RE: RE: Motivation + career path

[Rose -dot- Wilcox -at- pinnaclewest -dot- com]

--- "Susan W. Gallagher" <sgallagher5 -at- cox -dot- net> wrote:
> 
> I know! We can refer to him as "the list member who
> coined
> the phrase 'the Geoff Hart Automatic Response
> Generator'."

Okay, this comment actually made this thread worth the other members wasting my time arguing in public.  Thanks, Sue.

Technical writing tie-in?  

I'm not sure, but career-wise, I try not to take really "hard" stances on things until I have time to think about the logic and fact-check.  This sometimes puts me at a disadvantage at first, but in the long run, it has worked.  I might lose a battle but win the war.  

In other words, the logic of requesting that another list member not use one's name as well as the strategy of doing so in public to me was based on flawed logic -- possibly not based on logic at all.  I would try to take time and define, "Why does this usage bother me?  What do I want to happen?  What is the best way to get that to happen?" And I would do some fact checking and maybe discover that names are not trademarks and that, indeed, the only way I could ever prosecute it would be if what was said was libel.  Finally, I would re-read Eric's rules for the list and realize that the situation needed to be taken off-line if addressed at all.  Maybe I would have time to reflect and realize that it was sort of a compliment even if I still didn't like it.  So I would write to the perpetrator off-line and ask for it to cease just based on the fact that I request it to.  And the person may or may not cease.  And then I could write to Eric and ask for Eric to step in.  And then if that didn't work, I could either live with it or leave the list.

This thread (soon as the name war broke out anyway) has not been about technical writing.  It is about arguing about how other people on the list should treat each others names.  That is a matter for Eric to decide as listowner, not much of a matter of public debate.

I can see a vague tie-in that names are not trademarks.  So I can talk about the inventor of "C++" in a document by name legally.  Or Bill Gates as the founder of Microsoft.  But if I libel them by direct or implied language, my legal department should throw it out.  

Such as if I were to say, using myself as an example (not sure if I can libel myself or not but it sounds like fun): "Rose Wilcox the embodiment of the content vs. font-fondler thread fence-sitter" it would not be libel. It would not even be rude.  It would simply be the subjective view of my posts as seen by reading through the few times I have participated in the discussion.  If I put something like that in a manual, even if it were slightly inaccurate, it would not be libel.  There would be no damages and no intent.  The worst case scenario if I misrepresent someone's view point would be to have to print a correction.

If I were to say, "Passive-aggressive wishy-washy technical writers who cannot make decisions, such as the Rose Wilcox school of vacillation" -- actually that would not even be libel, it would just simply be rude.  I would also consider it a "flame" myself, I don't know about you, if said publicly on the list.

It would probably not be libel as intent cannot be proven, nor can damages be accessed.  However, if I said something like that about a public figure and published in it a manual it would be potentially libel. 

Also related to technical writing, this thread name has got to go. It is now inaccurate as all get out.  I won't say what I would name it, as I am now guilty of taking part in it and all without renaming it also.

Non-related to technical writing is that no one uses my name in vain here.  <sniff>  I wanna be a celebrity too.

And why am I doing this?  Obviously a slow week for me....


Rose A. Wilcox
CHQ, 17th Floor, 034
Tranz1 QA/Documentation
602-250-2435
Rose -dot- Wilcox -at- PinnacleWest -dot- com
"His new job replacing windshields wasn't all it was cracked up to be." 



^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

ANNOUNCING ROBOHELP STUDIO

RoboHelp Studio maximizes your Help authoring power by combining
RoboHelp Office and RoboDemo, so you can easily create professional
Help systems that feature interactive tutorials and demos.

Find out more about RoboHelp Studio at http://www.ehelp.com/techwr-l2

---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as:
archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot-  Visit
http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.