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..."

Live Cricket commentary - Sample

Realized that you have to be very fast to do this:
136.6, Zaheer to Peterson, no run, pushes ball to cover 
136.5, Zaheer to Peterson, no run,  good ball, a yorker, batsman oses balance and falls down
136.4, Zaheer to Peterson, no run, swinging ball keeps low after pitching, rolls down to Dhoni
136.3, Zaheer to Peterson, no run, pushes the ball to cover again
 136.2, Zaheer to Peterson, no run, Comes forward and defends the ball towards cover
 136.1, Zaheer to Steyn, OUT, wide ball outside the off, Steyn attempts a lazy drive, Dhoni takes the low catch
TOOK A BREAK!

134.6 Zaheer to dU Plessis, no run, played straight to the fielder
134.5 Zaheer to dU Plessis, no run, full length ball, defended well
134.4 Zaheer to dU Plessis, no run, flicked to leg side
134.3 Zaheer to dU Plessis, no run, played straight
134.2 Zaheer to dU Plessis, no run, defended well
134.1 Zaheer to dU Plessis, no run

133.6  Jadeja toSteyn, no run
133.5 Jadeja toSteyn, no run
133.4 Jadeja toSteyn, no run
133.3 Jadeja to Kallis, OUT, Big swipe to the leg side, balls takes the top edge, Dhoni takes an easy catch. Fiver for Jadega


132.6 Zaheer to Kallis, 1 run, extra bounce takes the edge and rolls down to third man
132.5 Zaheer to Steyn, 1 run, drives uppishly to third ,man
132.4 Zaheer to Steyn, no run, another loose ball, Steyn let it pass to Dhoni
132.3 Zaheer to Kallis, 1 run, Kallis flicks ball to deep square leg
132.2 Zaheer to Kallis, no run, Kallis leaves ball outside the off stump
132.1 Zaheer to Kallis, loose ball wide outside the off, driven to cover


131.2 Jadeja to Kallis No run, flighted delivery, playes straight to mid-off
131.3 Jadeja to Kallis, 1 run, Kalllis pushes ball to long off
131.4 Jadeja to Kallis no run, steyn blocks the ball outside the off
131.5 Four runs, wild swipe from Steyn, takes the edge and flies over the slips
131.6 no run, defended by Steyn

Are we really aware?

The question whether we are really "aware" in this information and smartphone age is a topic of a big debate. I use the word "aware" in the way it is defined in the Merriam Webster free online dictionary.

Aware (adj): Knowing and understanding a lot about what is happening in the world or around you.

Yes, there is knowing a "lot" about what is happening because we are all bombarded with messages of all sorts in various media unheard in the 80s and 90s.

But do we really understand what is really happening around us? Let us check this tweet:

While most of the people will focus on the person mentioned in the tweet, I have a problem with something else. That is, someone has built a forest in 30 years. If a forest can be "built" in such a short period , it is really wonderful. But as an Environmental Studies student, I very well need to dispute this fact.

A forest is not a vast collection of trees in acres of land. A forest has a structure, patterns of growth and development, stages of ecological succession, and then something called ecological climax. The forests that we see in India or elsewhere took millions of years to reach this stage. One study estimates 4500 years for a rainforest to form. Destruction of forests is not just loss of trees or reduction in total forest ares, but loss of flora and fauna, with many animal species going extinct.

This is one example where the media fails to educate people. But, it is also a fashion that "understanding and in-depth" knowledge of issues is lacking in our day-to-day life. What I am saying is not "academic scholarship", but a better understanding of things around us from better and vast reading of issues or one's favorite topics. Scholarship is a burden now, whereas if you convince someone that you know lots of things, you will be considered "knowledgeable".

Elegant Variation

The phrase, Elegant Variation, was coined by Henry W. Fowler in The King's English (1906). The essence of that term will help Indian writers to understand how carefully one should write. 

"...The use of pronouns is itself a form of variation, designed to avoid ungainly repetition; and we are only going one step further when, instead of either the original noun or the pronoun, we use some new equivalent..."

Fowler then lays down two guidelines:
"...It is impossible to lay down hard and fast rules, but two general principles may be suggested: (1) Variation should take place only when there is some awkwardness, such as ambiguity or noticeable monotony, in the word avoided. (2) The substitute should be of a purely pronominal character, a substitute and nothing more; there should be no killing of two birds with one stone."

Try to practice it. It is very interesting.

Tehelka, Tarun Tejpal, and jolly media

The real beneficiary of Delhi BJP leader Vijay Jolly antics is Shoma Chaudhary. His stupid act, inspired by whatever reason, right or wrong, has turned the spotlight away from the sexual harassment case to that of political hijacking and hooliganism for "perceived enemies".

The hooliganism is a warning to all journalists and political opponents of the BJP.  This is the way the saviors of India are gonna usher in the golden age of India.

Vande Mataram!

Why India will destroy its environment?

There is nothing new in the current fracas over conservation and protection of Western Ghats. Except in Kerala's print and electronic media, you will not see any discussion on conservation of pristine land. Because this issue is not about sex, sleaze, celebrities, or cricket, right?

Except periodic reminders from the legal system in India, the state does not have a pragmatic"environmental policy". We all know all documented policies are meant to be bypassed. All the political parties and all the intellectuals in India have no such view on the environment. The reason why I stress this "environmental view" is, you will not have policies and measures tuned to it when you stare at a blank space. Now, environment is just another hurdle to that final sanction for a project.

For India, development is antithetical to environment. Environmnetal protection is another hurdle to development. Human beings and the array of systems that inhabit India are "outside" the environment. For example, in a circle, the central point is the human mind from where all things emanate and return. The human mind sees the environment as an inorganic entity, distinct from the former, and not as its very own artifact. The human beings refuse to acknowledge that they are in sync with the organic system called the "environment" and they are "inside" the organic system. Not outside.

Science challenged religion. Now, it is "social and economic faiths" that challenge science. Kerala is what it is today because of the pristine and unpolluted Western Ghats. Kerala will find it pretty hard to have an existence enveloped by a barren Western Ghats. When political parties, spineless governments, and religious interests refuse to gauge the full import of the Western Ghats sub-system and last tree is felled, first Kerala will get destroyed and as an after-effect India will suffer.

As a cynic, I do not see anything else on the horizon, unless a towering figure arrives at the landscape and talks sense. Even that is doubtful in this world.

Define power buttons and turn on password proetection

Ok. This was accidental.

I clicked on Windows 7 Start Menu, and then typed "Cover" on the Search box.

The following screen appeared:

The real nonesense and media silence

Nobody questioned the real nonsense that happened: the fact that the ordinance to save the convicted elected representatives went to the President without much opposition from all the “clean” parties.

In a democracy like India, all opposition parties are “clean”. When these opposition parties become the rulers, the then opposition become clean. That exactly is how an average Indian understands Indian politics. The media just propagates this theory.

So, the same democratic, objective media did not vehemently question why the bill was created in the first place and why the ordinance was rushed through. No media questioned or even wondered why we did not see live telecast of thousands holding candles near India Gate unlike some time in the past. We also did not see the “saviours of Indian democracy” performing a satyagraha stunt or wage another televised version of freedom struggle. We did not see anyone waving the Indian flag, or music concerts to save India.

And when Rahul Gandhi decided that an outburst would stop this nonsense, then that late outburst became nonsense. Is it out of fear that once the cleansing of politics starts, then other pillars of democracy, like the media, would also have to be cleaned? All of a sudden, a beleaguered man accused of silence and zero governance became respectable. The opinion of convenience allied with the spin of nit-pickers and anti-dynasty mavens. The end was not questioned, but the means were.

The refusal to give due credit to an outburst that can revolutionize Indian politics was forgotten in the ugly melee to play down the Dynasty and the individual. Those who had also benefitted from their own family legacy and now excel in various spheres of public life joined the same cheap chorus to play down the “means”. The media crooks, instead, turned their attention to tarnish a belated effort to rescue and clean Indian democracy. An effort driven by the President of India and the law, but neglected by the political parties. You now know where the Indian media stands.

The farce in the name of GDP figures

It is known that the GDP figures hyped by the media to credit or discredit political formations in India do not "account" the environmental damage caused by the so-called "Development."

There were seminal papers published that questioned the entire economics paradigm that still stood united behind the GDP as the yardstick for growth. But, Indian economists and foreign-educated ultra-liberal growth pundits have no time to read about Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI) that accounts or discounts the environmental damage caused by mindless growth. (Renaissance took place in Europe, right?).

Advocates of GPI do not claim that it is perfect. But while our journalists pillory governments over GDP figures, let us be aware that there are other perspectives to look at how growth is contributing to human and environmental welfare.

Check this link: http://rprogress.org/sustainability_indicators/genuine_progress_indicator.htm

Stuck in struck

We, three kids, were not good in solving mathematical problems in school textbooks. There were no outside help, and  we were happily "stuck" with our inability and hereditary weakness in solving the problems. After a while, we never bothered to revisit why we were "stuck".

But we never "struck" anyone. We were simply "stuck." And in the last few weeks I heard "struck" again, as the developer was finding it difficult to fix a "small" issue. So, developers will also get "stuck" somewhere. Candid admission anyway.

"Struck" is the past tense and past participle of the verb Strike. As a noun, stuck meant "something causing delay or difficulty."

Next time, when your tongue inserts an unnecessary "u" in before "r", just strike it off. Otherwise, you will be"stuck" like a door that got closed when the dog was half out of the door. And nobody held the door ajar for the dog to waddle out.

The beauty of cynicism

"...The cynic, after all, is inclined to question people's motives and assume that they are acting self-servingly unless proven otherwise...".writes Julian Baggini in The Guardian.

Certain cynics act dumb, or appear dumb. They do not appear polished, but disheveled. They do not follow anything or anyone, but observes and dissects everything. No other choice.

And it does matter because of this; "...cynicism proves its worth as one of our best defences against spin and manipulation..."

Spin and manipulation. Thomas Carlyle wrote that Imperfection clings to a person, and if they wait till they are brushed off entirely, they would spin for ever on their axis, advancing nowhere.

The basic tool for the manipulation of reality is the manipulation of words. If you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use the words. Philip K. Dick

The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it.
George Bernard Shaw

Overconfidence (or hubris?) and Cognitive Bias

Wanted to write about overconfidence today, but got confused about whether it is about "overconfidence" or "hubris" that I wanted to write about.

People use overconfidence in many erroneous ways. Whatever it may be, overconfidence is a "cognitive bias" type that manifests itself in various ways.

So, Wikipedia says, "...A cognitive bias is a pattern of deviation in judgment, whereby inferences of other people and situations may be drawn in an illogical fashion..."

For more information, see Cognitive Bias.

When everybody will be sick

From Garden City to Hospital City, said a headline. In an year, Bangalore will get around new 3000 hospital beds, claims the news story.

Yes, Bangalore indeed requires lots of hospitals and hospital beds. May be, in a science fiction like scenario, people will even be living in hospitals or medicated glasshouses or skyscrapers in Bangalore. Servants will be replaced by nurses who take care of the permanently ill or disabled citizens in the city.

Such a bleak or black scenario is possible because of the following reasons:

1. The city has crossed its carrying capacity and is reaching its breaking capacity.
2. Alarming rise in air pollution because of the arrival of 200-300 (unofficial) vehicles per day on the city's roads and no effort to control the situation.
3. Reckless lifestyle celebrated by people of all ages. Drinking, smoking, doing drugs, and unsafe sex are all fashionable, trendy, and even "normal" in this hyper-America of India. Those who cannot practice and follow this lifestyle get so stressed that they end up in hospitals.
4. Ability of the corporate world and jobs to convert normal healthy citizens into abnormal, diseased souls with all kinds of lifestyle and metabolic diseases. In 20 years, there will be no one with a healthy heart in Bangalore. Those with a healthy heart can become millionaires in Bangalore.
5. Chronic and toxic levels of water pollution that damages the skin, the scalp, and the head.
6. Absolutely no answers to the colossal amounts of waste created in the city by the law-abiding citizens who never fail to join candlelight protests against government atrocities.
7. Bizarre levels of noise pollution caused by automobiles even in residential areas.
8. Stress and hypertension caused by not just junk food, but traffic, debt, loans, and others.

When you combine all these, the 3000 beds will not be enough. What Bangalore needs is hospital complexes dotting the city's real estate, filled with people who are released into the roads only when they are partially cured. Great going!

DMK and UPA

I am not an expert in Sri Lankan politics and atrocities against Tamils in that country. But to succumb to threats by regional parties in protest against atrocities in a foreign country does not augur well for India's strategic relations with neighbours. This consistent pressure tactics threatening withdrawal of support to a coalition government creates instability and governance freeze at the top. Decisions are postponed and all energies and valuable time is wasted on fire-fighting and saving the government's numbers.

The UPA government has enough wisdom and expertise available to deal with this situation. But whether to dance to the tunes of regional satraps who hold the Damocles Sword of Support for issues that requires lots of diplomacy is an entirely different matter. I think the Indian prime minister should step in and announce India's position on this issue. In the meanwhile, if somebody wants to move away, let them be. There is a great honour in doing the right things before losing power. It is better than doing nothing good and concrete in an attempt to cling on to power.

Sehwag and Indian cricket

I always liked Test cricket batsmen who play aggressive cricket instead of those who are technically perfect. Sehwag has been one such batsman in the past. Recently, he has been a pale shadow of his past achievements. So, the decision to drop him was not a surprise for me.

A cricketer's individual records do not matter from the real perspective of the game. A cricketer's records shine more gloriously if it results in wins for his team. It is immature to keep on playing someone when records show a different story. So, poor form or lack of performance will result in only one thing. Today, it is  Sehwag. Tomorrow, it will be someone else.

Hope Sehwag comes back with a bang.

Headlines are important

I leave it to you to decipher why I pasted the following screenshot:

December 2012: The rise of reality

They or most of us thought that India had developed and arrived. IT parks, malls, multiplexes, international brands and cuisine, and latest Hollywood movies. We thought that the world started and ended with 8-10% GDP. And in the next 25 years, we would become another US. The only US of South Asia.

We never realized that our men had not changed. They were always the dominant species with everything within reach. Unlike the standards followed in the cubicles of IT companies, men in India never followed, never adhered to, and never needed standards for either them or to what is happening outside. The absence of nothing to rein them and the chaos of how to rein them was the greatest opportunity. Standards were a deterrent and they knew how to subvert them.

Long before today's IT coolies started enjoying life, Indian men were enjoying life, women, and liquor. In various forms and cheaply. They know where to find anything they wanted and they knew how to snatch or violate anything that prevented what they wanted. India was never difficult for men. Never. Power, money fame, women, sex, liquor; every one of these items (if it were a user manual, I would have considered a bulleted list for the items as per the style guide) was within reach at any time of the day. You only needed to look forward and never backward. Indian men laughed at those who migrated to western countries for pleasure and money. They laughed because they knew all these were available at a cheaper price in India.

So, December 2012 showed all of us how monstrous men are in India. After the chaos and protests, everything will be the same again. Unless, someone starts to really do something.  A research into why Indian men have lost their souls.

Indian cricket needs a new strategy

The Indian cricket team, which was defeated in the recent home Test series, appeared comfortable while playing the Twenty-twenty games. While the shorter version ended in a draw, with both teams winning a match each, the body language of the Indian cricketers looked much better. Frankly, I did not understand why the rookie pace bowlers were allowed to bowl the last few overs of the match.

So, create three separate teams for the three formats of the game. Let there be an exclusive Test team, ODI team , and T20 team. Ideally, I would like to see three captains, and specialist batsmen and bowlers for each format. Such a strategy will ensure that there will be variety, a larger pool to select the team from, and more opportunities for youngsters.

There is no point in continuing with the old strategy that puts too much emphasis on individual records and letting the greats play all forms of the game. Individual scores really matter when it results in victory or saves India from defeats.

It's time to change Indian cricket. We are repeating the same mistakes. Let us try something new and tap the talent available in this country.

For no specific reason

OK. I wanted to know what Application Extension really is. So, out of the three different definitions, I decided that the third one was the one I was looking for. The term meant that it was a "supplementary routine that adds capabilities to" the Java application I was working on. And a routine was a set of tasks. Then, I subscribed to a weekly email digest that brings terms ad their explanations to my inbox.

I know that my reading habits will put off people and friends. Because I cannot stand discussing the glories of pulp fiction and best-sellers that do not challenge the reader in any way. How to read books and alienate friends did recount the joys of reading good creative stuff from great writers.

A few anti-corruption questions

It is a fact that when the Congress party is in power or on an extended term, a slew of corruption charges are thrown at it with or without merit. So, things are not different now with a slew of allegations that started from the mistake of hosting the Commonwealth Games in the Indian capital city of Delhi.

Since every week, we sit mentally prepared to entertain ourselves with the latest shockwave of corruption. I would like to know a few things from the everything-we-say-is-right anti-corruption brigade:

1. What steps do you recommend to end corruption in India?
2. How will you ensure that the people in Lokpal would not favour a politician or not take a wrong decision?
3. Will your version of Lokpal punish the errant officers also along with the corrupt?
4. How will you ensure that the corrupt and criminals do not even have party membership?
5. What exactly is the development model you suggest for India so that poverty is wiped out? What is the time frame required to achieve this?
6. What exactly is your policy with regards to regulating real estate, private healthcare, and private education?
7. What exactly will be your culture policy?
8. How do you think that we can end the hostilities with China and Pakistan?
9. What exactly is your environment policy?
10. Will you conduct an audit of corporate, media and legal practices in India?

There are no answers, not even an indication of what their views are on this.

Politics in India is fought by maligning others. Wield the corruption stick, and voters will believe in anything that you say. So, only those who can beat them will win elections. That is, the corrupt doing all their best to defeat their opponents, even if they are good ones, using all means. That is the problem with India.

Lies, lies, lies...

When people lie, the Indian media just laps all of that up and regurgitates them on the reader or viewer. This is first of a periodic collection of such lies, half-truths, canards, unverified facts spread through the media.

There is nobody as minister from the North East. 

• A union minister is a minister of the Union of India. The minister represents the people of India and not his or her state. It is not a quota system out there.

Both the hosts Sri Lanka and Windies can win the T20 World Cup. Yeah.

• But you don't need a sports desk reporter in a suit to tell you that. Right?

India's  natural resources and their exploitation belong to the poor.

• When the media continued to pound our senses with this blatant lie, nobody bothered to check. Those who have read the Constitution of India knew that the natural resources belong to the Indian State and it can utilize them for the benefit of the nation and its people. People do not have inalienable rights to natural resources, unless specifically stated in law.

In Japan all nuclear power plants were closed following the Fukushima accident, and the government has decided to close all nuclear power plants by 2030.

• No media mentioned the fact that most of the Japanese nuclear power plants went offline, and 2-3 were working.

FDI in retail will make Indians eat more junk food.

• As if Indians are not eating junk food at all now.

Energy charges, protests, and consumers

In India, any hike in energy prices leads to a slew of protests, mostly by opposition political parties and mostly meant for the TV cameras. Yesterday, the Kerala state government announced a hike in energy prices across the board. The decision has met with opposition and the opposition political parties are conducting state-wide protests against the price hike.

Now, Kerala requires 3400 MW of power daily, but power from hydel sources alone is just 1600 MW. There are no other major sources of power. Since Kerala faces the biggest opposition in India in the name of environmentalism against new power projects such as hydel projects and thermal plants, all new projects land in controversy. Announce a project and the courts will be flooded with Public Interest Litigations (PILs), and the newspapers will be filled with statements and lengthy op-eds.

So, what exactly can the hapless people do in such a situation? The real solution depends very much on the immediate need for a change in mindset in Kerala, along with other steps to improve energy efficiency such as reducing power theft and transmission loss. One solution that should be immediately tried is solar energy as Kerala is blessed with abundant sunshine. The argument that solar cells or technology is very costly no longer holds true. Solar power can end Kerala's energy crisis to a great extent.

Protesters should understand that as the demand for power keeps on increasing, it will be difficult for the notoriously inefficient state electricity boards and the government to meet that demand. To supply power endlessly to the unregulated demands of the people doesn't make much sense in the long run. The truth is as energy supply increases, its consumption also increases. People are not going to use less power; instead, they will consume more and more based on their lifestyle.

The most environmentally sound solution then is to encourage less consumption of energy. Yes, this is a philosophical proposition. When energy prices are hiked, use less energy so that it contributes to the state pool and brings down the monthly power bills.

The greatest eco-friendly solution to environmental problems is instilling a culture of less resource consumption voluntarily. Switching off your TV for about an hour in the evening will contribute more to Kerala's energy crisis than empty, violent protests and statements by politicians and self-styled intellectuals. Energy, unfortunately, is no longer a subsidized good for people who can pay for its usage. It can be a subsidized good for Kerala's poor. If you want to pay less, consume less. If you want to protest the price hike, consume power less, and then pay less.

Inverted Pyramid in technical writing - A dissenting note

As a former journalist, I have written news stories according to the Inverted Pyramid style. As a technical writer, I have not tried that.

Writing user manuals according to the Inverted Pyramid style, which still is a distinctive characteristic of news writing, may work. However, I do have some reservations. What I would like to point out here to non-journalist technical writers is the "context" and "news values" that are used to select a news story is 'fundamentally different" from writing a section in a user manual. The "analysis" that precedes the actual process of writing in both the cases is entirely different.

For example, one of the important news value or determinant used to select a news story is "Significance." Any event that affects or interests a large number of people merits a news story. For example, the recent hike in petrol prices in India affects not just the entire population, but it has a larger impact on the economy as well.

"Proximity' is another important news value. An accident in Bangalore is given more importance than another one in Chennai. But if the accident in Chennai has more casualties, then that news may get prominence in the front pages. Similarly, "Prominence" is another important news value. For example, the Indian Prime Minister's comment on the economy may be given more importance than a credit rating agency's comments.

Moreover, certain news items will be presented according to the "slant" of the newspaper. The lead or the main story in one newspaper may not be the same as the one in another newspaper. The type of headline, whether it should be single deck or multi-deck, and the words used in each and every headline are very carefully chosen.

So, when someone says that the Inverted Pyramid style can be used in technical writing, then is it that the introduction becomes the most important section? So, is it that the procedural tasks are less important than the section introduction? I don't know.

Re-probe or reinvestigation?

"Call strengthens for re-probe into Yuva Morcha leader’s murder," said a newspaper headline.

Re-probe? Wiktionary says "to probe again", but the Corpus of Historical American English did not return any search results for either "re-probe" or "reprobe". Moreover, reprobe seems to be a molecular biology term than a word meaning "reinvestigation". To be more apt, it is better to use "reinvestigate" than re-probe.

Nadal blasts into the French Open Final

Rafael Nadal stormed into the French Open finals today by beating fellow Spaniard David Ferrer 6-2, 6-2, 6-1. 

In a match that spanned just one hour and 46 minutes, Nadal showed total control of the game after Ferrer made initial gains by winning a couple of break points. As the game progressed, Nadal's hard-hitting volleys and agility found no match in Ferrer who struggled to keep pace with the former, who is just one victory away from the seventh French Open title. Nadal showed no signs of slowing down as he continued to hold on to the remarkable run he is having in this edition of French Open.

Nadal will meet the winner of the second semi-final between world numbr one Novak Djokovic and third seed Roger Federer.

Rain did interrupt the match after the first set, but after a 55-minute break and with the Sun coming out, Nadal raced to win the rest of the sets in a pretty quick fashion. Nadal said that he would be matching the second semi-final as it would be one of the greatest matches in French Open this year.

Earlier, Nadal reached the semifinals by beating Nicolas Almagro 7-6 (4), 6-2, 6-3, and Ferrer by defeating fourth seed Andy Murray 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-2. 

Antibiotics and heart death

It was with some concern that I read the news that the antibiotic Azithromycin could increase the risk of heart deaths. Researchers at Vanderbilt University compared data of people who took the antibiotic and those who took other less dangerous antibiotics. The results showed a increased mortality rate for people who took Azithromycin and those who are already at risk of cardiac failure or those with cardiac illnesses.

Since I have no subscription, I could not read the full report published on the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). From what I understand, Azithromycin is a macrolide antibiotic, which prevents bacteria from multiplying by affecting their ability to produce growth proteins. It is known that macrolide antibiotics cause abnormal heart rates (arrythmias), but Azithromycin was considered safe like another antibiotic Amoxicillin. But the study by Vanderbilt researchers has proved otherwise.

For experts the estimated 245 additional cardiovascular deaths per 1 million cases may not be that significant, but this is an antibiotic that is frequently prescribed even in India. And poor souls like me have taken it.

I don't like IPL

I don’t like IPL. I am sorry to tell this. I don’t know the exact reason. But I still I do not like the tournament. May be, I don’t feel it is just cricket.

Cricket was serious, slow, and silent. May be that is the version I like. May be that is the misunderstanding I have. Cricket was not like someone’s metabolism gone haywire. The game was serious, thin, and decent. Stuffed with ordinary, decent, and quiet souls. It was never elite, vitriolic, or violent. There were only gentlemen, and not villains.

The beauty of cricket lay in hitting the ball through the ground, or not hitting it, or not hitting it over the  boundary line every time. Hitting the ball out of the ground, and using brute power to hit the ball over the green, thick bed of grass was more like unknown violence. Unnatural wooden acceleration against gravity. Man’s restless war against Nature. Sixes resembled violence against the leather, against the spectators, and against the bowler. More importantly, against the game.

The bowler was no longer a practitioner of the art of bowling; he was just a platform for fun, brutality, ecstasy, empty kisses, empty hugs, and victory bugles. And in the end, pity. Bowlers became poor and powerless as the ball soared along with the pride of the batsmen. Bowlers became something to be pitied; powerless against the strength of the demigods who unleashed brute power on the madness and the maddening crowd.

Batsmen: the lifeless medium of pride and profit, and 200-plus scores. They were the super class who showed the entire gullible world their other side. The faces were different and dim when the pitches were grass and solid, and the temperature freezing. When the pitch resembled the one in Dharmashala, the story was entirely different. It was these victorious knights who were powerless, while the ball flew hither and thither, and the bowler was the king. True warriors keep on winning no matter where the battles are fought.

The winning warriors that you see in IPL today may morph into tomorrow’s losers, or may vanish into thin air just like many others. Or, they may mutate into something much bigger than their IPL character.

Today, the millions, who have left their senses somewhere, may clap, scream, or jump for unknown reasons. Tomorrow, the seats they have occupied may be empty. And they may regret the time, effort, and money wasted on meaningless entertainment.

TRAI or Trai?

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is India's official agency entrusted with the task of creating and nurturing conditions for growth of telecommunications in the country. So, why can't newspapers in India agree on using TRAI, instead of Trai?

Trai suggests 20 cr fee for unified licence, screams Times of India. TRAI proposes Rs.20 crore for national level unified licence, says The Hindu newspaper. "One of the main objectives of TRAI is to provide a fair and transparent policy environment which promotes a level playing field and facilitates fair competition," says the official website.

So why Trai? People can view TRAI as an acronym or an initialism. But can these media biggies tell the readers why they prefer one form or the other?

December Noise

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh lamented the other day that Indian science lagged China and promised increased GDP outlay for science and R&D.
When every child is brainwashed to become an enginner, doctor, or software engineer, and then settle "abroad" earning crores, who wants to be a scientist in poor and undeveloped India? Also, the establishment and the media still consider "satellite launches and Solar Eclipse" as the biggest science stories of the day!

"There is not only an absence of big ideas backed by political conviction, but there is also an intellectual vacuity," says an editorial piece in Deccan Herald.
It is not just in politics, in all spheres of Indian life there is a big hole. All we are bothered is how much skin has an actor displayed on our websites.Our media is hell bent to ensure we also have beauties who can expose just like Western beauties. Just like that!

Cannot help from saying that this is an excellent intro: "...a buyer is acquiring stake from a seller, largely using money lent by the seller, even as he benefits massively from an announcement-led boost in share price..." The headline is even better, Funded by RIL Trust, Network18 buys ETV channels — from RIL.
It will be interesting to watch these news channels from now on.
Bangalore police prove poor investigators with a dismal conviction rate of 12%
I don't think there would be many who might have thought otherwise. If the police take the same effort they employ to block traffic and clear the roads for VIP movement, Bangalore could have been a better place.

What I listened to in 2011

I was mostly listening to 80s and 90s style heavy metal in 2011 more than anything else. In the last two months I was listening to songs from Malmsteen's Trilogy, Poison's Greatest Hits, more of Guns 'N Roses, Black Sabbath, Blue Oyster Cult, Dokken, Faith No More, and less of Satriani and Steve Vai. Apart from these classics, I did check out some of the new bands like Vains of Jenna, and Crazy Lixx. Throw in a bit of Velvet Revolver, one or two songs of Saving Abel, Deep Purple (Slaves and Masters), Keel, 2011 was damn headbanging stuff.

1.  You Don't Rememeber - Malmsteen

2. Blame It On Love - Crazy Lixx

 3. Look in Her Eyes - Vince Neil

4. Bloodstreets - RIOT

5. Kill the King - Masters of Reality

December 2011

The last one month has been the month of Mullaperiyar, a dam in the Idukki district of Kerala. Keralites, especially the politicians, are sure that frequent earthquakes will break the dam and kill lakhs of people. Tamil Nadu is sure that nothing will happen as the water will "simply" flow to the Idukki dam and rest there. Era of disaster porn and empty jingoism. 

Indians will wake up in New Year to the amended Lokpal bill which will "undoubtedly make India the only place in the planet with zero corruption. Just like Kareena Kapoor's size zero. No soul in India will dare to be corrupt because of Lokpal. Just say the word, Lokpal; the corrupter will shudder and pee in public.

Religious rules sometimes create trouble for certain self-styled intellectuals. Rules are rules. 

I cannot agree more with fashion designer Julie Kagti's remarks that fashion in Bangalore is getting more influenced by Bollywod. In a city where everybody on M G Road, Brigade Road, or Commercial Street is never free from fashion, the onlookers have simply a good time. These places are just ramps for the fashionistas. Even not dressing properly is a fashion in Bangalore. It is just a matter of how easily, blindly, or intelligently one apes either Bollywood or Hollywood. People spend more time in unisex salons on weekends than sleeping at home. You are nothing, if you have not gone to a unisex salon. At least once. That is it.

A pretty girl I saw in a lift in office wanted to spend the New Year Eve in Goa, and not in her house. Her male friend was advising and was feeling nostalgic about how beautiful the beaches were. She must read this article by our eternally correct journalist, Rajdeep Sardesai.

As the evening gets uncomfortably chilly in Bangalore, the Sri Lankan cricket team lurches to defeat against the South African pace attack led by Vernon Philander on a green pitch. Indian should watch out as everybody in Australia would love to see India lose.

I could not stop headbanging as I stumbled upon one of the heavy metal classics from the 90s by Ministry.  Fans of Nine Inch Nails and Rammstein have much to reconsider. A great song to jam, practice, and sing at concerts. Also checked out Bathory's One Rode to Asa Bay.

Vidya Balan was one of the actresses I felt would use her brains rathr than beauty. But as we celebrate the age of porn and sleaze, her movie The Dirty Picture provides lots of eye candy. We must also acknowledge and thank the media for their steadfast campaigns for promoting porn and sleaze and creating vapid breaking news of of actresses like Veena Mallik.

Are outbreaks of Dengue and Chikungunya in Kerala just a garbage issue?

Whenever the state of Kerala reports an outbreak of vector-borne diseases like Dengue and Chikungunya, the media goes on an overdrive and as usual looks for culpable scapegoats. Following public, political, and media pressure, on September 24, 2011, the Kerala chief minister held an emergency meeting and directed waste management measures on a war footing among others.

Here comes my discomfort. It may be because I am ignorant. Vector-borne diseases and contagious diseases are different ball games. What we are witnessing in Kerala is outbreaks of vector-borne diseases such as Dengue and Chikungunya, and the state’s total failure to either control, anticipate, or study the issue at hand. Knee-jerk reactions like more doctors in affected areas, urgent waste disposal measures, and local body meetings (a group totally incapable of dealing with the situation) follow suit from various quarters, and for the media this is just an issue to up the TRP ratings.

This is simply not a “Garbage Issue”. This is a serious environmental and entomological issue resulting from deforestation, land use changes, and possible jumping of microbes from forests or animals to human habitations, and population movement.

 

And the most important fact is that the humid and hot climate of Kerala along with the presence of thick vegetation (including plantations and stagnant water (ponds) near households provide the best conditions for the disease causing Aedes mosquitoes to breed. Mosquitoes cannot ask for a much better environment to breed and create havoc than the present situation in Kerala.

Moreover, there are reports and studies saying that “concurrent infections” can occur-this means the mosquito bites can cause both Dengue and Chikungunya. This means that a mosquito and a human being can be infected with more than one disease. This also means that in an ill-equipped medical hospital and clinic what can be the diagnosis, treatement, recording of symptoms.

While garbage and solid waste need to be removed and safely disposed of, this is not a measure that should be taken during vector-borne disease outbreaks. Waste disposal does not become critical when there is a medical emergency or when there is an epidemic like situation. But controlling vector-borne diseaes goes beyond waste disposal as it requires long-term studies and monitoring of existing infectious diseases and vectors and emerging threats. I feel each of these episodes are not the final ones and lack of scientific vision will lead to a big epidemic sooner or later. 

The media does not have the same level of knowledge it has when it comes to reporting political breaking news, backroom intrigues, and cinema. They have no idea about the difference between the terms, contagious diseases and vector-borne diseases. According to one definition:

Contagious means infectious by direct contact, but in common usage the word usually applies to diseases that are highly infectious and dangerous, implying something more serious than a common cold. 

Vector-borne diseases require a pathogen, a vector, and the human host.  Here the pathogen is the virus and the vector is the mosquito.

So, were sitting on a medical volcano and believing that if there is no garbage and household waste, there will no diseases. How naive have we become!

FACTSHEET

Dengue Virus: Dengue is a viral infection caused by Flaviviruses,  a group of viruses that can cause a number of diseases such as Dengue and Hepatitis C in humans. These viruses arev spread by mosquitoes and ticks and can reproduce in their vector.  Click here to know more about the Dengue hemorrhagic fever .

Chikungunya: Chikungunya is caused by Alphaviruses and is spread by mosquitoes. It has the distinction of having jumped from monkeys to humans.

Heavy metal is alive and kickin' real hard

While metal has disappeared from prime time music television, the cyberspace has hundreds of unheard, rare, and new bands rocking real hard. Some of the new bands are pretty good playing a style that critics may say retro. But the songs of some of these new bands are good and much much better than the two-chord alternative stuff that channels bombard you with. The following bands and songs, a mix of new and old, are real gems. 

Talon's All I Ever Needed is a great straight-edged mid tempo/melodic song with good guitar solos and pure vocals from Chandler Mogul. The songs make me feel that I have missed this band. Talon rose from the ashes of Voxen, says Melodic Rock, and invites fans of Dokken (my favourite) and Hericane Alice to lend their ears. Both are very good bands.

Melodic death metal band Evergrey is another great find with powerful melodic songs with classic guitar solos.Click here to listen to A Touch of Blessing. The vocals at times resembled the good old MSG.

I am big fan of Crazy Lixx'z Blame it on Love from their album New Religion. This melodic song has a unique passion and the harmonies perfect like the classic acts that rocked the 80s. One of the best new bands with that hard rock/heavy metal sound that takes the listener 20 years back.

I cannot forget Michael Monroe’s 80s hit, Dead, Jail or Rock n' Roll, a superb butt-kicking metal song from their Not Fakin' It album. Wikipedia says that the song video featured GNR frontman Axl Rose. What a song and what a musician! I remember watching with friends the video featured in Headbangers Ball when VHS tapes ruled the roost and months before I had the luck to listen to Appetite for Destruction. Yes, we missed to spot Axl Rose.

Riot was the most underrated band and had some exceptional power metal and melodic metal songs and albums. Listen to Riot - Buried Alive (Tell Tale Heart). What a great song and what a great band.

Finally two great power ballads from Y&T and Great White. Keep rockin'.

First come, first serve?

I did not have any idea about the origins of the phrase, First come, first served, until a mistake in an email I read got me thinking.

The Daily Writing Tips has an excellent article on the history of the popular phrase, which is converted by net-savvy geeks to FCFS. The same geeks create the mistake, first come, first serve. To read the mistaken phrase is definitely irritating at times.

So, first come, first served, and no more first come, first serve.

The horrific "revert back"

Countless emails, often from the big bosses of the corporate world, contains the nauseating mistake "revert back".

"....Revert back to me if you have any questions." This is what I saw a few days back in an email from someone whose name shoots everybody's BP up.

The verb, Revert, here is used in the sense, to go back in thought or discussion. Therefore, revert back is a redundant expression, as the word implies the sense of going 'back". 

So, do not revert back, just revert. 

Word 2007 error - This file is read-only

Consider that you are working on a very important document and your manager wants it immediately. After a few minutes, you click Save. And to your surprise, the Word 2007 document says that "This file is "read-only". Shocked and no time to do a Google search?

The solution to this annoying pop-up screen is very simple. Do the following steps to avert this problem:
1. From within the Office 2007 document, click the Office button or Ribbon.
2. Click the Word Options button.
3. Click Advanced in the Word Options screen that appears.
4. Scroll down to the Save section.
5. If the Allow background saves box is selected, click once to clear it.

6. Click the OK button, and reopen the document.
Note: Repeat these steps if you get the same error again.

Powerplay and Tsunami

Powerplay is a term used in the world of cricket. It was intended to increase the othewise boring middle overs of the game. But as World Cup Cricket 2011 unfurled, the host India found the powerplay too hot to handle. Powerplay has become an Achilles heel in the host's batting lineup as the batsmen simply squandered away the side's dominant position by playing extravagant shots. India narrowly escaped from the jaws of defeat against England, and lost, in a shameful fashion, to South Africa despite raising the prospect of an imposing total.

After 2004, the dreaded Tsunami returned to the news in Japan, which saw a fierce wave after an earthquake of 8.9 magnitude. The Tsunami also affected a few of the country's nuclear reactors. The effect of the Tsunami waves on the nuclear reactors have already raised questions on the safety aspects and ecological impacts of such reactors. I share my grief with those who lost their lives and dear ones in Japan.

Interesting Links and News - Jan 20

The abbreviation, Statement of Work, appeared in an email I received today. Decided to know more about it and landed right on Wikipedia.

25 commandements for journalists from Tim Radford, former Guardian science editor, letters editor, arts editor and literary editor. Excellent stuff.

"Mobile number portability (MNP), which allows customers to switch service providers without changing their cell number, will be available across India from Thursday (January 20)," says The Telegraph daily. The question is who will gain the most if people change their service providers in large numbers. "More than one out of six mobile phone subscribers (17.6%) want to switch over to another telecom company," says The Hindustan Times. Business Standard says that if the service providers tweak their plans, customers may be the winners.

I wonder what will happen if the same is done for DTH services. Because DTH subscribers are the most unhappy lot, compared to mobile subscribers.

Deadly Congo fever virus surfaces in India, reports The Telegraph. The Indian Express says, "A six-member team from the National Centre for Disease Control...will visit Gujarat to investigate the prevalence of Crimean Congo Hemorrhagic fever (CCHF)."

Accelerated melting of sea-ice over the coming decades will release more mercury into the environment, says a study. At present, the absence of sunlight prevents the chemical degradation of the heavy metal element.

Understanding Poetry: A Basic Checklist

A poem can be understood by trying to answer the following: who, what, when, where, and why. But it is wise to keep in mind the following to understand it fully:

Title: Understand the link between the title of the poem and the poem itself.

Speaker or character: Identify the speaker or the characters mentioned in the poem.

Setting: Find out the setting in which the poem is based on.

Situation: Understand the situation the speaker is in and its relevance to the poem.

Words: Understand the meaning of all the words in the poem, repetitions of words, punctuation, unusual expressions, capitalisation etc.

Form: The form in which the poem is written and whether it changes or develops into some other form.

Theme: The subject of or the idea behind the poem and the experience it tends to evoke, or the message it seeks to convey.

Imagery: Note the words that indicate or describe the auditory, visual, tactile, taste, smell, and movement in the poem and their contribution to the meaning or the poem itself.

Figures of Speech: Identify the type of figure of speech used. This includes simile, metaphor, paradox, personification, synecdoche (a part standing for the whole), metonymy (one standing for another), pun, hyperbole, irony, symbols etc.

An Act for Plain Writing

If you have read official documents released by the central government or the state governments in India, you will know the pain. The writing in such documents is characterised by ambiguos, lengthy, and wordy sentences. "Officialese" is the name given to such kind of writing. The same applies to legal documents also.

Now, the US government has decided to do something about obscure writing. The Plain Writing Act of 2010 seeks to etsbalish that "Government documents issued to the public must be written clearly, and for other purposes."

Interestingly, the act defines "plain writing" as "writing that is clear, concise, well-organized, and follows other best practices appropriate to the subject or field and intended audience." So, plain writing gets legal approval. Technical writers beware!

Traitorware and privacy

Traitorware are "devices that act behind your back to betray your privacy, says the Electronic Frontier Foundation. It actually got me thinking about my new smartphone, which may be leaking or accessing information to someone. Dangerous times ahead, as I started reading Web Photos That Reveal Secrets, Like Where You Live.

Meanwhile, I have to check my location security settings and disable it. That is my New Year resolution.

Today's Links

How To Predict A Failing Hard Drive
10 Awesome Safe For Work Websites To Overcome Lunchtime Boredom
A portal on tax related affairs and laws in India
Free Data Recovery Software
http://www.longreads.com/ to read long articles.
Track anonymous and missed calls with Phone2location.

Is this a Website?

As a user, would you bother to visit this website again? If you do not recognise it, the site belongs to The New Indian Express, one of the popular English dailies in India.

Black Swans and Wormhole Wizards

It is a fact that albums released by Joe Satriani are good. Or no albums by this virtuoso guitarist is bad.

The latest album, Black Swans and Wormhole Wizards, is simply perfect, melodious, and technically excellent. Right from Premonition, through keyboard laden Pyrrhic Victoria, bluesy Littleworth Lane, rocking Light Years Away, and The Golden Room with an Indian sound, the album is a listener's pleasure. Like all his previous albums, the songs are simply beautiful, but more world music oriented stuff with a tinge of dance music thrown in the right measure. The album is an intelligent shift towards international music, and drifts away from the 80s harder and heavier sound.

If I compare Black Swans and Wormhole Wizards with his previous stuff such as Surfing With The Alien, Flying In A Blue Dream, and The Extremist, then I feel disappointed. Gone are the lighting fast solos, power chords, and exploding riffs. Satch is no more a metal-friendly act. He has abandoned the "metal wave" sound that drew guys like me to him. For metal guitar, I need to look somewhere else. May be Malmsteen might save the day for me.

Walk in, Walk In, or walk-in?

Is it Walk in, Walk In, or walk-in?

The word, walk-in, appears as a noun and an adjective in Merriam Webster online.  I could not find the word without the hyphen. The Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary website showed the hyphenated word only.

As you know, the word means someone who walks in to a place without an appointment. Typical examples are walk-in customers for a bank, walk-in interviews for fresh graduates, and walk-in patients in a hospital.

Editing Technical and User Documentation

As technical writers, most of us get a chance to review documents prepared by colleagues or writers from other teams. While a few may be reluctant to do reviews, it is a fact that the reviews provide technical writers with an opportunity to participate in the quality control process of user and technical documentation.

If the team has a technical editor, he or she may be left with enough time to do a thorough review of documents. A process will be in place to plan and complete editing. If one of the team members take up the taks of editing, the edits mostly will be a mix of “copy-editing” and “technical editing". A“production edit” can also be done on the draft versions of the PDFs created to ensure that everything is all right before it is send to the customer. The limiting factor indeed is time.

The first step in editing is to read the entire document once. It is indeed a quick read just to get an idea of what is it all about. Such a reading does give me an idea about what can possibly be the editing effort required and the complexity of the edit. On most occasions, I have been successful in marking one or more glaring issues.

In the second phase, start reading the document word by word and line by line. I begin by marking the typical copy-editing stuff using the track changes in Word or FrameMaker or as sticky notes or comments in Acrobat Professional, or even in emails. The copy-editing errors looked into include spelling, grammar, punctuation, usage, style, and writing consistency. I tread carefully on spelling mistakes because I do not want to miss spelling errors borne out of a mix of English styles such as UK English and US. I put comments as well as suggestions where the usage, grammar, and punctuation used are mixed up. For example, a comma before the conjunction “and” in a list.

Other issues focused include the voice and the tense used. Paragraphs often have sentences written in active and passive voices. I often feel that some sentences look better in passive voice, rather than in active voice. I keep an eye on sentences that suddenly shift tenses from the present to the past and even to the future for unknown reasons. I also ensure that the author follow a consistent style across the document, including the capitalization used, the terminology used, the length of sentences, and so on. Sentence construction is always a tricky issue. Paragraphs are checked to ensure that multiple ideas are not stacked, but spread out in multiple paragraphs.

Beyond copy editing, I specifically look for sentences that are technical, speak the SME's language and not the user's languages, filled with jargon, and ambiguous. The technical nature of the text and badly constructed sentences create lots of cruft. The result is the user finds it difficult to comprehend the meaning and the idea. A documentation bug is the result in such a scenario.

In other cases, there is less focus on context, but more on procedural tasks. As a result, the reader will not know what a particular feature is about, why he or she should do it, and what exactly can be achieved. Clearing these issues, at times, involve talking to the author or referring to documents such as requirement specs and design documents. In such documents, I put suggestions to rewrite the paragraphs or sentences for clarity. Compromise is the mantra.

At times, another strategy employed has worked wonders while editing. This is to log in to the application and match the procedures in the documents with the application (I know this will not work for complex software and hardware). Such a strategy helps me in ensuring whether crucial elements or steps of the work flow are missing from the documentation. It can be a field, a menu, a drop-down item, or buttons, or a shortcuts, related tasks, and so on. A technical editor can also look into issues such as the mismatch in documenting the names of GUI elements, dissimilarity between the screenshots and procedures, screen names, the tab flow of fields (if present), mandatory values, lack of troubleshooting tips, and so on.

I also look into the template issues, formatting, and layout. Currently, this involves correct use of character and paragraph tags and master pages, heading styles and hierarchy. On PDFs, I also check whether cross-references work and whether they land on the page intended. I do comment on the overall layout: topics starting at the end of the page, orphan sentences and bulleted lists, and pages starting with screenshots and notes and warnings, procedures without intros. I also check the white space present in pages and the proportion of body text and graphics on a particular page so that the “weight” is balanced.

I like words and like to review definitions of terms. While a few can be verified using the internet, on many instances, I need to discuss them with the authors as well as the experts.

I check the organization of the document. Instead of topics organized to relate to each other, topics may look disparate and incoherent. They may lack unity among various sections of the document. It simply means the whole will not be the sum of its parts. Typically, I will try to ensure that writers do not miss the crucial aspect of ensuring a flow so that the information is rendered not usable. If a casual reader cannot find the information easily, imagine the plight of the user who is busy to finish the task. I love cross-references in te documents. I feel the absence of adequate cross references thwarts the unity of the document.  If I enter a few details, I should know how to verify that information. Documentation and its architecture sometimes miss this crucial element.

Finally, I just close the document and come back to it later to review my comments. I do this to ensure that I have missed anything and I have not done any hyper-editing.

For me, copy-editing or technical editing is not nitpicking. It is not an act to put someone on the defensive. It is a quality control process to ensure delivery of good and quality documentation to customers. It is also a learning process for me, as I need to be first sure that my concerns are right, and my findings are valid. It is not necessarily that I am always right. The author can also be right and I can learn from him or her. It is a collaborative process to ensure that the efforts fulfill the wider objectives set for.

Copy editing in Newspapers

How different is copy editing from the editing you do as part of your technical writing? Some might feel that it is nothing compared to what is done in technical writing. Others might say a lot can be carried from newspaper copy editing to technical editing. Others might say both are miles apart.

I can't help from saying that there is an awful lot of misunderstanding about a copy editor's work in newspapers. On the internet, one of the best quoted or linked source of what a copy editor does is at The Slot. Click here to read The Slot's article on What Exactly is a Copy Editor.  Here, I don't intend to pass judgements on which one is more challenging and complex, or which one is easy.

Let me put my perspective what a copy editor (sub editor in Indian parlance) does. Firstly, it is neither a "mere" editing job, nor a proofreading job. It is job with lots of responsibility, pressure, and requires syncing with the editorial team, the reporting team, the graphics team, advertising, and even the sales and marketing team.

A copy editor, as a journalist, needs to know something about everything under the sun. Knowing everything means learning new subjects and keeping track of the happenings in the English language and the profession. (Unlike in the media, a technical writer can focus on the particular domain or tool based on his or her job requirements. He or she is not supposed to know each and every domain).

When a copy editor walks in and logs into his or her machine, there will be nothing on the "queue" to edit. Stories filed by reporters, correspondents, senior journalists, start to flow in slowly, often late in the evening. Of the stories that come in, one has to be selected as the lead or main story. A lead story appears more prominent on the page, usually at the top left or right, spreads across many columns, and is set in the biggest headline style. Editing is based on the house style and the copy editor has to keep an eye on the legal implications of stories.

While most of the day is spent on editing news stories, an hour or more is left to design or make pages using a software like QuarkXPress. A copy editor usually makes more than one page. It is here that the skills get really tested.

The reason is the page. A copy editor does not have any control of the preliminary design of the page. You can consider the page as the template we often talk about in technical writing. Typically, a page is divided into 7-8 columns. This template is initially drafted by the "ad" department. Pages will have ads, which take a few columns at the bottom of the page, or half the page. The more the ad space is, the more happy the copy editor is. This means that the "template" a copy editor works on is never the same. A copy editor actually works on widely different templates daily.

The templates are different, but the deadline is the same. The templates are different, but the level of edits required for stories are different. Moreover, every page requires photos to balance the weight on the page. And if the ad department comes with a last minute change, you can imagine the pressure and the mess the copy editor can be in.

The newspaper industry is the only industry that releases a new product every day. In the mornings, you read the news edited by copy editors and view the pages designed by the copy editors last night.

Engaging User Documentation

One of the words that technical communicators should have in their vocabulary is Engage. Because the word also means to "become involved." In reality, many technical writers refuse to get "actively" involved with the project teams and refuse to accept responsibility for mistakes on their part. A few even consider
themselves as "individual contributors" in a team.

Technical writers cannot sit before the desktops and imagine that everything—information, reference documents, software build, and so on—will reach them automatically. They cannot simply shift the blame for incorrect information or missing information in their documents to someone else. For technical writers of any level, engaging themselves with the project team is the most crucial aspect. This may require lots of legwork, casual chat, and intent to even befriend a few team members.

The primary benefit of such an interaction is more or less complete documentation of the software and feature developed. Even though project managers may not be that keen to interact with technical writers, there are others with whom the technical writers can get involved. It is this healthy involvement of technical writers with software developers, testers, and SMEs that will enhance the reputation of the technical writer and improve the understanding of the work a technical writer does. Technical writers would also benefit in understanding the functionality properly and get a holistic view by engaging fully with the team, and not just with the SME.

This kind of "internal networking" will benefit a technical writer in multiple ways. As mentioned earlier, a good engagement works wonders for preparing a complete and proper documentation. It also helps the technical writer to understand the software and the domain in a better manner. It also drives a technical writer to provide feedback, ask questions from the user perspective, and even don the role of a tester at times. Some of the feedback or queries raised can even become a critical issue or priority task for the development team.

A successful engagement will gradually increase the flow of information to the technical writer. People, who earlier refused to divulge information, will open up and provide tidbits of information that will aid the technical writer to write better documentation. For those looking for everything to arrive at their desks, technical
writing is not the best profession.