Tech Writing Beer Group
Thursday, February 26, 2004
okay ... here's a rough beginning for the webfront to our TW.mdb
TW Beer Group - Electronic Cards
right now, only the first 2 links work w/ the TW db ... :o)
Saturday, February 14, 2004
Thursday, February 12, 2004
Wednesday, February 11, 2004
a beer sounds good to me! ;o)
on a more serious note ... i like these two:
Recently, ski-binding manufacturers have redesigned their products several times to meet the preferences of skiing consumers who want ski bindings that allow the utmost in performance while retaining the safety feature that bindings were meant to achieve.
or maybe ...
Ski-binding manufacturers have been redesigning their products to meet the preferences of skiing consumers who want the utmost in performance while retaining the safety feature that the bindings were meant to achieve.
and i also like this one:
Treatment plants do not fully purify sewage; the toxic products contaminate groundwater, taint wells, and cause much pollution near the coast, as it drains toward the sea.
:o)
on a more serious note ... i like these two:
Recently, ski-binding manufacturers have redesigned their products several times to meet the preferences of skiing consumers who want ski bindings that allow the utmost in performance while retaining the safety feature that bindings were meant to achieve.
or maybe ...
Ski-binding manufacturers have been redesigning their products to meet the preferences of skiing consumers who want the utmost in performance while retaining the safety feature that the bindings were meant to achieve.
and i also like this one:
Treatment plants do not fully purify sewage; the toxic products contaminate groundwater, taint wells, and cause much pollution near the coast, as it drains toward the sea.
:o)
my [rather late] contribution to this week's group lesson:
1. Manufacturer's of ski-bindings are attempting to make their products to be both safer and more responsive to skier's needs.
2. Sewage leaving a treatment facility still contains contaminants which can be spread to the surrounding areas.
Tuesday, February 10, 2004
to post an image to the blog ... you can email it to me and make a post similar to this (remove the space between the "less than" and "img":
< img src="http://dweeb.gotdns.org/images/image-file-name.ext" />
:o)
Wednesday, February 04, 2004
okay, i probably have the oddest schedule of all ... so here's my work schedule thru feb 16:
| Feb 5 - 7 | Feb 8 (Sun) | Feb 9 - 13 | Feb 14 - 16 |
| 1200 - 2030 | no work | 1500 - 2330 | in Tulsa (hopefully :o)) |
Monday, February 02, 2004
here is the transcript from our e-meeting, conducted at 1930 on 2 Feb 2004 via myJabber:
* SlackerMike returns
[19:20] shardble Says: Hello All
[19:20] SlackerMike Says: hey! how's it going?
[19:21] SlackerMike Says: kevin is working on Econ h/w ... should be back soon
[19:21] shardble Says: Ah, I see, well I am working on the attendance essay for DM. Yipee, Skipee
[19:22] Kevin Says: Hey Mike and Sharene
[19:22] SlackerMike Says: hahaha ... i haven't done that yet!
[19:22] SlackerMike Says: wb kevin
[19:22] Kevin Says: ty
[19:22] shardble Says: Ughh, sometimes I am not sure where he gets these topics for the essay.
[19:23] SlackerMike Says: so, sharene, do you think access is THE solution to our DBMS needs in this class?
[19:23] SlackerMike Says:
[19:24] Kevin Says: THE solution eh?
[19:24] shardble Says: Ummm, access is never the solution to anything that is suppsed to function correctly.
[19:24] SlackerMike Says: access provides not not only an easy to use interface, but offers cost-effective business solutions
* SlackerMike is now trying to make himself puke
[19:25] shardble Says: Yes and anyone who wants to actually run their stuff SERVER side is SOL!!!!!!!!
[19:25] SlackerMike Says: hahahaha
[19:25] SlackerMike Says: access breaks down with multiple accesses (like fm web server apps)
* SlackerMike is practicising his BS for Attnedence Essay ... since carroll made a 2 paragraph req't
[19:26] Kevin Says: and it contributes to islands of data
[19:26] SlackerMike Says: ummm ... that's one of those terms i was s'posed to memorize ... isn't it?
[19:26] SlackerMike Says: hehehe
[19:26] shardble Says: I guess I am SQL biased, sorry guys. Enough about our snazzy DBMS system, on to fun topics like what are we going to do our group project on? How about Access and it's cost effective business solutions
[19:26] Kevin Says: prolly
[19:27] SlackerMike Says: hmmmm
[19:27] Kevin Says: maybe not
[19:27] SlackerMike Says: does anyone have a topic that's just burning a hole in their mind?
* SlackerMike isn't really a big fan of "research papers"
[19:28] shardble Says: Not really, the description said either work related or affects your community type of thing.
[19:28] SlackerMike Says: my work pretty much grosses people out so ....
[19:28] Kevin Says: that's true
[19:29] SlackerMike Says: hahaha, guess i'm the only one i know who gets interested in blood and such
[19:29] shardble Says: Ummm, I won't ask.........
[19:29] SlackerMike Says: med tech ... lab testing
[19:29] SlackerMike Says: currently with http://www.labone.com/
[19:29] shardble Says: I on the other hand do exciting work such as Systems Analysis.
[19:30] SlackerMike Says: hehehe
* SlackerMike hopes to ... someday ...
[19:31] shardble Says: We might find something that we can all realte to a little better that isn't work related. Maybe something like how (fill in the blank) technology is so very helpful to Joe Public. Or why I should go buy myself a segway..............
[19:31] Kevin Says: I get grossed out pretty easily Mike, although I could get interested in the physician marketing thing
[19:32] SlackerMike Says: well, on that topic, i [somewhere] have 4-5 pages already written for willis in marketing last spring
[19:32] shardble Says: We can pilfer through the topics on the tech writing thread........
[19:32] SlackerMike Says: hehehe
[19:32] Kevin Says: the two I posted might be too depressing
[19:33] SlackerMike Says: well, i came up with a few ?'s related to topics that our group posted ... just a sec ...
[19:34] SlackerMike Says: - Does the RIAA have the right to request information from internet service providers that would identify suspected online "file traders"? Has the recent changes in the requirements to obtain user information attributed to an increase in illegal file trading?
- details on what RIAA is suing over (copyright infringement due to file trading)
- current laws
- history of peer-to-peer networking
- gov't response/action in regards to protecting copyrights of digital media
--------
The export of American jobs, is it a good or bad thing? How might this affect our prospects after graduation?
- motives behind outsourcing / benefits to companies
- possible loss of revenue to companies due to decreased customer/tech support?
- decrease in IT salaries "across the board" as domestic workers are forced to accept "3rd world" market value for their work?
[19:35] SlackerMike Says: hahah kevin, carroll commented to us in OOT (last spring) that with the job market the way it was ... we might as well be in school!
[19:37] shardble Says: Do you think we can find multiple sources on the export job thing? Don't know if many companies like to post that they have outsourced their call center to India and programming to Russia. What do you think? Could be a good topic though.
[19:37] Kevin Says: maybe
[19:38] SlackerMike Says: i know that several major companies here in KC-area have done so, and i know there were several write ups in KC Star (newspaper) ...
[19:38] Kevin Says: As far back as 1990 Newbridge (a company I worked for) had Russians writing code for $10 per hour
* SlackerMike shakes his head
[19:39] shardble Says: Just did a Yahoo search on the news tab and got 27 results, thats a good sign, I mean not really for us, but for our project anyway.
[19:39] Kevin Says: the outsourcing vendors usually like to make a noise about it
[19:40] Kevin Says: We are a simple no frills, compact, straight to the point , web programming and web development company located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. We have over 4 years software development experience in using PHP, PERL, CGI, MYSQL, Microsoft-SQL, Visual Basic, Ms access forms on various platforms for clients in USA and UK.
[19:41] SlackerMike Says: finding nothing in EBSCO
[19:41] Kevin Says:
Outsourcing to India can provide a huge payback—if you're willing to work at it. Two offshore veterans share their hard-earned lessons to help you determine if Indian outsourcing is right for your company.
[19:41] SlackerMike Says: <<< if you're willing to work at it <<< what is that s'posed to mean?
[19:41] Kevin Says: EBSCO is pretty weak as far as IT stuff goes
* SlackerMike nods
[19:42] shardble Says: So we know the jobs are being outsourced, if it's a "research" paper, we will need to cover the why this is good/bad for us, the economy, businesses and such. Can we narrow down what we what to cover in our paper?
[19:42] Kevin Says: Indians can be a little challenging to work with
[19:43] Kevin Says: that data might be hard to come by
[19:44] shardble Says: We have to have at least three different sources and different mediums are "prefered" for our paper. Suggestions were a book, a government document, an article from a newspaper or magazine, an interview
[19:45] Kevin Says: I doubt the DOT reports on job losses due to job export
[19:45] SlackerMike Says: we need to narrow it enough, yet keep it "deep" enough to justify working all semester on it ...
[19:45] shardble Says: Most of our stuff would be newspaper & magazine articles.
* SlackerMike nods
[19:46] Kevin Says: some government (Dept of Labor and DOT) stuff too
[19:48] shardble Says: We could try to get a publication of some sort form one of these overseas consulting companies. Just call & act interested in their services.
[19:48] SlackerMike Says: brb ... gotta get a cat to move
[19:48] Kevin Says: best of luck with cat
[19:49] shardble Says: I think that would give us enough resources mediums. We can also check out websites of course. That's 4 or so mediums so far.
[19:50] SlackerMike Says: thx kevin, but it aint' happening
[19:50] SlackerMike Says: i found this link on www.rentacoder.com referring to how bids for work need to be "in line with India market rates" http://www.placementindia.com/
* Kevin opens http://www.rentacoder.com/
[19:51] SlackerMike Says: i never managed to get any work out of rentacoder but still check on it from time to time
* Kevin opens http://www.placementindia.com/
[19:54] shardble Says: I think this is a feasible topic if you guys think it we can gather enough information to get a paper out of it. Do we want to consider anything else?
[19:55] Kevin Says: I think it might be too depressing
[19:55] SlackerMike Says: i like both of the ones i added ?'s to ... i do think that this would be the more difficult of the 2 to research and present though
[19:55] Kevin Says: We could probably make a paper out of it though
[19:57] Kevin Says: What about the RIAA/privacy topic then?
[19:57] shardble Says: OK, we can check out the other topic you listed the whole RIAA thing. There is lots of articles both newspaper, internet and magazine for that for sure. Would it be any easier than the other?
[19:58] shardble Says: We might also be able to get an interview with a copyright attorney for another medium if we are adventurous.
[19:58] SlackerMike Says: i think there would be more available "content" for us to use w/ the RIAA topic ... we could cover a brief history of peer-to-peer networks and filetrading
[19:59] SlackerMike Says: cover the laws before and after napster sprung up ...
[19:59] Kevin Says: that is true
[19:59] SlackerMike Says: yes, an interview would be a nice touch
[19:59] shardble Says: My yahoo search brought back 2,332 results. Considerably more than the 1st topic.
[19:59] SlackerMike Says: (plus i'm finding myself in agreement with the depressing part kevin)
[19:59] Kevin Says: Law Office of Steven L. O'Donnell > File Sharing
[20:00] Kevin Says: http://www.odonnell-law.net/C1394367481/index.html
* SlackerMike opens http://www.odonnell-law.net/C1394367481/index.html
[20:00] Kevin Says: I'm liking this one better
[20:01] shardble Says: This could be a better topic just because of the volume of resources available. It's a hot topic right now.
[20:01] SlackerMike Says: Looking back, one can say it began innocuously. Blank cassette tapes landed on the retail market and a kid with a crush created a tape of love songs for his would-be girlfriend. Smitten, the girlfriend made a copy of the copy and gave it to her friends. Thus, music sharing began. Today, the debate about the legality of music sharing has reached historic heights, culminating in multiple lawsuits, including one filed by members of the Recording Industry Association of America against a 12-year-old girl, all for downloading a few too many pop tunes and TV show theme songs.
[20:01] SlackerMike Says:
[20:02] shardble Says: I think we may have a winner folks!!!!!!! Mike you're hired!!!!!!!
* Kevin high fives Mike
[20:02] SlackerMike Says: first, i'd like to thank my parents, without them ...
[20:03] SlackerMike Says: we could go ahead and get Lesson 4's assignment out of the way then ... or do we all want to "sleep on it" ?
[20:04] shardble Says: Sure, how about something like this - details on what RIAA is suing over (copyright infringement due to file trading)
- current laws
- history of peer-to-peer networking
- gov't response/action in regards to protecting copyrights of digital media
[20:04] shardble Says: Oh wait thats plagarism sorry
[20:05] SlackerMike Says: hahaha ... you're on your way to being a fine college lecture note writer .. they plagiarize all the time and penalize us when we do! hahaha
[20:05] shardble Says: No really though, Mike has some good expansions off the original topic that would go pretty well.
[20:05] Kevin Says: let's go for the Assignment 4
[20:06] SlackerMike Says: ty sharene, i was trying to think of different areas to give us more room to work with the topic
[20:06] Says: JollyT2 has become available
[20:07] Kevin Says: Hey John
[20:07] JollyT2 Says: hey all
[20:07] SlackerMike Says: this law page/blog has some interesting stuff kevin!
[20:07] SlackerMike Says: wb john
[20:07] JollyT2 Says: thks
[20:07] JollyT2 Says: how is everyone tonight?
[20:08] JollyT2 Says: i just booted my laptop here at work
[20:08] shardble Says: So far we have...............History of File Sharing (including peer to peer networking ), Napster, Current laws, Reasons behind RIAA suing, & Government Responses. Add maybe possible outcomes and reprecussions of file sharing.
* SlackerMike nods ... that's good!
[20:08] shardble Says: Hey John, we are looking at homework, always fun.
[20:08] SlackerMike Says: i didn't think about it until i read it, but we've all traded music ever since we were able to copy to tapes!
[20:08] JollyT2 Says: sounds like it
[20:08] JollyT2 Says: what class?
[20:09] shardble Says: Technical Writing
[20:09] JollyT2 Says: woooohooooo
[20:09] JollyT2 Says: sounds like fun....
[20:09] shardble Says: No kidding, I made my fair shar of "mix tapes"
[20:09] JollyT2 Says: i wonder if i can sum it up for you technical writing = easily understood technical jargon LOL
[20:10] SlackerMike Says: hahhaa ... me 2 ... and cd's i might add once i bought a cd-burner
* JollyT2 wonders what he hopped in the middle of
[20:10] shardble Says: Do we want to type up something to send off to Dr. Lurz?
[20:10] Kevin Says: the RIAA didn't get upset about it until CD quality became common
[20:10] SlackerMike Says: yep
[20:10] shardble Says: I agree
[20:10] Kevin Says: Agreed
[20:10] SlackerMike Says: here's what we need: email me the final topic for your paper. Put "Technical Writing Project Final Topic" on the subject line. In addition to this message you will need to briefly state how you plan to go about addressing the topic you have chosen.
[20:11] SlackerMike Says: have any of us heard from patricia?
[20:11] Kevin Says: not me
[20:11] shardble Says: So, I think we have done that pretty much, we just need complete sentences
[20:11] SlackerMike Says: ( i know kevin and i haven't ...)
[20:11] shardble Says: Nope, I think we can forge ahead, if she wants to join later then fine.
[20:11] Kevin Says: sounds like a plan
[20:11] shardble Says: We have sent her PLENTY of e-mails
[20:12] Kevin Says: she sent a few out at first
[20:12] SlackerMike Says: to: prof lurz
fm: the "beer group" in TW
subj: TW Project Final Topic"
We, (state our names), the elated members of the TW Beer Group (aka: the A-team) proudly declare our Final Project to be: RIAA sucks
[20:12] SlackerMike Says: hehehe
[20:12] JollyT2 Says: lol mike....i like that
[20:12] Kevin Says: sign my name to that
[20:13] shardble Says: Yes, yes......muahahahahaha
[20:13] SlackerMike Says:
[20:13] JollyT2 Says: are you going to put in there somewhere about them bein a repressive, monopolistic group that doesnt want to share with the artists, the money they deserve, and how they are plotting world domination by restricting everyone's rights to what they buy?
[20:13] JollyT2 Says: lol
[20:14] Kevin Says: that and the fact they sacrifice small, furry animals
[20:15] JollyT2 Says: lol, kevin
[20:15] shardble Says: So we need an official topic (no offense Mike, Dr. L may not appreciate the RIAA sucks thing) so, any thoughts?
[20:15] JollyT2 Says: maybe your slogan should be something along the lines of "Save the File Sharers"
[20:15] JollyT2 Says: lol
[20:15] SlackerMike Says: a little more seriously ... how do we plan on researching/presenting the material for this topic ...
1. history of file trading (cassettes and "sneaker net" / p2p networks and digital media)
2. gov't regulations pre/post p2p networks
[20:15] SlackerMike Says: that's okay, i was just being my smart-a**ed self
[20:16] Kevin Says: 3. Industry organizations (RIAA) and legal action taken
[20:16] SlackerMike Says: kevin, are the small, furry animals gathered together in a cave and grooving with a pict?
[20:16] JollyT2 Says: lol, mike
[20:16] Kevin Says: until they were sacrificed, yes
[20:17] SlackerMike Says: is lurz a PhD?
[20:17] Kevin Says: nope, she's a Ms.
[20:17] SlackerMike Says: *whew* since i haven't been addressing her as "dr"
[20:17] JollyT2 Says: brb...installing software
[20:18] SlackerMike Says: bol john
[20:18] shardble Says: The research will be review of several mediums including Government documents (maybe EBSCO) for copyright laws and copyright laws history, newspaper and magazine articles, internet sites and a possible interview. The presentation will be on a piece of paper.
[20:19] Kevin Says: I like the copyright lawyer interview idea too, but we don't need to advertise it at this stage
[20:20] SlackerMike Says: we'll just keep that on the "back burner" for now
[20:20] SlackerMike Says: perhaps we could e-interview this o'donnell guy?
[20:21] Kevin Says: could do worse
[20:21] shardble Says: Ok, so leave that part out, send her the topic, bulleted "expansions" on the topic and out possible mediums. I think that will suffice for now. We have to do some proposal memorandum in unit 5.
[20:22] shardble Says: sorry about the dyslexia this evening
[20:22] Kevin Says: no prob
[20:22] SlackerMike Says: it happens
[20:22] shardble Says: So, who wants to send the e-mail?
[20:23] SlackerMike Says: i will
[20:23] SlackerMike Says: how's this look:
[20:23] SlackerMike Says: 1. We have decided to use __________________ as our topic for our semester final project.
2. The research will consist of:
a. Government documents (maybe EBSCO) for copyright laws and copyright laws history,
b. newspaper and magazine articles,
c. internet sites,
d. a brief history of music trading (cassette - cd/mp3),
e. the scope/powers of the RIAA.
3. The final presentation will be on submitted via Word document as well as on a piece of paper.
[20:24] shardble Says: Sounds groovy.
[20:24] Kevin Says: good on yer mate
[20:24] SlackerMike Says: now to think of a snazzy catch phrase for our topic
* SlackerMike still likes RIAA sucks
[20:24] SlackerMike Says: hehehe
[20:25] SlackerMike Says: brb ...
[20:25] shardble Says: How do you do an emote in jabber?
[20:26] Kevin Says: there's a drpdown
[20:26] SlackerMike Says: click on the smiley face button next to font options ..
[20:26] Kevin Says: next to the underline
[20:26] shardble Says: Sorry I mean like * SlackerMike still likes RIAA sucks
* type Kevin ...
[20:27] shardble Says: * ummm like this ?
[20:27] SlackerMike Says: heheheh / me ... 'cept you want to remove the space between the / and the me
[20:27] Kevin Says: wait, it wasn't supposed to do that
[20:27] SlackerMike Says: lol
* shardble test
[20:27] SlackerMike Says: tada!!!
* shardble claps and cheers
* shardble is easily amused
* SlackerMike waves at shardble
[20:28] SlackerMike Says: hahaha
* Kevin also waves
[20:28] shardble Says: Anyhow, what now?
[20:28] JollyT2 Says: brb, rebooting
[20:28] SlackerMike Says: snazzy catch phrase ...
[20:28] Kevin Says: back to topic
[20:28] Says: JollyT2 has left
[20:29] SlackerMike Says: bye john
* SlackerMike is late, as usual
[20:29] shardble Says: oh ya...............
[20:30] Kevin Says: We could use "Music Sharing and Copyright" as an, albeit lame, working title
[20:30] SlackerMike Says: works for me
[20:30] shardble Says: Sounds good.
[20:31] SlackerMike Says: how's this look:
-----------------
To: Professor Lurz
From: The A-Team, Kevin McLaughlin, Sharene Mills, Michael Fairbairn
Subj: Technical Writing Project Final Topic
1. We have decided to use "Music Sharing and Copyrights" as our topic for our semester final project.
2. The research will consist of:
a. Government documents (maybe EBSCO) for copyright laws and copyright laws history,
b. Newspaper and magazine articles.
c. Internet sites.
d. A brief history of music trading (cassette - cd/mp3).
e. The scope/powers of the RIAA.
3. The final presentation will be on submitted via Word document as well as on a piece of paper.
* Kevin gives it (Y)(Y)
[20:32] SlackerMike Says: i will send to lurz, cc to each of us, and patricia as well, inviting her to join us on our quest for truth, justice, and the american way (of not paying for things we like)
[20:32] Kevin Says: sounds like an excellent plan
[20:33] SlackerMike Says: sharene?
[20:33] shardble Says: Sounds like a plan, should we plan our next pow wow?
[20:33] Kevin Says: when is our next action due?
[20:33] SlackerMike Says: 15 feb, lesson 5 research proposal i think
[20:34] Says: JollyT2 has become available
[20:35] shardble Says: Let's all read up on the research proposal subject and then decide when to get together next week.
[20:36] Kevin Says: sounds like a plan, are you working Monday of next week, Mike?
[20:37] SlackerMike Says: sounds good to me ... with my odd schedule (i'm only off tonight since i work saturday night this week) i am mainly available late nights and weekends ... of course, we could always save transcripts of any "mini-group sessions" and email/share w/ each other
[20:37] SlackerMike Says: yes i am kevin
[20:39] SlackerMike Says: Tues - Wed (3p-1130p), Thur - Sat (noon - 830p)
[20:39] shardble Says: We can utilize e-mail for the next assignment since we have decided on a topic. Why don't we take a look at the requirements and we'll start sending out suggestions for the memorandum to each other end of this week beginning of next.
[20:39] Kevin Says: OK by me
[20:40] SlackerMike Says: works for me!
[20:40] shardble Says: K, talk to you guys soon. Signing off.
[20:40] Kevin Says: night Shrene
[20:40] SlackerMike Says: g'night sharene
[20:40] Kevin Says: er Sharene
[20:40] shardble Says: Bye
[20:40] Says: shardble has left
[20:41] JollyT2 Says: night shardble
[20:41] JollyT2 Says: oops...too late
* SlackerMike is going to send email to lurz ... and we (the Beer Group) are almost done for Lesson 4!
[20:42] JollyT2 Says: question....why did you call yourselves the beer group LOL
[20:42] SlackerMike Says: kevin's name
[20:42] SlackerMike Says: brb
[20:42] JollyT2 Says: cool, but i thought with him being from england, he would have chosen something like the knights of the Pub's table or something LOL
[20:42] Kevin Says: I think Bob typo'd it one night and it stuck
[20:42] JollyT2 Says: lol
[20:43] Kevin Says: started out as Peer Group
of course, here is the mandatory "test-blog" to ensure that everything is working ... and to see what the template "really" looks like ... :o)
