A Blog Post About Blogging for Bloggers – WP 4.2, Mobile

I don’t usually blog about blogging but this blog post is about blogging because I have some blog updates to share on my blog. You know that I like giving tips and advice to those of you who want to start blogging. I’ve told you about SEO, the articles on MangoMatter about web hosting, different ways to come up with content, the list goes one! But today I’m going to be talking about WordPress! Ok, the new WordPress came out yesterday and this update has some neat things to help you as a blogger, communicate and share, globally. You can watch this quick video or read more about it after scrolling my list of favs from their post. If you blog you should watch it because it will make you a better (WordPress) blogger. Even more embeds: Paste links from Tumblr.com and Kickstarter and watch them magically appear right in the editor. With every release, your publishing and editing experience get closer together. Host of new characters: Native Chinese, Japanese, and Korean characters, musical and mathematical symbols, and hieroglyphs. Streamlined plugin updates: Goodbye boring loading screen, hello smooth and simple plugin updates. OMG! Emoji are now available in WordPress! Get creative and decorate your content with ?, ?, ?, or?!! IS YOUR BLOG OPTIMIZED FOR MOBILE? UPDATE IT TODAY. LIKE NOW. Google announced that the Mobile Friendly Update began rolling out YESTERDAY. This update is going to be the largest Google update ever and if you don’t get on it, you’ll notice a drop in traffic. And it might be huge. If you don’t know if your site is optimized for mobile, check this link to find out google.com/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly. There’s a good blog post on searchengineland.com from yesterday that states: Postscript: SEO Clarity’s Ryan Heuser sent me some early data…

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Travel Tuesday: Vacations Aren’t Just for Soaking Up Sun!

Dreaming of an experiential vacation – wine tasting in Italy, yoga in India, surfing in Costa Rica, visiting Lower Shotover New Zealand to go Bungee Jumping? People often think of vacations as a jaunt away to soak up the sun but one way to REALLY enrich your life is a vacation where you learn something or take on a new experience. An RV vacation is a very popular choice for many people who want to go and see new sights and cultures from the comfort of their own vehicle. Those that do embark on such a vacation will want to make sure they have quality equipment, like Lifeline rv batteries, on board before doing so. A couple years ago I went on a solo surf + yoga vacation to Costa Rica, it was so much fun. Visiting this country was on my bucket list and I had always wanted to tick it off. With this being said, if it wasn’t for a friend of mine recommending I checked out a site like https://små-lån.com (as she knew I was struggling financially), I don’t think this trip would have been possible, but I am glad that I was able to make this happen. While I was there, I learnt how to do aerial silks and perfected my wave riding skills in the ocean. This was the little cabin I stayed at in the jungle at Anamaya Resort. In 2013, I ventured to Thailand and took a cooking class in one of my fav cuisines. I came home with new skills and a bright outlook on a different culture. I recently chatted with TD Canada Trust about how to make an experiential vacation a reality. These types of vacations are often seen as more costly and harder to plan. BUT, if you knuckle…

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Sunday Magazine Selection: Wired, W, HouseBeautiful 

The sun is shining, and I’m gonna head outside, make the most of the day. Spent the morning finishing up House of Cards Season 3 and reading magazines. I won’t share any spoilers but man I really love that show. Clair Underwood (played by Robin Wright) is amazing. I remember doing a magazine review a few years ago (2011) and putting a little cut out of my face on the magazine, funny. Finished S1 of Transparent on Shomi today. Good show. The music is really great. I’ve added NextIssue added to my weekend relaxation routine since starting the trial last month. I love reading magazines but buying a whole stack is 1) heavy and 2) expensive. This morning I  read Wired, W Magazine, and HouseBeautiful. I’ve been given a code from NextIssue that allows you to get free 60-day trial of the app too. Download NextIssue – Easy as 1,2,3! Click here -> bit.ly/1EaIH3L Enter code 60Free Enjoy! I love scar Jo’s hair right now and am still on that mission to grow mine out. Now that I made it through House of Cards without being influenced by Claire’s hair, I feel I’ll make it to a bob no problem. This *slight* winter warmup has be thinking about the cottage and what we can do this spring to make some changes around there. We’re building a new deck and I’d love to get some new patio furniture and curtains. There’s so many great design ideas out there. I’d love to get my sewing machine in action and actually MAKE new curtains for the cottage. These lamps are lovely. I’m sure there’s a Pinterest on how to do this in detail. It’s been ages since I made anything but I really want to this spring. (I feel like I say this every single year but this time I mean…

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Wanna Earn Free Leafs tickets? Follow @TheFordFanatic :)

I usually get to one NHL hockey game per year. This season I’m taking Sean thanks to MLSE & The Ford Fanatic. I love going to the see the Leafs play and I hardly ever remember who wins. My friends and I often go to Leafs as I said, I try to go to at least on NHL hockey game per year, and sometimes we find it exciting to make up our own fantasy hockey teams to see who would win, so being able to see this game was an amazing opportunity to share this with him. This year, Ford Canada has partnered with the Leafs to help #fansgofurther. To date, between MLSE and Ford through the FordFANatic, approximately 4,800 tickets have been awarded to fans for 24 home games. I love it! How you can earn free Leafs Games tickets The purpose of the program is to engage, surprise and delight fans in a season-long program awarding positivity and passion both online and off . Fans have the opportunity to earn tickets and watch a game in the Ford Fan Deck. Follow @TheFordFanatic and take part in their weekly challenge. There’s still a few weeks left in the season. Official R&R of the contest can be found here. Behind the Twitter handle is Sarah D. and she’s been a Leafs fan as long as she remembers. Being Canadian, it’s in her blood. Growing up in rural Nova Scotia, Sarah and her peers cheered for any of the original 6 teams but, Sarah’s cheers have always been for the Leafs. Sarah was 18 when she first saw the Leafs play, when she came to Toronto to see a pre-season game. She remembers it as one of the most surreal experiences of her life, being able to see Darcy Tucker fight…

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Distracted Driving is a Modern Problem

Last week I mentioned the OneTap app in a post along with the importance of NOT texting while driving. If you have an Android phone, download this app right now. Think of the olden days when people drove around without distraction of a mobile phone, then think about now…so many distractions. Even the smallest things like a sputter from your car can cause distractions! If your car is very loud and splutters all the time, you might want to soundproof your car. It will stop distractions from your car that the OneTap can’t prevent as well as making conversations inside the car much easier. Now, soundproofing your car doesn’t have to be expensive either, as long as you get it from the right place. OneTap is an app that keeps drivers focussed on the road. I know updates can be distracting (my phone is buzzing all day!) but there’s no text, email, tweet, or status update worth risking your life. Looking at these texting and driving statistics should be enough to make you realise this, as there are a shocking number of accidents that happen as a result of it, and I’m sure those involved would turn back time in an instant and put their phone away before turning on their engine. All kinds of small distractions can be so easily avoided. When you look away from the road it’s like driving blind and an accident can happen in a split second, which could end badly for everyone involved, it might end with you being charged with something like vehicular homicide and requiring the help of someone like these criminal attorneys to take on your case. Key features of OneTap App • Prevent distractions from calls, texts and alerts • Activate manually, or let it detect when you’re driving and…

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