TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:Re: Intentionally left blank From:Thomas Knepher <tknepher -at- BLUE-PUMPKIN -dot- COM> Date:Fri, 28 May 1999 10:20:06 -0700
<As far as I know, this phrase originated at IBM when they were first
<beginning to work with electronic manuals. It was a check on the
equipment.
<I was working on contract there at the time. The manuals were developed,
<checked, and sent out without removing the Blank blurb. I suppose it
spread
<from there to the IBM sycophants and thence into general usage. I will not
<put it in anything with my name on it. :-)
This phrase was (still is?) used in military classified documents
thirty-five years ago when I was in the Air Force. We used to have to do
page counts during inventories of the docs and the phrase indicated that
nothing was missing or removed.
Thomas Knepher
Senior Technical Writer
Blue Pumpkin Software
650-429-6305
fax 650-429-6411 mailto:tknepher -at- blue-pumpkin -dot- com
"Computers are useless--they only give you answers"
---Pablo Picasso