I love how the web can help me write better
Although you probably can't tell it from this blog, I write for a living. Every writer though, professional or not, has certain issues that trip them up. This is especially true of things you don't use a lot.
For me, the majority of my writing is for online documentation. Online documentation should be composed of simple sentences. People scan and skim online help, they don't read it, so complex sentences cause people to miss valuable information.
Because of that, I rarely use semicolons or colons. I'm out of practice. Today I'm writing a document analysing the structure of the online help documents at salesforce.com. I had a long sentence that I thought was perfect for a semicolon.
Most tables are part of the body content; the exceptions, in our case, are access and edition tables, which are closely associated with headings.
I wasn't sure, though. So, I typed "semicolon usage" into Google and shazam! up came Semicolon Usage which reassured me that I was using the semicolon properly.
Granted, I could have used my handbook, but I'm sitting at a great little cafe in Berkeley called Le Bateau Ivre (the drunken boat), and it's a ten minute bike ride back to my handbook. I'd rather rewrite the sentence than do that, but thanks to some kind soul and Northwest Vista College, I don't have to do that.
Although my blog gets hardly any visits, I'm sure one of my 5 (on a good day) readers will send me an email saying, "Nope, that's the wrong way to use a semicolon". That's what you get for posting something like this, right? I actually welcome comments like that, but if you are the one that sends that email, please tell me how to fix it, don't just tell me that it's wrong.
Real photos and their finished version
Greg's Digital Portfolio, by a freelance photographer, shows before and after pictures of some shots he's done. The post-processing he's done is amazing.
It's no wonder that people have unrealistic expectation about their own bodies, about a place, or object. We see a version of reality that only exists in the art director's mind.
It's not lying, but we need to remember that what you see is hardly ever what you really get.
ICQ Robot for reminders and other common stuff
Lifehacker writes about a very interesting ICQ robot called SmarterChild. You can send it messages that will tell the robot to give you reminders, help you with spelling, geography, give you the headlines, or tell you when Million Dollar Baby (or any other movie) is playing in your area.
The thing Lifehacker doesn't tell us is that it's ad supported. Just simple inline text ads, but ads nonetheless. They are pretty easy to ignore, but if you don't like ad supported tools, don't use SmarterChild.
Robots have been around on IRC and ICQ for some time, but this one is really easy to use, and has a lot of good functionality. Check it out and see what you think.
Okay, I’ve tried to work with IE, but …
So, since I started my new job three weeks ago, I've been using IE. It's been a long time since I used IE, and I thought that I'd give it another chance again. Well, it still sucks. No tabs. No RSS. Spyware problems. Crappy CSS.
I'm back to Firefox.
I did find something very interesting, though, if you really need to use IE. Try the Avant browser. It uses IE for browsing, but wraps it up in a lot of extra functionality including tabs. Now, if you've never used tab browsing before, I feel for you. Tabbed browsing is the best UI addition to browsers since the back button. Try it, you'll love it.
New job!
I just started a new job this week at Salesforce.com. I'm back into technical communication. So far it's been great - interesting technology and great people, and I'm going to be working on some great projects.
One of the other perks, though, is the location. I'm now working in downtown San Francisco. I have a view of the Bay Bridge out of my window. My commute is one hour less each way.
Cat Stevens barred from entering the US
Yusef Islam, best known for his folk Music he recorded under the name Cat Stevens, has been denied access to the US.
Although he is spa devote Muslim Islam has publicly criticized terrorism and terrorist attacks, including the WTC attacks and the recent hostage taking in Russia.
Who will be denied access next? Bob Dylan (he did a lot of anti-Vietnam war protesting)? Pete Townsend of the Who ("Won't get fooled again" is clearly anti-Bush)?
Personally the only risk I see in admitting a peaceful well-known Muslim into the US is that when he speaks out against the war, the press will cover it. That's got to be pretty scary to the Republicans.
Political House Parties
There's a great movement afoot in America. House parties aimed at making sure that George Bush doesn't get re-elected.
What's a house party? To quote from the Party for America
A house party is usually a gathering of 20-40 friends and neighbors who come together for a couple of hours. After chatting informally for a while, they sit down to get acquainted with one of the many campaigns to stop Bush.
In some house parties, they watch a documentary or a video of a candidate's speech. In others, they join a conference call with hundreds of other house parties occurring simultaneously around the country to listen to a prominent speaker.
Afterward, they talk about the campaign to stop Bush. The party ends with action - usually writing letters, making phone calls or donating money.
Take a look at the SF Gate's article on a recent documentary "Outfoxed" to see some specifics on house parties.
Interesting question from a journalist – what is really happening in Iraq?
Robert Fisk, of the Independed, has written an article called The Cirsis of Information in Baghdad that brings up an interesting point. Is the situation in Iraq calming, or does it just appear that way because journalists don't feel safe to travel outside of Baghdad, especially not to areas such as Fallujah?
Here's the thing - the US and Iraqi governments say that, in an air stike, they killed a band of terrorists. The Iraqis on the ground say it was all women and children. Who's right? Nobody knows.
This lack of verified information makes it very difficult to determine what is really going on in Iraq. It seems to me, though, that if the journalists don't feel safe travelling, Iraq isn't becoming safer, it's becoming more dangerous.
More mobile blogging
In my continuing quest to blog more easily using my PDA, I'm trying two new programs - Spell5 (a spellchecker) and SiED a text editor.
I still think Sony's MemoPad is the best tool for writing on my PDA. The great thing about it is auto-capitalization and full screen mode.
Spell5 is a great tool, though. Put text on the clipboard, open Spell5, check the spelling, go back to your application and paste.
I love Berkeley.
On the November ballot in Berkeley will be a measure to decriminalize prostitution. Criminalizing prostitution does nothing to stop it, and promotes violence against women.
Although the vote is symbolic (anti-prostitution laws are set at the state level), if you live in Berkeley, please vote for this measure.