Adding Images to a Blog Post

Here is a photo of one of my martial art’s teacher’s teacher’s teacher, Dr. Massaaki Hatsumi with his teacher 33^rd Togakure-ryu Ninjutsu Grandmaster Toshitsugu Takamatsu. In the photo they are practicing the art of kuji-in which is derived from esoteric Buddhism. This practice is a series of mind-setting techniques used to alter the personality and allow the practitioner to accomplish their goals. I found this image here. 

Organizations

I am a member of the Horror Writers Association. I was able to join this organization as an affiliate member (semi-pro) because I have sold short fiction to magazine markets. 

I am a member of New England Horror Writers. I'm not on the members list for some reason. I need to contact them to get that fixed. 

I am a member of the UMASS Lowell chapter of Alpha Sigma Lambda. 

Links to Other Sites

I’m creating links to other sites of interest.

Click here to go to one of my neighbor’s blogs.

I’m also learning to create hyperlinks. I learned how to create hyperlinks at annuziato.org.

The Internet and Politics

The Internet and the World Wide Web have created a lot of changes in politics. We have more alternative venues to get political information. We are not confined by the major networks, cable news stations, or the local papers. This allows us to be better informed and have more information quicker than ever before. 

Through message boards, social networking, blogs, and web pages, we are able to create a discourse with people all over the country, broadening our perspective. Social networking also allows the average citizen unprecedented access to politicians. For instance, I’m facebook friends with my State Reprehensive. And social networking helped him immensely during his campaign. The Internet also made it easier for him and other politicians to raise funds for their campaigns. 

Collective groups of citizens can pool their voices to sway policy decisions, and writing to politicians is made easier and more efficient through the use of e-mail and web forms. 

The availability of information makes it more difficult for politicians to hide what they are doing. One politician even stated that he wished the Internet had never been created. When a politician makes a statement like this, you know the Internet is a good thing. 

Course Expectations

By taking this class I’m hoping to improve my knowledge of the Internet and learn more about HTML and website creation.

I enjoy following many Blogs. Most of the Blogs I follow are related to the business of writing fiction for a living or they are related to martial arts training and research.

Here are some of the Blogs that I follow:

http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/

http://hauntedcomputer.blogspot.com/

http://www.briankeene.com/

http://jonfmerz.net/blog/

http://stephenkhayes.com/the-densho/

http://www.myspace.com/marcmacyoung

You can also feel free to check out The Pen and the Sword, my blog about writing, martial arts, and personal development. As you can see, I haven’t done much with it yet. And feel free to friend me on facebook.

http://davidnorthmartino.wordpress.com/

www.facebook.com/dnorthmartino

Besides martial arts and writing I’m interested in many subjects. I enjoy politics, comparative religion, history, technology, and fitness among others.  

My experience with the Internet has been varied. I enjoy social networking, shopping, blogging, visiting news sites, and researching. 

Introduction

Hello everyone and welcome to my Blog. My name is David North-Martino and I am 39 years old. I'm in my senior year at UMASS Lowell finishing up a BLA with concentrations in English and psychology. I live in Blackstone, MA with my wife, Patty. Although my primary focus right now is school, I’m also self-employed as both a freelance writer and a martial arts instructor. 

I’m taking this class to fulfill course requirements, but I’m very interested in the Internet and hope to learn more about this tool that I utilize every day.