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Wanna change something?

Thom Wong 15 Dec 2005TheTyee.ca

Thom Wong writes regularly about music for The Tyee. He has also been a teacher and contract specialist. With eight years of education and three bachelor degree, Thom focuses mostly on marketing writing.
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You have things to say. Ideas, theories, plans - you see what's wrong with this world and you know how to fix it. But how to get your idea out to the masses and, more importantly, how to get people to read it? If you're Amit Gupta, Catherine Hickey, Noah Weiss, Phoebe Espiritu and Michelle Sriwongtong, you start ChangeThis, a manifesto website.

The premise is so simple you'll kick yourself for not thinking of it: people submit manifestos (basically essays with a heavy emphasis on didacticism) and they will convert the words into a PDF file, complete with fancy formatting and images, charts and graphs for more visual punch.

While it tends to lean towards Steven Covey "highly successful" type nuggets ("100 Ways to be Successful", "Top Ten Business Tips") there are enough gems to make a thorough look at the site worthwhile.

Hugh MacLeod, author of the popular blog Gaping Void, offers his 26 tips on How to be Creative. Tip number one: ignore everybody. Tip number seven: keep your day job. The text is nicely complimented by MacLeod's own "back of business card" drawings.

One of my favourites is by Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist, the social networking website that has become a global phenomenon. Reading Newmark's manifesto is enough to give anyone hope that with the right idea, and a little bit of the old elbow grease, you can change the world. Or at least make it easier for people to find a used couch.

Thom Wong is a law student who spends an unreasonable amount of time online. His 40 bLinks column runs every Monday and Thursday on The Tyee. What's he all about? Click here. For previous 40 bLinks, click here. [Tyee]

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