by Dan Naumovich - Copywriter/Journalist on May 6, 2013
I write a consumer tech column for SO Magazine. This one is about the cumbersome and archaic username-and-password method for online authentication. Witty and informative, it’s sure to set the tech world abuzz.
According to SlashData, a password management company, the most common password is “password,” a true feat of imagination. The runners-up are “123456” followed by “12345678,” for those who desire a couple of extra layers of security. “Monkey,” “sunshine” and somewhat ironically, “trustno1” also made the top 25.
Some people are just begging to be hacked.
by Dan Naumovich - Copywriter/Journalist on April 23, 2013
My Sunday newspaper column this month is a PSA for the benefit of my daughter and her lost iPod Touch. I took inspiration from every Disney Channel sitcom that features a sassy and overdramatic tween. She’s “acting” in the photo above.
“BROKEN: the heart of a little girl. Torn from her chest on April 13 at the YMCA soccer fields.”
That’s nice, sweetie, but maybe just a tad overdramatic. Plus, it doesn’t really tell people what happened. Let’s try again.
“STOLEN: My iPod Touch. Snatched from my grasp during the innocence of my youth. The world is a cold, empty orb.”
Again, Tessie, it’s a bit much. And I’m not sure that you can say that it was stolen. It fell out of your hoodie pocket when you were kicking the ball around with your brother before his soccer game. So really you lost your iPod Touch and you want the person who found it to return it. See?
by Dan Naumovich - Copywriter/Journalist on April 4, 2013
It’s one the cardinal rules of writing for the web. If you want to get your article noticed, present the information in list form and then slap on a splashy title:
The 10 Ten Ways to Get Your Article Noticed
or
The Six Mistakes That Web Writers Make
or maybe
The 50 Best Words You’ll Ever Read
This approach, it is theorized, will convince readers that the article is the the definite word on the subject at hand. You will be provided information culled from the top experts in the field. It will be authoritative, fully vetted, and contain the secrets to fortunes unimagined.
Or so they would have us believe. Then you read the article and your realize that you’ve been had. The author failed to deliver what the headline had promised.
Sure, there could be some useful information, but certainly nothing to back up the claim that it’s the best or a top of anything. No research or surveys have been cited, no gleaning of expertise. It’s just the opinion of the author who may or may not know what he’s talking about.
What these articles do well is attract page hits. And that’s all fine and good, if you want people to come to your site and leave disappointed.
So, yes, generating traffic is important. The benefits of keywords cannot be discounted. But the author had better provide some substance for the folks who journeyed all of the way to the site and stayed around to read what he had to offer. Otherwise, the site quickly becomes suspect and the readers begin clicking elsewhere.
And that’s why you need to hire a writer who can provide compelling and informative copy to backup all of those high-talking, keyworded claims. Nine out of ten experts agree.
by Dan Naumovich - Copywriter/Journalist on January 13, 2012
I’ve found that authors are typically good interviews. Maybe it’s because they understand the interviewers need for good material with which to work, or maybe it’s because they know how to market themselves and their books. Here’s an interview I did with Keith Cronin, author of the novel, “Me Again.”
In case you are wondering, as I was, he’s no relation to this guy.
Keith Cronin has seen the world from behind a drum kit, having played with such legends as Bruce Springsteen, Clarence Clemons and Pat Travers. Between gigs, the professional drummer spends his time behind a writing desk.
His first novel, “Me Again,” was published this past September. It tells the story of two stroke victims — one of whom had spent six years in a coma — who connect in a long-term recovery unit while they are attempting to rediscover themselves in a world that is suddenly strange and new because of the trauma their brains have suffered.
by Dan Naumovich - Copywriter/Journalist on November 5, 2011
From Springfield’s Own magazine, my tech column on some of the more ambitious smartphone apps for personal healthcare purposes. Thank to the creators of Seinfeld for inspiring the lede.
Fans of the legendary sitcom “Seinfeld” will recall the episode in which Elaine enlists Kramer, in the guise of Dr. Van Nostrand, to steal her medical records so she can get a rash diagnosed.
The episode concludes with Elaine using a marker to replace the eyebrows that were singed off Uncle Leo’s face. And in between, Kramer takes some racy photos of George. But that isn’t important — Elaine’s medical records are what I want to focus on here.
Amid all of the absurdity, this episode did speak to a very real problem. Having to rely on a busy doctor’s office to forward your records to a hospital or specialist can lead to delays in examinations and treatment. If, like Elaine, you have a mysterious rash, that wait could be quite uncomfortable. But now, 15 years after Seinfeld shed light on the problem, there is a scratch for this particular itch, in the form of an iPhone App.
read the rest of the column here
by Dan Naumovich - Copywriter/Journalist on October 15, 2011
You can’t go wrong writing about the Princess Bride. This one was quite the rage on Facebook.
They were dark times, to be sure. Relations between the countries of Florin and Guilder were tenuous. Royalty ran roughshod over the peasant class, while the unemployment rate for giants in Greenland was soaring. And, there was a shortage of perfect breasts.
That civilization could be awash in such turmoil and so thoroughly ruled by betrayal, was, well, inconceivable.
Having trouble remembering this period in history? Maybe this will help. Iocane powder was invented. Rodents of Unusual Size still roamed the Fire Swamp. No?
Don’t feel bad. This isn’t a history lesson. It’s not a movie review either, although it is about a movie — my favorite of all time.
(read the rest at the State Journal-Register)
by Dan Naumovich - Copywriter/Journalist on September 30, 2011
Here’s a newspaper story I wrote on job safety that focuses on the local construction industry.
Although injuries are seen as a cost of doing business, that doesn’t mean employers aren’t making an effort to keep their employees safe. In the construction industry, for example, fatal injuries are down about 40 percent since 2006.
There are three predominate ways in which construction workers can die on the job: by falling, by something falling on them or by electrocution. It’s John Kovalan’s job to minimize the risks from all of these dangers.
by Dan Naumovich - Copywriter/Journalist on July 7, 2011
This is my first tech column for SO Magazine. I bring a layman’s (or lame) perspective to the hot issues of the day. This one is about clouds.
The expression “walking around with your head in the clouds” is used to describe a person lost in a perpetual fog of revelry. Such people, while usually harmless, tend to be unreliable.
Clouds also bring tidings of bad luck. Think of Pigpen from the “Peanuts” comic strip, with his black cloud lingering ever-presently overhead.
So perhaps “cloud” isn’t the best word to describe a concept that some believe is on its way to changing desktop computing as we know it. When it comes to technology, the average user already has experienced his share of bad luck and unreliability.
