Platt

New directions, new blog

After an amazing TEN-PLUS YEARS on LiveJournal, I have decided to move this blog and start fresh.

You can find the new Platt Stuff blog over here. Come on over and follow me.

Don't worry, I won't abandon LJ completely. But from now on, the main focus of my blogging will be elsewhere.

(Of course, it still won't be frequent blogging. But it will be somewhat different, and that's why I'm making the break.)

Be seeing you!
Platt

Wildlife trafficking, primates, border problems and Nicolas Cage

My Green Tech column is on hold while they work out some website issues, but everything else is going strong.

First off, here are this week's Extinction Countdown columns:

Unfair trade: A week in the world of illegal wildlife trafficking

Slender hope: A tiny primate is rediscovered after 65 years

Endangered Sonoran pronghorn seen as hindering U.S. attempts to shore up its border

International collaboration is key to saving the Middle East's rarest bird



And here are two fun pieces for Tonic.com:

Five Ways to Help Your Favorite Bloggers

Five Weirdest Nicolas Cage Performances


More soon!
Platt

Harvey Pekar, Alfred Hitchcock and other stuff

Another big batch of article links for your lunch hour (or whenever you choose to read them).

Remembering Harvey Pekar: A Splendid American

Green Tech: Telecommuting Saves 17,000 Dollars Per Employee Per Year

Extinction Countdown: Polar Rare: The Arctic's apex predator could disappear from Hudson Bay in 10 years

Adopt a Hitchcock: Help Save the Director's Films from the Evils of Time

Extinction Countdown: Marmot meltdown averted: Vancouver Island species on the brink of extinction regaining social bonds

Smarter Fire Alarm Earns Teen IEEE Presidents' Scholarship

Dealing With Conflict at Work

Green Tech: Is Your Website Carbon-Neutral?

Green Tech: Samsung Launches Its Greenest Cellphone Yet

Extinction Countdown: Rights wronged: North Pacific right whale nearly extinct in Bering Sea

IBM Employees Reach Milestone: 10 Million Volunteer Hours in Five Years
Platt

Big Announcement: Die Laughing Redux!

Ready for some awesome news? My 2002 short-story collection DIE LAUGHING is available once again, this time in e-book format for the Kindle!

http://www.amazon.com/Die-Laughing-ebook/dp/B003UV98L8/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_3

I'm still really proud of this book, and I think it holds up pretty well. There are some great stories and poems inside, if I do say so myself. 

I have modest hopes for the e-book edition. If I sell a few copies, I'll be happy. But this is a tentative first step back into the fiction world. We'll see if this inspires me to start writing again.

In any case, I hope you'll check it out and let me know what you think!

Oh, and let me know what you think of the cover! I think it's a vast improvement over the zombie clown of the first edition.

Die Laughing Cover
Platt

Carp, cartoons, charity and more linkage

A *lot* of articles hit the web last week! Here are the links...


How Do You Get Women to Stay in Engineering? Nerd Girls Has the Answer

Green Tech: 6 Simple Ways to Green Your Dinner

Pick Up Artists: Driving Across America, Picking Up Garbage

Kids Learn to be Philanthropists with Charity Checks 

Aw nuts: Plan to save endangered squirrels scuttled as too expensive

Green Tech: Walk for Energy - World's First Kinetic Energy Charger Hits the Market

Green Tech: Meeting online will save companies billions in the next ten years

Invasive Asian carp on verge of entering Great Lakes

5 Places to Download Free (and Legal) eBooks - [Very popular piece. Yahoo reprinted it, too.]

Green Tech: Dell Launches Green Store and Tips Center

718 Motorcyclists Raise $10,000 for No-Kill Animal Shelter [cool story -- check out that great photo!]

Superman to Visit Small-Town America — And You Can Invite Him to Your Town! 


Oh, and did I mention that I'm posting weekly cartoons again? Here's this week's, new "Plattitudes" cartoon (about zombies!) http://goo.gl/Jtmv
Platt

Catching up on the linkage

Whooo-boy am I running behind! I have lots and lots of new writing to do, but for those of you paying attention, here are links to the last two of three weeks worth of articles.


LIFE IN AMERICA: A Mother of Four Works Three Jobs to Support Church and Family  http://bit.ly/co1cIp

Tiger, tiger, burning out: What is killing Russia's critically endangered Amur tigers? http://bit.ly/bhdWPc [an important story - expect at least one species of tiger to go extinct in your lifetime.]

Green Tech: How to Chose Cleaning Products without Dangerous Fragrances http://bit.ly/a1383Z

Green Tech: Can You Invent a Better Way to Dry Clothes? http://bit.ly/93lkzU

Fished out: Wildlife group objects as South Africa lifts abalone ban http://bit.ly/9Glv7b [as always, I'm the only American reporter covering this.]

What's a Hero Without a Sidekick? http://bit.ly/9ltDYR [a fun one]

From soup to tots: Breeding success for one of the world's rarest turtles http://bit.ly/ccclhm

Green Tech: Three Reasons Why Casio's Green Slim Project is Cool http://bit.ly/aAxIM0

Found Today, Gone Tomorrow?: Gulf oil spill could wipe out newly discovered species http://bit.ly/c2SXNU

Which Country Has the Greenest Consumers? http://bit.ly/cPuHEo

Native Lands Could Hold Key to Energy Independence http://bit.ly/aZFFce

Green Tech: Learn More About Solar this Saturday on SolarDay 2010 http://bit.ly/c4E4ut

8 Ways to Inspire Re-Use in Your Community http://bit.ly/botI3J [very popular article. Reprinted by Earth911.org]

Deadly fungus spreads to ninth North American bat species http://bit.ly/9OL9Om

Green Tech: Greener Tires Could Save You 100 Dollars A Year in Fuel Costs http://bit.ly/9zrS28

Another long-delayed book review: Hank Ketcham's Complete Dennis the Menace volume 1 http://bit.ly/cyX7HB

Green Tech: 12 Tips for Staying Cool This Summer http://bit.ly/aMwIt7

South African gamblers smoke endangered vulture brains for luck http://bit.ly/92FdTg

Green Tech: Download Your Software - It's the Greener Alternative http://bit.ly/apiXEQ

Maltese mystery: Naturalist and government disagree on extinction of Malta lizard http://bit.ly/bcjm1a

Enjoy!
Platt

NASA, charity, oil spill, dead stuff & drawing - another big week for articles

Whoo boy, have I been writing a lot lately. Even beyond the big list of article links coming your way in a few seconds, I've also been busy with press releases, corporate newsletters, and a whole lot more.

But man, it's fun. Freelancing is a constant source of stress and good times. I never know what the next day is going to bring. (Oh, sure, I have a slight idea, but getting there is a journey in and of itself.)

Here are this week's article links. There are some doozies -- and a few stories about the stories besides.

NASA Seeks to INSPIRE Teens to Study Science and Technology [Neat program. If you have teenagers, or teach them, read this.]

Delisted and in danger: Gulf oil spill threatens pelicans months after they are dropped from endangered species list

Green Tech: Which Airline Lets You Fly the Greenest Skies?  [This was a popular one.]

Humane Society Donates 12 Tons of Pet Food to Gulf-Stricken Louisiana - [Holy cow, I did not expect the reaction to this one. Apparently, the right wing *hates* the Humane Society of the United States. I got tons of abusive, vitriolic email after this story appeared. Go figure!]

The Top 10 Spin-Off Characters of All Time - [Man, this was a lot of fun to research and write.]

Extinction Countdown: Threatened tortoises become tempting targets for thieves [Very sad one. You'll cry.]

Pick Up Your Pencil for Drawing Day this Saturday - [Oops, you missed it. But it was fun.]

Green Tech: HP Introduces Its Greenest Computer Yet
 
Green Tech: 43 Percent of Workers Expected to Telecommute by 2016

Irene Goodman: Literary Agent With an Ear for Words (and Charity)