You made it! Thanks for visiting.
I thought about writing an article about plagarism, then I decided I would first see if I could copy it from someone else.
HA! That was supposed to be funny ... or maybe just sad.
There is a recent report from the BBC saying that the Internet has made copying sources easier. Furthermore, the professor quoted in the story says that the new generation of students see nothing wrong with copying material found online.
We live in a world where we expect things to improve and evolve, like finding cures for fatal diseases, building structures to withstand the fiercest storms and attempting to select a new singer for the band INXS. Yet, despite all of these advances (OK, INXS' original singer wasn't bad), the majority of people on the highway still have no freakin' clue how to drive.
The recent buzz on the news wire is that there's a clause in the MySpace agreement that allows the social networking site a royalty-free, worldwide licence to publicly display posted content.
My reaction, along with the most obvious reaction to this, is simply "Duh."
It's not every day that a highly acclaimed author specifically asks for your signature. And no, I wasn't just signing a check for one of his excellent books.
Palahniuk was in Louisville on June 8 during a book tour for his latest book, "Haunted." You may not recognize the name, but you may know him as the author of "Fight Club." Many of his other works are also in the middle of movie deals, including my favorite, "Choke."
It's mildly amusing to me how people -- the media, your next-door neighbor, the waving chicken mascot on the corner of your street -- will make it a point to remind you how right they were about something they predicted. Maybe they picked Florida to win the men's NCAA basketball championship, or maybe they picked Taylor to win "American Idol." But it's interesting to note how hardly anyone reminds you about a wrong prediction.
One of the toughest things I have found as a new novelist is finding objective reviews. It seems that most friends and family members, as truthful as they may be, have insider information that makes it difficult to be unbiased. While I have received a few great reviews from people I did not know, I haven't received a large amount of bad ones. Which might be good, but then again, who wants to review a bad book?
With the presidential election nearing faster than teenage girls swarming the New Kids on the Block, it's time to make a decision. But why bother going to the polls when there are so many more interesting things going on, like National Fig Week? That's why I've put together for you Ben's Grab Bag of Political Information.
Even though it might be after Dec. 25 by the time you read this, it is still not too late to make that last shopping run. This year, especially if you live in the Midwest, your excuse will work even better:
"I ordered your present online, and it hasn't arrived yet."
That simple sentence should give you at least an additional week to make purchases. And with the 236 inches of snow some areas have received, there's no telling when a present, even ordered after Lincoln's birthday, will appear.
Things seem to be getting more hectic as each year passes. I suspect some day, we'll have 26 hours in a day, but until that happens, we'll have to settle with getting everything imaginable taken care of in a normal day. As for me, I have a few new projects going, which is why I haven't had as much time lately to write articles and respond to comments. Have no fear! In 2009, you'll see plenty on this site, including the following:
I don't completely agree with the old adage "any press is good press," but I will say that it is true about 99 percent of the time. Being featured on Business Insider, which is one of the most prominent tech news sites on the Internet, can never be a bad thing, right?