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The History of Writing (history of writing) Writing is commonly used by billions of people each day. However, many of us don?t know the history of writing, and some of us would rather not ponder it for fear of getting a headache. Written communication is much needed today, and many societies could not survive without writing. Writing has a history like everything that is in existence today. The exact history of this form of communication may be clouded and even over exaggerated at times, but there are two known facts, writing has been used for a very long time and writing will be used for a very long time. The true beginning of writing is unknown, but it does have a comprehensive history. The first artistic paintings and writings were said to be done in the form of naturalistic paintings of animals and people in caves. The pictures were known as attempts to appease the spirits of animals that were needed to kill in the hunt. In ancient times pictures were also done of human beings. These pictures of humans were typically done in series, with a figure appearing in different physical positions progressively, which represented positions a ceremonial dance performed by ancient people. Progressively, the early societies began to stylize their messages, which were similar to using symbols to represent restrooms, handicap-accessible places, and international road signs. These stylized symbols are known a petroglyphs and hieroglyphs. The most famous system of hieroglyphs belonged to the ancient Egyptians who had hieroglyphics that were partially representational pictures that were stylized. Petrogylphs were often used by Native Americans as messages along trade routes, ritual information, and various other things. However, they were not as sophisticated as hieroglyphs. During this ancient period, Europeans preserved esoteric knowledge in runes and in an alphabetic writing system known as ogham. The Chinese culture also has a place in the history of writing. The culture began by writing like many others by using pictures then slowly moving to stylized pictures. However, over time the pictures became less representational and more abstract. Today, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and other Asian languages are written with the use of ideeographs. An ideeograph is used to represent an idea instead of a word. Around 1700 B.C. a new form of writing appeared in the Middle Eastern cultures. During this time, the Phoenicians created an alphabet. This development was different from all others because the symbols represented sounds, not pictures or ideas. The combinations of sounds made up the words of the language, which was crucial in the history of writing. The alphabet developed by the Phoenicians spread to Northern Africa and became the system of the Arabs, and spread northwest to Greece. The Greek developed their own letters, which were modified even more to become the Cyrillic alphabets of Russia, the Balkans and the Romans. The Romans modified the alphabet and made it the alphabet that is recognized today. The history of writing developed even further into the 20th century. Following World War II, the Japanese and Chinese began to use the alphabet to represent the sounds of their languages. For these Asian cultures, the alphabetic system was easier to write by hand and to print economically, so it made life far simpler for those cultures. The artistic form of writing used by these Asian cultures will likely never die, but there are many advantages to using an alphabetic system, and many modern people of these cultures benefit handsomely from learning to read and write using the current alphabet. The history of writing is long and sometimes vague, but it can be seen as a necessary teaching that will help modern societies understand the importance of written communication, and understand how the world would be forever changed without it.

Three Important Tips to Land Better Job Prospects If you are not satisfied with your current job or the job prospects that you are running across, it is time to revise your search. Use these three tips to help find the type of job prospects you are looking for. First of all, before you start your job search, figure out exactly what it is that you are looking for. Going out into the world and searching for any type of job is the perfect way to end up with an array of job prospects you are unsatisfied with. Think about the reasons why you are ready to leave your current job. Consider what things you are looking for in a career that your current job is not giving you. Are you looking for make more money? If so, only apply for jobs that will increase your income. Are you tired of working long hours and weekends? Then do not apply for jobs that will keep you at the office after hours and during family time on the weekends. By defining what exactly it is that you want in a job, you will be able to weed out the jobs you do not want. Once you are able to concentrate on the select few that have the qualities you are looking for, you will be able to put froth the effort necessary to get those jobs. Another thing that many people do when they are looking for a job is underestimating their own skills. You do not want to apply for jobs that you have absolutely no skills or training for unless they offer training, of course, but you can apply for jobs that you have some of the skills to do. For instance, if you are apply for an office job where that you need to be able to maintain the company website and you are familiar with the components of designing and maintaining a website, but have not done it on a regular basis, apply. On your resume explain that you have a working knowledge of html and other website tools. That way the employer will understand that you are not an expert at the task but you are capable of beginning, and with some help, finishing the task. Never misrepresent your skills on a resume. Instead, be honest and place emphasis on the skills that you do have. Apply for jobs that you have some of the skills for only. If you get an interview, be ready to impress the interviewer by being totally prepared. Speak confidently and make eye contact. Confidence can take you a long way when it comes to the job hunt. Shoot for the stars! If you want better job prospects you will need to believe that you deserve a better job. That means you will need to have some faith in yourself and be willing to apply for higher-level jobs. The only way you are going to get better job prospects is if you apply for the better jobs. Do not be intimidated by job descriptions. If you read a list of responsibilities and you cannot perform all of them yet, apply for the job. There is a good chance that you will be asked if you can perform the specific tasks of the job when you get an interview. This is the time to explain what tasks you are capable of performing. Better job prospects are highly attainable. You just have to clearly define what it is you want from a job and believe that you deserve and will get that type of job. Believe in yourself and you are halfway there.

A Writer?s Best Friend: The Job of an Editor (editing) Are you irritated by typos and spelling errors in professional documents? Are you able to help your friends make their writing error free? You may be a good candidate for editing. The world is incredibly dependent on writers and the craft of writing. It is how people communicate with each other most often. As the internet writing forms do not require people to hold to correct grammar, spelling or professional style, most writers are losing their capabilities to complete a professional document or book without help. Writers have always needed the help of editors. Even when there was strict attention to correct writing, editors could come and catch missed errors as well as mistakes in content. Editors are still needed today. Read on to find out more about what can be involved in a life of editing. Who are the Editors? Editors are those people with the ability to read a document and guide a writer to make it the best piece of writing that it can be. Editors work in newspapers, and magazines. They also work for publishing companies and in student resource centers. Editors generally have some education that leads them to the ability to help writers. They probably have a degree in language as well as training with style manuals. What is the Job? An editing job involves taking a piece of writing and conforming it to some particular set of standards. Style manuals are often the standard used. Different publications will choose a style and then ask the editors to make all of the writing that comes out to be consistent to that style. Editing is not only concerned with objective corrections like spelling and grammar though. An editor must also read for clarity, consistency and voice. If a writer claims one thing in one point of their piece and seems to contradict that point in another part, it is the editor?s job to catch the mistake and work with the writer to fix the inconsistency. If the writer is speaking authoritatively in the beginning of a piece and then becomes apologetic later, it is the editor?s job to make the tone match. Editors help with sentence construction, word choice and content order. How to Find Editing Jobs If any of the above job description sounds interesting and even exciting to you, you just may have found your ideal job calling. Before you start looking for editing jobs, you should test your skills. There are editing tests online. Feel free to use a style manual as well as your intuition as you correct the sentences and word choice in the different test questions. If you do not pass the test, you should probably spend a little more time reading a style manual and a basic grammar guide. Once you can ace an editing test, it?s time to look for a job. Be sure to include any experience you may have had. Include any editing of any kind you have ever done. Peer editing in school is appropriate experience to mention. Also be sure to list any style you are able to edit to. Examples are AP, Chicago, MLA, and so on. If you get an interview, be prepared to take another editing test, with the help of your manual. The test will likely be timed. Editing is a rewarding career. It involves helping writers to do their very best writing geared to their particular audience. While it can be stressful because of deadlines and workload, at the end of the day you will know that you have made the world of the written word a little cleaner and much more effective. Editors are an essential part of making the written word what it is today.

Is That Free Offer Legit? Tips that Can Help Everyone loves the chance to cash in some great free stuff, but navigating the world of freebie offers, especially online, can be like navigating a minefield. Unfortunately, a lot of people out there use the love others have of taking advantage of free deals to scam them out of money or personal details that can be used in identity theft scams. All of this gloom and doom doesn?t mean that you have to give up on free things altogether, however. The good news is that there are some simple, common sense steps you can take protect yourself from online freebie scammers. These tips will help give you the confidence that you can enjoy taking advantage of free offers without the fear of ending up facing some negative consequences. First and foremost, when you are checking out a free offer on the Internet, take a closer look at the website, beyond just reading the words and figuring out what you have to do get the free goods. Does the website look like it was made by a professional, with some consideration, or does it look like a five minute amateur job? Are typos and clip art the order of the day, or does it look like a website any business would be proud to call its own? What about the web address ? is a domain name that matches the business the website claims to represent, or is a ?free? domain address that includes the name of the domain company in the address? All of these factors can be red flags that determine the difference between a scam and a legitimate free offer. If the website looks half hearted or doesn?t seem to exactly ?match? the company it purports to represent, then don?t even think about trying to get anything from it. When you?re reasonably sure that the website is actually the front of a legitimate business, it?s time to turn your attention to the privacy policy of the website. The best privacy policies guarantee you that the email address you use to sign up for this offer will not be shared with any other companies ? but when it comes to free stuff, those kinds of privacy policies are few and far between. Many companies cover the costs of the free things you get by selling your email address to other companies that may have offers you they think you might be interested in. If you can?t find a privacy policy that lets you opt out of getting unwanted solicitations, at least make sure the site is secure and that any personal information can?t be obtained by hackers. Other things to look out for when you?re looking for freebies is products that are free but that require you to pay a shipping charge that seems beyond the pale for what it should cost to ship and freebie offers that seem to ask for way more information than needed for what the product actually is. Twenty pages of personal information for a travel size bottle of shampoo? That doesn?t make sense, and it should set off warning bells in your head. All of these red flags aside, giving out some amount of personal information comes part and parcel with freebie offers. There are a few things you can do to make life easier on yourself. Set up an email account that you will use specifically for freebie offers so all of the inevitable spam doesn?t clog up your main account. Use a phony phone number (preferably one that can?t be anyone else?s, like one that starts with 555). Last but not least, if you?re unsure about an offer, keep on moving. Better safe than sorry.