Suffering from Blogger’s Block? Take Advantage of It.

Blogger’s block…it strikes without warning. Alas, researchers have yet to develop a cure. Tips to reduce symptoms abound, including:

Catherine Tan, Hootsuite: 9 Ways to Beat Blogger’s Block

Debbie Hemley, Social Media Examiner: 26 Tips for Overcoming Bloggers Block. It was via this post that I discovered the Mari Popova’s delightful Brain Pickings.

William Comcowich, CyberAlert: 14 Ways to Beat Writer’s Block

The problem with lists of tips is that after clicking from one to the next, they all seem to run together and repeat, creating a giant echo chamber.

What works for me? To overcome blogger’s block, I seek out subject matter that is unrelated to my blog. Shifting the focus helps disrupt my unnerving obsession with the problem. As if by magic, the block fades.

Below are some of my favorite shift-the-focus sites for inspiration.

Brain Pickings blog

Videos on Vimeo, especially the animations

One in 8 Million, stories of NYC characters in sound and images, masterful editing

The whimsical illustrations of Sarah Goodreau

The Favorites Lists of Heidi Swanson, author/photographer, are feasts of ideas.

World Science Festival – articles, videos, infographics

A Google image search for: Maira Kalman

The lovely drawings (1886-1900) and notes of Rufus Grider

The Library of Congress digital collections

Question: If you have been the victim of blogger’s block, how did you strike back?

Will Your Next Website Design Itself?

If The Grid lives up to the hype, website design and maintenance is about to get a whole lot easier.

The Grid is a website builder powered by machine learning and artificial intelligence. It is set to debut later this month.

Picture telling The Grid what you want a set of content to achieve, loading some raw files, then letting algorithms automatically generate your website. In theory, design is optimized and the user experience is elevated. Responsive design is a natural element in The Grid landscape. The system crunches data to manage fluidity across all screens, from mobile to wearable to TV to __________ (you fill in the blank).

Forbes contributor Anthony Wing Kosner took a look at this innovation in his article, The Grid Website Platform Automatically Adapts Design to Make Your Content Shine. To quote Mr. Kosner,

 This is code in the service of design…The Grid figures the hard stuff out for you.”

Some of that “hard stuff” includes measuring the color data in files and fine-tuning images and text panels so they are aesthetically pleasing. Visual content can be automatically cropped and The Grid recognizes and preserves faces and other key photo elements. Content can also be gleaned from the internet and incorporated (no mention of possible legal issues involving this ‘borrowed’ material). The system offers flexibility, so the brand can maintain some control, too. For example, a company’s designers can manage a website’s filters. The Grid learns and applies these rules.

The Grid is a San Francisco startup bankrolled by former executives of Facebook, Disney Interactive, and Elegant Themes. The company is offering a $96 annual membership, sight unseen. There is considerable interest. As of this writing, 44,395 people had subscribed (more than $4 million raised).

Will The Grid deliver on this tantalizing concept or has it over-promised subscribers?

What do you think?