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still talking to myself about technical writing

Another Pre-amble Referring, once again, to my article on documentation for Red Hat Magazine entitled ‘Four rules and an axiom’ I’ve posted a further comment in reference to thoughts posted by two...

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explaining maths jokes: surely the saddest thing of all

So, where to go today instead of being productive. Here will do. It’s a mathematically comedic response to George Vaccaro’s horrifying encounters with the Verizon billing department George Vaccaro’s...

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steampunk inspired distractions for the busy working day

I want one of these and one of these. I suspect others will as well. Unfortunately we can’t have the ones on display, and most of us don’t have the skill to make even dodgy facsimiles. On the plus...

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even real work leads to distraction

My third how to write good documentation column is out. And, while it was real work for me, I crammed a fair swag of background that’s only really of use for impressing your mates at parties. (Always...

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dentists, taxes and death by toothache

John Scalzi posted a short note about a 12-year-old-boy dying, in effect, from toothache. Much discussion ensued. I even piped in with a tiny comment: a link to a LiveScience report that suggests The...

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distractions, distractions everywhere and not a moment to think

The famous Nick Douglas (who isn’t this famous Nick Douglas, nor that famous Nick Douglas (and while I’m laying on distraction upon distraction, I’ll just note that Tom O’Neil has a different view of...

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considering complaining about choirs about complaining

I should, of course, be meeting a deadline. Actually, I should be chasing two deadlines that whooshed by thanks to a nifty infection that put me on the loo or flat on my back exhausted from walking to...

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fun stuff to fill your day rather than proper work

First up, just knowing there is an Octopus News Magazine makes my day. It only gets better to learn they have a wonderfully Cthulhu-esque logo which I can get on a t-shirt. As for the articles, I don’t...

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it was (almost) forty years ago today

On the 9th December 2008, it will be 40 years since Doug Engelbart’s Mother of all Demos (as it’s come to be known, thanks to Steven Levy using the phrase to describe the event in his 1994 book...

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Joanna Russ is dead

Joanna Russ is dead, which is terrible and sad and depressing as hell. Her 1972 short-story ‘When It Changed’ blew my mind when I first read it in 1979 and still makes me re-cast my eye over so many...

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