So today you are looking at the first edition of “Return On News”. My goal is to share a similar set of recommended articles and blog posts at least once monthly. If there is enough volume, I might even do it more often.

How to Remove Your Google Web History Before The New Privacy Policy Change

This article from Melanie Pinola of lifehacker goes beyond just how to remove your web history; it offers some great reasons why you want to do it in the first place.

Pinterest is profiting off your ‘pinspired’ purchases without a disclosure

Molly McHugh of Digital Trends reveals her findings regarding how social media upstart Pinterest pays their bills. We already know they include dofollow links back to the various websites where the images originated. But they have a full affiliate strategy going on in the background. It’s working, but is it deceptive? See for yourself.

Someday, Your Reputation May Be More Important Than Your Net Worth

Boonsri Dickinson of Business Insider speculates about a possible future where who you are and what you stand for could one day be more valuable than money or “stuff.” He makes a darn good case for it. You’ve likely seen all the detractors beating up on Klout, but this is a rare article that envisions a more rosy future for them or whomever it is that figures out the personal branding / online reputation game.

Unofficial SXSW 2012 Guide

It’s no secret that I live in Austin, so I had to share something about the festival. This page gives a nice overview of the parties to expect outside show hours. Fun is part of the festival, so save up some energy for the afterparties. And welcome to Austin! [Thanks to Melanie Wise, who originally shared this with me via Twitter.]

Block Advertisers From Your Google Search Results

Cris Crum of WebProNews reviews Google’s new offering that allows users to block Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertisements from entire domains. Fortunately for advertisers, they are allowing users to manage their own web search experience without saddling those same advertisers with any negative ranking or quality score repurcussions. At least for the time being.

Conclusion

That’s the list for this week. If you find something you think would be a great fit here, please share with me on Twitter: @tommy_landry!

Don’t get me wrong; this isn’t a diatribe about using big words and good grammar. This is about playing a little game we used to call “Bullshit Bingo”. If you’re not familiar with the game (and surely many of you are), it was an old joke where you could put a list of these made up words on a Bingo playing card and cross off each of them as some pompous “know-it-all-wanna-be” started littering their “thoughtful” comments with them during a meeting or presentation. I know the game helped me make it through many an aimless meeting in my previous corporate life.

Here’s a little video I found on SPIKE.com that elaborates on the idea behind this whole concept.

Funny you say? Yes, but unfortunately, this video only exists because this actually happens in real companies today.

Well, I’m taking it upon myself to call Bullshit on Bullshit Bingo.

I want to start by calling out a grammatical error which is so common that it has been included on some BS Bingo boards (at least I know it makes it onto mine, because it’s a near certainty that someone in the room will do it). It’s not a made-up word, but it has been so bastardized that this has become one of my biggest personal pet peeves. I’ve even seen it used incorrectly on blogs and social media, which is less offensive than in a face-to-face business meeting, but still a huge issue if you  are using those media for personal branding or conducting business.

BS Bingo No More: Learn how to use the word “myself” properly!

The biggest offense I’ve seen here is the use of myself as the subject of a sentence, as in “Bill, Tom, Jane, and myself will be organizing the event.” [ACK! Even writing that is like nails on a chalkboard for me.]

How should the word actually be used by literate adults? It’s reflective people!

What does that mean? Unless you’ve already used the word “I” in a sentence, the only other potentially acceptable way to use it is as the subject of a preposition. And never, ever, ever use it as a direct replacement for the word “me”, even in a preposition. Confused? Perhaps some examples will help.

Correct Uses:

• I myself will be giving the presentation.
• I really created a bad situation for myself.
• I somehow injured myself.

See what I mean? That could have been pulled straight from classic literature. Or a really well written journal.

Let’s look at some misuses in more detail now.

• The team in attendance will include myself, Marie, and Barb.
• For this project, all requests should be sent to myself.
• To drive this project, myself will need a bigger budget.

That last one kind’a bothered you didn’t it? I had to include it. You see, the most frequent misuses of this word in my experience are in badly structured passive tense sentences (which should never be used in business writing; save it for the freeform poetry) and in serial lists. You can find passive tense by using your “Yoda” voice to test it…if it sounds like Yoda, it’s probably passive tense. Serial lists are like “myself, Marie, and Barb” above, where you list out multiple people. I guess it’s easier to get lazy with grammar when the sentence is already convoluted or you can bury it in a list of names.

Either way, myself is reflective. It’s a simple word and a simple concept. And it doesn’t make you sound smarter to misuse it. It has the opposite effect, at least on those of us who know better. Now we all do!

Now go out and help spread the word. If you hear someone use Myself wrong, call them out. They may not thank you for it, but they’ll owe you one for helping them appear less ignorant to the rest of us.

Now enough ranting; I’m going enjoy some SXSW fun!