Author: John

John Mueller is a freelance author and technical editor. He has writing in his blood, having produced 123 books and over 600 articles to date. The topics range from networking to artificial intelligence and from database management to heads-down programming. Some of his current offerings include topics on machine learning, AI, Python programming, Android programming, and C++ programming. His technical editing skills have helped over more than 70 authors refine the content of their manuscripts. John also provides a wealth of other services, such as writing certification exams, performing technical edits, and writing articles to custom specifications. You can reach John on the Internet at [email protected].

Working with Procedures

Procedures, a description of how to perform a task, form the backbone of most non-fiction books and even appear sometimes in fiction books. The process of doing something is the reason that many people buy a book. It’s important to realize that most people buy books to fulfill a need—often to save time and effort. Yes, it’s important to present information in the most professional manner possible, but the accuracy and completeness of the information you provide is actually more important.

Some authors make the mistake of thinking that books only contain one type of procedure. This perception can be reinforced by books that follow a certain style in order to create a book brand that offers the reader a consistent experience. However, authors can actually choose from a wide range of procedure types:

 

  • Numeric Steps: Step-by-step procedures are the kind that most authors think about immediately. This type of procedure has the benefit of clarity and of a visual presentation that the reader will understand quickly. However, they lack depth and when an author needs to explain a process in detail, numeric steps can become cumbersome and difficult to use. In addition, numeric steps are often limited to just two or three levels and some processes may require additional levels.
  • Running Commentary: The author places each step in an individual paragraph. The first sentence normally provides an overview of a more complex process that the step must fulfill. This type of procedure allows the author to provide much needed detail and to emphasize information in ways that would be difficult using numeric steps. In addition, this kind of procedure is often viewed as friendlier and more accessible by the reader (especially novices who want to learn a process in detail). Unfortunately, the reader will have a hard time finding this sort of procedure because it doesn’t generally stand out from the rest of the text. In addition, this form doesn’t offer levels, as such. It’s basically a single level procedure.
  • Outline: A complex process could be explained using an expanded outline format. Each heading is an individual step. Depth is achieved through the use of subheads and the number of layers is limited only by the number of heading levels (generally between four and six) that a book design accommodates. Readers can usually recognize this sort of procedure visually, especially if the headings include numbers to indicate steps. The problem with this format is that it tempts the author to provide too many unneeded details, a wealth of asides, and even to get completely off track.
  • Graphic: Some processes aren’t easy to describe using a written procedure. It’s possible to use a flowchart or organizational chart format to describe many processes in a manner that the reader can grasp almost immediately. The down side to this kind of procedure is that the author must be extremely terse. There is only so much space for text in a graphic procedure.
  • Hybrid: Using links makes it possible to combine approaches when necessary. For example, a graphic procedure could include references to pages that contain detailed information. The pages could then employ any of the other procedure formats to enhance the detail offered by the graphic format. In fact, it’s possible to link multiple graphic presentations so that one flows into another.


These are just a few of the common offerings at an author’s disposal. There are many ways to format a procedure so that it conveys the information the reader needs in precisely the right way. Experimenting with procedural formats will help you hone your skills and to choose just the right form for your readers. Let me know if you have any questions about writing procedures at [email protected].

 

Possum’s Surprise

Little possum thought it best,
to spy out eggs in the chicken’s nest.
So in he swooped,
to the chicken coop,
to see what he could find.

The chickens took,
just one look,
a nod, a wink, a little blink,
and possum found trouble before he could think.
His tale is one of woe.

Before he knew,
just what to do,
the chickens came thumping down,
and broke his crown,
they pounced and pecked and tore.

Possum growled and hissed,
his exit missed.
As round and round he tore,
he missed the door.
The chickens pressed their advantage sore.

It was with relief,
the respite brief,
as the farmer came to seek,
the sounds of noisy chicken’s beaks,
and gave possum his chance to leave.

Never again will possum seek,
the eggs so sweet.
He’ll look for easier prey,
during the day,
in the woods he knows so well.

Copyright 2014, John Paul Mueller

 

Replacing Salt and Sugar with Herbs, Spices, Color, and Texture

A lot of books and articles you read talk about giving up salt and sugar in order to maintain good health and ultimately save money in the form of reduced medical expenses. The whole problem with the approach that is taken most often is that people end up with boring, bland food that a normal person wouldn’t feed to anyone. If you really want to make positive changes in your diet, then you need to do something positive. The excessive salt and sugar in many people’s diets today are viewed as a negative by the medical community—simply telling someone to reduce their intake won’t have an effect because it’s a negative request. What the emphasis should be on is to replace sugar and salt with something positive. Making meals an explosion of the senses so that the salt and sugar aren’t even missed is key.

Herbs and spices are your first line of defense against excessive salt and sugar use. For example, adding four parts cinnamon, two parts nutmeg, and one part cloves at a level you can just barely taste to meats will allow you to reduce your salt usage on that food by at least half, if not more. Give it a try and you’ll find that you enjoy your meat a great deal more. Another good combination is a mix of 3 parts garlic, two parts rosemary, two parts ground ginger, and one part orange peel. This mix works especially well on white meats. Don’t overdo it—a little goes a long way. Try increasing the amount of the mixture until you can just taste it and then cut the salt dramatically (by half is a good starting point). When working with herbs and spices, the idea is to provide your nose and mouth with something interesting that will maintain your attention throughout the meal.

Some herb and spice combinations require a heavier touch. For example, when using a mix of rosemary, sage, and thyme on chicken, you want to add enough to really season the meat. A mix of paprika and garlic on pork should be somewhat heavy. Everyone has different tastes (and it would be a really dull world if we didn’t). Experiment with various combinations to see what meets your needs best. The point is to provide your mouth and nose with something interesting and stimulating.

While you tantalize your taste-buds and waft through a sea of smells, you should also give your eyes something that appeals to them. Color is essential in meals. Meat and potato combinations are blah—you have to salt them just to get rid of the sad look of such a meal. A better choice is to have a small amount of meat and possibly potato (try substituting brown or wild rice for potatoes whenever possible), but to also have some reds, greens, oranges, blues, and purples in there. For example, purple cabbage is a great addition to a meal because it has a wonderful color that doesn’t cook out and an amazing taste. There are also useful staples to a meal such as corn, carrots, green beans, and peas. Try supplementing these staples with kohlrabi, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, spinach, and Swiss chard (to mention just a few). The Swiss chard actually comes in a number of beautiful colors. Make your meals a feast for the eyes as well as the stomach and you’ll find that you need both less sugar and less salt to satisfy.

Most people have probably read about the use of herbs, spices, and color to make meals more interesting, but the one factor that is left out most often is texture. The simple addition of mushrooms or nuts to a meal can make the entire experience of chewing so much better. These items also add flavors and smells all their own. However, the use of texture also affects the eyes and even the sense of touch. Your hands will become involved in the eating process because forking up green beans alone is much different than forking up green beans garnished with sliced almonds or mixed with mushrooms. In some cases, even hearing becomes involved, especially when you add crunch to the collection of textures. Corn mixed with colorful sweet peppers is so much better than corn alone. Rice with walnuts and raisins tastes a whole lot better than just plain rice.

The bottom line is that you really shouldn’t be giving anything up—you should be replacing just two negatives (salt and sugar) in your diet with a whole host of positives. Over the past six weeks we’ve managed to get by without adding any sugar or salt to our diet. At this point, we don’t even notice that they’re missing. In fact, some foods simply seem too salty or sweet to enjoy at this point. Give it a try and let me know your thoughts about replacing the negative items in your diet at [email protected].

 

Odd Nature of Chicken Eyes

When it comes to thinking about how input is perceived, few people think about chickens. However, the whole range of perception has attracted my attention because I see the topics as being interrelated in various ways. I find it interesting that chickens actually have a kind of vision that most of us can’t really imagine. For one thing, instead of the orderly array of cones that humans have, chickens have a disorderly set of cones that actually rely on a different state of matter from those in human eyes. Chickens see color better than humans do and they see a wider range of colors. Humans see red, green, and blue. Chickens see red, green, and blue as well, but they can also see ultraviolet and have a special motion detecting cone (for a total of five cone types to our three).

There are a number of reasons I’m interested in the topic. Of course, we raise chickens and the more I know about them, the better. My interest goes way beyond just raising the chickens though. When I wrote Accessibility for Everybody: Understanding the Section 508 Accessibility Requirements, I experimented with all sorts of techniques for improving a human’s ability to interact with the world. A lot of people might think the book is focused on special needs, but really, it’s focused on accessibility of all sorts for everyone. When a hunter uses a scope to see a long distance in order to hit a mark, it’s a form of interaction that could easily fall into the accessibility category. The hunter is compensating for the lack of long range vision by using a scope (an accessibility aid of sorts). The scientific examination of chicken eyes could lead to discoveries that will help us create accessibility aids that will allow humans to see a vast array of new colors naturally, rather than through color translation (where a color we can’t see is translated into a color we can see), as is done now.

The potential for such study goes even further. Most people don’t realize that men are naturally less able to see color than women. For example, 8 percent of men are colorblind, but only 1/2 of one percent of women have the same problem and usually to a lesser degree. Even odder, some women possess a fourth cone so they can see a vast array of colors that most people can’t even imagine. Only women have this ability. However, it might be possible to provide men with the same color perception through the use of an accessibility aid—one possibly modeled on the research done on chicken eyes.

The ways in which this research could help us out are nearly endless. For example, we rely on the superior smell capabilities of trained dogs to sniff out bombs and drugs. Chickens, as it turns out, can be trained as well (not to the degree that dogs are trainable, unfortunately). It might be possible to train chickens to alert to color discrepancies that only they can see. We could use trained chickens in the same way we currently use dogs.

There are other ways in which this research could benefit us. The actual chemistry of a chicken’s eye is unique. Studying the chemistry and discovering how it works could yield new compounds for us to use.

We look at various animals and think they’re only useful in one way. However, the more time I spend interacting with our animals, the more I come to realize that they really are useful in a host of ways. The next time you look at a laying hen, consider the fact that she can see things you’ll never even imagine. Let me know your thoughts about chickens, the unique nature of chicken eyes, and accessibility at [email protected].

 

Having a Reader Focus

I get a number of reader e-mails each month about writing in general and becoming an author in specific. A lot of people write to say that they feel they have one or two books in them. In fact, it’s entirely possible that most people have one or two books that they could write, but becoming an author is more than simply having a good idea. In fact, it’s more than even having talent or education. Yes, good ideas, talent, and education all help, but what an author really needs is a reader. Actually, a whole bunch of readers is important.

When I start to consider a new book idea, I write down goals, topics, and needs that a reader would have (see my post entitled Developing the Reader Profile). There is none of me in that list. It’s the reason I spend so much time encouraging you to write. The more I know about you, the more often I interact with you, the better I become as an author. The whole purpose of writing a book, any book, is to serve the reader. Fiction books provide entertainment and possibly some enlightenment, while non-fiction books tend to educate, enlighten, and possibly entertain the reader. A book that doesn’t serve the reader is doomed to failure. That’s why many vanity books fail. Most vanity books are written to serve the author, not the reader.

It’s fairly common for me to write back to someone about their book idea and get a response that discusses an author need. In all reality, it’s a human response. Giving up self in order to serve another, especially someone who you have never met (and may never meet), is one of the hardest parts of becoming an author. Writing is about helping others in some way, not about making money or becoming famous. There are millions of authors, but there is only one Isaac Asimov (replace Isaac with your favorite author). Authors who make tons of money and achieve lasting fame are extremely rare, but the contributions made by authors as a whole to society could never be met by the few famous authors out there.

Of course, I don’t mean to discourage anyone either. Creating a piece of literature that helps even one person is a rewarding experience. The thank you e-mails I receive each month are worth their weight in gold. It’s not that I want applause—it’s simply makes me happy to know that some bit of information I have learned the hard way has helped someone else do something interesting.

Developing the relationships I have with readers has also helped me considerably over the years. I’ve learned a great deal about places I’ll never see from people I’ll never meet. Working with people from various countries has also broadened my horizons and has enabled me to see things from different perspectives. All of these benefits, and many more, come to the author who has a reader focus. If you really want to be successful, make sure you write for the right reasons and with the correct viewpoint. Let me hear your reader focus questions at [email protected].

 

An Interesting Breakfast Toast

We’re always trying to find new ways to have flavorful meals that are also healthy. To make this happen, we use a wide range of herbs, oils, and other flavor enhancers, plus interesting combinations of food items. One of our goals is to reduce both added salt and sugar intake to nearly nothing (in fact, nothing would be best). Most people get more than enough salt and sugar to meet their dietary requirements directly with their food—no additional salt or sugar is required.

I’ve been experimenting with a recipe for a French toast-like breakfast that actually tastes better than the standard product, but contains significantly less sugar and salt. After playing with this recipe for a while, I think I’ve come up with a solution that works. Just in case you’d like to try it yourself, here’s the recipe:


Orange Spice Breakfast Toast

 

¼ tsp Cloves
1 tsp Cinnamon
½ tsp Orange Extract
3 Eggs
2 tbs Sugar or Splenda
¾ cup Milk
  Spray Shortening or Canola Oil

Put eggs and sugar/Splenda in bowl and whisk until frothy. Add milk slowly using whisk. Add spices and orange extract. Pour about ½ cup of mixture onto a plate (or whatever will fit comfortably). Dip bread into mixture and ensure both sides are thoroughly soaked. Spray frying pan with shortening or add canola oil and heat until a drop of water bounces on surface. Place soaked bread into pan and fry until brown on both sides. Most frying pans will actually accommodate two pieces of bread at once.

We used a tiny bit of margarine and just a sprinkle of powdered sugar (less than ¼ tsp) to dress up the toast when finished. Recipe serves 4 people with some leftover or 5 people if you want to be a tad stingy.

The toast ends up tasting quite nice, but without the sugar that comes with standard French toast. A cup of syrup normally costs you 67g of sugar and 257g of salt (and most people use more than a cup). Using this recipe, with real sugar instead of Splenda, will cost you only 6g of sugar and no additional salt (the bread you use still contains salt, but the salt is there in both recipes). Interestingly enough, both cloves and cinnamon have nutritional benefits; although the amount of nutrition you get with this recipe is somewhat limited.

I’m still playing with this recipe a bit. How much spice do you like with your toast? Is the amount of orange extract enough to produce a pleasing, but not overwhelming taste? Let me know your thoughts on alternative breakfast offerings at [email protected].

Taking Inventory of the Larder

There is fresh fallen snow outside my window as I write this and more on the way. In fact, it doesn’t look like gardening season out there at all. It’s a bit past the middle of winter, but spring is a long way off. However, this is the time of the year that Rebecca and I start thinking about the garden—mainly because our mailbox is bristling with seed catalogs. Of course, the seed catalogs end up in the house and we now have stacks of them in the living room, dining room, family room, bathroom, and even in our bedroom. We could possibly start our own catalog company by simply redistributing all the catalogs that are coming from various seed companies in the mail.

Inside each catalog we see beautiful presentations of various vegetables and fruits. Given the time of year and the fact that our root cellar is becoming a bit empty, the idea of having fresh vegetables is quite appealing. Yes, canned and frozen foods will keep us quite happy and well fed, but there is nothing like picking that first asparagus spear (the first vegetable of the season) and preparing it for dinner. So, gazing fondly at the vegetables in the catalogs becomes the stuff of dreams for the upcoming season.

However, before we can order anything, we need to know what the larder lacks. This means doing an inventory. Doing an inventory is no small undertaking. If we simply needed to create a list of items to grow, the inventory would be simple enough, but that’s not the end (nor even the beginning) of the task.

As part of the inventory, we take down every jar, examine it for potential problems (such as a broken seal or rust on the lid that will eventually result in a broken seal). After that, we wash and dry the jar (remarking it if necessary). The jars are then repacked to ensure that the oldest stock is in the front. What all this work accomplishes is to ensure that what is on the shelf is actually edible and usable. The shelves can become disorganized during the winter months, so it’s essential to reorganize them so that any count we perform is accurate.

During the process of working with the jars, we’ll begin to notice that some items are lacking. For example, this year we noted that there aren’t any beets left—not even the pickled variety (a favorite of mine). The pickled okra is also gone. However, we have a surprisingly strong supply of corn in various sized jars (for specific needs), so we probably won’t grow corn this year. I also found several jars of a wonderful blueberry compote Rebecca made for me. I had thought them gone when they were simply hiding behind some dill pickles.

A well-stocked larder is a wonderful thing. You can go to bed at night knowing that you won’t go hungry—something far too many people in the world can’t say. It also provides you with high quality food of precisely the type you want. However, in order to maintain the larder, you must inventory it at least once a year (twice is better) and make sure that what you think you have is actually what you do have. Let me know if you have any questions about the inventory process at [email protected].

 

Keeping Warm in the Cold Winter Months

Most people know that this has been one of the colder winters in recent memory. In fact, I’ve been taking enough heat about my views on global warming that I wrote a post entitled, Where is the Global Warming?. The effects of the cold have been serious enough to drastically raise the price of propane and to create local shortages. In fact, a few of my neighbors have been paying upwards of $6.00 a gallon for propane that normally costs around $2.50 a gallon. What this means is that a house that normally requires $300.00 per month to heat now costs $720.00. Most people can’t afford the price increase. More than a few people feel that the propane industry is engaged in price gouging. At issue is the need for propane to keep warm.

We heat our home for the most part using our wood stove. Wood heat is a lot better than propane because a wood stove will heat not only the air, but also the floor, walls, and ceiling. You get a mix of both direct and radiant heat. In addition, wood is a renewable resource. Carefully managed woods produce an abundant supply of wood that won’t ever run out as fossil fuels will. However, due to some unexpected circumstances, we’ve been using the furnace a bit this winter as well and feeling the pinch just a little.

There are some long term fixes for some of the problems with heating in the works. For example, there is a movement now to improve the standards for furnaces. The technology exists to improve the efficiency of furnaces from the current 80 percent to nearly 98 percent. In addition, newer furnace fans can save substantially on the electric bills. Unfortunately, even though the technology exists, you’d be hard pressed to find any furnaces like this for sale-they simply aren’t available today. If your home does require a new heating unit, you may want to approach a furnace installation business in your area to do this in time for the Winter months. There are lots of brilliant companies around who could fit a replacement furnace for you, so you just have to take the time to find a good local company. For example, learn about a Furnace Installation in Durham if that is where you are based. It’s as easy as that!

So what do you do to improve fuel usage in your home today? We’ve been experimenting with various strategies over the years. For one thing, we turn the thermostat way down at night-we’re talking 47 degrees. Blankets are a lot less expensive than fuel and we’ve actually found we sleep more soundly. I’m not sure anyone has ever done a study on the proposed benefits of sleeping cool (if you find such a study, please let me know). A programmable thermostat can get the furnace started up just a few minutes before you begin your day. If you haven’t already got a furnace installed or you need a new one, Boulden Brothers are highly recommended for Furnace Replacement. I do know that we both sleep better and feel more refreshed when the house is kept warm during the winter months. A furnace is essential in my opinion!

One of the more interesting aspects of most homes is that the bathroom actually warms quickly and is usually high on the priority list for getting heat. Even though the rest of your house is now at 47, you can run into the bathroom, close the door, and enjoy a nice warm early morning experience quite quickly. Just take your clothes with you (I certainly do) and dress inside. If you set up a schedule, other family members can just remain cozy in bed until it’s their turn to keep warm while dressing in the bathroom. Actually, it’s a technique that people have used for hundreds of years. I still remember my father telling me about running from the bedroom down to the kitchen where he’d dress in front of the woodstove in the morning.

We’ve found that running the furnace for one long period is far more efficient than running it over several short periods. An engineer who specializes in such things could probably produce the math required to tell you precisely why this is the case, but simply observing the monthly costs has shown us that long burns are more efficient. A long burn also provides some of the same radiant heat benefits that our wood stove provides. So, we get the house up to temperature in the morning and then turn the thermostat down while we work. When it’s time to sit and relax, we heat the house back up again and then turn it down about 2 hours before we go to bed (the house will most definitely maintain temperature long enough for you to get cozy beneath the blankets). Using this cycled method of maintaining house temperature can reduce the heating bill by as much as 30 percent when used correctly. Given that we work in our house, the cycled method does mean making comfort choices, but the savings are just too great to pass up. If you’re working outside the house, using the cycled approach is a given.

I doubt that there is a perfect solution to any heating problem during the winter months. If you are using central heating, make sure you’re covering up any gaps in the house that are letting in a draught. If you have double glazed windows, this should help with insulation too. On the topic of insulation, a friend of mine had a foam roof repair and he saved up to 50% on his heating bills due to the insulation benefits. This is something you might also want to consider if you want to lower the cost of your bills. The important thing is that you’re staying warm even when it’s cold outside!

Have you come up with any interesting solutions to the heating problems for your home? Have you ever tried a cycled approach? Let me know your thoughts at [email protected].

Entering Data in a Code::Blocks Window

Sometimes it isn’t very obvious how to enter data into a Code::Blocks window. One of the windows that seems to be causing problems for a number of readers is the Watches window. You open this window by choosing Debug | Debugging Windows | Watches. The purpose of this window is to let you view the content of variables in your application, which is an essential part of the debugging process. In order to view the variable (or other expression) content, you must enter it in the Watches window. Book III of C++ All-In-One Desk Reference For Dummies tells you all about debugging.

One technique for entering the variable is to select it in the editing window and the drag it to the Watches window. The variable will appear in the Watches window along with its value. However, this approach only works for variables and expressions that actually appear in your code. You might want to enter some other expression (or manually enter the variable, rather than drag and drop it). The Watches window consists of rows and columns as shown here.

WatchEntry01

The name of the variable or the expression you want to view appears in the first column. To enter a new value into the Watches window, click directly in the first empty left column cell. The row will turn blue and you’ll see a red insertion point appear in the cell as shown in the screenshot. Now you can type the variable name or expression you want to work with and press Enter. Let’s say your variable is named i. It might look like this:

WatchEntry02

Notice that the row is now white because it isn’t selected. However, you can see the name of the variable, i, it’s value 1983844706, and it’s type int. The row is in red because the value of i has just changed (unchanged values appear in black so you can see them easier). As you debug your application, you can now watch the value of i for changes.

Sometimes it isn’t obvious how to enter information into Code::Blocks (or any other application for that matter). When that happens, the focus turns to the application, rather than the work you need to do, and the experience becomes frustrating. Let me know about your book-related Code::Blocks questions at [email protected] and I’ll do my best to answer them. Because I don’t have a direct connection to the vendor, my ability to answer other sorts of questions is limited.

 

Regaining the Sense of Touch

A lot of my accessibility posts have focused on regaining function—the ability to perform a task using a prosthetic devices. Recently, there has been some development of touch. In fact, I reported on it most recently in my Continuing Development of Accessibility Aids post. Until now, the ability to feel has been limited to motor perception—how the prosthetic is moving through space and when it touches some other object. A new development makes it possible for the prosthetic to do more. The sense of touch can now include discovering the size and shape of items, as well as whether the item is hard, medium, or soft in consistency. The combination of motor, shape, and hardness touch makes it possible for someone to perform a considerably wider range of tasks using the prosthetic.

There are still quite a number of things missing from the picture. For example, a prosthetic can’t feel heat or cold just yet. It also can’t feel texture, except in the most unrefined manner. There is also no sensation of pain. So there is still a long way to go before the prosthetic could completely replace the biological equivalent, but the technology is getting closer.

The reason that this change is so important to readers of Accessibility for Everybody: Understanding the Section 508 Accessibility Requirements is that this prosthetic has the potential to make computers truly usable for those with special mobility needs. With a refined sense of touch, someone with a prosthetic could potentially use a standard computer that doesn’t require any specialized hardware or software. In fact, it means that someone equipped with this kind of prosthetic device could use the entire range of input devices, including touch screens. In short, the playing field would finally be completely level for this group of people. I find the idea really exciting because it has been so long in coming.

Of course, the impact of such a change extends far beyond computer and other technology use. Imagine how it would feel to be able to pick up a grape or an egg for the first time after not being able to do so for an extended time-frame. It boggles the mind. We’re not quite to the same stage of development as presented in movies like Star Wars, but we’re getting there and at a relatively fast pace.

A bigger question is whether a prosthetic, no matter how functional, could ever really replace the biological counterpart. The answer to that question would have to be a resounding no. Even if the prosthetic functions exactly like a real human hand, or even extends what a human can do to some degree, it’s still not quite the same emotionally as having the real body part. Geordi LaForge (Star Trek) expressed the concept best when he kept seeking a counterpart to the visor he wore. Yes, the visor gave him eyesight. In fact, the visor presented him with eyesight that exceeded human capacity, but it still wasn’t the real thing.

What are your thoughts on the current trends in prosthetic development? Do you feel prosthetic devices will ever truly duplicate human functionality? Let me know at [email protected].