It's time to go
Rob Writer
mostly lurked, but have been moved to post when I thought I had something
constructive to post.
I have learned a lot from some very talented and generous (with their time
and knowledge) writers. And the TECHWR-L archives continue to be of great
value to me.
But somewhere along the way, this list has changed. Or more accurately,
we—the posters—have changed this list. The reasons I valued this list so
much, especially as I was embarking on my technical writing career, was for
the frequent discussions that amounted to “how to do your job better and
more efficiently”, with the occasional topic to commiserate with others who
understood our little niche in the world.
I used to look forward to reading this list every morning. I would get to
work a half hour early, pour my self a cup of joe, and delight in the
knowledge I gleaned from your collective experience. And there always seemed
to be something that made me laugh; were did our humor go?
But, as I mentioned before, the tone of this list has changed, considerably.
And it’s changed to something that no longer feels comfortable to me. I feel
so much derisiveness from this list, and too much of it seems personal.
And I’m part of the problem too. I re-read several of my most recent posts
over the last several months. Have I been helpful? Have I offered tips or
suggestions on how to make our jobs easier, or how to become a more
productive technical writer? No, I haven’t. I’ve made snide remarks
disguised as humor or sarcasm. I’ve entered into personal debates with
people I don’t even know.
So, it’s time for me to go. I’ll still refer to the archives whenever I need
some help. But I feel that the current tone and content of this list no
longer benefits me as a technical writer, and has become an unnecessary
distraction.
Thank you Eric and Deborah. And to many others on this list. Good luck and
success to all of you. And, because it’s my favorite admonition form one of
my favorite list members, I’ll get back to work now. Writing. It’s what I
do.
Sincerely,
Rob
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Justin Ressler
Word merely outputs a concordance file, and SKY is much much better at
producing an actual index, but does SKY have the ability to automatically
generate page numbers for phrases and key terms, or are ALL pages MANUALLY
input.
I also understand that REAL, QUALITY, indexes are put together by manually
marking the page numbers, but that is not always possible or necessary for
us at this point.
Can SKY generate page numbers for entries automatically?
JR
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Eric J. Ray
Rob,
Thanks for taking the time to write the message below--
it was quite well stated, and your point is very well
taken.
What to do about it? I haven't any idea.
RW >But somewhere along the way, this list has changed. Or more accurately,
RW >we—the posters—have changed this list. The reasons I valued this list so
RW >much, especially as I was embarking on my technical writing career, was for
RW >the frequent discussions that amounted to “how to do your job better and
RW >more efficiently”, with the occasional topic to commiserate with others who
RW >understood our little niche in the world.
RW >
RW >I used to look forward to reading this list every morning. I would get to
RW >work a half hour early, pour my self a cup of joe, and delight in the
RW >knowledge I gleaned from your collective experience. And there always seemed
RW >to be something that made me laugh; were did our humor go?
RW >But, as I mentioned before, the tone of this list has changed, considerably.
RW >And it’s changed to something that no longer feels comfortable to me. I feel
RW >so much derisiveness from this list, and too much of it seems personal.
Agreed. And the off-list messages--to me, and those I've
been informed of--are far worse. They're personal,
offensive, and insulting to a degree I couldn't have
imagined 3 or 4 years ago.
It's become impossible to ping everyone who is rude or
offensive on list--there aren't enough hours in the
day. And, most days, the time that I get to spend
with TECHWR-L isn't spent in answering questions or
providing comments--it's spent as an arbiter or worse.
I'd rather discuss real topics, but find that
impossible most of the time, because of the personal
issues that people involve me in, or because of the
complaints about various grievances.
RW >
RW >And I’m part of the problem too. I re-read several of my most recent posts
RW >over the last several months. Have I been helpful? Have I offered tips or
RW >suggestions on how to make our jobs easier, or how to become a more
RW >productive technical writer? No, I haven’t. I’ve made snide remarks
RW >disguised as humor or sarcasm. I’ve entered into personal debates with
RW >people I don’t even know.
Interesting self-analysis. My question would be "why?" -- do
you know?
RW >So, it’s time for me to go. I’ll still refer to the archives whenever I need
RW >some help. But I feel that the current tone and content of this list no
RW >longer benefits me as a technical writer, and has become an unnecessary
RW >distraction.
RW >
RW >Thank you Eric and Deborah. And to many others on this list. Good luck and
RW >success to all of you. And, because it’s my favorite admonition form one of
RW >my favorite list members, I’ll get back to work now. Writing. It’s what I
RW >do.
Thank you--and thanks for posting this. With any kind of
luck, it might catalyze some change.
So, how about it? Other comments? Suggestions?
Eric
Kevin Christy
Is it possible that the strain on the list is a reflection of what's
happened to our industry over the last couple of years? I struggle against
cynicism and depression every day, as both of my family's sources of income
have been devastated. I know I'm not alone in that regard. These are tough
times, and they have been for a while now.
Go if you must, but you might consider that first.
Peace!
Kevin
Elna Tymes
Language that is inflammatory or baiting tends to draw responses in kind.
| RW >But, as I mentioned before, the tone of this list has changed, considerably.
| RW >And it's changed to something that no longer feels comfortable to me. I feel
| RW >so much derisiveness from this list, and too much of it seems personal.
I have protested privately and publicly, many times, to postings that
were not only off topic but derisive on a personal level, one which I
find not only unprofessional, but downright counterproductive. We're
supposed to be here to seek help from and offer help to each other, not
engage in putdowns and other forms of arrogance. I've long had a beef
with one member whose messages are more putdowns of real tech writers
than informative - and the problem that the tone of those messages
invites responses from others in the same tone. However my discussions
on this topic with Eric have been amazingly unproductive.
And then there's the discussion (ha!) about clinical depression and its
effect in the workplace. I'm really appalled at the presumption of some
people on this list to make unfounded medical diagnoses and to exhibit
personal prejudice about people with disabilities. Were their comments
couched in terms of ability to function in the workplace, it would have
been an entirely different discussion. But some of what was said here
would open the poster to serious discrimination lawsuits had the
original poster been in their company. I find it hard to believe the
responders are really that ignorant of common business law.
| It's become impossible to ping everyone who is rude or
| offensive on list--there aren't enough hours in the
| day. And, most days, the time that I get to spend
| with TECHWR-L isn't spent in answering questions or
| providing comments--it's spent as an arbiter or worse.
| I'd rather discuss real topics, but find that
| impossible most of the time, because of the personal
| issues that people involve me in, or because of the
| complaints about various grievances.
Perhaps one of the problems is that the membership of the list has
grown, and with it, the number of complaints. That's part of the
territory with a moderated list - if your premise is that the list
should be moderated in order to assure a high quality signal-to-noise
ratio, and the list membership grows, the sheer number of 'noise'
incidents is going to grow too. You're right, however, to make us stop
and think about things every now and then. And among other things,
issue the hidden threat that you and Deb, as administrators, could
simply take away this sandbox any time you choose. This is your sandbox
and your toys, and you make (and enforce) the rules.
I, for one, appreciate the content of this list. I put up with the 'noise'
comments because, overall, I get value from reading the list. I
contribute what I hope are reasonable professional comments from time to
time. I especially appreciate the time, effort, and aggravation you and
Deb put into the list and web site. And if I don't say 'thank you'
often enough, please accept my apologies. You know your work is
appreciated.
Elna Tymes
Los Trancos Systems
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Steven Brown
When communicating electronically, it's easy to
respond to listservs or email very quickly. All too
often people get caught up the "heat of them moment"
when dealing with hot topics. The result are messages
that can be sarcastic, inconsiderate, or
mean-spirited.
To avoid this tendency, I almost always compose
messages in a text editor or Word (probably should use
FrameMaker!) BEFORE copying them into Yahoo or email
for transmission. This gives me the opportunity to
take a breath -- to carefully consider the tone of my
communiqué and the words I use.
Just an idea.
Steven Brown
Senior Technical Writer
“I like having fun.”
Heard from nearly every participant on the “Blind
Date” reality television show. Brilliant!
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Michael Collier
| So, how about it? Other comments? Suggestions?
|
| Eric
A lot of what I've seen is a kind of ego display...as writers, we are
certainly clever and witty and like to take advantage of opportunities to
demonstrate that. So when someone commits a faux pas of some kind, like
asking a question that has been asked too many times, or fails to search the
internet or the archives first, some people will react to that reflexively.
And in public, no less (i.e. replying to the list instead of expressing
their concerns privately to the poster.)
In these cases perhaps it is time to resurrect the old bromide "you know
where the delete button is, use it." There is no need to clutter up the list
with attempts to teach someone a lesson.
You probably would not berate someone directly in front of their peers or
superiors for something you consider inappropriate. If it is truly egregious
Eric will handle it.
................................................................
Michael Collier, Technical Writer Office: N636
Information Systems Laboratory http://isl.arlut.utexas.edu/
Applied Research Laboratories: The University of Texas at Austin
Voice: 512-835-3408 e-mail: mcol...@arlut.utexas.edu
................................................................
Cadorette Johanne
Eric wonders whether we agree with Rob's comments the shift in the nature of the postings to this list (said Rob, "But I feel that the current tone and content of this list no longer benefits me as a technical writer, and has become an unnecessary distraction.")
Recently, a former colleague told me that she had just re-subscribed to the list and found that there was a lot more theoritical debating going on than there used to be.
Her comment made me think back to when I first subscribed just a few months ago, and I have to agree. There seem to be fewer posts that are outright questions about the technical aspect of our trade, less advice and tips than there were even five or six months ago. I am finding that I skip entire threads more often then I used to, and am saving fewer posts for future reference.
I'm not sure why this is; maybe Kevin Christy is right ("Is it possible that the strain on the list is a reflection of what's happened to our industry over the last couple of years?"). Who knows.
I still appreciate this list. For me, it's like having dozens of more experienced colleagues around me from whom I can learn. That's priceless. But whatever's going on, I hope we can all gain some insight from Rob's post and help make this list even better.
My two cents,
Johanne Cadorette
Richard McLean
|What to do about it? I haven't any idea.
Hi All,
I'm quite new here, but not new to mailing lists. I have felt the
atmosphere that Rob described, that's why I haven't posted.
Been a bit overwhelmed (and by the time I've got something
to contribute, the topic has usually been done to death). :-)
The one and only thing that I have known to work on a list
of this size and mail volume is to set the boundaries in the
list guidelines, and then make people responsible for their
own behaviour by taking away their posting privileges,
suspending them from the list, or removing them altogether,
if they cross the line in a blatant or repeated way.
Bye Rob! I've enjoyed your posts.
cheers,
Richard
walden miller
happened to our industry over the last couple of years?"
I am not so sure that anyone can blame the economy. My staff have been
lurkers and active participants for years. They say that the list has
gotten chattier and chattier with less useful information. My top two
writers don't even subscribe anymore (because I do and they don't want to
"waste any more time"). I began on the list when the economy was in full
swing. The list had its share of flames and oddball threads then and now.
Has it gotten worse? maybe.
Can it be fixed? only by the will of the participants. Like all volunteer
groups. We are what we are. If we change, our list changes.
This list is a great resource. Everyone has a delete key and can limit
their reading and responses, if they want to. That is the thing about lists.
Eric moderates this list with a very light touch. This provides the maximum
discussion. This is good. Thanks, Eric.
Walden Miller
word...@swbell.net
knowledge of so many people on this list. I've discovered helpful links
and have learned a lot about the tools and processes needed for becoming a
successful technical writer. I've since made the decision that I am more
suited to business writing and the creative side of things (and I don't
want to start a discussion over whether technical writing is creative or
not. I mean creative in my own personal sense.)
I've also, admittedly, chuckled over some of the witty comments and stared
open-mouthed at some of the derisive comments coming from a community of
professionals. I particularly lost faith in one of my favorite posters
with his comments about depression.
However, there is so much to be learned from the people on this list, and
I am grateful the people on the list are so willing to share their
knowledge. Maybe I've come late to the party, but I still find value
(sometimes hidden among the noise) in many of the posts to the lists.
Pat Glass--who still remembers the "Golden Rule"
word...@swbell.net
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Nagai, Paul
http://www.rider.edu/users/suler/psycyber/lifelist.html
By the way, I've sent Kat a note suggesting shee needs to write a new
section (whether 6c or 7 I don't know) about the changes (commercialization)
here at techwr-l last year (a few years ago? Time flies!) and the changes
underway at framers (Brad's).
------
Paul Nagai
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Robert Rinehart
I believe the problem lies not in the off-topic posts themselves, but in the
fact that they go on FOREVER. There is nothing wrong with five or so posts
on something more theoretical or abstract than usual. The problem arises
when this stuff is done to death, to the point that 40% of posts for a week
center around the same debate.
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Michael...@aol.com
I'll offer a few thoughts here.
I had never heard of this list before about 6 weeks ago. I had subscribed to
a Yahoo club last year, but this list is much bigger, more active, and more
informative.
I've been in tech writing for 16 years, worked in a variety of fields and for
a couple of very large corporations. It was a career change for me;
previously, I was in consumer credit and collections. It's all been very
interesting and challenging. I am always happy to learn more. I am a past
president of my local STC chapter but have not been active in the chapter for
some years and am really neither "for" or "against" STC.
I think I've been subscribing here for about a month or so. Here is what I
have noticed:
1. In my estimate, about 65-75% of the posts are extremely interesting,
informative, and worthwhile. I read every one, and reading most of them is
practically a crash course in issues, some of which I hardly knew existed
before I subscribed.
2. Despite this highly positive aspect, it has certainly seemed to me that
anyone who asks a question on this board runs a *very* high risk of being
demeaned, patronized, or lectured--mostly from a small group of posters,
fortunately. I find that dismaying, since I assume that many of those asking
questions may well be new technical writers with possibly less self-assurance
to begin with than those who have been in the field a little longer.
3. There are three posters whose posts are distinguished chiefly by the high
ratio of obnoxiousness to information. It's like trying to listen to someone
who has a nice singing voice but an unconquerable problem with flatulence.
One of these posters can be counted on to respond to almost any question or
comment with some comment that is at best cranky and often ill-informed.
Another commonly begins his posts by saying that the original author has been
"bloviating." Another is notorious for publishing posts whose basic subtext
almost always seems to be, "My name is Ozymandias, king of kings/ Look on my
works, ye mighty, and despair." I am not aware that anything at all is done
about these posters or their messages. Whatever informative value may lie in
their messages, meanwhile, is almost entirely lost, for me, in the obnoxious
presentation. In such a case, it is idle to ask the reader to consider only
professional issues; it is obvious that the posters themselves have been at
considerable pains to make the presentation of their posts as disagreeable as
possible. Putting powdered sugar on bird droppings doesn't turn them into a
delicacy.
4. In the last few days, someone published a post asking for advice about a
career crisis and confessing to a diagnosis of depression. Having been
exposed to people with substance abuse problems in the past and been alerted
to the subterfuges of which some of them are capable, and having had to take
some stern measures in my former career as a bill collector, I thought I was
capable of being hard-nosed, but I was appalled at the casual cruelty with
which some on this board dismissed or even ridiculed the distress of someone
that they couldn't, in the nature of the case, really know anything about. I
have seriously considered unsubscribing for that reason alone and am not sure
even yet whether I will stay.
5. It has become obvious to me that despite the list rule about negative and
personal postings, that rule is generally not enforced. I can't think of
anywhere to assign responsibility for that except at the door of the list
manager. I have also received off-list communication from you. I will not
describe it, since, even though you mention on- and off-list communication in
your post and invite public comment, I don't think that treating individual
instances is exactly what you had in mind. I will say generally that from
what I have seen being allowed to happen on the board publicly, and from the
attitude you have displayed privately, I have very little respect for you
personally or for your abilities as a list manager. In my opinion, you are
doing a pretty poor job. In particular, the comment in your post:
|What to do about it? I haven't any idea.
.strikes me as rather embarrassingly weak and pitiable. If you wish to run a
list, then I would say you need to get your act together and do so. If you
find you're not capable of it, then discontinue it. But at this point, from
the point of view of a new subscriber, your performance is definitely less
than impressive.
Michael Huggins
John Posada
Since you are a newcomer here, I'll be gentle.
You can say what you want about us. Some of us may have a low BS
tolerance but we tolerate it a little bit. Some of us aren't looking
to receive 4,000 "you poor thing" fill our mailbox, but it takes
awhile for use to say "suck it up" and we don't do it often. Some of
us expect ANYONE to do their homework before cranking out questions,
but will give an equal measure of help and nudge at the same time.
Some of us have seen others come and go.
What some of us don't tolerate is:
| >What to do about it? I haven't any idea.
|
| .strikes me as rather embarrassingly weak and pitiable. If you wish
| to run a
| list, then I would say you need to get your act together and do so.
6 weeks, in the lifetime of many of us the list just warrants coming
out of lurking for the first time to introduce yourself. You haven't
seen how things are handled. You have no basis from which to form
this opinion. He doesn't moderate the list...He OWNS the list. We are
guests here...4,000+ of us. He pushes a button on his end and poof,
the list is gone....with more money in his pocket at the end of the
month. This isn't a Yahoo group (no insult to HATT is intentioned).
You owe Eric a public apology
=====
John Posada, Senior Technical Writer
Current gig ending 4/15
Resume: http://www.tdandw.com/Resume_Posada_022202.doc
mailto:jo...@tdandw.com, 732-259-2874
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---
Richard Evans
>I am interested in buying the SKY Indexer Pro Edition. I understand that
>Word merely outputs a concordance file, and SKY is much much better at
>producing an actual index, but does SKY have the ability to automatically
>generate page numbers for phrases and key terms, or are ALL pages MANUALLY
>input.
All manual input.
>
>Can SKY generate page numbers for entries automatically?
No.
For more information, check out the American Society of Indexers (ASI)
site at www.asindexing.org. There is a discussion of indexing tools
and contact information for the various developers of indexing
software.
There's a big disconnect between the publishing environment and the
tech writing environment: most freelance indexers work in the
publishing environment, where indexes are created separately from the
books. Hence the dedicated software packages. Most tech writers work
with embedding tools like Word and Frame, which have pretty
rudimentary indexing capability.
Someone needs to create a tool that combines the best of both worlds.
Richard T. Evans
Infodex Indexing Services, Inc.
www.mindspring.com/~infodex
dmb...@brown-inc.com
|
| Can SKY generate page numbers for entries automatically?
Word can. I don't know if you've looked at Word's indexing fields (XE and Index), but they take all the headache of page numbers out of your hands. Word has a separate concordance generator, but that is *not* its indexing feature. I use Word's indexing feature almost daily, and it does exactly what you're describing.
SKY, Cindex, and Macrex offer a better "indexing environment" (allowing you to create permutations automatically, for instance), but they don't have a connectino into Word that I'm aware of.
Check the web sites for these three products. Each has a downloadable demo and a contact for questions like yours.
--David
=============================
David M. Brown - Brown Inc.
dmb...@brown-inc.com
=============================
A V A I L A B L E N O W ! http://www.html-indexer.com/
HTML Indexer 3, still the easiest way to create and maintain real
back-of-the-book indexes for web sites and other HTML documents.
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Richard Evans
>SKY, Cindex, and Macrex offer a better "indexing environment" (allowing you to create permutations automatically, for instance), but they don't have a connectino into Word that I'm aware of.
Cindex will drag and drop entries into Word, automatically creating
the Word XE entries.
Dick Evans
Eric J. Ray
On Tue, 5 Mar 2002 Michael...@aol.com wrote:
>I think I've been subscribing here for about a month or so. Here is what I
>have noticed:
>
>1. In my estimate, about 65-75% of the posts are extremely interesting,
>informative, and worthwhile. I read every one, and reading most of them is
>practically a crash course in issues, some of which I hardly knew existed
>before I subscribed.
Thanks! That's good to hear! I just noticed that the list
celebrates its 9th anniversary this weekend--I started
it over the first weekend in March, 1993.
I'm frankly thrilled that it continues to provide so
much value after so many years, even to experienced
technical writers.
>2. Despite this highly positive aspect, it has certainly seemed to me that
>anyone who asks a question on this board runs a *very* high risk of being
>demeaned, patronized, or lectured--mostly from a small group of posters,
>fortunately. I find that dismaying, since I assume that many of those asking
>questions may well be new technical writers with possibly less self-assurance
>to begin with than those who have been in the field a little longer.
I can see your point. Certainly it's true that some people
are rather more vocal with their opinions than others.
At times, people sound off loudly on a variety of
issues, including those about which they know little.
I think that's just an unfortunate aspect of some
people's nature, and part of being on the 'Net in
this day and age. That's a good observation, though,
and certainly I'll keep my eyes open for demeaning
or patronizing behavior.
>5. It has become obvious to me that despite the list rule about negative and
>personal postings, that rule is generally not enforced. I can't think of
>anywhere to assign responsibility for that except at the door of the list
>manager. I have also received off-list communication from you. I will not
>describe it, since, even though you mention on- and off-list communication in
>your post and invite public comment, I don't think that treating individual
>instances is exactly what you had in mind. I will say generally that from
>what I have seen being allowed to happen on the board publicly, and from the
>attitude you have displayed privately, I have very little respect for you
>personally or for your abilities as a list manager. In my opinion, you are
>doing a pretty poor job. In particular, the comment in your post:
Generally speaking, my experience in running this list
has shown that tolerance and flexibility is far more
effective and productive (if often more difficult) than
simply punting people from the list when I get the urge.
While I could silence or expel members easily enough,
I prefer to reserve such actions for extreme cases,
and simply work through lesser issues as they come
up.
That is, most of the time a gentle reminder offline is
sufficient to remind people that they really should
conduct themselves online as they would in face to face
interaction. On occasion, it's necessary to be more
confrontational, but I prefer to help list members save
face when possible, and to try to understand that, for
a variety of reasons, they may not be aware of the
impression their postings create.
Some members persist in soliciting confrontation, and
that's not a problem to manage--although it is relatively
uncommon. I've found, though, that exercising a bit
of self-control and allowing issues to work themselves
through is often sufficient to help people learn
to be productive list members. For example, as you
probably noticed, your messages have been delayed for
a couple of hours each--after offline exchanges, I set
your subscription to fully moderated. While I could
have quietly rejected your posting, I thought the points
and issues raised were important to the
community as a whole--more important than sparing
embarrassment by rejecting the message and ensuring
that it did not reach all 5000+ subscribers.
>
>>What to do about it? I haven't any idea.
>
>.strikes me as rather embarrassingly weak and pitiable. If you wish to run a
>list, then I would say you need to get your act together and do so. If you
>find you're not capable of it, then discontinue it. But at this point, from
>the point of view of a new subscriber, your performance is definitely less
>than impressive.
>
You know, that's one of the interesting aspects of running
a large discussion list--there's no end to different
opinions and perspectives, not to mention perjorative
comments. I'll have to confess that I've never before
been called "embarrassingly weak and pitiable", but,
by the same token, I've never had a problem admitting
that I don't have all the answers or a problem soliciting
external suggestions or recommendations.
Parenthetically, I'd note that trying to impress, rather
than assist, is likely a primary root cause of many issues
on this list.
Were I to critique the performance of someone I did not
know, I'd likely approach it by identifying issues
that caused confusion, difficulty, or trouble, then
suggesting possible alternative solutions to help prevent
it. It's rare that people can learn enough from
high-level "get your act together" recommendations to
justify the time spent writing them.
Anyway, to return to the discussion at hand:
I love the irony of determining that I just can't
handle running a mailing list and discontinuing
it after giving it a try for precisely 9 years.
That said, I don't love the irony enough actually to do it.
Nor am I inclined to reward you by removing you
from the list, although I'd have done so if your
public insults had been directed at any other list
member.
For now, I'll be taking a look at some of the other
comments and suggestions, and continuing the process
of refining the list policies, procedures, and rules
to help ensure that nearly everyone can gain some
value from TECHWR-L.
Eric
ej...@raycomm.com
TECHWR-L Listowner
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Check it out! Get some cool freebies when you buy RoboHelp! You'll receive
SnagIt screen capture software and a 10% discount voucher for RoboHelp
Consulting. This special offers expires March 29, 2002.
www.ehelp.com/techwr
Lisa Wright
anonymous poster. Made me wonder if those were the same hands they use
to type e-mails to their mothers! I don't believe that rationalizing
such hostility as "the economy" or any other factor is an excuse. It was
mean and completely inappropriate. Eric, I don't know how much more you
can do about such things, which I do think have gotten more prevalent.
There is value in letting us police our own conduct, and I think it's a
shame that most of your admin duties have turned into "children,
behave!"
On the other hand, there are plenty of examples of posters asking for
advice and then just not liking the answers they get. In that case I
think it is a matter of understanding that you are opening yourself to
individual interpretation and you have to take what you get. It's too
bad that so much of it turns into personal attacks, though. We shouldn't
have to expect THAT.
The way I see it, some of the problem is definitely familiarity with the
personalities on the list. Only time and continued reading can take care
of that for each individual. And then once we know what each person's
hot button issues are, we have to choose whether to respond or not. A
few weeks ago someone threw out a familiar provocation. I read it and
thought, "oh, I hope she doesn't take the bait." WHAM! Dozens of
messages. There were some useful perspectives, but it started out and
remained a largely polarized discussion.
So next time, maybe don't take the bait. There's another regular
contributor who oh-so-neatly turns the most naked provocation back into
interesting, thoughtful dialog. And of course we can always call each
other's rhetorical tricks for what they are and thus defuse them.
Lots to consider, for sure.
Lisa
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Check it out! Get some cool freebies when you buy RoboHelp! You'll receive
SnagIt screen capture software and a 10% discount voucher for RoboHelp
Consulting. This special offers expires March 29, 2002.
Maggie Secara
one) back to 5, depending on wind direction, relative humidity and phase of the
moon. I get individual e-mails, and when I have to face more than 100 of them
at once, I get Outlook to sort by conversation topic, and flick away anything I
can't Use (e.g. most Frame questions) or have gotten tired of (like the "lingua
franca" marathon). Sometimes, if I've let all back up too long, I just dump
everything. But this list is too valuable to me to lose, with or without
pyrotechnics.
Maggie Secara
| -----Original Message-----
| From: bounce-tec...@lists.raycomm.com
| [mailto:bounce-tec...@lists.raycomm.com]On Behalf Of Nagai, Paul
| Sent: Tuesday, March 05, 2002 1:48 PM
| To: TECHWR-L
| Subject: RE: THANKS! Re: It's time to go
|
|
| The Natural Mailing List Lifecycle seems relevant again.
| http://www.rider.edu/users/suler/psycyber/lifelist.html
|
| By the way, I've sent Kat a note suggesting shee needs to write a new
| section (whether 6c or 7 I don't know) about the changes (commercialization)
| here at techwr-l last year (a few years ago? Time flies!) and the changes
| underway at framers (Brad's).
|
| ------
| Paul Nagai>
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Check it out! Get some cool freebies when you buy RoboHelp! You'll receive
SnagIt screen capture software and a 10% discount voucher for RoboHelp
Consulting. This special offers expires March 29, 2002.
Emma Lawrence
all get a grip and start co-operating with each other as professionals, to
transform this established and slightly off track group into invaluable
resource for tech writers everywhere?
If you're bored of the same old questions from newbies, maybe you should
start a techwr-l veterans group where you can get together, out of the way
with your cocoa and biscuits, to bicker about who won the war, whether you
are/are not depressed/qualified/superior etc.
Please be gentle. I'm crawling back in my box now.
- Emma
""Michael Collier"" <mcol...@arlut.utexas.edu> wrote in message
news:NDBBLDCDBMDPDDMMNP...@arlut.utexas.edu...
sese...@gmail.com
There's a Sky indexer user's group on Google groups you could get into. It's managed by John Beale, co-developer of Sky Indexer along with the creator Kamm Shriner. So you get straight skinny right from the horse. Here's their info. on joining:
"To join the group, send an email with the subject "Join request" to skyindexuse...@googlegroups.com. Adding a message about why you want to join may speed up your acceptance but is optional. Send the email from the email account you wish to use to send and receive user group messages from."
Sky offers ways to drag/drop entries into Word files at the right place with auto-formatting that also tags the entry as a Word index (XE) entry for later embedded numbering.
You can download a trial version of older Sky 7 (https://www.sky-software.com/Downloads/SetupFiles/si7_pro_demo/si7_demo.htm) that lets you make an index of up to 500 entries; Sky 8 has improvements and an improved interface, but Sky 7 should let you know it it's for you. Try it on a small job to get the hang of Sky. I've used it for years and after struggling with Word-based doc's. to create embedded indexes, I like Sky for what it lets you do and its flexibility.