Language is humanity's most spectacular open-source project, and the internet is making our language change faster and in more interesting ways than ever before. Internet conversations are structured by the shape of our apps and platforms, from the grammar of status updates to the protocols of comments and @replies. Linguistically inventive online communities spread new slang and jargon with dizzying speed. What's more, social media is a vast laboratory of unedited, unfiltered words where we can watch language evolve in real time.Even the most absurd-looking slang has genuine patterns behind it. Internet linguist Gretchen McCulloch explores the deep forces that shape human language and influence the way we communicate with one another. She explains how your first social internet experience influences whether you prefer "LOL" or "lol," why ~sparkly tildes~ succeeded where centuries of proposals for irony punctuation had failed, what emoji have in common with physical gestures, and how the artfully disarrayed language of animal memes like lolcats and doggo made them more likely to spread.Because Internet is essential reading for anyone who's ever puzzled over how to punctuate a text message or wondered where memes come from. It's the perfect book for understanding how the internet is changing the English language, why that's a good thing, and what our online interactions reveal about who we are.

    With the officiating trend on the rise, novice officiants need a resource to guide them. In The Wedding Officiant's Guide, interfaith minister Lisa Francesca breaks down the entire officiating process, from becoming an ordained officiant and interviewing the couple to drafting and performing a moving ceremony. Written in an engaging and friendly tone, and featuring empowering advice, suggested readings, stories and lessons learned from new officiants, and practical tips from wedding planners, this inviting handbook will help new officiants write and deliver a wedding ceremony that fulfills marriage laws, delights guests, and honors the marrying couple.

    She’ll reveal in a humorous, yet effective, manner how she keeps her focus and has managed to publish one or two stories each month consistently for over five years. In this easy-to-read book, you’ll learn to retrain how you think and new habits to help you become productive in a few simple ways by: Identifying Your Problem Making a Plan Being Accountable Staying Focused Sticking to a Schedule Staying Productive Using short exercises in each section, you will begin to understand how to put into practice what you’ll learn in this book. **This is a quick and effective 12,000-word guide meant to cut through the fat and get straight to the meat so you can get back to writing!**

    And everybody who has read it will agree that reports of the book’s death have been greatly exaggerated.”―Erik Spiekermann, typographerWe may love books, but do we know what lies behind them? In The Book, Keith Houston reveals that the paper, ink, thread, glue, and board from which a book is made tell as rich a story as the words on its pages―of civilizations, empires, human ingenuity, and madness. In an invitingly tactile history of this 2,000-year-old medium, Houston follows the development of writing, printing, the art of illustrations, and binding to show how we have moved from cuneiform tablets and papyrus scrolls to the hardcovers and paperbacks of today. Sure to delight book lovers of all stripes with its lush, full-color illustrations, The Book gives us the momentous and surprising history behind humanity’s most important―and universal―information technology.71 color illustrations

    But if those dreams don’t come true according to schedule—or they do but don’t meet expectations—what then?Marian Jordan (Wilderness Skills for Women) says there’s a better list to live by, a God-honoring, in-the-moment set of priorities that makes every season of life beautiful however long it may last. The biblical aspirations she prescribes and enthusiastically elaborates on are to Shine, Hope, Pursue Beauty, Seek First, and Dance. If a girl can embrace this list above all else, she may find herself already in the midst of her happily ever after.

    From well-known rhymes such as the popular 'Thirty days hath September, April, June and November', memorable sayings including 'Spring forward, fall back', and mnemonics such as 'Richard of York Gave Battle in Vain', to a selection of more modern methods of boosting one's failing memory. I Before E is the definitive guide to help you to unjumble your mind and improve your ability to recall names, dates, facts, figures and events, and contains all the mnemonics you'll ever need to know.

    It is essentially a conversation among hundreds of women of all nationalities—famous, anonymous, religious, secular, married, single, young, old—on the subject of clothing, and how the garments we put on every day define and shape our lives. It began with a survey. The editors composed a list of more than fifty questions designed to prompt women to think more deeply about their personal style. Writers, activists, and artists including Cindy Sherman, Kim Gordon, Kalpona Akter, Sarah Nicole Prickett, Tavi Gevinson, Miranda July, Roxane Gay, Lena Dunham, and Molly Ringwald answered these questions with photographs, interviews, personal testimonies, and illustrations. Even our most basic clothing choices can give us confidence, show the connection between our appearance and our habits of mind, express our values and our politics, bond us with our friends, or function as armor or disguise. They are the tools we use to reinvent ourselves and to transform how others see us. Women in Clothes embraces the complexity of women’s style decisions, revealing the sometimes funny, sometimes strange, always thoughtful impulses that influence our daily ritual of getting dressed.

    No two bucket lists are the same, but each list has the same ultimate goal—to make the list maker feel like they are doing something useful with their life instead of just sitting around, writing lists, and watching Morgan Freeman movies. Dom had seen some of those lists and they looked so difficult that he wondered whether dying would be a better option than actually ticking off the items. "I am a paid-up life-member of a place called the comfort zone. People always go on about the importance of getting out of your comfort zone. Not me. Any day I can stay inside it is a good day. All of which makes it a bit odd that I decided to complete a bucket list of my own. Not just any bucket list though. This is a reverse bucket list—a bunch of stuff that I could have happily passed away without ever doing—stuff like getting a tattoo I'd instantly regret, arm wrestling a professional rugby player, and being the model for a life drawing class—and I recruited some of my closest family and friends to compile it for me. In hindsight, this was a bad idea. But here it is—my pain, discomfort, and humiliation for your pleasure."

    

    This 12-hour free course examined the Holocaust, historical arguments surrounding it, whether it is unique and why it happened as and when it did.

    It is not a novel; instead, it is a rallying cry and a battle plan for constitutional conservatives who feel outnumbered and outgunned by a liberal establishment that wants to make them extinct and Republican moderates who are more than happy to lose if it means they keep getting invitations to all the right parties. Conservative Insurgency lays out the history of this struggle from the point of view of various participants as America inaugurates a new president and fully re-commits to the conservative vision of the Founders. The testimonies of the characters – politicians, academics, activist, soldiers and even a gender-indefinite performance artist who finds that liberalism is more constraining than conservatism ever could be – describe a multi-front, long-term political, social, and cultural war designed to seize society’s high ground in order to restore the Founders’ vision. It is not a war of violence but one of persuasion and action. The weapons are not arms but arguments – though the transition is not entirely peaceful as progressives refuse to honor basic rights when it means they must give up power. Why an insurgency? Because conservatives won’t win a stand up fight today – the enemy is too powerful, and to do so risks allowing them to destroy us forever in detail. Military history provides many useful analogies for this peaceful struggle. Remember the Vietnamese insurgents during Tet in 1968? They came out of the jungles during that holiday season in an attempt to take over the South in one fell swoop. They were annihilated, despite the best efforts of a liberal United States media to portray it to the contrary. They simply made their move far too soon. They went back underground and, seven years later, they took Saigon. How does a force that is always “losing” end up winning? That’s the key question, and one the oral histories of the 30+ characters answers. Author Kurt Schlichter is uniquely suited to write this book. A Townhall,com featured columnist and conservative media commentator, he was personally recruited by Andrew Breitbart to write for the conservative legend’s “Big” websites. Kurt has a large Twitter following and four consecutive Amazon kindle bestselling “Political Humor” e-books, but he is also a trial lawyer who served in the Army infantry from Operation Desert Storm to Operation Enduring Freedom in Kosovo. His background, including a masters of strategic studies from the United States Army War College, give him a unique perspective on politics, government and the strategy and tactics of an insurgent movement. His work as a stand-up comic helps give this serious subject a humorous edge. Conservative Insurgency shows how we need to engage the enemy everywhere – politics, the media, the law, academia and, as Andrew Breitbart taught us, popular culture. From the faculty lounge to the news room to the recording studio to the boardroom, we will never again simply write-off anywhere in our society to the progressives. There can be no safe havens for those who reject the basic freedoms our Founders enshrined in the Constitution. Conservative Insurgency is not about losing gloriously but about winning gloriously. Through the experiences of its many vivid characters, it lays out some general concepts and ideas about how to do it. They say the Tea Party is dead. Nonsense. We’re still here. We’re still ready to fight. And we’re going to fight, each in our own way, and take America back.

    Well-run blogs do more than offer an outlet for your thoughts. They've actually influenced everything from a company's image to the outcome of a local election. Because the blogosphere is pretty crowded, it's a good idea to find out a bit about the anatomy of a blog, what makes a good one, and what it takes to keep one going before you dive right in and start sharing with the world. Blogging For Dummies, 2nd Edition gives you all the basics so you can get a good start. And if you've been around the blog a few times and want to advance to the next level, Blogging For Dummies, 2nd Edition even takes a look at podcasting and videoblogging.You'll find out how to:Make your blog stand out in a crowd, build an audience, and even make it pay Choose the best software options, boost readership, and handle comments Generate revenue from your blog with ads and sponsorships Protect your privacy and your job Deal with spam and the inappropriate comments from that guy who posts several times a day Find your niche Attract and keep readers Use your blog to promote your business, cause, or organization Add audio, video, cool widgets, and more Ready? Get Blogging for Dummies and let's get started!

     Jesse has self-published two books, which are both #1 bestsellers on track to generate $30,000 per year in passive income. Beyond book sales, Jesse has leveraged his books to build a business that earned over six figures in its first year. Other part-time authors are doing far better, earning six, or even seven figures per year. Many have leveraged their books to build multimillion-dollar business ventures. This wasn't possible ten years ago, but the publishing industry has changed. People are finding unparalleled freedom and wealth through writing, and you can too. Authorpreneur will show you how. Inside Authorpreneur, you’ll learn: Why writing a book is the new PhD How a book can make you rich, credible, and immortal The three critical traits to succeed as a writer Why everyone is a salesman The 50% Rule The three approaches to finding a marketable topic to write about How to find contractors for quality book production How to choose a title that doesn’t suck How to get reviews before launching When to launch, and what to do AFTER it’s over ...plus so much more. What are you waiting for? It’s time to write your book.

     Culture has yet to turn away from the mythology of the ancient Greeks, and this fact can be seen in various aspects of our modern life. Through various forms of entertainment, we come across themes and events depicted in Homer’s works of the Iliad and Odyssey. We find ourselves viewing and referencing the strength and trials of Heracles. We even find various parallels between the lives and myths of the ancient Greeks to our own modern world. The history of Greece herself cannot be separated by the mythology of its ancient peoples. From heroes such as Heracles and Perseus, to the underhanded dealings of gods and mortals alike, their story is one a creative attempt to understand the forces which dwell about us and within us. In this book you will find specific stories central to Greek mythology. This is a key into understanding the mindset, not only of these ancient peoples, but of our modern world as well. We may not subscribe as the Greeks did to these myths as factual accounts of historical events, however, these tales allegorically represent the things that humankind still endures and rejoices in. In this text, you will find the spirit of love, of nature, of war and of peace. These myths often deal with very blunt subject matter, as they were the dominant lens through which the world was viewed during much of ancient Greece. The research and writing involved in bringing you this collection of Greek mythology has been an absolute pleasure, and I hope that you are as fascinated in reading this as I was in putting it together. Here Is A Preview Of What You'll Learn... In the Beginning, There was Chaos The Titans’ Rule The Olympian Rule Hercules and the Twelve Labors Other Important Beings in Greek Mythology Greek Mythology and Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey Meet Your Roman Doppelgangers BONUS! Find Inside… and much more! Download Your Copy Today! The contents of this book are easily worth over $10. To order "Greek Mythology: Discovering Greek Mythology!", click the BUY button and download your copy right now! Tags: Greek Mythology, Mythology, Ancient Greece, Civilizations, Ancient Civilizations, Greece, Greeks, Titans, Gods, Zeus, Hercules, Greek Gods, Apollo, Athena, Gaia, Chaos, Uranus, Cyclops, Chronos, Tartarus, Olympia, Poseidon, Aphrodite, Metis, Hades

    These short illustrated e-Books provide quick, simple answers to the important questions being asked today about politics, social issues, the environment, and more!How much power does a US president really have? Wonder no more: Who HQ Presents the answers to what presidents can do on their own, how the three branches of government hold one another in check, and what executive orders presidents have signed in the past.