing how ancient peoples ate, or about all manner of food preparation, hunting and dining customs revealed through archaeology.

 Image courtesy of Mental Floss.

 7. Mental Floss

 Fascinated by the weird and the wonderful, Mental Floss is one of the most useful – and dangerous – history-related procrastination tools out there. Go down the rabbit hole and spend hours learning about scientific, political and cultural history through articles, listicles and videos. Their pieces on etymology are always brilliant, too.

 Image courtesy of Two Nerdy History Girls.

 8. Two Nerdy History Girls

 Who better to run a history blog than a historical romance author and a historical novelist? Loretta and Susan of Two Nerdy History Girls combine their love of the literary and the historical in this fascinating blog. They write about snippets of history, precious and found items and visits to historical sites.

 Image courtesy of Stuff You Missed in History Class.

 9. Stuff You Missed in History Class

 If you’re looking for a different format to shake up your history blog consumption, or something to listen to while driving, a podcast may be the perfect solution. And when it comes to history podcasts, there’s nothing like Stuff You Missed in History Class. Episodes include histories of China’s Cultural Revolution, Stonehenge and Spam. Yes, spam. There’s a standard written blog to accompany it, too.

 Image courtesy of Victorian Paris.

 10. Victorian Paris

 Lovers of the City of Light, especially in the Victorian era, must head to Victorian Paris, where novelist Iva Polansky shares her in-depth research on 19th-century Paris. Read about the literature, fashion, architecture and social norms of this fascinating historical period.

 What are your favorite history blogs? Please share in the comments below.

 The following two tabs change content below.
 * Bio
 * Latest Posts

 Jessica Festa

 Jessica Festa is the editor of Epicure & Culture as well as Jessie on a Journey. She enjoys getting lost in new cities and having experiences you don’t read about in guidebooks. Some of her favorite travel experiences have been teaching English in Thailand, trekking her way through South America, backpacking Europe solo, road tripping through Australia, agritouring through Tuscany, and volunteering in Ghana.

 Latest posts by Jessica Festa ( see all )

 * This Recipe Sharing Platform Supports Women In The Culinary Industry (Labneh Recipe Included!) - Nov 5, 2020
 * Hiking The Mohare Danda Community Eco-Trek In Nepal - Jun 3, 2020
 * 6 Important Questions For Choosing A Responsible Yoga Retreat - May 18, 2020
 * How To Create & Grow A Profitable Blogging Business (Ethically) - Jan 18, 2020
 * Exploring Historic England By Train [5-Day itinerary] - Oct 24, 2019
 Filed in: Culture , Curated Lists Tags: best blogs , history , history blogs , literature , Marie Antoinette , reading , recommendations , suggestions

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 31 Comments

 1. Christa Thompson says:
 Jun 29, 2015 at 8:26 pm

 Well hey there! Thanks for sharing The Fairytale Traveler! You gave me a case of the smiles 😉

 Reply
 1. Jessica Festa says:
 Jul 10, 2015 at 10:11 pm

 Christa: You’re welcome! 🙂

 Reply
 2. Curious Desi says:
 Jul 2, 2015 at 7:11 am

 Thanks for sharing this wonderful list! Who says history has to be boring 🙂

 I have recently started a blog myself – http://www.thecuriousdesi.com (fyi – Desi is a common term for person from the Indian subcontinent). Cheers

 Reply
 1. Jessica Festa says:
 Jul 10, 2015 at 10:10 pm

 @Curious Desi: Exactly 🙂

 Reply
 3. zeph says:
 Feb 6, 2016 at 1:51 am

 I’ve been reading MentalFloss (and watching their youtube videos) for over a year now and i agree that it’s a great site to learn from. Stuff you missed in history class looks interesting and i’m definitely going to keep up with their podcast

 Reply
 1. Jessica Festa says:
 Feb 11, 2016 at 2:09 pm

 @Zeph: We’re huge fans of Mental Floss!

 Reply
 4. Sunnyvale says:
 Apr 24, 2016 at 11:36 am

 Hi Gemma, Thanks for this wonderful list of reads – really a treasure trove of good reads!

 Reply
 5. Fshowfety says:
 May 9, 2016 at 12:04 pm

 I regularly use Crash Course as enrichment in my 8th grade history class. Students learn so much from the different episodes and it adds another perspective to our class. I enjoyed browsing the “Stuff You Missed In History Class” blog and look forward to implementing it in my class.

 Reply
 6. Claudia Keenan says:
 Jun 16, 2016 at 8:35 am

 I’d like to toss in my blog Through The House Glass. I’m a historian of education who writes about people I’ve met along the way in years of research and writing, along with some personal experiences.

 Reply
 1. Claudia Keenan says:
 Aug 21, 2016 at 8:59 pm

 Sorry, that’s http://www.throughthehourglass.com/.

 It’s all about evoking American history and culture.

 Reply
 7. Anton says:
 Sep 20, 2016 at 7:00 pm

 Thank you for the list. Crash Course if awesome for learning history. They inspired me to create my own History blog series. People need an interesting and entertaining way to learn history, and it seems that all of these sites provide just that. Not everyone want to loom over boring textbooks, I know i would have paid much more attention in school if these kind of blogs were around then!

 Check out my version : https://davidandanton.com/2016/09/12/4-ancient-egypt/

 Reply
 8. RaeAnne says:
 Feb 2, 2017 at 10:26 pm

 Hello,

 Thank you for sharing this list of history blogs. History is my passion, and I always enjoy learning new things. I’m looking forward to checking out these blogs!!

 Reply
 9. Tom Hughes says:
 Apr 12, 2017 at 7:51 am

 Gemma – an excellent list that I have only just found (April 2017)
 Here’s a curious new blog for Anglophiles, Victorianists and their “ilk” —
 http://victorianclericalerrors.blogspot.com

 Reply
 10. George Levrier-Jones says:
 Feb 21, 2019 at 3:37 pm

 Thank you Jessica – some really interesting sites there.

 If it is ok to add here, I am an editor of the blog History is Now: http://www.historyisnowmagazine.com

 We hope that our site would be of interest to readers of this page.

 We have been running the independent history site since 2012 and the focus for the last few years has been the blog. We focus on most periods of history and publish on a wide variety of topics.

 In the past we have also published a modern history-related digital magazine, introductory history audio podcasts, and books. We plan to do more of each in the future.

 Thank you, George

 Reply
 11. Matteo says:
 Jan 21, 2021 at 2:50 pm

 Thanks, it’s a useful list for learning history. We made ourselves a history blog about China, a collection of historical documents, articles, and documents: https://china-underground.com/category/china-history-images/

 Reply
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 Mar 9, 2021 at 8:54 am

 Hi,
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 13. Mr. Hassan says:
 Aug 2, 2021 at 1:21 am

 it’s a very nice list
 Thank you so much for your kind information

 Reply
 14. Mr. Hassan says:
 Aug 2, 2021 at 1:25 am

 wow, this is a nice list
 Thank you so much for your kind information

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 Sep 7, 2021 at 10:21 am

 Are you reading a crazy story? here i will attached a great story of Lina Carrero:

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 Oct 1, 2021 at 2:40 am

 It’s really great. This information helps me for a better search blog. Thank you so much

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 Amazing information It’s really great

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 Oct 8, 2021 at 9:38 am

 Thank you…
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 20. French Revolution Timeline says:
 Dec 6, 2021 at 3:25 am

 Thanks, Jessica! History blogs are very important. They not only provide historical information but also bring to light stories that may not have been heard about. It is interesting to learn the history of a particular place or time period.

 While history blogs may not be considered mainstream blogs, they provide a unique way to look at events or to get insight into a particular location or time period.

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 24. jossef says:
 Mar 19, 2022 at 4:32 am

 Thank you for the time and effort to make and share this list of very good references, i am looking for blogs researching the deeper history of real ancients. hope you will make another list 🙂
 thank you

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Whether you’re a traveler, a student or just a curious world citizen, learning about history is enriching on both an intellectual and a personal level. One of the easiest and most interesting ways to brush up on your history knowledge is through blogs. There are a lot of untrustworthy sites out there, but if you know where to look, you can discover a treasure trove of sources to help you increase your knowledge and understanding of the world around (and behind) you.
Here are ten of the best history blogs on the internet:
      Image courtesy of The Fairy Tale Traveler.  
1. The Fairytale Traveler
Infused with an atmosphere of mystical whimsy, The Fairytale Traveler specializes in histories of the unusual, the unknown and the supernatural. Read about New Orleans’ Voodoo history, Medieval kings and castles or the history of moonshine in the Smoky Mountains.
      Image courtesy of Crash Course.  
2. Crash Course
Having watched every history video Crash Course has to offer, I can testify that their run-through of major events in US and World History is thorough and flat-out fascinating. Each episode is presented on YouTube in the form of fifteen-minute vlogs, narrated by author John Green and illustrated with informative graphics. Particular highlights are World War II viewed from a food resources perspective, the American Sixties and the French Revolution.
      Image courtesy of Marie Antoinette’s Gossip Guide to the Eighteenth Century.  
3. Marie Antoinette’s Gossip Guide to the Eighteenth Century
The title may seem tongue-in-cheek, and Marie Antoinette’s Gossip Guide to the Eighteenth Century is certainly a lavishly playful perspective on the luxe of the upper-class world of the 18th century. If you’re interested in historical fashion, this is the blog for you. But it’s also an excellent site for learning about Marie Antoinette’s remarkable life and what it was like to be a lady in the age of Louis XVI.
      Image courtesy of If It Happened Yesterday, It’s History.  
4. If It Happened Yesterday, It’s History
 If It Happened Yesterday, It’s History offers up a range of fascinating articles on historical events ranging from the infamous Christmas truce of 1914 to the practices of Aztec human sacrifice. The focus is largely on warfare and military history, but there’s plenty of other cultural history in there too.
      Image courtesy of Women of History.  
5. Women of History
Women have long been neglected in the writing of history. The blog Women of History seeks to rectify that, focusing on the contributions of a wide range of women to historical events. Read about powerful individuals, historical attitudes towards women and feminine customs through the ages.
      Image courtesy of Ancient Foods.  
6. Ancient Foods
Of particular interest to us Epicurious travelers, Ancient Foods is a history blog focused on the background of food and drink. Learn about the discovery of bones revealing how ancient peoples ate, or about all manner of food preparation, hunting and dining customs revealed through archaeology.
      Image courtesy of Mental Floss.  
7. Mental Floss
Fascinated by the weird and the wonderful, Mental Floss is one of the most useful – and dangerous – history-related procrastination tools out there. Go down the rabbit hole and spend hours learning about scientific, political and cultural history through articles, listicles and videos. Their pieces on etymology are always brilliant, too.
      Image courtesy of Two Nerdy History Girls.  
8. Two Nerdy History Girls
Who better to run a history blog than a historical romance author and a historical novelist? Loretta and Susan of Two Nerdy History Girls combine their love of the literary and the historical in this fascinating blog. They write about snippets of history, precious and found items and visits to historical sites.
      Image courtesy of Stuff You Missed in History Class.  
9. Stuff You Missed in History Class
If you’re looking for a different format to shake up your history blog consumption, or something to listen to while driving, a podcast may be the perfect solution. And when it comes to history podcasts, there’s nothing like Stuff You Missed in History Class. Episodes include histories of China’s Cultural Revolution, Stonehenge and Spam. Yes, spam. There’s a standard written blog to accompany it, too.
      Image courtesy of Victorian Paris.  
10. Victorian Paris
Lovers of the City of Light, especially in the Victorian era, must head to Victorian Paris, where novelist Iva Polansky shares her in-depth research on 19th-century Paris. Read about the literature, fashion, architecture and social norms of this fascinating historical period.
 What are your favorite history blogs? Please share in the comments below. 
 The following two tabs change content below.   Bio   Latest Posts   
	Jessica Festa is the editor of Epicure &amp; Culture as well as Jessie on a Journey. She enjoys getting lost in new cities and having experiences you don’t read about in guidebooks. Some of her favorite travel experiences have been teaching English in Thailand, trekking her way through South America, backpacking Europe solo, road tripping through Australia, agritouring through Tuscany, and volunteering in Ghana.
Amazing History Blogs To Add To Your Reading List Today
https://epicureandculture.com/history-blogs/
https://www.atascientific.com.au/17-science-blogs-everyone-should-follow/
17 SCIENCE BLOGS EVERYONE SHOULD FOLLOW - ATA Scientific
2020-07-12
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<div><div> <p> </p> <p>Thanks to the Internet, science has never been so accessible. Entire scientific communities now connect through social media, and science blogs have prospered and grown into rich platforms of discourse. On the Internet, experts and amateurs alike can come together to talk about the topics that interest them, and in doing so have created great educational spaces for anyone who wants to learn and discuss science.</p> <p>If you’re looking for some up-to-date scientific information, or just want to browse, have a look at this list we’ve compiled of the 17 best blogs currently posting about science.</p> <h2><a href="http://www.iflscience.com/">1. IFL SCIENCE</a></h2> <p>Established by Elise Andrews in 2012, I F****** Love Science, or IFL Science, is “dedicated to bringing the amazing world of science straight to your newsfeed in an amusing and accessible way.” With a reputation for being one of the most important and entertaining scientific blogs currently out there, Andrews has been able to create a platform that is equal parts informative and fun. Featuring insights into a mix of scientific disciplines, the best part about this blog is science lovers of all ages and backgrounds can come together and share their love for science. <strong>The Facebook page posting daily links to IFL Science has over 25 million likes.</strong></p> <p>Our pick: <a href="https://www.iflscience.com/brain/the-mindblowing-story-of-a-man-who-cant-see-numbers/">The Mind-Blowing Story Of A Man Who Can’t See Numbers</a></p> <h2><a href="https://blog.csiro.au/">2. CSIRO</a></h2> <p>The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is Australia’s national science agency. Established in 1916, the CSIRO has invented everything from modern-day WiFi, Aerogard and even extended-wear contact lenses. With such an innovative impact on both a national and global scale, it’s no surprise its blog is one of the most interesting scientific reads on the Internet. Covering a vast number of topics including farming, ocean studies, manufacturing and health, the CSIRO is a fantastic insight into some of the most fascinating scientific breakthroughs by Australian and international scientists.</p> <p>Our pick: <a href="https://blog.csiro.au/ai-relieves-data-drought-for-farmers/">AI relieves data drought for farmers</a></p> <h2><a href="http://drkarl.com/blog/">3. DR KARL KRUSZELNICKI</a></h2> <p>Featuring Kruszelnicki’s trademark humorous yet informative approach to science, this blog delves into some of the most complicated and frequently asked (but not so frequently answered in an accessible way) scientific questions. From the beautiful act of vomiting to the overwhelming-grand ‘<a href="http://drkarl.com/how-many-cells-in-a-person/">how many cells in a person?</a>’, Kruszelnicki seeks to entertain and educate in a laidback and educational manner that young and old Australians alike will love. For more of Dr Karl, you can also check out <a href="https://twitter.com/DoctorKarl">his Twitter</a>, and tweet him any of your burning scientific questions.</p> <p>Our pick: <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/greatmomentsinscience/bacteria-of-champions/11637490">Bacteria of champions </a>(A look at how a gut microbiome can give a marathon runner an athletic advantage)</p> <h2><a href="http://nautil.us/blog">4. NAUTILUS</a></h2> <p>Nautilus “combines the science, culture and philosophy into a single story told by the world’s leading thinkers and writers.” Originally a magazine and online website, the Nautilus blog is an offshoot that provides daily musings, reflecting on our connection to science in our day-to-day lives. Science with a modern twist, this blog will appeal to those who are interested in questioning the humanity of science, and the scientists who drive innovation around the world. Don’t be mistaken in thinking this blog foregoes science in the name of philosophical musings – each of its pieces are thoroughly researched and very accessible for those who enjoy a little bit of light science reading.</p> <p>Our pick: <a href="http://nautil.us/blog/how-ancient-light-reveals-the-universes-contents">How Ancient Light Reveals the Universe’s Contents</a></p> <h2><a href="http://blogs.plos.org/">5. PLOS</a></h2> <p>The Public Library of Science is a non-profit organisation that provides a collection of scientific journals and literature open to the public. The PLOS blog network features content from PLOS staff and editors, as well as independent sources including science journalists and researchers. Blogs featured on the PLOS platform cover a wide range of topics like Biology Life Sciences, Medicine and Health, and Research Analysis and Scientific Policy. Catered towards the scientific community and those who have a thorough understanding of scientific concepts, this blog isn’t for everyone but is a great tool if you are an avid science enthusiast looking to find free resources and information on many topics.</p> <p>Our pick: <a href="https://scicomm.plos.org/2020/06/25/on-the-role-of-the-non-expert-in-a-crisis/">On the Role of the Non-Expert in a Crisis</a></p> <h2><a href="http://www.improbable.com/">6. IMPROBABLE RESEARCH</a></h2> <p><strong>Improbable Research is all about making people laugh, and then think</strong>. A collection of real research described as “may be good or bad, important or trivial, valuable or worthless,” it’s an online manifestation of the popular Annals of Improbable Research, a publication mainly known for creating the Ig Nobel Awards, a parody of the Nobel Awards. A seriously fun look into the slightly crazy and often bewildering world of science, this blog is sure to captivate your curiosity and get you thinking about the value of scientific research and innovation.</p> <p>Our pick: ‘<a href="https://www.improbable.com/2018/09/19/how-aesthetically-pleasing-is-your-countrys-diffraction-pattern/">How aesthetically pleasing is your country’s diffraction pattern?</a>’</p> <h2><a href="https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/laelaps/">7. LAELAPS</a></h2> <p>A blog presented by <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/">Scientific American,</a> LAELAPS is written by critically-acclaimed scientific writer Brian Switek. A blog about evolution, extinction, and survival, LAELAP’s explores natural history with insights from fields such as anthropology, zoology, archaeology and palaeontology. If biological science is a keen area of interest, this blog has some great pieces of scientific literacy that bridge the gaps between complex concepts, and accessible and captivating stories.</p> <p>Our pick: <a href="https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/laelaps/the-secret-of-the-crocodile-death-roll/">The Secret of the Crocodile “Death Roll</a></p> <h2><a href="http://aobblog.com/">8. ANNALS OF BOTANY BLOG</a></h2> <p>News and views on plant science and ecology, the blog is an offshoot of Annals of Botany, an online scientific, peer-reviewed journal that releases research once a month. This blog really gets into the nitty-gritty of plants, so its content is more suited to those who have a deep understanding and knowledge of botanical science. However, if you want to delve right into the world of botany, it does post some content that is accessible for all science lovers.</p> <p>Our pick: <a href="https://www.botany.one/2019/10/how-do-mangrove-forests-recover-from-cyclones/">How do mangrove forests recover from cyclones</a></p> <h2><a href="https://www.newscientist.com/">9. NewScientist</a></h2> <p>NewScientist would have to be the most recognisable name in scientific publications to the mainstream. The magazine has been readily available on newsstands for years, and the publication’s success can be attributed to the way it features stories of real-world interest and relevance in a very accessible way, without ever ‘talking down’ to the audience.</p> <p>Note, NewScientist is protected by a paywall, so if you want to access all of its stories, you’ll need to make a small investment into quality science journalism.</p> <p>Our pick: <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2134074-artificial-whisky-taster-has-the-palate-of-a-connoisseur/#ixzz6Qjnaacxs">Artificial whisky taster has the palate of a connoisseur</a></p> <h2><a href="http://theness.com/neurologicablog/">10. NEUROLOGICAL</a></h2> <p>Authored by academic clinical neurologist Steven Novella, MD, Neurologica covers neuroscience, scientific scepticism, philosophy, and the intersection of science and media. This blog delivers great insight into the brain and scientific news, issues and discoveries surrounding this topic, and is equal parts high-brow and approachable. Novella’s knowledge and expertise enable him to make some great thoughts, insights and opinions on a variety of subjects, from GMO’s to clickbait. A platform which broaches hot-topic issues found in mainstream media in a scientifically critical way, this really is a truly educational and eye-opening resource.</p> <p>Our pick: <a href="https://theness.com/neurologicablog/index.php/localizing-executive-function/">Localizing Executive Function</a> (Addressing the complex challenges of identifying the specific part of your brain where a specific activity takes place)</p> <h2><a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/the-sciences/">11. The Sciences</a></h2> <p>Run by The Scientific American, The Sciences is a must-read, accessible take on science topics as far ranging as Mind, Health, Tech and Sustainability. The dedicated blog section, which is separate from the main site’s repurposing of its magazine content, features fascinating little tidbits, such as ‘<a href="https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/life-unbounded/how-to-hop-on-an-asteroid/">how to hop on an Asteroid</a>,’ which might not be information relevant to our day-to-day lives, but certainly inspires the imagination as only science can.</p> <p>Our pick: <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-poetic-mind-bending-tour-of-the-fungal-world/">A Poetic, Mind-Bending Tour of the Fungal World</a></p> <h2><a href="https://www.instagram.com/mrs_angemi/?hl=en">12. MORTUI VIVOS DOCENT (MRS_ANGEMI)</a></h2> <p><strong>WARNING: This blog is not for the faint of heart as it contains graphic material some may find disturbing (and others might find captivating).</strong> Mortui Vivos Docent is an Instagram blog run by forensic pathologist Nicole Angemi. Featuring graphic images of autopsies, Angemi captions each image with a scientific insight into the gruesome world of human biology. Her expertise lies in identifying infections and diseases in the deceased, and her lengthy captions break down some very complex medical concepts into easy-to-understand snippets. She also frequently asks followers to guess the disease from an autopsy, and will later post a detailed answer of her analysis.</p> <h2><a href="http://blog.codinghorror.com/">13. CODING HORROR</a></h2> <p>Created by software developer and entrepreneur Jeff Atwood, Coding Horror is one of the most well-known blogs in the computer programming community. Atwood states in his About Me that, “in the art of software development, studying code isn’t enough; you have to study the people behind the software, too.” With this in mind, Coding Horror’s undertakes an in-depth analysis of the minutiae of coding, and also of the people who created it. This two-pronged approach makes for a refreshing take on an otherwise technical topic. Perfect for both amateur and pro coder’s, this blog is an education in how to ‘geek out’, without losing your audience’s attention.</p> <p>Our pick: <a href="https://blog.codinghorror.com/electric-geek-transportation-systems/">Electric Geek Transportation Systems (A closer look into electric cars)</a></p> <h2><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent">14. CLIMATE CONSENSUS – THE 97%</a></h2> <p>Authored by John Abraham, a professor of thermal sciences, and environmental scientist Dana Nuccitell, this blog concentrates on climate and environmental science and discusses the public scepticism surrounding popular environmental topics. It is an interesting insight into the power of ‘expert consensus’. <strong>A must-read for those with a keen passion for climate science, Climate Consensus’ articles is both accessible and thought-provoking.</strong></p> <p>Our pick: <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2020/jan/13/oceans-are-as-hot-as-humans-have-known-them-and-were-to-blame">Oceans are as hot as humans have known them and we’re to blame</a></p> <h2><a href="https://www.wired.com/category/science/">15. WireD Science</a></h2> <p>Wired is a general-interest online publication, covering technology issues for the most part. However, as the technology industry is driven by science, most people with an interest in technology are interested in science beyond the tech, and Wired’s science section is impressively robust. A lot of Wired’s science coverage has to do with technology issues (Elon Musk and Donald Trump feature prominently), but there is also plenty of fun, quirky stories.</p> <p>Our pick: <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/why-a-tennis-ball-goes-flying-when-bounced-on-a-basketball/">Why a Tennis Ball Goes Flying When Bounced on a Basketball</a></p> <h2><a href="https://itsokaytobesmart.tumblr.com/">16. It’s okay to be smart</a></h2> <p>You would think that the title of this blog goes without saying. But in this day and age, people do need the occasional reminder that intelligence is something to be admired. It’s Okay To Be Smart is the blog of a Ph.D. biologist, Joe Hanson, and is really focused on promoting the videos that he produces for various outlets. Each video is highly entertaining to watch and comes with all the production values that you’d expect to find of someone who is often on TV. It’s the perfect blog to keep an eye on and link to friends and family because often topics of interest to just about everyone will show up.</p> <p>Our video pick: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeAAiv4G-vs">Why Doesn’t the Atmosphere Crush Us?</a></p> <h2><a href="https://www.space.com/">17. Space.com</a></h2> <p>Very few fields of science inspire the masses quite like space does. The great frontier, only ever experienced by many of us through the lens of science fiction, is the very definition of exotic and wondrous, and in scientific terms, it’s also a playground for startling discoveries and revelations about the nature of everything in the universe (including us). Space.com is a wonderful resource for anyone interested in no-frills, clean, and accessible reporting about space.</p> <p>Our pick: <a href="https://www.space.com/solar-decade-time-lapse-video.html">Incredible time-lapse video shows 10 years of the sun’s history in 6 minutes</a></p> <h2>Subscribing to your favourite science blogs</h2> <p>A quick search in Google and you can generally find whatever information you need. But sometimes the mass and diversity of material on the Internet can be overwhelming. Blogs are a valuable resource that can give analytical insights into the people, inventions and discoveries driving scientific innovation. Macro or micro, the blogs in this list engage in discussions and topics that will continue to evolve and change throughout history. Up-to-date and topical science blogs are the future for scientific research, education and outreach, a future which is being built by the blogs mentioned above.</p> <p>Are you interested in or specifically searching for a type of analytical instruments? Be sure to contact the team at ATA Scientific to have your questions answered <a href="https://www.atascientific.com.au/contact-us/">here.</a></p> </div></div>||||I|||| * Product Factsheets
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 17 SCIENCE BLOGS EVERYONE SHOULD FOLLOW

 13 Jul, 2020 | Particle Science - Guide

 Thanks to the Internet, science has never been so accessible. Entire scientific communities now connect through social media, and science blogs have prospered and grown into rich platforms of discourse. On the Internet, experts and amateurs alike can come together to talk about the topics that interest them, and in doing so have created great educational spaces for anyone who wants to learn and discuss science.

 If you’re looking for some up-to-date scientific information, or just want to browse, have a look at this list we’ve compiled of the 17 best blogs currently posting about science.

 1. IFL SCIENCE

 Established by Elise Andrews in 2012, I F****** Love Science, or IFL Science, is “dedicated to bringing the amazing world of science straight to your newsfeed in an amusing and accessible way.” With a reputation for being one of the most important and entertaining scientific blogs currently out there, Andrews has been able to create a platform that is equal parts informative and fun. Featuring insights into a mix of scientific disciplines, the best part about this blog is science lovers of all ages and backgrounds can come together and share their love for science. The Facebook page posting daily links to IFL Science has over 25 million likes.

 Our pick: The Mind-Blowing Story Of A Man Who Can’t See Numbers

 2. CSIRO

 The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is Australia’s national science agency. Established in 1916, the CSIRO has invented everything from modern-day WiFi, Aerogard and even extended-wear contact lenses. With such an innovative impact on both a national and global scale, it’s no surprise its blog is one of the most interesting scientific reads on the Internet. Covering a vast number of topics including farming, ocean studies, manufacturing and health, the CSIRO is a fantastic insight into some of the most fascinating scientific breakthroughs by Australian and international scientists.

 Our pick: AI relieves data drought for farmers

 3. DR KARL KRUSZELNICKI

 Featuring Kruszelnicki’s trademark humorous yet informative approach to science, this blog delves into some of the most complicated and frequently asked (but not so frequently answered in an accessible way) scientific questions. From the beautiful act of vomiting to the overwhelming-grand ‘how many cells in a person?’, Kruszelnicki seeks to entertain and educate in a laidback and educational manner that young and old Australians alike will love. For more of Dr Karl, you can also check out his Twitter, and tweet him any of your burning scientific questions.

 Our pick: Bacteria of champions (A look at how a gut microbiome can give a marathon runner an athletic advantage)

 4. NAUTILUS

 Nautilus “combines the science, culture and philosophy into a single story told by the world’s leading thinkers and writers.” Originally a magazine and online website, the Nautilus blog is an offshoot that provides daily musings, reflecting on our connection to science in our day-to-day lives. Science with a modern twist, this blog will appeal to those who are interested in questioning the humanity of science, and the scientists who drive innovation around the world. Don’t be mistaken in thinking this blog foregoes science in the name of philosophical musings – each of its pieces are thoroughly researched and very accessible for those who enjoy a little bit of light science reading.

 Our pick: How Ancient Light Reveals the Universe’s Contents

 5. PLOS

 The Public Library of Science is a non-profit organisation that provides a collection of scientific journals and literature open to the public. The PLOS blog network features content from PLOS staff and editors, as well as independent sources including science journalists and researchers. Blogs featured on the PLOS platform cover a wide range of topics like Biology Life Sciences, Medicine and Health, and Research Analysis and Scientific Policy. Catered towards the scientific community and those who have a thorough understanding of scientific concepts, this blog isn’t for everyone but is a great tool if you are an avid science enthusiast looking to find free resources and information on many topics.

 Our pick: On the Role of the Non-Expert in a Crisis

 6. IMPROBABLE RESEARCH

 Improbable Research is all about making people laugh, and then think. A collection of real research described as “may be good or bad, important or trivial, valuable or worthless,” it’s an online manifestation of the popular Annals of Improbable Research, a publication mainly known for creating the Ig Nobel Awards, a parody of the Nobel Awards. A seriously fun look into the slightly crazy and often bewildering world of science, this blog is sure to captivate your curiosity and get you thinking about the value of scientific research and innovation.

 Our pick: ‘How aesthetically pleasing is your country’s diffraction pattern?’

 7. LAELAPS

 A blog presented by Scientific American, LAELAPS is written by critically-acclaimed scientific writer Brian Switek. A blog about evolution, extinction, and survival, LAELAP’s explores natural history with insights from fields such as anthropology, zoology, archaeology and palaeontology. If biological science is a keen area of interest, this blog has some great pieces of scientific literacy that bridge the gaps between complex concepts, and accessible and captivating stories.

 Our pick: The Secret of the Crocodile “Death Roll

 8. ANNALS OF BOTANY BLOG

 News and views on plant science and ecology, the blog is an offshoot of Annals of Botany, an online scientific, peer-reviewed journal that releases research once a month. This blog really gets into the nitty-gritty of plants, so its content is more suited to those who have a deep understanding and knowledge of botanical science. However, if you want to delve right into the world of botany, it does post some content that is accessible for all science lovers.

 Our pick: How do mangrove forests recover from cyclones

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 9. NewScientist

 NewScientist would have to be the most recognisable name in scientific publications to the mainstream. The magazine has been readily available on newsstands for years, and the publication’s success can be attributed to the way it features stories of real-world interest and relevance in a very accessible way, without ever ‘talking down’ to the audience.

 Note, NewScientist is protected by a paywall, so if you want to access all of its stories, you’ll need to make a small investment into quality science journalism.

 Our pick: Artificial whisky taster has the palate of a connoisseur

 10. NEUROLOGICAL

 Authored by academic clinical neurologist Steven Novella, MD, Neurologica covers neuroscience, scientific scepticism, philosophy, and the intersection of science and media. This blog delivers great insight into the brain and scientific news, issues and discoveries surrounding this topic, and is equal parts high-brow and approachable. Novella’s knowledge and expertise enable him to make some great thoughts, insights and opinions on a variety of subjects, from GMO’s to clickbait. A platform which broaches hot-topic issues found in mainstream media in a scientifically critical way, this really is a truly educational and eye-opening resource.

 Our pick: Localizing Executive Function (Addressing the complex challenges of identifying the specific part of your brain where a specific activity takes place)

 11. The Sciences

 Run by The Scientific American, The Sciences is a must-read, accessible take on science topics as far ranging as Mind, Health, Tech and Sustainability. The dedicated blog section, which is separate from the main site’s repurposing of its magazine content, features fascinating little tidbits, such as ‘how to hop on an Asteroid,’ which might not be information relevant to our day-to-day lives, but certainly inspires the imagination as only science can.

 Our pick: A Poetic, Mind-Bending Tour of the Fungal World

 12. MORTUI VIVOS DOCENT (MRS_ANGEMI)

 WARNING: This blog is not for the faint of heart as it contains graphic material some may find disturbing (and others might find captivating). Mortui Vivos Docent is an Instagram blog run by forensic pathologist Nicole Angemi. Featuring graphic images of autopsies, Angemi captions each image with a scientific insight into the gruesome world of human biology. Her expertise lies in identifying infections and diseases in the deceased, and her lengthy captions break down some very complex medical concepts into easy-to-understand snippets. She also frequently asks followers to guess the disease from an autopsy, and will later post a detailed answer of her analysis.

 13. CODING HORROR

 Created by software developer and entrepreneur Jeff Atwood, Coding Horror is one of the most well-known blogs in the computer programming community. Atwood states in his About Me that, “in the art of software development, studying code isn’t enough; you have to study the people behind the software, too.” With this in mind, Coding Horror’s undertakes an in-depth analysis of the minutiae of coding, and also of the people who created it. This two-pronged approach makes for a refreshing take on an otherwise technical topic. Perfect for both amateur and pro coder’s, this blog is an education in how to ‘geek out’, without losing your audience’s attention.

 Our pick: Electric Geek Transportation Systems (A closer look into electric cars)

 14. CLIMATE CONSENSUS – THE 97%

 Authored by John Abraham, a professor of thermal sciences, and environmental scientist Dana Nuccitell, this blog concentrates on climate and environmental science and discusses the public scepticism surrounding popular environmental topics. It is an interesting insight into the power of ‘expert consensus’. A must-read for those with a keen passion for climate science, Climate Consensus’ articles is both accessible and thought-provoking.

 Our pick: Oceans are as hot as humans have known them and we’re to blame

 15. WireD Science

 Wired is a general-interest online publication, covering technology issues for the most part. However, as the technology industry is driven by science, most people with an interest in technology are interested in science beyond the tech, and Wired’s science section is impressively robust. A lot of Wired’s science coverage has to do with technology issues (Elon Musk and Donald Trump feature prominently), but there is also plenty of fun, quirky stories.

 Our pick: Why a Tennis Ball Goes Flying When Bounced on a Basketball

 16. It’s okay to be smart

 You would think that the title of this blog goes without saying. But in this day and age, people do need the occasional reminder that intelligence is something to be admired. It’s Okay To Be Smart is the blog of a Ph.D. biologist, Joe Hanson, and is really focused on promoting the videos that he produces for various outlets. Each video is highly entertaining to watch and comes with all the production values that you’d expect to find of someone who is often on TV. It’s the perfect blog to keep an eye on and link to friends and family because often topics of interest to just about everyone will show up.

 Our video pick: Why Doesn’t the Atmosphere Crush Us?

 17. Space.com

 Very few fields of science inspire the masses quite like space does. The great frontier, only ever experienced by many of us through the lens of science fiction, is the very definition of exotic and wondrous, and in scientific terms, it’s also a playground for startling discoveries and revelations about the nature of everything in the universe (including us). Space.com is a wonderful resource for anyone interested in no-frills, clean, and accessible reporting about space.

 Our pick: Incredible time-lapse video shows 10 years of the sun’s history in 6 minutes

 Subscribing to your favourite science blogs

 A quick search in Google and you can generally find whatever information you need. But sometimes the mass and diversity of material on the Internet can be overwhelming. Blogs are a valuable resource that can give analytical insights into the people, inventions and discoveries driving scientific innovation. Macro or micro, the blogs in this list engage in discussions and topics that will continue to evolve and change throughout history. Up-to-date and topical science blogs are the future for scientific research, education and outreach, a future which is being built by the blogs mentioned above.

 Are you interested in or specifically searching for a type of analytical instruments? Be sure to contact the team at ATA Scientific to have your questions answered here.

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Thanks to the Internet, science has never been so accessible. Entire scientific communities now connect through social media, and science blogs have prospered and grown into rich platforms of discourse. On the Internet, experts and amateurs alike can come together to talk about the topics that interest them, and in doing so have created great educational spaces for anyone who wants to learn and discuss science. If you’re looking for some up-to-date scientific information, or just want to browse, have a look at this list we’ve compiled of the 17 best blogs currently posting about science.  1. IFL SCIENCE  Established by Elise Andrews in 2012, I F****** Love Science, or IFL Science, is “dedicated to bringing the amazing world of science straight to your newsfeed in an amusing and accessible way.” With a reputation for being one of the most important and entertaining scientific blogs currently out there, Andrews has been able to create a platform that is equal parts informative and fun. Featuring insights into a mix of scientific disciplines, the best part about this blog is science lovers of all ages and backgrounds can come together and share their love for science. The Facebook page posting daily links to IFL Science has over 25 million likes.  Our pick: The Mind-Blowing Story Of A Man Who Can’t See Numbers   2. CSIRO  The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is Australia’s national science agency. Established in 1916, the CSIRO has invented everything from modern-day WiFi, Aerogard and even extended-wear contact lenses. With such an innovative impact on both a national and global scale, it’s no surprise its blog is one of the most interesting scientific reads on the Internet. Covering a vast number of topics including farming, ocean studies, manufacturing and health, the CSIRO is a fantastic insight into some of the most fascinating scientific breakthroughs by Australian and international scientists. Our pick: AI relieves data drought for farmers   3. DR KARL KRUSZELNICKI  Featuring Kruszelnicki’s trademark humorous yet informative approach to science, this blog delves into some of the most complicated and frequently asked (but not so frequently answered in an accessible way) scientific questions. From the beautiful act of vomiting to the overwhelming-grand ‘how many cells in a person?’, Kruszelnicki seeks to entertain and educate in a laidback and educational manner that young and old Australians alike will love. For more of Dr Karl, you can also check out his Twitter, and tweet him any of your burning scientific questions. Our pick: Bacteria of champions (A look at how a gut microbiome can give a marathon runner an athletic advantage)  4. NAUTILUS  Nautilus “combines the science, culture and philosophy into a single story told by the world’s leading thinkers and writers.” Originally a magazine and online website, the Nautilus blog is an offshoot that provides daily musings, reflecting on our connection to science in our day-to-day lives. Science with a modern twist, this blog will appeal to those who are interested in questioning the humanity of science, and the scientists who drive innovation around the world. Don’t be mistaken in thinking this blog foregoes science in the name of philosophical musings – each of its pieces are thoroughly researched and very accessible for those who enjoy a little bit of light science reading. Our pick: How Ancient Light Reveals the Universe’s Contents   5. PLOS  The Public Library of Science is a non-profit organisation that provides a collection of scientific journals and literature open to the public. The PLOS blog network features content from PLOS staff and editors, as well as independent sources including science journalists and researchers. Blogs featured on the PLOS platform cover a wide range of topics like Biology Life Sciences, Medicine and Health, and Research Analysis and Scientific Policy. Catered towards the scientific community and those who have a thorough understanding of scientific concepts, this blog isn’t for everyone but is a great tool if you are an avid science enthusiast looking to find free resources and information on many topics. Our pick: On the Role of the Non-Expert in a Crisis   6. IMPROBABLE RESEARCH   Improbable Research is all about making people laugh, and then think. A collection of real research described as “may be good or bad, important or trivial, valuable or worthless,” it’s an online manifestation of the popular Annals of Improbable Research, a publication mainly known for creating the Ig Nobel Awards, a parody of the Nobel Awards. A seriously fun look into the slightly crazy and often bewildering world of science, this blog is sure to captivate your curiosity and get you thinking about the value of scientific research and innovation. Our pick: ‘How aesthetically pleasing is your country’s diffraction pattern?’  7. LAELAPS  A blog presented by Scientific American, LAELAPS is written by critically-acclaimed scientific writer Brian Switek. A blog about evolution, extinction, and survival, LAELAP’s explores natural history with insights from fields such as anthropology, zoology, archaeology and palaeontology. If biological science is a keen area of interest, this blog has some great pieces of scientific literacy that bridge the gaps between complex concepts, and accessible and captivating stories. Our pick: The Secret of the Crocodile “Death Roll   8. ANNALS OF BOTANY BLOG  News and views on plant science and ecology, the blog is an offshoot of Annals of Botany, an online scientific, peer-reviewed journal that releases research once a month. This blog really gets into the nitty-gritty of plants, so its content is more suited to those who have a deep understanding and knowledge of botanical science. However, if you want to delve right into the world of botany, it does post some content that is accessible for all science lovers. Our pick: How do mangrove forests recover from cyclones   9. NewScientist  NewScientist would have to be the most recognisable name in scientific publications to the mainstream. The magazine has been readily available on newsstands for years, and the publication’s success can be attributed to the way it features stories of real-world interest and relevance in a very accessible way, without ever ‘talking down’ to the audience. Note, NewScientist is protected by a paywall, so if you want to access all of its stories, you’ll need to make a small investment into quality science journalism. Our pick: Artificial whisky taster has the palate of a connoisseur   10. NEUROLOGICAL  Authored by academic clinical neurologist Steven Novella, MD, Neurologica covers neuroscience, scientific scepticism, philosophy, and the intersection of science and media. This blog delivers great insight into the brain and scientific news, issues and discoveries surrounding this topic, and is equal parts high-brow and approachable. Novella’s knowledge and expertise enable him to make some great thoughts, insights and opinions on a variety of subjects, from GMO’s to clickbait. A platform which broaches hot-topic issues found in mainstream media in a scientifically critical way, this really is a truly educational and eye-opening resource. Our pick: Localizing Executive Function (Addressing the complex challenges of identifying the specific part of your brain where a specific activity takes place)  11. The Sciences  Run by The Scientific American, The Sciences is a must-read, accessible take on science topics as far ranging as Mind, Health, Tech and Sustainability. The dedicated blog section, which is separate from the main site’s repurposing of its magazine content, features fascinating little tidbits, such as ‘how to hop on an Asteroid,’ which might not be information relevant to our day-to-day lives, but certainly inspires the imagination as only science can. Our pick: A Poetic, Mind-Bending Tour of the Fungal World   12. MORTUI VIVOS DOCENT (MRS_ANGEMI)   WARNING: This blog is not for the faint of heart as it contains graphic material some may find disturbing (and others might find captivating). Mortui Vivos Docent is an Instagram blog run by forensic pathologist Nicole Angemi. Featuring graphic images of autopsies, Angemi captions each image with a scientific insight into the gruesome world of human biology. Her expertise lies in identifying infections and diseases in the deceased, and her lengthy captions break down some very complex medical concepts into easy-to-understand snippets. She also frequently asks followers to guess the disease from an autopsy, and will later post a detailed answer of her analysis.  13. CODING HORROR  Created by software developer and entrepreneur Jeff Atwood, Coding Horror is one of the most well-known blogs in the computer programming community. Atwood states in his About Me that, “in the art of software development, studying code isn’t enough; you have to study the people behind the software, too.” With this in mind, Coding Horror’s undertakes an in-depth analysis of the minutiae of coding, and also of the people who created it. This two-pronged approach makes for a refreshing take on an otherwise technical topic. Perfect for both amateur and pro coder’s, this blog is an education in how to ‘geek out’, without losing your audience’s attention. Our pick: Electric Geek Transportation Systems (A closer look into electric cars)   14. CLIMATE CONSENSUS – THE 97%  Authored by John Abraham, a professor of thermal sciences, and environmental scientist Dana Nuccitell, this blog concentrates on climate and environmental science and discusses the public scepticism surrounding popular environmental topics. It is an interesting insight into the power of ‘expert consensus’. A must-read for those with a keen passion for climate science, Climate Consensus’ articles is both accessible and thought-provoking.  Our pick: Oceans are as hot as humans have known them and we’re to blame   15. WireD Science  Wired is a general-interest online publication, covering technology issues for the most part. However, as the technology industry is driven by science, most people with an interest in technology are interested in science beyond the tech, and Wired’s science section is impressively robust. A lot of Wired’s science coverage has to do with technology issues (Elon Musk and Donald Trump feature prominently), but there is also plenty of fun, quirky stories. Our pick: Why a Tennis Ball Goes Flying When Bounced on a Basketball   16. It’s okay to be smart  You would think that the title of this blog goes without saying. But in this day and age, people do need the occasional reminder that intelligence is something to be admired. It’s Okay To Be Smart is the blog of a Ph.D. biologist, Joe Hanson, and is really focused on promoting the videos that he produces for various outlets. Each video is highly entertaining to watch and comes with all the production values that you’d expect to find of someone who is often on TV. It’s the perfect blog to keep an eye on and link to friends and family because often topics of interest to just about everyone will show up. Our video pick: Why Doesn’t the Atmosphere Crush Us?   17. Space.com  Very few fields of science inspire the masses quite like space does. The great frontier, only ever experienced by many of us through the lens of science fiction, is the very definition of exotic and wondrous, and in scientific terms, it’s also a playground for startling discoveries and revelations about the nature of everything in the universe (including us). Space.com is a wonderful resource for anyone interested in no-frills, clean, and accessible reporting about space. Our pick: Incredible time-lapse video shows 10 years of the sun’s history in 6 minutes  Subscribing to your favourite science blogs A quick search in Google and you can generally find whatever information you need. But sometimes the mass and diversity of material on the Internet can be overwhelming. Blogs are a valuable resource that can give analytical insights into the people, inventions and discoveries driving scientific innovation. Macro or micro, the blogs in this list engage in discussions and topics that will continue to evolve and change throughout history. Up-to-date and topical science blogs are the future for scientific research, education and outreach, a future which is being built by the blogs mentioned above. Are you interested in or specifically searching for a type of analytical instruments? Be sure to contact the team at ATA Scientific to have your questions answered here.
17 SCIENCE BLOGS EVERYONE SHOULD FOLLOW - ATA Scientific
https://www.atascientific.com.au/17-science-blogs-everyone-should-follow/
https://www.iflscience.com/biontech-executive-says-its-likely-vaccinated-will-have-substantial-protection-against-omicron-61807
BioNTech Executive Says It's Likely Vaccinated Will Have "Substantial Protection" Against Omicron
2021-12-01T12:55:00Z
Rachael Funnell
<html><body><div><div><section><header><div><p><span>PUBLISHED</span><time></time></p></div><h2>BioNTech Executive Says It&#39;s Likely Vaccinated Will Have &#34;Substantial Protection&#34; Against Omicron</h2><div></div></header><figure><figcaption><p>In all the uncertainty one thing remains clear: vaccinated is safer than unvaccinated. Image credit: Vaggelis Kousioras / Shutterstock.com</p></figcaption></figure><article><div><p>The chief executive and founder of BioNTech, Ugur Sahin, has come forward with a more positive outlook on the developing Omicron COVID-19 outbreak. Having been at the helm of one of the most widely used COVID-19 vaccinations, formulated in collaboration with Pfizer, the executive believes that existing vaccines will still provide “substantial protection” against Omicron to those who have received them.</p>
<p>&#34;To my mind there&#39;s no reason to be particularly worried,” Sahin said to <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-biontech-boss-says-dont-freak-out-about-omicron-as-pfizer-vaccine-likely-to-protect-against-severe-disease-from-variant-12483481?dcmp=snt-sf-twitter&amp;fbclid=IwAR2QU4EOT20IdzkyWZrBmHjXKjzsYTtEzbuipdXbcQEKtxYHOIVNuT39pMo">Sky News</a>. &#34;The only thing that worries me at the moment is the fact that there are people that have not been vaccinated at all.&#34;</p>
<p>The new COVID-19 variant named Omicron has now been reported in Belgium, Canada, Germany, Israel, the Netherlands, the UK. While it was first detected in South Africa, the jury is still out as to its point of origin as there appears to be evidence that it may have come to the country from <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/omicron-variant-covid-in-europe-netherlands-before-alert-raised/">Europe</a>. South Africa was able to detect the variant thanks to its sophisticated <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-59442129">screening program</a>, something which makes the country especially well placed for detecting new COVID-19 strains.</p>
<p>Omicron has experts worried owing to its intimidating number of mutations, so far 50 of which have been discovered. Of those, 32 pertain to the spike protein which is COVID-19’s key to infecting human cells. As such, changes here are of particular concern in assessing whether immunity gleaned from vaccinations or previous infection with other variants will provide any protection against future infection.</p>
<p>On the other side of the fence, Stéphane Bancel, chief executive of Moderna, fears that existing vaccines <a href="https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/moderna-chief-casts-doubt-over-existing-shots-efficacy-against-omicron/">might not be</a> up to the task when it comes to combating Omicron.</p>
<p>“There is no world, I think, where [the effectiveness] is the same level... we had with [the] Delta [variant],” Bancel told the <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/27def1b9-b9c8-47a5-8e06-72e432e0838f">Financial Times</a>. “I think it’s going to be a material drop. I just don’t know how much because we need to wait for the data. But all the scientists I’ve talked to... are like, ‘This is not going to be good’.”</p>
<p>Further time is needed to get a clear picture of the developing situation, which Bancel believes will become apparent in the next two weeks. However, vaccination remains the overarching theme of expert advice, with the <a href="https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/omicron-variant-cdc-recommends-covid-boosters-for-18-and-overs/">CDC</a> recently suggesting that all people over 18 should now seek out a booster shot for the best protection against the emerging Omicron strain.</p>
<p>[H/T: <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-biontech-boss-says-dont-freak-out-about-omicron-as-pfizer-vaccine-likely-to-protect-against-severe-disease-from-variant-12483481?dcmp=snt-sf-twitter&amp;fbclid=IwAR2QU4EOT20IdzkyWZrBmHjXKjzsYTtEzbuipdXbcQEKtxYHOIVNuT39pMo">Sky News</a>]</p></div></article><div><hr/><div><h3>ARTICLE POSTED IN</h3></div></div></section><br/><div><header><h2>More Health and Medicine Stories</h2></header><div><div><p><span>8 hours ago</span></p><div><p><span></span><span>10</span></p></div></div><div><p><span>9 hours ago</span></p><div><p><span></span><span>11</span></p></div></div><div><p><span>10 hours ago</span></p><div><p><span></span><span>260</span></p></div></div></div></div></div></div></body></html>
PUBLISHED     BioNTech Executive Says It&#39;s Likely Vaccinated Will Have &#34;Substantial Protection&#34; Against Omicron      In all the uncertainty one thing remains clear: vaccinated is safer than unvaccinated. Image credit: Vaggelis Kousioras / Shutterstock.com     The chief executive and founder of BioNTech, Ugur Sahin, has come forward with a more positive outlook on the developing Omicron COVID-19 outbreak. Having been at the helm of one of the most widely used COVID-19 vaccinations, formulated in collaboration with Pfizer, the executive believes that existing vaccines will still provide “substantial protection” against Omicron to those who have received them.
&#34;To my mind there&#39;s no reason to be particularly worried,” Sahin said to Sky News. &#34;The only thing that worries me at the moment is the fact that there are people that have not been vaccinated at all.&#34;
The new COVID-19 variant named Omicron has now been reported in Belgium, Canada, Germany, Israel, the Netherlands, the UK. While it was first detected in South Africa, the jury is still out as to its point of origin as there appears to be evidence that it may have come to the country from Europe. South Africa was able to detect the variant thanks to its sophisticated screening program, something which makes the country especially well placed for detecting new COVID-19 strains.
Omicron has experts worried owing to its intimidating number of mutations, so far 50 of which have been discovered. Of those, 32 pertain to the spike protein which is COVID-19’s key to infecting human cells. As such, changes here are of particular concern in assessing whether immunity gleaned from vaccinations or previous infection with other variants will provide any protection against future infection.
On the other side of the fence, Stéphane Bancel, chief executive of Moderna, fears that existing vaccines might not be up to the task when it comes to combating Omicron.
“There is no world, I think, where [the effectiveness] is the same level... we had with [the] Delta [variant],” Bancel told the Financial Times. “I think it’s going to be a material drop. I just don’t know how much because we need to wait for the data. But all the scientists I’ve talked to... are like, ‘This is not going to be good’.”
Further time is needed to get a clear picture of the developing situation, which Bancel believes will become apparent in the next two weeks. However, vaccination remains the overarching theme of expert advice, with the CDC recently suggesting that all people over 18 should now seek out a booster shot for the best protection against the emerging Omicron strain.
[H/T: Sky News]      ARTICLE POSTED IN       More Health and Medicine Stories     8 hours ago      10      9 hours ago      11      10 hours ago      260
BioNTech Executive Says It's Likely Vaccinated Will Have "Substantial Protection" Against Omicron
https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/biontech-executive-says-its-likely-vaccinated-will-have-substantial-protection-against-omicron/