Posted inThank You Sir May I Have Another

Part Supersession Debacles

I have run into this problem so many times during my career it is not funny. You get this problem when you higher managers from rinky-dink schools like Keller and combine them with engineers willing to work for below market salaries. What is the problem? The misguided and ill-informed decision you can save money by using a single part supersession database for but current production assembly and field support. Oh, believe me, I’ve seen all … Part Supersession DebaclesRead more

Posted inmovies / Uncategorized

What We Choose to Remember Isn’t Usually What We Should Remember

What we should remember tends to get overwritten by what we choose to remember. Memorial Day teaches us this each year. If you happen to be somewhere nice enough to be outside, then you are most likely enjoying it. Others, those trapped inside, are either chatting on-line or watching a series “all day marathon” or one of the seemingly countless WWII movies which every other station saves for just such holidays. I used to enjoy … What We Choose to Remember Isn’t Usually What We Should RememberRead more

Posted inUncategorized

In IT, When Something is Going to Fail Spectacularly, We Call it a Cloud

Not all that long ago I put out ISBN-13 978-0-9770866-6-5 “The Minimum You Need to Know About Service Oriented Architecture”. Some of you may remember that it won a 2008 Best Book Award from USA Book News. Apparently, not enough of you have read it because we are still seeing the standard criminal enterprises pushing “Cloud Computing” and now they are even trying to push it to “the masses” since they want the government to … In IT, When Something is Going to Fail Spectacularly, We Call it a CloudRead more

Posted inPublishing

Automatic Concordance File Creation

Wanna be technical writers search in vain for this pink Unicorn. You see, the ugliest part about writing a technical book is creation of the index. Normally this involves a lengthy reading process where you select each word with the mouse and do a bunch of manual clicking and keying to create some hidden codes in the document file. These hidden codes will then be processed when the users chooses to “create index” and, in … Automatic Concordance File CreationRead more

Posted inInformation Technology

Billing Rate vs. Effective Rate

This question just keeps coming up. In fact, just today I had a “ discussion” about it with a pimp who had no concept, he was just trying to get someone to take a technical writing contract at way below market rate. What shocks and appauls me is the number of supposed consultants who do not understand this concept. Effective Rate has nothing to do with “cost of living.” When you used the formula I … Billing Rate vs. Effective RateRead more