Tag: polls

Poll: Should I Produce a Newsletter for the Blog?

2 comments

I have been considering, on and off, creating a newsletter to be periodically sent out to people who subscribe. The newsletter would contain a summary of the content on the site since the last period. My initial thought was making this a weekly newsletter, but that may be too frequent for some people. I’ve really been on the fence about this. Some newsletters are good, others are just noise.

So I figured I’d ask you, my readers, if there is any real interest in a newsletter from this blog, and if so, what frequency you’d like to see a newsletter. I would use MailChimp for this service so it would (hopefully) have a professional look and feel, and in addition, have the privacy and opt-out protections offered by a large-scale mailing list service. It would include a summary of the posts from the period in question, and may also contain some original content, like Evernote tips and tricks, or Going Paperless tips.

So, without further delay, let me know what you think. The poll is open until Friday, September 20 at midnight.

[poll id=”4″]

I’ll post the results and my decision over the weekend. Thanks for your input on this and if you have specific thoughts, feel free to leave them in the comments.

What science fiction novel should I read next?

16 comments

Last month, I posted a list of science fiction novels that I should have read, but that I’ve never gotten around to. After going through the various comments, I have culled the list down to five novels and I am asking for you help in choosing which science fiction book I read next.  Think: “You can’t call yourself a real science fiction fan if you haven’t yet read ________!” Vote in this poll and choose the science fiction novel in this list that I am simply must read next.

[poll id=”3″]

I recognize that there may be other books that I should be reading, but for now I want to keep the scope of this to the five books listed in the poll.

Keep in mind that when I say “next” I am mean the next science fiction novel I read. I currently have a small stack of books that I am making my way through, and once there is an opening for a science fiction book, I’ll choose the book that gets the most votes in the poll as the one that I read next. And, of course, I’ll report back once I’m done reading it.

The poll will remain open until 11:59pm Friday night, which gives you just over two days to get your vote in. In the event of a tie, I will select the book that comes first in the tie as they are listed in the poll. I will report the winning book on Saturday.

So come on, science fiction brain trust: which of these five books should it be?

Reader feedback

1 comment

Since January, I have been trying to focus the content of this blog more on my writing and topics related to science fiction. Occasionally, I post other things too, opinion pieces, or personal stuff about me or the family. But now I’d like to give you, the folks who read this blog, the opportunity to tell me why you come here and what it is you like to read here. To that end, I have three small requests.

First, would you take a few seconds to complete the poll below. I’m looking to see generally what it is that people like to read here.

[poll id=”2″]

Second, if you have suggestions for topics you’d like to read about here, particularly in the realm of science fiction or writing science fiction, please post a comment here with your suggestion.

Third, if you feel there is a way I can improve what I am doing here, leave a comment below. If you don’t want your suggestions public, you can send email to jamie at jamietoddrubin dot com.

As I find that more people are coming here to read what I have to say, I think it is important to make sure that I am at least meeting their expectations. Thanks in advance for your feedback. I will report on the results once the feedback has come in.

Glassbooth

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Via kevnyc, Glassbooth is a site that asks you questions about issues and then matches you to the candidate for President you are most in-line with. For me the top three were:

1. Mike Gravel (89% similarity)
2. Dennis Kucinich (88% similarity)
3. John Edwards (85% similarity)

Of these three, Edwards is really the only one who has a chance of winning, no matter how remote. In fact, in looking at the breakdown, Edwards and I see eye-to-eye on everything except the Patriot Act. And even there, we only disagree in details.

I’m still supporting Obama at this point, but if I had to list my top 3, it would be:

1. Obama
2. Edwards
3. Clinton