One of the challenges technical authors face is that of peer respect. That is, technical people who took a lot of time to learn what they know want to be respected by their peers when they write. They want to be recognized for their knowledge, wisdom, and insights.
In that context, there’s often fear before pressing “Publish.” Was every detail correct? Was every scenario considered? Was the very latest information about a topic included?
The fear of hitting publish is well-founded for technical authors, because technical folks have a way of being nit-picky, pedantic, and annoying. One small detail wrong, one badly stated premise, and the angry comment and critical tweet claws come out, slashing at your ego.
Will they like me? I just want everyone to like me.
One solution, of course, is to have a thick skin. If you view criticisms as a way to improve a piece, that’s the best route to go, especially when the commenter has a good point. Being able to ignore critics is another useful skill, because there are plenty of folks who say a lot while adding no value whatsoever.
However, I think the most important point to keep in mind Continue reading
Here’s a catalog of all the media I produced (or helped produce) in September 2017.
I closed down the Hot Aisle newsletter after months of struggling to know what to do with it. Originally, the Hot Aisle was a way for me to express my individual voice about networking, design, emerging trends, and the IT industry without necessarily having that opinion attached to Packet Pushers, my company. It was also an unsponsored newsletter, which I felt was a nice thing to be able to Continue reading
Here’s a catalog of all the media I produced (or helped produce) in September 2017.
I closed down the Hot Aisle newsletter after months of struggling to know what to do with it. Originally, the Hot Aisle was a way for me to express my individual voice about networking, design, emerging trends, and the IT industry without necessarily having that opinion attached to Packet Pushers, my company. It was also an unsponsored newsletter, which I felt was a nice thing to be able to Continue reading
I spent part of last week in Seattle, a city known for its frequent rain. While caught in some weather with my lovely wife, we felt that grabbing an Uber was preferable to walking back to the parking garage. Being on the road, we weren’t prepared to handle a steady downpour.
I fired up the Uber app for the first time in a long time, as I’m not in need of Uber services very often. Hmm. Things had changed since the last time I hailed a ride. Some major GUI changes had happened, along with the app requesting an upfront commitment of a little cash before requesting a pickup. Um…okay. That’s new, but that makes sense. I suppose the cash commitment means that fewer people would cancel their ride after the driver accepts it, and that’s fair enough.
Here’s where it gets ugly, though. We’d hailed a ride during a rush hour in Seattle. There were a lot of cars on the streets. While it wasn’t gridlock, it was busy. An Uber driver accepted my request, and then a few moments later, I get a call. More or less, the driver said, “I’m not that close to you, and it’s Continue reading
I spent part of last week in Seattle, a city known for its frequent rain. While caught in some weather with my lovely wife, we felt that grabbing an Uber was preferable to walking back to the parking garage. Being on the road, we weren’t prepared to handle a steady downpour.
I fired up the Uber app for the first time in a long time, as I’m not in need of Uber services very often. Hmm. Things had changed since the last time I hailed a ride. Some major GUI changes had happened, along with the app requesting an upfront commitment of a little cash before requesting a pickup. Um…okay. That’s new, but that makes sense. I suppose the cash commitment means that fewer people would cancel their ride after the driver accepts it, and that’s fair enough.
Here’s where it gets ugly, though. We’d hailed a ride during a rush hour in Seattle. There were a lot of cars on the streets. While it wasn’t gridlock, it was busy. An Uber driver accepted my request, and then a few moments later, I get a call. More or less, the driver said, “I’m not that close to you, and it’s Continue reading
Here’s a catalog of all the media I produced (or helped produce) in August 2017.
Here’s a catalog of all the media I produced (or helped produce) in August 2017.
Over the weekend, I ordered an Apple Airport Extreme wireless router from n1wireless.com. The price was great, and their site stated they had 90 in stock. This afternoon, I received from them via e-mail one of the oldest sales tricks there is–the bait and switch.
With the bait and switch technique, the victim is lured by a low price on a desirable product (the bait). The vendor of the low-priced product claims to be out of the bait, offering a different product at a higher price (the switch). N1Wireless suggested that instead of what I had ordered, I spend $50 more on an Apple Time Capsule product.
I applaud n1wireless.com for their bold ethical choices, but respectfully decline the opportunity to spend more money on a product I don’t want.
The lesson is not a new one. If something is too good to be true, then it probably is. Really, I should know better. I had a similar experience with a different vendor several months back selling a TV at a surprisingly low price. After two weeks of waiting for the order to ship, I had to call support to find out that the TV was on backorder, Continue reading
Over the weekend, I ordered an Apple Airport Extreme wireless router from n1wireless.com. The price was great, and their site stated they had 90 in stock. This afternoon, I received from them via e-mail one of the oldest sales tricks there is–the bait and switch.
With the bait and switch technique, the victim is lured by a low price on a desirable product (the bait). The vendor of the low-priced product claims to be out of the bait, offering a different product at a higher price (the switch). N1Wireless suggested that instead of what I had ordered, I spend $50 more on an Apple Time Capsule product.
I applaud n1wireless.com for their bold ethical choices, but respectfully decline the opportunity to spend more money on a product I don’t want.
The lesson is not a new one. If something is too good to be true, then it probably is. Really, I should know better. I had a similar experience with a different vendor several months back selling a TV at a surprisingly low price. After two weeks of waiting for the order to ship, I had to call support to find out that the TV was on backorder, Continue reading
A friend of mine asked me, “How do you manage the billions of chat messages, chat apps, social media, etc.? I’m becoming so inefficient it isn’t funny.”
The short answer is that I don’t manage them. I mostly ignore them. I don’t view most of these apps, especially social media, as something to be kept up with. I declared permanent amnesty (some would say bankruptcy) some time ago. I have a different viewpoint on these tools than I once did.
See also the post I wrote on Cal Newport’s book, Deep Work in May 2016.
I only take part in a few services, and I’m not consistently active on any of them. Despite however many followers I might have on a given platform, the world doesn’t care what I have to say on those services so much that my contributions especially matter. Therefore, stepping back isn’t harming anyone, nor is it disappointing someone that I’m not saying something or participating in every conversation that I might. No one notices.
Conversely, I don’t pay attention to everything everyone else is saying on all the platforms where things are being said. The Internet allows everyone to talk Continue reading
Thoughts from the Content Marketing Institute for budding podcasters were shared here. Here’s my response to the points that stood out to me.
“At first, format trumps talent.” And then later…“Avoid the race to the bottom of simply booking the biggest guests in your niche and meandering through an unplanned episode. Instead, find your format.”
Response. To record an effective show people will listen to, you need a plan, agreed. However, the article cites an example of a 15 minute long episode carved into blocks of minutes and seconds.
Perhaps that’s what you need when working against an ultra-tight timeline. However, an outline that provides structure should be adequate. Overly structuring a podcast is burdensome and can serve to stifle interesting conversation. Freedom is one of the benefits of podcasting.
Podcasting is NOT a digital regurgitation of radio, although many try to shoehorn podcasts into a radio format, because the radio business is what they understand. However, podcast content is different. Distribution is different. Listener consumption is different. Monetization is different.
And perhaps most importantly, timelines are fluid. 15 minute long podcasts are being created under an artificial time constraint that begs the question…why?
On the other hand, Continue reading
A friend of mine asked me the following.
“How did you manage your time and schedule for 5 years with everything you wanted and needed to do?”
Here’s the context for that question. For about 5 years, I had a full-time job as a global network engineer for an e-learning company. Later, I transitioned to a similar role for a medical startup, again full-time. At the same time I was employed in those roles, I was blogging and podcasting as the Packet Pushers community grew.
As Packet Pushers ramped up, it turned into a second full-time job, a state I maintained until I was able to transition to working for myself exclusively.
Let’s get into the meat. How did I manage my schedule with ever so much to do?
First off, I had understanding employers that let me blog and podcast during traditional work hours, as long as it did not interfere with my regular work duties. I was always upfront about this. I never snuck off during the day to work on my side business. My boss always knew exactly what was up.
This translated roughly to flexible hours. There was also the understanding that I was always Continue reading
Sitting in the conference room, I looked up at the whiteboard covered in a clever design. I hadn’t understood the design immediately, but then as my mentor explained it to me, I comprehended the brilliance of it.
“That was…that was clever. Really. Elegant even. I never would have come up with that on my own. I learned something from you today, and I appreciate it. Thanks for taking the time.”
“Oh, I can’t take credit for the design. I got most of it from this book here. If anything, the credit goes to the author.”
And so I took a look at the book, and searched online for the author’s name. Her information popped up in my browser, and I sent her an e-mail.
“Thanks for the design you recommended in your book. It’s very clever, and we’re going to be testing it for use in our company. I think you’ve solved some problems for us. We really appreciate it.”
After a few days, her reply came back.
“Naturally, I’m happy that the book is a benefit to you, but honestly, that design is a reflection of an interview I had with a research team. They did all the heavy lifting and Continue reading
<soapbox>
One of the odd things about my job is that I often get to meet people I or someone in my company has written or podcasted about. That might be via a direct mention or an indirect one. For example, my company might cover a product and offer some commentary on it–indirect. We might mention a specific company in a positive or negative light, depending on our opinion–indirect. We might mention specific people if there is a good reason to do so–direct.
Meeting people we’ve talked about, directly or not, brings a poignant perspective to creating content for a wide audience. It’s personal. Somebody made a decision to create the product that way. Some group of humans worked on that standard. Real people decided on that process.
Is it appropriate to cast those people in a negative light and share that opinion with an audience? Sometimes…yes, at times even crucially necessary, if unfortunate. Sometimes…maybe not. Sometimes it’s okay to shut up. To show restraint. To chain the snark monster.
Stirring the pot can be fun. Yelling into a righteous megaphone about where the nasty thing hurt you feels empowering. But it’s only half of the equation. It’s the half that you see. You had a bad experience. You Continue reading