A lot of the advice given in this chapter abotu writing headlines and evaluating staff is common sense. Use spell check, leave out unnecessary words in a headline and avoid corniness of headlines are things that all journalists should know. Evaluating staff is part of the people skills one should have as an editor.

A lot of the advice given in this chapter abotu writing headlines and evaluating staff is common sense. Use spell check, leave out unnecessary words in a headline and avoid corniness of headlines are things that all journalists should know. Evaluating staff is part of the people skills one should have as an editor.

- The Trolls Among Us

This article was enlightening and horrifying at the same time. I had no clue that any of the incidents discussed in this article were going on and am a bit disturbed to find out that they things like this really happen. It seemed like some strange fairy tale when I read the information but I realize that there are places out there where these things really do occur.

I included the quote above because I felt that it describes the article and Fortuny's belief in the whole system of trolls. It's funny how he seems to blame this all on the innocent victims. He seems to say, "well people shouldn't take things so personally and just let it roll off their backs." How can anyone say this though while they know they're provoking others to do harmful things to themselves and other people? The best way I felt it was described was as a big game. To these trolls, the internet is one big game with hurtful effects. What really bothers me is that people, like Fortuny and Weev, waste their time, and spend countless hours and energy simply to ruin others' lives. They seem to only want to wreak havoc on innocent people who are trying to take advantage of the positive aspects of the Internet with things like faster communication and better and faster information.

As I began to think about this personally, and to imagine if something like this would happen to me I started to feel frustrated. In my personal situation, I don't have much experience with the Internet. Yet, those trolls out there would be able to take advantage of me and twist and turn information to try to harm me for no apparent reason. However, as I began fighting this argument in my head, I decided that the reason these trolls do things the way they do is because they do things behind the protection of the faceless internet and not face to face. But in truth, I realized what Schwartz stated at the end of the article; that trolls, in reality, are not that big of a problem.

"To say that trolls pose a threat to the internet at this point is like saying that crows pose a threat to farming."

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What hit me hardest is the fact that in a few short months, I will be students teaching at a high school in the area. This article was an awakening to me and caused me to ask myself if my Facebook profile was how I want to be represented to other people. Being a teacher means being a role model. It doesn't mean hanging out at the bars until 2 am or doing stupid things where your students, or better yet your students parents, can see you. After reading the article I went and looked at my Facebook account and honestly, there are things that I wouldn't want my students to see about me. Not that there is anything bad, but there are things that just aren't very professional.

This brings in the discussion that I addressed in my last blog entry about professionalism. We will all face it when we enter the real world and leave the fantasy of college. How do we want to be seen by others. As a joke? Or as a professional?

Other comments

We were out doing a TV shoot for a show on Health Care Careers that will air in September, and during some down time, Physican Assistant (and Associate Professor at Seton Hill University) Richard Hutchinson and I got to talk about my Take Care! book and concept.

Through his job, he sees the medical fallout of caregiving.

He told me that if he could offer caregivers a ten minute tip, it would be to use that time to get on the phone and schedule an important appointment for themselves.

(Beginning August 18th, 2008 - September 15th, 2008)

GET 20% OFF YOUR TEXTBOOKS!!!

Duties include but are not limited to:

Running a register
Providing customer service
Stocking shelves
Maintaining a clean sales floor

Saturdays are required, as well as football games, and some Sundays. Nebraska Book Company is an equal opportunity employer.

If interested please apply online at:

http://www.nebook.jobs/

Enter 15601 zip code and click on Sales Associate PA-Greensburg and fill out the application.

Michael has been to six interviews in the past two months. He has been runner-up for a couple of the jobs but has received no solid offers.

These are competitive times, and rejection can be expected. Competition for jobs is keen. It is important, however, to do everything possible to sell yourself by preparing for the interview. Start thinking of yourself as a product and presenting what you have to offer the company.

Can you imagine giving a performance without some practice and preparation? Winging the interview in today's market is a big mistake. Preparation will make you feel more confident and less anxious.

Fear of Rejection

Because of the number of interviews with no offer, Michael feels defeated, and it is beginning to affect his self-esteem.

Such rejection hurts, but try not to take it personally. There are so many factors that could be affecting the offer that it is impossible to say what is happening. There may be internal candidates, relatives promised jobs, a competitor who is a perfect match for the position, a lack of chemistry or a mismatch in salary needs.

Forgive me if I sound harsh, but if your skill set is basically HTML and CSS, then I think you are worth maybe twelve bucks an hour. HTML and CSS are extremely simple languages anyone can learn in a weekend by picking up a good book or two. These are not particularly valuable skills. The same can be said for Photoshop, Dreamweaver, and just about any other piece of software or spec you can name.

So what is valuable? Judgement. Logic. Creativity. Ability to learn quickly. Ability to work under pressure. Experience. Empathy. Design theory. Design history. Opinions. Decisions. And so on. I’d like to think that a good 80% of what my employer pays me for is for these things. Hopefully only a small percentage of my salary is because I know CSS and Photoshop.

If you’re a student aspiring toward a career in Web design, I think it would be prudent to reassess your current education or degree plan to ensure that you’re actually employable by the time you leave school. From my observations, the vast majority of students emerging from university, design school, and trade school lack fundamental skills and understanding necessary for the Web design professions (in all forms: experience design, interaction design, marketing design, communication design, information design, etc…).

Surely in large part this is the fault of our education institutions and the people who run them. These institutions are large, lumbering, and despite their liberal façade they generally have contempt for new ideas and information. So change occurs slowly in colleges and universities. There is good and bad that comes with this trait, but the result is that as professional requirements change—and they change rapidly in the constantly evolving eWorld—colleges and universities become less and less effective at preparing students for their careers.

Now more than ever, it is a student’s responsibility to craft his or her own career preparedness in addition to, even in spite of, the plans and curricula defined by schools.

Welcome to the Journalist side of HelpAReporter.com. This site is very simple: Simply enter your query into the form below. It will get posted on the next mailing of HelpAReporter.com, usually within a few hours. (Queries go out a few times a day.) If you plan on using us as a resource, you may want to bookmark this page now.

When: Aug. 18-22, 2008 Details: Basic training for entry-level editorial staffers and staffers-to-be. Speakers: Will include seasoned journalists and industry experts. Cost : TBD (Includes tuition, daily continental breakfast, daily lunch. Cost does not include lodging and some meals.) Registration: E-mail or call Bev Hendry, (717) 703-3003. Space is limited to 15 participants. Registration deadline is August 4.

Start Date: End Date: Monday, August 18 2008 Friday, August 22 2008 Address: PNA Headquarters 3899 North Front Street Harrisburg, PA 17110