Re: re Pros and Cons of including writer's name

[Linda Castellani <linda -at- GRIC -dot- COM>]

At the far end of the author credit spectrum we encounter something created
by a client of mine - a pianist and composer, as well as computer
programmer - for the About... topic on the Help Menu.

When you make this selection, you see scads of information about the
product; in the lower right corner is a little icon of the company's logo.
Clicking it takes you to the credits screen, and what a screen it is.  It
contains a scrolling list of everybody who had anything to do with the
product (a credit checking software package, for which I wrote the help
system, the only documentation that comes with the product), headed by
"Help Author - Linda Castellani, Castellani Consulting."

But the most impressive thing about this is the fact that she programmed it
to play various selections from Mussorgsky's "Pictures From An
Exhibition" using just the built-in beeps in the system, no fancy sound
card required.  It operates in four modes, each with a unique background
(using her words now):

"Yellow screen           Ballett der unausgeschlüpften Küken
(meaning 'Ballet of the not-got-out-yet chickens,' usually translated
'Ballet of the chickens in their shells.')

"Green screen            Limoges. Le marché (La grande nouvelle)
(meaning something like 'Lots is happening on the main street of Limoges'...?)

"Blue screen             Tuileries (Dispute d'enfants après jeux)
(I don't know what Tuileries is, but the kids are fighting over toys)

"Red screen              Die Hütte auf Hühnerfüssen
(meaning 'The hut on chicken feet,' usually translated as 'The Hut of Baba
Yaga'. Probably the only witch/goddess reference in credit checking
software.)"

I never expected any credit, but I really got a kick out of this!