I believe that a work of technical writing should be a designed product, engineered to produce a desired result. So you start with a set of goals and create a design to fulfill them. I think that an engineer who cares about creating good designs in his primary realm ought to be able to apply that same motivation to creating a well-designed written work too.
I have three basic goals for engineering writing
1) have something to say, worth saying. It has to be worth the reader's time. I've certainly seen some engineering society papers that were pure crap, written only because the author was trying to keep his name out there.
2) say it well (grammatically and with craftsmanship, as well as being structured so as to make good logical sense to the audience, a meaningful sequence of presentation of knowledge)
3) say it either interestingly and entertainingly, or persuasively, or educationally, depending on your main goal for the project. Or all three.
Of course, the devil is in the details below those three goals.
"If you file a virtual W-2, the IRS will withhold gold taxes before you get paid."
"If you elect to get paid under a virtual 1099, there is no withholding but you must pay taxes quarterly including 15.3% for Unsocial Warrior Security (UWS)."
"And if you file a Form 666, the IRS must celebrate a Black Mass while having a virgin recite the Tax Code backwards without error at midnight before they can withhold any taxes. Any mispronunciation, and there is no penalty to you but Satan devours the revenue agent's eyeballs."
And this why you need Turbo Virtual Tax 2006 NOW! Only $29.95. State virtual taxes not covered in this edition. Also does not cover taxation by king's men, magical losses, or deductions for limbs or other body parts lost to grues under Section 2.427 of the Virtual Tax Code.
Speaking of repetitive stress injuries, does anyone know if those emails touting a cure for carpal penis syndrome actually work? Er, not that *I* need a cure. My, er, boss was asking about it. Yeah. Him. Not me.
Well, so much for 'created in six days', you spoilsport! I'm going to have to tell Reverend Pat Bilgewater about you, you heathen scientist. No, wait. The world was created with subterranean dinosaurs. Yeah, that makes much more sense than this science nonsense.
...a new VR environment where the participants believe they're moving while being seated.
I believe I experienced this in college on weekends, only it involved consuming fermented hops in amounts far beyond my tolerance level. No Swedish VR simulator was required, however German beer was.
No more defrosting refrigerators! It would beat putting naked orphans with ice picks into my freezer, too. Er, not that I do that. The human remains in my garbage can were from some other pervert, officer...Not me.
Next fall, Caltech will offer undergraduate course 93A: "Preventing Homoerotic Cannon Theft". Lectures will be given in 201 E. Bridge by Nobel-prize winner Dr. A. Troll. Lab work will count as 50% of the final grade. TAs will demonstrate how to recognize a brass rat from a gold-plated aluminum rat using simplified mass spectrometry, or possibly a bathtub filled with water. Knowledge of quaternions is strongly recommended, however, skill with card pranks is an acceptable substitute. May not be taken Pass/Fail.
The obvious faster simulation is our universe, which is of course a metasimulation being played by adolescent gods, and which took only 7 days to boot. After which the creator went off for a break and the kids took over the console. Ever since then, things have gone downhill. Somewhere there's a cosmic Sid Meier. And his kids are responsible for global warming, environmental pollution, and Yanni.
They do in Lake Squid. And Grandpaw used to go ice-squid fishing in the winter. At least that's what he told Gram, until the day he came home with lipstick smears and he tried to tell her a lipstick-bearing squid attacked him after the third beer.
Finally I can fulfill my childhood dream. The entire collected works of Yanni AND Michael Bolton on my iPod with room to spare for all of Eminem, Dr Dee, and Cher. I'm beginning to choke up here. Be strong.
This is a followup. Felber has now presented his paper at the STAIF conference. In several news items about the presentation, he is referred to as 'a noted physicist'. However, the news items quote Starmark's press release, which I suspect strongly was probably written by Dr. Felber himself, and if not, at least approved by him. Something that self-congratulatory seems a bit more promotional than professional. How many researchers do you know who like to call themselves 'noted physicists'?
And if Felber's theory is correct, why haven't particle physicists seen speeding particles push particles out of their path by anti-gravity?
Another thought. Why have physicists not already observed a mysterious repulsive gravitation force in the path of high velocity particles? Seems to me that, in decades of high-energy physics observations, why has no one yet found evidence of a near-light-speed particle altering the trajectory of particles in its path before physically contacting them?
I'm not familiar with Dr Felber, so I researched a little. The referenced news item is actually a PR release from Felber's company, Starmark. Could it be part of an attempt to later have credibility when trying to secure a grant to develop his idea? As such, it seems more commercial than academic.
But interestingly, when I researched "Franklin S. Felber", I found conflicting dates for his degrees. At USC it says M.A. Physics, 1973; Ph.D. Physics, 1975. http://physics.usc.edu/Alumni/F.html. But the University of Chicago notes an alumnus Franklin S. Felber, SM'74. http://magazine.uchicago.edu/0304/alumni/works.htm l. Did he really get an MA in California in 1973 then a Masters in Chicago in 1974, then a PhD in 1975 in California?
How many Franklin S. Felbers are there? Perhaps he is well-known in some circles, and I could just be ignorant or mixed up. But I am getting the impression of an ambitious man here, and all that entails. Would someone who knows him well please straighten me out.
Slashdot Mirror
It's the dreaded Elephant Buffer Overflow, the curse of IE users.
I have three basic goals for engineering writing
1) have something to say, worth saying. It has to be worth the reader's time. I've certainly seen some engineering society papers that were pure crap, written only because the author was trying to keep his name out there.
2) say it well (grammatically and with craftsmanship, as well as being structured so as to make good logical sense to the audience, a meaningful sequence of presentation of knowledge)
3) say it either interestingly and entertainingly, or persuasively, or educationally, depending on your main goal for the project. Or all three.
Of course, the devil is in the details below those three goals.
Maybe being sued for spilled hot coffee in the drive-thru wasn't so bad after all.
Signed
Wolfgang Puck
-- Steve Ballmer, dance instructor
"If you file a virtual W-2, the IRS will withhold gold taxes before you get paid."
"If you elect to get paid under a virtual 1099, there is no withholding but you must pay taxes quarterly including 15.3% for Unsocial Warrior Security (UWS)."
"And if you file a Form 666, the IRS must celebrate a Black Mass while having a virgin recite the Tax Code backwards without error at midnight before they can withhold any taxes. Any mispronunciation, and there is no penalty to you but Satan devours the revenue agent's eyeballs."
And this why you need Turbo Virtual Tax 2006 NOW! Only $29.95. State virtual taxes not covered in this edition. Also does not cover taxation by king's men, magical losses, or deductions for limbs or other body parts lost to grues under Section 2.427 of the Virtual Tax Code.
Speaking of repetitive stress injuries, does anyone know if those emails touting a cure for carpal penis syndrome actually work? Er, not that *I* need a cure. My, er, boss was asking about it. Yeah. Him. Not me.
Well, so much for 'created in six days', you spoilsport! I'm going to have to tell Reverend Pat Bilgewater about you, you heathen scientist. No, wait. The world was created with subterranean dinosaurs. Yeah, that makes much more sense than this science nonsense.
Soon we will have large radioactive spiders, and it is but a small step from this to Spider-manovich, comrade. Then we will rule the world.
I believe I experienced this in college on weekends, only it involved consuming fermented hops in amounts far beyond my tolerance level. No Swedish VR simulator was required, however German beer was.
No more defrosting refrigerators! It would beat putting naked orphans with ice picks into my freezer, too. Er, not that I do that. The human remains in my garbage can were from some other pervert, officer...Not me.
Next fall, Caltech will offer undergraduate course 93A: "Preventing Homoerotic Cannon Theft". Lectures will be given in 201 E. Bridge by Nobel-prize winner Dr. A. Troll. Lab work will count as 50% of the final grade. TAs will demonstrate how to recognize a brass rat from a gold-plated aluminum rat using simplified mass spectrometry, or possibly a bathtub filled with water. Knowledge of quaternions is strongly recommended, however, skill with card pranks is an acceptable substitute. May not be taken Pass/Fail.
But at least we'll treasure this moment together, forever.
The obvious faster simulation is our universe, which is of course a metasimulation being played by adolescent gods, and which took only 7 days to boot. After which the creator went off for a break and the kids took over the console. Ever since then, things have gone downhill. Somewhere there's a cosmic Sid Meier. And his kids are responsible for global warming, environmental pollution, and Yanni.
Evidence shows Microsoft has used it already for five years.
They do in Lake Squid. And Grandpaw used to go ice-squid fishing in the winter. At least that's what he told Gram, until the day he came home with lipstick smears and he tried to tell her a lipstick-bearing squid attacked him after the third beer.
And if you're out of food, you can eat an ex-mule. You can't eat a robomule unless you're REALLY hungry.
Oh, MANNED space fight. I read that as HUMAN-POWERED space flight. It'll be much easier now. I need more coffee. Never mind.
Finally I can fulfill my childhood dream. The entire collected works of Yanni AND Michael Bolton on my iPod with room to spare for all of Eminem, Dr Dee, and Cher. I'm beginning to choke up here. Be strong.
And if Felber's theory is correct, why haven't particle physicists seen speeding particles push particles out of their path by anti-gravity?
This has got to be the WORST possible way to connect up an iPod.
Thank god they're not long-legged toxic zombie vampire toads. That would make such a mockery of intelligent design.
Another thought. Why have physicists not already observed a mysterious repulsive gravitation force in the path of high velocity particles? Seems to me that, in decades of high-energy physics observations, why has no one yet found evidence of a near-light-speed particle altering the trajectory of particles in its path before physically contacting them?
But interestingly, when I researched "Franklin S. Felber", I found conflicting dates for his degrees. At USC it says M.A. Physics, 1973; Ph.D. Physics, 1975. http://physics.usc.edu/Alumni/F.html. But the University of Chicago notes an alumnus Franklin S. Felber, SM'74. http://magazine.uchicago.edu/0304/alumni/works.htm l. Did he really get an MA in California in 1973 then a Masters in Chicago in 1974, then a PhD in 1975 in California?
How many Franklin S. Felbers are there? Perhaps he is well-known in some circles, and I could just be ignorant or mixed up. But I am getting the impression of an ambitious man here, and all that entails. Would someone who knows him well please straighten me out.
Mom said: "toothbrush in MOUTH, Billy. Not THERE. BAD BOY!"
The Slashdot Hygiene Squad is very, very cross with you.