May 2022 – Xhimbapoku

How to make a blog post

A good blog post is one that is thought-provoking, and one that a reader would want to continue reading. A typical blog post writing process involves brainstorming what to write about, identifying the keyword, defining the audience and writing an engaging post. Planning the type of content to write about including how to write it determines how compelling a blog post can be. Therefore, a person intending to create blog posts should develop a habit of planning or creating an outline before they write the post. However, there are other things that one needs to consider to come up with captivating content.

Introduction matters when it comes to creating a blog post because it is the part where one introduces the focus of their post. A good introductory paragraph draws attention of the reader by providing a hook, background information, and a brief highlight of what is included in the body. As one writes the content, from the introduction to the conclusion, they should ensure they write concisely and coherently and ensure the points flow in a manner that the reader understands whatever message they are conveying. When the information is understandable and clear, whoever reading it is less likely to get bored reading it.

A writer understands what the audience wants to read, and this underscores the need for anyone writing the blog post to be aware of the informational needs of the audience. Whereas some readers may be interested in learning about different types of birds, for instance, some may want to know areas where specific species of birds can be found. Exploring the needs of the audience provides a way for nurses to create posts that the audience can identify with. The stats regarding the post engagement can be resourceful in informing a writer about posts that most readers like. Consequently, they can use this information to make decisions on topics they can write about.

Although building a compelling blog often entails choosing a topic that the audience is likely to relate with, a writer should emphasize planning before embarking on writing the post. The correct use of the transition goes a long way in helping create content that the reader would want to read. Reading extensively about a subject is another way of ensuring that one creates content that is comprehensive and interesting. What matters most when writing a blog post, however, is the passion one has because passion motivates a writer to write something that they would be interested in reading.

News

News informs people issues and events that are happening around them and those that happen in other parts of the world, and this is why it is important for reporters and journalists to write news that is informative as well as captivating. Writing informative news articles and report requires both writing skills and knowledge because one can have writing skills but still fail to get it when it comes to organizing the news content. Conversely, knowing how to organize the news content without being a skilled writer can lead to a scenario where one writes poor news report that is less informative.

For anyone who wants to write worthy news story, adhering to certain standards that guide news writing and reporting is crucial because it helps them know how to start and how to phrase their sentences. News would most likely be a report or a story about a recent or current event, and before one starts to write, the first thing they should do is to identify and select a newsworthy topic about a recent incident. The issue one intends to write about should be something that readers might be interested in. For instance, readers may want to know about how they can protect themselves during a period of bad weather if the met forecast that the weather might be bad.

Proper use of quotations, facts, and researched information is necessary for one to create a compelling news article. A good news writer properly uses these elements when writing news stories, and when researching information or facts, one should cross-check with other sources of information just to be sure whatever information they are using is factual. The use of quotations is important because it identifies the people at the center of an incident or those who witnessed it happening. When quoting spoken words or statements, the writer should adhere to the proper language vocabulary standards.

To reiterate what has been written, a person intending to write news stories should ensure they have the skills and knowledge that are appropriate for creating newsworthy content. In addition, they should be aware of the best practices in writing informative news articles. Some of these practices include selecting a topic that is worth reporting about, and using language elements such as quotations. Furthermore, there is need for the writer to use research and facts when writing the article because facts can increase the credibility of the news report.

Green Cloud Computing

Cloud computing is a broader subject that encompasses a wide range of operations including hosting of certain computer servers. One of the areas that have emerged out of the cloud computing is the green cloud computing. Sustainability of the cloud computing is a matter that cloud engineers need to consider when developing the cloud infrastructure. Countries are moving towards the use of energy efficient technologies because the overreliance on the energy derived from carbon sources including fossil is not only unsustainable but it is also threatening the ecological systems. As more customers become environmentally conscious, they will want to do business with businesses that prioritize sustainability.

Cloud computing requires a significant amount of energy for it to operate effectively, and this underscores the need make the technology energy efficient. Efficient power practices can help cloud companies spend less on energy because spending too much on energy can affect a company’s financial bottom-line. Generation of the energy from the renewable sources including solar and wind is becoming more and more important now that scientists have been warning about the growing global temperatures.

As businesses move to cloud computing, they need to prioritize cutting down their carbon imprint. Adopting power management practices that are efficient is one of the measures businesses can pursue to help reduce negative environmental consequences linked to poor power management practices. For example, it can have a carbon-conscious cloud provider host its services. Optimization of the company’s cloud environment is also a practice that can put a company to the path of reducing energy costs. In order to know how well these practices are contributing to improving energy efficiency, businesses need to have proper energy measurement frameworks to identify how much energy they are consuming.

Effective green clouding practices requires collaboration of the companies that offer cloud services, the vendors of the IT systems, and the businesses that use the cloud services. To succeed in coming up with effective green solutions, cloud service providers should constantly conduct research potent methods that can reduce the amount of energy used by the cloud systems. Cloud companies should focus on investing on wind power and other green energy to avert environmental calamities that might be triggered by the surging global temperatures.

Governments can also play an important role in pushing for the shift towards the adoption of the green energy solutions in the cloud computing industry. The government may reduce tax on cloud products that are energy efficient to fast-track the development green cloud computing landscape.

Making Money by blogging

Have you ever thought about how one can earn money from blogging? You are not alone because there are many people who would want to know how they can generate money from their blogs. Almost everyone has a story to tell or information to share. One can give personal account of what they experienced, or share the information about the things they learned. Whichever story one chooses to tell, they can share it on their blogs and generate money. When blogging, creating content is one thing and earning money from the content that one has created is the other thing.

There are numerous options for anyone who wants to mint money using their blog, and one of these options is affiliate marketing. With this kind of marketing, the person running a blog, places an ad that directs the blog visitors to a different site owned by a company that pays the blogger for offering advertisement services. However, the amount of money that one can make using this method depends on the number of visits as well as the click through rate.

Selling an ad space is also an option for those who have interest in earning some income from their blog. Some companies may reach out to a blog owner to promote their products especially if the blog receives a big traffic. However, one may have to personally approach businesses they feel want to have their products or services advertised.

If a person is offering certain services or if they have the products they want to sell, they can advertise them on their blog. If one manages to create a following by sharing stories or by creating content that readers may find interesting, they can take advantage of this by advertising their services such as writing services. For this to work as a money generation scheme, one needs to have the right audience, and advertise services to the right people. For example, it makes no sense to advertise fridge repair services to students.

There are other methods that one can use to make money as a blogger, and what one needs to do is to find what can work for them because what works for one person might not work for another person. Before a blogger thinks of making money, they should first take time to build their blog by creating content. Having adequate and captivating content will give the audience the reason to visit the blog.

The use of Podcasts to report News

The use of podcasts to report news is the latest trend in news reporting. Initially, people used podcasts to share their message with others but with time, podcasting has become popular with educators using it classroom, and news reporters using it as a tool for reporting. The BBC is one of the global media companies that are taking advantage of the power of the podcasts to expand its reach, and provide news to thousands of individuals across various parts of the world. The use of the podcast to report news provides various benefits to the news reporter, and to the news consumers.

The podcast boom especially in the media arena is driving the change in the way people consume news. Podcasting brings an element of convenience into the business of news reporting, and even if one does not have access to the television or radio, they can still access news anywhere they are as long as they have access to the internet. One can even download the podcast and listen to it later. The mainstream media has a history of bias reporting. Podcasts eliminate this problem because with podcasts, experts comprehensively give their opinions about reported issue. Therefore, podcast provides the means for one to receive reliable news as well as comprehensive information about a news topic.

Despite the benefits that the podcasts provide, using podcasts as a means of conveying news can disadvantage some listeners especially the people without access to the internet. Podcasting as a means of sharing news, therefore, may be infective where internet access is restricted or is limited. For this reason, it can be a challenge for one to find the right audience. This can also be a challenge considering that podcasts are still not popular with majority of people who listen to news. Therefore, a media company may not be able to reach more people as it may want to.

Despite the issues with podcasting, the use of the podcasts to report news is emerging as an effective method to report news and share with the audience candid talk about an event or an issue. As much as podcasts are still unpopular, their popularity is slated to grow as more personalities such as former president Barrack Obama continue to use podcasts. As more people learn about podcast, there is a chance that an increasing number of consumers of news will embrace it. News reporters will also continue leveraging the podcasts to report news.

Digital technology

The advent of the first computer in 1832 marked an important event in the history of the digital technology because it ushered in an era of digital technology revolution. From 1833 onwards, there were new developments in computer technology which were instrumental in further spurring the growth of the digital technology. The invention of the transistor in 1948 and the advent of the LED display led to rapid development of the digital technologies. The contemporary digital technology is more advanced than it was four decades ago because it is more compact, efficient and effective in terms of how it can be used and applied.

One can give examples of the different forms of digital technologies without running out of options because these technologies have become part of our daily lives, and we use them in different tasks. The gadgets we use to communicate, ranging from the phones and computers to the modems, are all digital technologies. Other examples include the curved television screens in our living rooms, and the digital security cameras used for security purposes in homes and businesses. Given that the advancement of technology is ongoing process, the recent innovations include virtual reality technology and biometric security systems.

The application and use of the digital technology is seen in various sectors including education and healthcare. In education, for instance, institutions offer e-learning programs where students can learn from remote locations. The Grand Canyon University is one of the institutions that leverage the power of the digital technology to build online programs so that more students can get the opportunity to study. Recently, more hospitals have been embracing telemedicine so that they can reach more people who are in need of health services. Because telemedicine integrates digital platform that allows providers to remotely communicate with patients, digital technology is becoming a powerful tool for advancing healthcare objectives.

Given the developments that we have seen taking place previously in the area of the digital technology, the future of the technology is promising, and we should expect unprecedented future digital transformation. More businesses are projected to shift towards intelligence operations in order to be in constant contact with the consumers, and improve their service delivery. As the internet speeds grow, the delay in the processing of data including the undesirable outcomes associated with it such as poor customer satisfaction will be a thing of the past. However, these outcomes will depend on how fast digital technology develops, and how fast businesses embrace it to optimize their services.

American music

In 1960s and 1970s, the American music scene was dominated by the Soul and Jazz music. With other music genres including hip hop coming up, the music scene began changing, and today, the American music landscape has significantly changed. Most people would probably agree with the fact that the quality of the music content that artists are producing nowadays is not as good as the 90s music. Hip hop has historically been used by artists as a tool for highlighting social injustice, and in 90s, artists such as Tupac sung with passion often bringing to the fore the struggles of the minorities and the poor.

The ability of the 90s artists to infuse the styles their predecessors used before primarily played a role in these artists producing good music. The traditional music including folk, jazz and blues gave rise to the R&B because artists would always borrow the rhythm of these sounds to create good songs. During the 80s and 90s, the society strictly enforced family values, and there were times when artists received condemnation for using explicit lyrics in their songs. This probably shaped how artists made music content. When NWA began releasing songs, their popularity grew especially among youthful minorities some of whom were victims of police profiling.

The American music landscape in the 90s was largely diverse with artists such as Dido producing pop music to Usher releasing R&B songs. Musicians such as Destiny’s Child became popular for releasing songs such as Say my Name. The diversity and versatility of the music during 90s is what makes the 90s music good to the ear. In contrast to the 90s, the contemporary music scene is chaotic, just to say the least. The emergence of the “mumble rappers” has watered down the quality of the rap music. Artists of other genres of music including pop have disappeared from the music scene, and not many American artists produce good songs like artists used to twenty years ago.

It appears the era of the good music is long gone, and for those of us who grew up in 90s, we can only look back and appreciate how 90s music kept us entertained. The legacy of this music will last forever, and even though the contemporary artists have been producing and releasing some good songs, what we have today cannot match the 90s music. Therefore, this is a challenge to artists and producers to put in efforts to produce good songs because as music listeners, we yearn for good music.

Life in Africa

Africa has had numerous conflicts that have often caused human suffering, and currently, organized terrorism is threatening peace and security on the continent. Poverty has compounded to the human suffering because millions of people on the continent cannot access food due to persistent draught. You have probably seen the images of African children crying with flies on their face, or drinking dirty water from the same pond with animals. Although Africa has had its fair share of problems such as the Rwandan genocide, there are great things that are happening on the continent, some of which go unreported.

In reporting what comes from Africa, the western media has always focused on the negatives, often overlooking the positive aspects of Africa. Peddling the distorted narrative about the continent has led to a situation in which majority of westerners perceive the continent as a desolate place or a place of hopelessness. While terrorism and poverty are major issues in Africa, these issues are not as widespread as they are depicted in the western media. Some of us who have had the opportunity to travel to Africa understand the fact that the way the continent is represented on the media is in sharp contrast to what Africa is actually is.

With a total of 54 countries, Africa has managed to grow socially, economically and politically because it home to the fastest growing economies. The investment on infrastructure has tremendously improved across Africa, and this has spurred trade and development. Today, tens of millions of Africans are connected to the national grid because some African governments such as the Kenyan government have stepped up efforts to increase their investment on the green energy solutions. In Nigeria, the number of the tech startups is increasing while in South Africa, medical tourism is growing. The mobile money is also big on the continent, and this is aided by access to cellphones.

Reporting negative things about the continent can scare aware people who may want to invest on the continent. It may also cause some people in the western countries to shy away from experiencing the beauty the continent has to offer. Therefore, there is need for the media in the west to showcase positive things that are coming out of the continent. Africa has demonstrated that it can be a powerful player in pursuing an agenda that benefits human kind. The media or the news companies can help shift the narrative, and portray the continent in a positive light.

How technology affects human life

The internet technology is shaping how we consume, move, work, socialize and communicate, and from early 1990s when the internet first went public to the present date, the world has seen tremendous development of the cyberspace technology landscape. Currently, people can order food and products using mobile apps on their phones. They can equally use some of these apps to transfer or receive funds, and share information. As much as the technology has played a significant role in easing how we do certain things, it has its own share of imperfections.

The compulsive need to use the internet or internet addiction, as it is popularly known, is becoming a serious problem considering that millions of internet users spend a considerable amount of time hooked on social media platforms. The more time people spend on these platforms, the more they become unproductive, and in a workplace environment, paying workers who spend a significant amount of their time at work on social media, can have negative effect on the company’s financial bottom-line. It may also result to missed targets and decline in customer satisfaction. A country that is competing economically, and that has a significant number of its populace hooked to the internet, may fail to achieve its growth targets, and economically lag behind others.

The overuse of the internet can have numerous serious health implications ranging from weight-related health issues to mental health problems. Using internet for longer hours is associated with physical inactivity which can cause one to gain weight. Considering the health risks linked to obesity, spending too much time poses health risks. The effect on the mental health can also be serious given that spending too much time browsing the social media sites until late hours into the night can interfere with one’s sleep, and cause anxiety. Furthermore, the feeling of inadequacy may result if a person excessively uses the social media because when they see others doing better or looking more attractive than they are, they may begin to feel inferior. This can have a toll on one’s mental health.

Looking back three decades back and reflecting on where we are as a human race, there is no doubt we have managed to make significant progress in terms of advancing technological landscape. Unfortunately, the same technology we have developed to help us solve problems is creating new problems such as the rise in obesity-based illnesses. Humans can however build on the previous experiences and successes to come up with ideas that solve the new issues that are emerging out of the technology.

The impact of technology on businesses

Trade has been part of human societies for centuries, and even before the advent of money, people exchanged goods with goods using barter trade method. With the introduction of money, the bartering method was faced out, as people embraced money as a tool for trade. Although the introduction of money eased the way people transacted, the discovery of the internet is perhaps one of the events that have had a profound impact on trade. Because of the power of the internet, one can provide services from remote locations, and receive funds paid via mobile banking apps such as Chase.

The e-business landscape has rapidly developed, and the internet has largely been responsible for this growth. Amazon’s success story can be attributed to the progressive development of the internet technology because when the company started in 1994, as an online marketplace for books, the World Wide Web (WWW) began. As the internet technology further developed, and more people began accessing internet-enabled devices, the population of internet users grew. Online marketplaces became common with companies developing websites to advertise and sell their products. These progressive changes have culminated into the growth of the popularity of the online retail sites, and some businesses are shifting from the brick and motor business setup to selling online.

The social media platforms are playing a significant role in connecting businesses with consumers. Thanks to increased internet penetration. Businesses can advertise their products on platforms such as Facebook to create product awareness, and inform potential customers where they can purchase their products. These platforms, still, provide avenues where sellers can receive feedback from their customers, and also provide information to customers about the products. The close contact between sellers and buyers brought by the social media ensures businesses constantly receive feedback, and work on this information to add value to their services and products.

The doo-to-door delivery is the next frontier of business innovation, and already, businesses are delivering goods directly to consumers. The internet is playing a crucial role in this area because people can place orders on businesses’ websites, and businesses can use deliver using technologies such as drones and robots. Amazon is an example of the companies that are delivering products using drones. Because customers want to experience better services, those involved in developing technology solutions need to come up with new methods that can make it possible for customers to know or track the status of their deliveries. This is an opportunity that those intending to venture into e-business should consider.