Writing – Page 4 – John's Random Thoughts and Discussions

Selecting a Computer Book

Readers contact me on a regular basis about selecting a computer book. I often think they want a precise recommendation from me (and some do ask me to provide a specific recommendation). However, I can’t choose a book for you or any other reader for a number of reasons. Most important of all, I don’t know how you learn. There are other issues too. For example, I can’t always guess from the e-mail precisely how you intend to use the book or what sort of information you need from it. In short, my best guess probably won’t be good enough.

Originally, I tried to handle the situation by providing a blog post entitled, “Techniques for Choosing a Technical Book.” The blog post worked well for a while, but it still doesn’t really answer reader needs. For example, readers would often act oddly if I didn’t recommend one of my own books, even though I knew from the reader query that my book would only solve part of their need and there was a better option out there. (Part of creating a book proposal is to look at the competition in depth and determine how your book will fill a niche that the competition doesn’t. I try to be honest with readers in this regard so that when they do buy a book, they’re happy with the purchase.) With this in mind, I wrote a series of three articles that examines the whole question of selecting a computer book in significantly more detail:

The goal of these three articles is to provide you with the best possible information about selecting and using a computer book. The thing I’ve noticed most often when I receive complaint e-mails is that even when a reader does select a truly usable computer book, sometimes they don’t get the most out of it. A purchase is only as good as the value you receive from it. These articles are designed to increase your satisfaction by helping you use the books more effectively.

Choosing and then using a computer book effectively will help you gain new marketable skills and insights into the computer industry. Overall, it’s my goal to help you earn more money or live a better life when I write a computer book. In other words, my goal is to help you gain something of value—something that you can later say improved your life in some way. Of course, I’m always refining my skills and choosing new techniques based on reader needs at any given time. That’s why I always want to hear from you at [email protected].

The Art of Observation and Writing

People watching is a favorite activity of mine. No, I don’t sit at the bench at the mall and make snide remarks about people’s attire. I’m also not too interested in the exceptions to the rule—someone doing something so absurd that it falls well outside the range of normal human activity. (Although, I must admit that the guy who ended up in a fountain because he wasn’t looking as he was texting, was sort of funny.) No, I’m more interested in how normal people react in normal ways to normal situations. Observation is a key tool for any author because seeing how people act and react is an essential part of communicating thoughts and ideas to them. I can’t see my reader during the reading of one of my books, so observation helps inform me outside of that environment.

On one particular day, I was watching a young couple argue. The precise reason for the argument isn’t known to me and it’s immaterial anyway. The two of them argued for quite some time, each insisting the other wasn’t listening. Both went off in a huff. I’ve always hoped that they made up. The things that struck me was that the two people communicated differently. The wife’s communication was both vocal and emotional. However, it was her body language that said the most. The husband was stiff as a board and you could tell that he had built defenses against any encroaching information that might conflict with his preconceived ideas of how the communication should go. However, he did use his hands quite a lot and did make really good eye contact. His choice of words was the key ingredient in his communication. Two people, communicating two completely different ways, and neither of them hearing the other.

Books are like that sometimes. I get e-mail from my readers that makes it obvious that I didn’t choose the correct manner of communication. Yes, the information they’re requesting is most definitely in the book, but they didn’t see it because the information didn’t appear in a form that attracted attention. In some cases, the reader did see the information, but couldn’t understand it. In a worst case scenario, the reader saw the information, read it, thought it was understandable, and then didn’t apply it correctly. In many cases, I find that the reader really didn’t understand the information after all.

Another couple, on another day, showed me something else. Nuance is often part of communication. The precise formulation of interaction is important. In this case, the husband was following his wife shopping, but I could tell that his interest lay in his wife, not in what she was buying. She picked a particular item up, looked it over, and put it on the shelf. A little while later, they came back. She picked up the same item, looked at it intently, and then put it back on the self. I was surprised to see the man come back sometime later. He bought the item and almost passed me by while wearing a magnificent grin. When asked what was up, he explained that by observing his wife, he found the perfect gift for her—something she really wanted, but didn’t buy because it was too expensive.

The communication between author and reader is often nuanced in ways that defy simple explanations. Yet, when they’re understood, they seem absurdly simple. It’s the reason I employ beta readers, ask questions on this blog, and maintain statistics for my books. All of these observation techniques tell me how you’d like to receive information from me without my having to ask the question directly. I can provide you with the perfect presentation without saying anything at all.

How do you employ the art of observation? Do you find that it provides an effective means of communicating thoughts that might not receive proper treatment when spoken. Send your ideas on the topic to [email protected].

Sending e-Mail My Way

The e-mail was emphatic and I felt bad that I had missed the original missive, but the original had no subject line and I’m leery of opening e-mail without a subject line—it could contain anything. When you send me e-mail, please be sure that it contains a subject. I need to know at the outset that you have a question about one of my books—that the e-mail is legitimate. Otherwise, it ends up in my Junk Mail folder and won’t ever see the light of day. Adding a subject doesn’t take much time and helps me organize my responses to readers. I still receive upwards of 65 e-mails every day and I answer each of them. Having a subject helps me work more efficiently and also makes it possible for me to provide you with better responses.

While we’re on the topic of e-mail, I do encourage you to write me about any book-specific issue that you encounter. It’s always my goal to provide you with the best possible reading experience. I’ll always take your e-mail seriously, answer it as fully as is possible, and provide the fastest response that I can. All this said, I won’t answer e-mails that are outside the boundaries of good social communication. For example, I won’t answer these sorts of e-mails:

Please don’t ask me for free consulting. I do provide paid consulting services and will provide you with a bid for consulting services should you require them.
Keep any e-mail you send book- or blog-specific. Yes, I’ve had some interesting off-topic conversations, but for the most part, I much prefer to provide a service to people who have purchased my books or read posts in this blog.
No, I won’t do your homework for you. Your homework is for your benefit, not mine.
I’ll ignore any e-mail that calls my parentage into question or uses inappropriate language. Yes, I understand that you’re essentially anonymous, but courtesy is for everyone, even people online.
I don’t perform free code reviews. If you need a code review and would like to hire me, we can discuss my rates.

I truly do try to provide a valuable service through my books, my e-mail correspondence, and this blog. All that I’m asking is that you treat these resources with the respect they deserve. Please contact me at [email protected] if you have any questions.

A Problem with Short Attention Spans and Getting Only What You Want

I read more articles every day that talk about how content is distributed today. It isn’t just one sort of content; it’s every sort of content, from writing to music to videos. Books are presented electronically without any ads or other content to disrupt your reading, magazines are becoming a thing of the past as readers blithely read just the article they want to see, music is presented as individual song downloads, and video is streamed without any of the extras that come with a DVD.

The idea is to package content items individually, in the smallest container possible. People consuming the content need not bother with anything that doesn’t immediately attract their attention. The smaller size ensures they can consume the content in seconds (even in my books, I’ve made the size of the sections smaller because I noted that readers weren’t making it through the material and missing important information). As a result, consumers are getting used to seeing just the content they want and not having to work at all to get it. Spoon feeding consumers content is probably something that marketers love because they can keep the consumer well fed and not asking too many questions. The content is focuses precisely the way the marketing folks want it. At some point, the quality of the content can decrease without anyone actually noticing. The somnolent mutterings of a few is all that will otherwise detract from the utter quiet of a new age of customized consumerism.

Inferior content is a problem, but it’s not the problem that you should consider immediately. Lack of diversity will cause more problems than content quality ever will. When music was distributed in albums, you counted on getting two or possibly three hit songs. Some of the remaining songs were pretty bad. However, you often encountered two or so additional songs that didn’t get played on the radio for whatever reason are were quite good. Because you were forced (after a fashion) to listen to all the songs on the album, it became common to discover the gems that no one really thought to hype. A few of those songs ended up being hits in their own right simply because people were forced to listen to them as part of listening to the album as a whole. With customized content, you never hear the good songs because no one is hyping them.

The lack of diversity affects your growth as a person. When you listen to something unanticipated or read an article that you didn’t think you’d like, you experience the world in a new way. An idea or concept that didn’t occur to you before is now part of your being. However, with today’s marketing model, you’re being cheated out of that opportunity. The marketers have determined what you’ll read, hear, and see. They control the picture. Think about it for a minute and you’ll see that I’m right.

Magazines are headed in the same direction. It won’t be long and paper magazines will be gone. Electronic magazines will almost certainly follow the current trend at some point. You’ll read only the article that you were interested in seeing in the first place. The supposed boring article that will broaden your horizons will never see the light of day because you won’t be exposed to it. Sometimes it’s necessary for some agent to force you to see content that you might not otherwise review. In the past, it was the added content that came as part of magazines, books, CDs, DVDs, and other distribution techniques that provided this force. There is no such force today. You don’t really see any additional content when viewing a streamed movie.

We view content with fewer interruptions and in purer form, deadening our minds to new ideas. At some point, the lack of growth will cause additional problems. People who get used to thinking only within the box that they draw themselves are less likely to create innovative ideas. As a society, our ability to create something entirely new, entirely different, will be diminished due to a lack of diversity in the input we provide to our brains.

The solution to the problem is uncomfortable and requires a level of determination that our society lacks in large part today. Because alternative content is no longer provided as part of the package, it’s imperative that you look for content that you might not otherwise enjoy. This means making a conscious decision to read, hear, and view content that you may not like at the outset, but will find grows on you with exposure. Let’s hope that there are enough people who don’t mind being uncomfortable to make this a reality. What are your thoughts on the methods used to package content today? Let me know at [email protected].

Dealing with Acronyms and Abbreviations

My books are packed with acronyms and abbreviations, and readers complain about them all the time. An acronym is a series of letters that shorten a term and you can say. For example, Language INtegrated Query (LINQ) is pronounced “link” so it counts as an acronym. An abbreviation is a shortened version of a term or phrase. For example, MicroSoft Developer Network (MSDN) is an abbreviation because you can’t say the term and must instead say each letter individually. Whether the term is an acronym or an abbreviation, I usually try to define it once every chapter. However, some truly common terms are only defined once in a book and if a term is considered universally known outside computer circles, such as CPU (for Central Processing Unit), I don’t define it at all.

Unfortunately, making an assumption can be a dangerous thing. I try to err on the side of defining terms too often so that readers can gain maximum benefit from my books with the least amount of effort. However, even making my best efforts, there are times when you might find an acronym or abbreviation that you simply don’t understand in one of my books. When this happens, you can always contact me at [email protected] and I’ll be happy to define it for you. My goal is to ensure you have a great reading experience and that you discover everything possible about the topic at hand.

Some people prefer to do things for themselves. Hands on learning produces the best results for them and I do understand the need to address the learning methods each person uses with greatest ease. In this case, you have other options for finding the term you need defined. These sites will provide you with common terms used in my books (depending on the book, you may need to use more than one site):

Of course, there are many other fine online references, but these references should provide what you need in most cases. The worst case scenario would be to use the acronym or abbreviation without really knowing what it means. I encounter this problem all too often. Readers will contact me with a question that I truly can’t understand because of a misused term. Knowing what terms mean is an essential part of clear communication. Given that most of my communication is through e-mail, clear communication saves time and effort for everyone involved.

The question I get asked relatively often about acronyms and abbreviations is why the computer community uses them at all. After all, they’re confusing. Typing the full term every time you wanted to use it would be cumbersome at the least and error prone as well. Using a shorter term means concise communication. Using the terms correctly means precise communication. Every trade has its jargon and those jargon terms were created in order to ensure that two people communicating about a topic could do so in the most precise manner possible. I’ve discussed the need for jargon in the past in posts such as Power Words.

Lessons in Intellectual Property Commerce

A lot of people have written to ask why I don’t simply offer my books for free. Of course, that wouldn’t sit well with my publishers, but it brings up other concerns as well. Unfortunately, a lot of people take my books for free even though they aren’t offered that way. Joe finds that he likes my book and gives a copy of his e-book to Sally, who reads it and gives it to Andy. Only the first copy is actually paid for. It’s a problem because I have bills to pay, just like everyone else. So, the price you pay for a book helps (in small part) to keep me writing the books that continue to help you remain productive and to learn really cool new technologies.

I read with interest about some artists offering their works online on a “pay what you want” basis or literally for free. The hope was that this form of distribution would build interest in the person’s offering (book, music, video, art, or whatever else you can imagine), so that the artist could eventually earn income in other ways. It’s not working out very well. I read with interest a story entitled, “Taylor Swift vs. Spotify: Why Music Should Not Be Free” in PC Magazine. The article rambles a little, but the arguments it makes against free intellectual property are compelling. The bottom line is that artists of all stripes need to eat. More importantly, the people who support the artists need to eat as well.

There have been all sorts of efforts to force people to pay for content in this digital age. They’ve all been unsuccessful in generating more income and have served only to cause problems for the artists. What it comes down to is that you need to decide that you want quality content to enjoy-whether that content is written, heard as music, seen as video, or presented in some other form. When I write a book, the book does generate some money for the publisher. However, the book also helps me pay my bills, along with those of the editors who support me. In addition, the money you pay also helps keep bookstores in business. In short, you’re helping to support a lot of people-real people with real needs. This really isn’t about sticking it to some huge corporation out there-it’s a lot more personal than that.

Eventually, you’ll find more quality texts in self-published form, which means that you could get books that I write for a fraction of the price you pay now. However, self-publishing comes with it’s own set of problems that need to be considered. For example, when I start self-publishing material, I’ll have access to fewer editors to help me polish my material and make it the quality product that you’ve come to expect. In addition, I’ll produce less material because now I’ll have to act as my own marketing department as well. My self-published books will only be offered in e-book form unless I contract with a print on demand company (in which case, you’ll end up paying substantially more for the book).

The theft of intellectual property is at an all time high and the problem threatens to become worse, long before it gets better. In fact, I think it’s something that will never go away, and there will always be that chance of people potentially being subject to things like patents, false advertising, and copyright infringement. So, all I can say is that it’s a good job that there are law firms like Sidley Austin, who specializes in intellectual property litigation (https://www.sidley.com/en/services/intellectual-property-litigation) that can give people the help they need if they ever fall victim to this. It has never been more important to put a stop to this type of activity. That’s why I need your continued support in order to continue writing the material that you’ve come to expect from me as an author. Of course, I’ll continue to welcome your input about my books and also to provide the free content you’ve come to enjoy in my blog. However, the next time someone offers you a copy of one of my books for free, consider the implications of the act. All it takes a simple no and then a purchase at your local bookstore to help keep me in business. Thank you for your continued help and support.

Interesting New Words

Every day I learn at least two new words. On some days I learn more. A lot of those words are interesting, but I probably won’t use them very often, if at all. However, they at least tell me something about English and provide some food for thought on how to use words in the text that I write to convey specific meanings. I’ve written about this topic before in Not Mere Words and again in Power Words. However, it’s a theme that needs to be repeated because people often find it hard to convey their thoughts due to a lack of words in their vocabulary. The result is often garbled, with the hearer not really understanding what the speaker wants to say.

I learned two new words this week that I could potentially use at some time. The first is metathesis, which is a mispronunciation due to the transposition of letters or syllables in a word. The most common metathesis for me is saying Calvary instead of cavalry. The transposition of the letter l is the problem in this case. It turns out that some words in our language are actually created because of metathesis. For example, the word mullion (a vertical divider, such as a piece of wood in a window) comes from the metathesis of the word munial. It doesn’t surprise me that there is a word to describe an error that most people make, but until now I didn’t know what it is. The funniest word that I’ve learned is formed from metathesis is girn, which is a kind of grimace or snarl. Of course, the source term is grin.

The second word is biovermiculation, which refers to lines drawn on a surface by a microbial community. I read about this word in a National Geographic article entitled The Hunt for Life Beyond Earth. I found the implications of the article amazing, but the addition of a new word to my vocabulary is a bit more practical. Without the proper word to describe this phenomena, it would be difficult for me to understand that biovermiculation on another planet could possibly point to life on that planet—at least, sometime in the past. Knowing the proper words gives you the power to convey specific meanings and provides you with an advantage over someone whose vocabulary is less comprehensive (and therefore, less precise).

I build my word power through a number of sources. Of course, National Geographic and Smithsonian both provide me with new words that appear with surprising regularity in my writing. However, for those two daily words, I look to A.Word.A.Day and Word of the Day. In addition, I build my word power through all sorts of technical sources, including other books. There are many places where you can find interesting new words to use when writing or simply speaking to someone else. What new word have you learned today? Tell me about your positive (and G rated) word learning experience at [email protected].

Warm Apple Cake

When I came home tonight, there was a warm apple cake
Home made, with mixed nuts, that my lover just baked.
How did he know that I would need such a treat
To finish the day with such comfort and sweet?

He had gone off to bed but had left me a note
With a sweet little message that he personally wrote.
As I toddle my way to my own warm repose
Such sweet dreams will I enjoy that no one else knows.

The sweetness of mind comes from knowing for sure
That the man that I married has the ultimate cure
For the trials and frustrations that are part of the day
When he shows me he loves me in this special small way.

So I came home tonight to a warm apple cake.
I will sleep in such peace from the love that I take
Up to bed with me now. I will plan while I lie.
Cause I know that his favorite dessert is fresh PIE!

The original recipe was found in a St. Mary’s Catholic Church cookbook from Muscatine, IA printed in 1988.

My husband adapted it and I am sharing his version below (as he remembers it).

Fresh Apple Cake

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar and 1 cup butter or margarine. (Cream together)
2 eggs

In a separate bowl, blend or sift together:

2 teaspoons Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon Salt
3 cups of flour
2 teaspoons of cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon of ginger
1/8 teaspoon of ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon of allspice

Set aside and cool 1 cup of coffee

Dice 4 cups of fresh apples into small chunks and set aside with a little lemon juice on them.

Topping:

1/2 cup of any kind of nuts mixed with 3 Tablespoons of sugar and a pinch of each spice used in the batter.

Instructions:

Beat the sugar and butter until they are very creamy. Add eggs and blend well.

Alternately add the cold coffee and the dry ingredients to the bowl, mixing them between additions. Be careful not to overbeat the batter, because this cake batter will be naturally lumpy.

Drain moisture from the apples. Fold them into the batter. Pour into 13×9 cake pan that has been coated with grease (or Pam) and flour.

Bake at 350 F for 50 to 60 minutes. Check for doneness by inserting a toothpick into the center of the cake until it comes out clean.

This recipe is best served to a loved one while it is still warm with a little ice cream or whipped cream. And it is also great cold for breakfast, like Pizza!

Communication of All Kinds for Fun and Profit

A number of readers have taken pokes at me for my recent Writing Letters post. Interestingly enough, since the time I wrote that post, I’ve picked up another pen pal. The post, in case you haven’t read it yet, makes the point that most forms of communication have a purpose, or are at least a bit fun to employ. As long as I have correspondents, I’ll continue to write them letters. It’s something I look forward to doing now each Thursday night. There is something quite nice about receiving letters in the mail and I don’t relish ever giving it up. Having pen pals can be a lot of fun! As long as you get the address right and the name, you’ll know where it is going and who it’s going to, for example, if you are writing to someone in Argentina you can use https://www.codigopostal.ar/ to find the zip code you need to get it correctly delivered.

It was while I was reading some reader e-mails that I came across another form of communication in the ComputerWorld article entitled, “Telegram not dead STOP Alive, evolving in Japan STOP.” Interestingly enough, in the country where the telegram was first sent, Western Union stopped sending telegrams in 2013. The final telegram was sent on July 14th. Perhaps someone should mention to Western Union that the Japanese have a thriving telegram business and suggest we follow their model. It’s hard to see someone else take over a technology that we created through innovation and hard work.

The point is that there is something to be said for older forms of communication, even those that aren’t particularly practical today. Although I can make a strong case for writing letters, the arguments for continuing to use telegrams, except for the pure pleasure of sending one, are a bit weaker. Even so, it’s interesting that the Japanese have continued to make them work. The difference seems to be one of desire and, of course, innovation.

My one, and only, telegram turned out to be of the singing variety. Fortunately, the fellow who delivered it had a pleasant voice. You can still find places that will deliver a singing telegram for you, complete with the tchotchke of your choice (mine came with balloons and a letter from my wife, telling me she loved me). As a high speed form of communication, the telegram’s days are done. We have all sorts of other ways to accomplish the task now. However, getting a telegram could still be viewed as quite special.

There are many other interesting forms of communication. I’ve never had anyone hire a skywriter for me, but you can still find them online as well. I imagine more than one fellow has relied on skywriting to propose; although, it never occurred to me to try it. Nothing quite attracts your attention though like a message written in a clear blue sky-assuming that the weather is accommodating.

As an author of technical books, I spend a great deal of time looking at communication in all its forms: verbal, aural, visual, and other forms. I once spent a month researching the tactile vocoder-a device that allows its wearer to hear through the skin using vibration. Imagine that you’re deaf and the tactile vocoder makes it possible for you to hear again, even if you don’t have actual ears. So, it’s not too unusual for me to look at communication both old and new to see how it’s being used today and whether it might not be employed in some other manner. So, yes, I still write letters and I’m still rooting for the telegram, but I’ve also looked into odd devices that help people communicate in amazing ways. Communication, in all its amazing forms, is something you do from the day you’re born until the day you die. Let me know about your view of communication at [email protected].

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