No denying the climate change threat

Providing a grim warning to all government across the globe,the IPCC says "..the unrestricted use of fossil fuels should be phased out by 2100, if the world is to avoid dangerous climate change. A BBC report says the IPCC's Synthesis Report says that most of the world's electricity can - and must - be produced from low-carbon sources by 2050.

Sea otters are indirectly in mitigating climate change as they feed voraciously feed on sea urchins and increases the carbon storage in kelp forests.

Nuclear power is back as nations start construction of new nuclear reactors in a bid to tackle climate change and use less fossil fuels in the future.

India to form 25 special teams to check the source of pollution in the River Ganges.

Judas Priest: The Metal Injection Interview

Using Wordpad to assess writing skills of a technical writer candidate

Jobs like journalism and technical writing require employers to assess a candidate's writing skills. While CVs and covering letters can be written by someone else, an on-the-spot test will definitely reveal the real writing skills of a candidate.

So, you go to an interview, and you are asked to write a test. The test will mostly consist of a few stupid grammar questions, followed by a question to write an essay, or rewrite a passage.

The biggest issue with such an approach is my poor handwriting. I do still keep notes, but the amount of writing done is pretty less. After a few minutes into the test, I really struggle to keep the words getting bigger and bigger on the answer sheet. Towards the end of the test, it gets really bad, with the letters getting bigger and fatter, and more sheets of paper required to completing the test.

In IT, innovation is the buzzword (Since I am writing a blog post, I am not expanding the abbreviation as per the guidelines in innumerable style guides). 

In a recent interview, somebody did a real innovation. I was saved from exhibiting my atrocious handwriting, by being asked to do the test "online".  This meant sitting in front of a wide monitor and typing answers. Even more innovative was the "tool" I was supposed to write.

The tool was "Wordpad!"

I really admire the thought pain behind such a decision. Wordpad will decide my writing skills in my 18th year as a poor middle class person interested in a writing career and the identity as a writer. I could not help laughing, but I completed the test happily.

Let me cut to 1996. There were no PCs, but there were DTP operators who were slowly setting shop. Internet cafes were very rare, and the old style typewriters still existed and were a safer bet. I started my writing career at that period, when Infosys was conducting interviews. It took me two more years to start using a computer and to start typing my reports in Microsoft Word. These reports were sent as fax messages to the magazine office in Delhi.

Even in 1998, DTP operators used to give "proofs" for corrections that were marked using a pencil or a pen. These proofs were printouts on the unused side of already used paper. I don't remember using the "Spelling and Grammar" feature of Microsoft Word till 2003, or later. For over seven years, I was using my understanding of grammar to send reports as a journalist. I was not castigated for my poor writing skills in the absence of Microsoft Word. And I did not replace or sell my brain to Microsoft Word to make my writing better. And I still refer to grammar books. And I still buy grammar and usage books.

The innovative use of Wordpad as the tool for the written test speaks volumes about so many things. Someone wanted to know whether Microsoft Word made me, my resume, and my written samples pretty good. The great Wordpad test was intended to find out whether I would still be a good writer without the aid of Microsoft Word. Either the disbelief in my quality of writing, or the pain to see me as a bad writer, prompted the trick to use Wordpad. There was no response from the written test organizer, so I assume they were happy with the test result.

Next time, someone can be more innovative. Invite me for a written test on multiple days, and give me the same questions and a couple of answer sheets. On different days, and on different hours of the day, test my writing skills.

There will be only one result: I will not be worse than the worst writer in your organization.

How to write an editorial

Most of the newspapers carry one or more editorials on all days except Sundays. Editorials state the newspaper's "editorial view" on matters of local, national, and international importance. They are actually official position of the newspaper about an issue and it varies from paper to paper.

The main purpose of an editorial is to analyze, interpret, criticize, persuade, or praise issues of the day. 

The structure of an editorial consists of the following parts:

Lead or statement: The editorial starts with a statement opposing, criticizing, or supporting (which is very rare) a newsworthy incident. This explains the incident being referred to and provides essential details about the incident. This is important because the editorial may be written a few days after an incident. The explanation will also allow the reader to recollect the story if he or she has forgotten the details.

Explanation: After the lead or introduction, the editorial will now explain the official position of the newspaper. It will bring in facts that supports its official position. It will also refute opposite viewpoints and tries to convince its readers why this editorial position is the best one. The language will be forceful and strong to make the opinion pretty clear.
Conclusion: The concluding remarks will offer solutions, analogies, or pointers to the readers. It may also offer to say what turn the events might take and what will be the impact. 

Editorial sample

The following is a sample editorial written by this blogger following the rape and murder of two girls in the state of Uttar Pradesh on May 27.

                                        No country for women?

The rape and murder of two girls in Badaun of Uttar Pradesh (UP) is a callous and despicable act. The victims hailing from the backward community were found missing from their homes and later found hanging from a tree close to their homes. Post-mortem examinations later revealed that the girls were raped before they were hanged. While the UP administration has ordered a CBI probe into the incident, the case raises several disturbing questions on the administration of law and order in Uttar Pradesh. The delay in launching investigations reveals the total insensitivity on the part of men in uniform and raises suspicions about a possible collusion. While the issue has attained political overtones with the Congress and Bahujan Samaj Party latching on to it, the administration did not help matters by letting out irresponsible statements and media bytes. The announcements of a fast track court and the CBI probe should not be seen as ways to soften the political embarrassment triggerd by the controversy and the rape case. The case should be allowed to be taken to its logical end and exemplary punishment meted out to the perpetrators of the crime. This is not to forget the fact that this is not UP's issue alone, and there is no room for complacency for the rest of India where the record of preventing sexual aggression is not a tad better.

The administration should also not lose focus on the urgent need in dealing with sexual crimes against women in the state. The recurring incidents of rape and other crimes against women indicate that nothing has changed after the civil society movement and media furore over the Delhi rape case that went on to topple the Sheila Dixit government in New Delhi. The constant media glare on such incidents and repeated affirmations by our elected leaders and representatives seem to have failed to sensitize the people and the police department about the sexual crimes against innocent and vulnerable sections of Indian society. In fact, the voices demanding justice and massive demonstrations were missing in this case and several others unlike the events that unfolded after the Delhi rape case. Exemplary punishment and gender sensitization are the ways to go, but the Central government must make a beginning in reforming the tainted and callous police administration that is still deeply rooted in some ancient era in a developing country like India.

Op-eds

Do not confuse editorials with "op-eds". Op-eds are articles or commentaries published on the editorial pages. Op-eds are written by staffers as well as freelancers, and columnists.

The Lift

There were two lifts in that building.

In front of one of the lifts, there was a blue chair, that cheap plastic variety I would have bought if I were a slum dog.

The chair was facing the lift as if they were engaged in an infinite conversation. The other lift seemed to be working and a yellow flash of light showed that it was coming down.

The lift opened, I said second floor to the lift operator, went to where I wanted to go, and climbed the stairs down as the lift had no buttons. The only sure destinations were the top floor and the ground floor.

As I made my exit, I saw a man lying on a tree branch. The tree did not have much leaves and the trunk was dark.

I thought of cutting one of the branches, or simply pushing the man down. Then I decided to walk towards the left from where a strong smell of fried fish was wafting in.

Weekly Notes - 1

Real estate: According to real estate honchos, India should grow at 8% (including environmental clearances), to grow economically and to create jobs. But for whom is this real estate growing? Not for the middle class or the poor. Definitely not. But a big yes for the filthy rich. Just see the apartments, duplexes, and penthouses on offer. They are just five-star luxury suites packaged for the rich in India. These are not the typical Indian homes that we all grew up and would want to live in. These Rs 6-10 cr luxury suites can be bought by the rich and those with black money. Or those who are willing to pawn their entire life to the bank and the real estate company.

In the early 90s, it was alleged that the IMF and World Bank would enslave all Indians and herald the second colonization of India after the British. Even the World Bank miscalculated the potential of Indian businessmen. And in the 90s, we said so many things. We don't remember most of them.

Youth: As a youth I also had different ideas and I wanted change. But I did not allow someone else to decide the "changes" for me. The changes I wanted were purely personal for me and I did not require anybody's approval.

When adults egg on the young for something, it is evident it is for the former's benefit, and not the latter's. Political parties have always used the youth to achieve their nefarious political and social goals. In contemporary India, the rise in number of young voters was seen as an opportunity for change. Someone created a theory all these youth votes will favour a party. It was a spin that failed to materialize. The voting percentage in Bangalore and Mumbai showed that you cannot use youth again and again as tools to achieve the adults' ends. The youth had other ideas.

Cinema: New movies are released on Fridays. It is like that in the US, so it can't be different in India. In India, movies are produced in about 30-odd languages. But for the trailer-trash news channels, there are only Bollywood movies and Hollywood movies. Others do not matter. Either Hindi and English. May be they don't have time for others and they also want to make things easy for us viewers.

The human nose does smell a lot

The human nose can detect at least 1 trillion different odours, much higher than the 10,000 scents earlier estimated, says the Nature magazine.

The noted science magazine also says that the human nose has around 400 types of scent receptors.

The worst crime by an editor or reviewer

Have you ever wondered what constitutes a crime committed by an editor or a reviewer?

In the days of proofreading, there were standard symbols associated with the changes to be made in a copy or manuscript. When it came to desktop publishing, the editor or reviewer used to turn the Track Changes feature in a word processing software like Microsoft Word on. Technical writing tools such as Adobe FrameMaker and Madcap Flare enable commenting on a document. Adobe Acrobat allows comments in PDF docs.

So, despite all these modern facilities, what if someone goes to the extent of editing text on the sly in a document? Edits that the poor writer discovers later and finds them damn wrong.

One reason may be overconfidence. The reviewer would have been so overconfident and would have never imagined that the edits would be wrong. The reviewer must not be knowing that industry practice provides the benefit of doubt to the writer. The mantra, "When in doubt, check it out." applies to reviewers also. There is no place for megalomania in such cases.

The second reason may be the lack of integrity and ethics that are so crucial for a reviewer or editor. For some reason, the reviewer did not want the writer to know about the edits. Such dishonesty can cause the writer trouble if project stakeholders or customers discover the errors later. In a professional, corporate setup, such dishonesty should have no place.

The final reason can be ignorance. When people become reviewers just because of an authority granted by the organization and was never ever trained to review or edit, such things happen. Editing is an art and it cannot be done by everybody unless they put dedicated efforts.

Editing or reviewing is not an exercise to find other's mistakes. It is a struggle towards perfection. Any Tom, Dick, and Harry cannot become a good editor or reviewer overnight. It requires continues learning, patience, humility, and ability to correct oneself. There should be no place for dishonesty and half-baked knowledge in this fiercely competitive world.

Elephants can recognis human voices

If you believe that human beings are the ultimate species on earth bestowed with all the qualities that can ever be imagined, please think twice.

BBC reports that elephants can recognise human voices and also differentiate the voice of a kid from that of an adult. And the reaosn why they can or have learnt to recognise human voices is that they are scared of human beings.

For the poor elephants, human beings are the most feared predators. As human beings, we all know what that really means.

Dugout and Primaries

1

I love cricket. I like to waste time by watching cricket, even though the results many not be in line with what I want or like. Indian cricket fans know that. Team India will lose when we expect them to win; the team will win when we expect them to lose. Just like the lives of millions in this "developing" country and also the "Next Big Thing" in the world, we are used to frustration.

Usually, the teams had the dressing room where the team, next batsmen, coach, and the 12th man used to sit and watch the game. But, somehow T20 heralded the arrival of a new term to cricket: Dugout.

On checking at M-W.com, Dugout is "either of two low shelters on either side of and facing a baseball diamond that contain the players' benches." The key thing is "baseball". Yeah, baseball.

With T20, cricket is or resembles baseball. Because, here, in T20, what matters is over the top ecstasy. Whether the batsmen can hit the maximum number of balls out of the ground. So, just like weekends in the US, we have a game that resembles baseball. It is called T20 cricket. Naturally, baseball jargon has to be imported into cricket.

So, the bench in cricket became dugout. There is a pleasure in saying that word. Dugout.

By sensitizing us with Dugout, we are happy. We have become modern.

2

Yesterday, the election commission of India announced elections for the 16th Lok Sabha. On nine separate days starting from April 7, 814 crore people are expected to vote. The Members of Parliament that get elected will decide upon a Prime Minister who will lead a cabinet of ministers.

We just elect our Members of Legislative Assemblies at the state level, and the Members of Parliament for the centre. The voters are the same here.

We simply don't have Primaries as in the US. In India, most of the political parties do not hold an election to select candidates to run for public office. Parties discuss and announce their candidates. There is no provision in the Constitution for Primaries.

But for the media, there are Primaries in India. That is, after years of research and observation, the media in India has concluded that the absence of Primaries is the real problem with Indian democracy. Primaries is the panacea for corruption, nepotism, cronyism, criminals as lawmakers, and other stuff so characteristic of developing world democracies.

So, let us enjoy the invasion of "Primaries" into Indian media lexicon. 

Google Analytics and Flare HTML 5.0 projects

Analytics is the buzzword now and technical communicators cannot stay away from that either.

There is a really interesting discussion going on at the "Users of MadCap Flare" group at Linkedin. The discussion is centered around how Google Analytics can be implemented in a Flare HTML 5.0 project.

It is a good discussion and is pretty useful. Please have a check.

Where are those journalistic principles?

There is something called "principles" in journalism, just like those in other prestigious professions. Besides the cardinal principles of Truth, Verification, and Informed Criticism, there is a thing called uncomfortable "questioning" employed by professional journalists to ferret out information and truth, and to counter canards, lies, and misinformation. Flowing with the tide cannot be journalism in the strictest sense of the Fourth Estate, and it is a characteristic more suited to Public Relations (PR) and spin crafted in corridors of power.

Now, cut to another story. A respected court of law found someone guilty in a serial blast case and sentenced him to six years in jail. As per the law, any convict is eligible for 90 days parole in a calendar year. The convict was released on furlough for 14 days on October 1, 2013 and had applied for an extension of another 14 days, after which he returned to Yerawada on October 30, before being granted parole in December, says a newspaper report.

The media did not create a hullabaloo over this when compared to the slip-of-the-tongue from a politician, or a unsubstantiated corruption allegation.  The media did not create a ruckus until the Bombay High Court today asked what's going on. The court was  hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) challenging the constant extensions to the parole granted to the convict.

For the Indian media, there are obvious biases and prejudices. But it is high irresponsibility when certain things that need to be questioned are brushed under the carpet. The India media never questions certain sections of the society as they derive sustenance and the much needed monies from those quarters. While politicians are pilloried, no questions are asked about certain powerful and influential sections of the society.

Besides corruption, this selective blowing up and pushing down of inconvenient truths are the biggest threats to Indian democracy. It is high time the consumers of Indian media recognize this ugly fact.

Hard rockers Wolfmother set to rock India

Ok. Hard rockers Wolfmother is gonna play live in India for the first time. The band will play in Hyderabad on March 8, at the BITS Pilani Hyderabad Campus, says the Bookmyshow website.

The band rocked to fame with their retro-rock sounding hit, Woman, but my favourite song from the debut album was White Unicorn. And there is no special reason why I like this song.

Suspected Hanta Virus infection in Kerala

After Dengue and Chikungunya, now it is the turn of Hanta virus suspected behind deaths reported from the state of Kerala. Madhu, a 43-year-old rubber tapping worker, died a few weeks ago and is suspected to be a victim of the virus, says The Times of India newspaper.

According to The Hindu newspaper three suspected cases of Hanta virus were reported, but these cases proved positive for Scrub Typhus as well.

While the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB), the premier biotechnology research centre in the capital city, stated that the deaths are caused by Hanta virus, the state Health Department reportedly disputed it.

Hanta Virus infection leads to the fatal Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS), says the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) website. Earlier symptoms include fever, headaches, muscle ache, stomach problems, and chills. Later, shortness of breath appears along with coughing. The virus can also cause the deadly Hemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome.

Rodents transmit this disease and rodent control is the key to the prevention of an epidemic.

Scrub typhus (Orientia tsutsugamushi infection) is transmitted by the bite of larval trombiculid mites. Scrub typhus fever shows clinical similarities to co-endemic diseases such as typhoid, leptospirosis, and dengue, says a paper published in The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.

Whatever may be the disease, the people of the state need a confirmation as soon as possible.

Note: Those with high cholesterol levels beware. A paper published in the Public Library of Science (PLOS) says that high cholesterol levels prove dangerous in case of a Hanta Virus infection.

There's more fish out there

Fish resources in the mesopelagic zone are of great interest to scientists. The mesopelagic zone is the vertical layer of the ocean that extends down 200 metres to 1,000 metres. This zone is also called the Twilight zone as the reach of sunlight is less here, but just enough for photosynthesis.

It was earlier estimated that with 1,000 million tonnes, the mesopelagic fish population constitutes the dominant fish biomass in the ocean.  Now, a study by Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) published in the Nature Communications  journal claims that the mesopelagic biomass may be 10 times more than expected.

The new estimates are based on acoustic observations made by the Malaspina expedition. For the scientists, the mesopelagic zone is important as it is through this layer that carbon dioxide must pass to darker lower layers of the ocean.

The exact mechanism of carbon flux and the interactions of living beings in this ocean layer are still unknown. For example, the organisms in this zone play a major role in the amount of oxygen available at the lower depths of the ocean.

The Malaspina circumnavigation expedition is an interdisciplinary research project aimed at studying the biodiversity of oceans. The expedition was led by the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC).

Reference:
“Fish biomass in the ocean may be 10 times higher than estimated: Stock of mesopelagic fish changes from 1,000 to 10,000 million tons.” Science Daily, n.d, n.p, 7 Feb. 2014.
“La biomasa de peces en el océano es 10 veces superior a lo estimado.” Web. 9 Feb. 2014.
“Malaspina Expedition 2010.” Wikipedia. n.d, n.p. Web. 21 March 2013.

The folly of Youth hypothesis in Indian media

It is quite some time that the news channels based in Delhi and Mumbai keep mumbling on how the "youth" will usher in a new India in 2014 by casting their votes for the same old politicians.

Huh! In an article on Mint, Sanjay Kumar, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, debunks the untested hypothesis unleashed by the media.  Excerpts from his article:

"...Banking too much on the youth vote or the votes of the first-time voters may ultimately backfire, the reason being the Indian youth hardly votes as the “youth” or the “young”...Studies indicate the youth have never voted en bloc for any political party, at least not in the last five Lok Sabha elections (1996, 1998, 1999, 2004 and 2009). They have remained divided between various political parties like voters of any other age group are divided between various parties..."

"...It will be a gross misjudgement if someone believes the youth will determine the outcome of the 2014 Lok Sabha election. In a large country such as India, with enormous diversity of language, religion, caste and region, local civic issues or the caste of the candidate or the other identities of the young become an important factor for political mobilization, and the youth not only become a part of that mobilization process, but also get divided on these lines while voting."

So, what conclusion can we derive from the media's "youth" spin? Indirect campaigning or deliberate propaganda?

Drishyam is worth a watch

Jeetu Joseph's Drishyam starring Mohanlal and Meena is a welcome change from the slapstick associated with Malayalam cinema for some decades now.

Mohanlal as Georgekutty is a cable TV operator and film buff, struggling to make both ends meet with a bit of agriculture thrown in for his income. His wife, Meena, reminds frequently him that he has forgotten to live due to his miserly ways, and wants the best in life for her family. The first half is entirely focused on the family and the picturesque land they live in. It belongs to Mohanlal.

Misfortune strikes the family and Georgekutty vows to save the family from the police as well from the long arm of the law. The second half is occupied by how the family struggles to keep themselves together, while Asha Sarath as IG Geetha Prabhakar tries to prove a point.

To me, the second half belonged to Asha Sharath and Kalabhavan Shajon as Constable Sahadevan.This is not to forget the entire cast who had done well in this film. The film successfully retains the suspense till the end.

The only glitch is why Georgekutty failed to consult an advocate. And nobody in the movie seemed to suggest that option.

Overall, a good movie to watch and one that poses questions on the state of family, crime, and morality. The cinematography is good and the songs sounded average. And there was no third-rate comedy lines.

How companies drive away talent

Leaders who pick and quibble and snipe are people who fear that a Mojofied team might threaten their own petty power. If your environment is a snipe-fest, good people won’t stay.

From Ten Ways Companies Drive Away Talent, by Liz Ryan in the Forbes.

The problem with standalone Refer

This post is about the word, refer, used in documents to indicate that the reader must go to another location within or outside the document for additional information. In general, technical writers know it as "cross reference".

If you open any dictionary, it will say Refer is a transitive verb that requires an object. This means that in sentences like the following one, you have to be careful:

For more information on installing the product, refer to the product Installation Guide.

It is very common to see the above said sentence written in the following manner:

For more information on installing the product, refer the product Installation Guide.

Avoid such mistakes, or use "See" for such cross references.

For more information on installing the product, see the product Installation Guide.

Are our Synapses firing faster?

"...The speed of communications (a revolution, Rosa points out, that came on the heels of transport) rose by a factor of 10 million in the 20th century. Data transmission has soared by a factor of around 10 billion...,"says an article on how the meaning of "now" has changed in modern times due to the bombardment of faster and faster stimuli.

Word of the Day - Poujadist

This is from Le Monde:

"...That kind of atmosphere encourages a widespread Tea Party-style, neo-Poujadist movement outside the traditional parties, through intermittent outbursts of rage and the incessant tub-thumping of social networks." Encyclopedia Britannica calls it "Poujadisme".

It was interesting to know what this "Poujadist movement" was. The movement was spearheaded by Pierre Poujade, a French populist politician. The Wikipedia says, "...The main themes of Poujadism were articulated around the defense of the common man against the elites...Poujadism was opposed to industrialization, urbanization, and American-style modernization..."