Friday, March 30, 2018

What's the Best?!?

https://www.howtogeek.com/347545/whats-the-best-online-backup-service leads to this:
https://discuss.howtogeek.com/t/whats-the-best-online-backup-service/70043

Gun








Kind of Funny

One fact about my wedding to Karen is that, during the Mass, her brother played a song on the guitar and Karen sang to me. I honestly do not remember the name of the song - it was a surprise that she was even doing it! When I saw this video, I chuckled a bit, imagining if I had had the idea to play some sort of drum duet as Karen walked down the aisle. New candidate for most metal wedding ever -- bride and groom shred down the aisle

ATG

This New At the Gates Song Should Be Called “A Stare Bound in Riffs”


The Immediate Future

Bang your head! It’s a banner year for ’80s rock and metal in the Twin Cities

The Power to Change Your Health Destiny

Metallica Producer Reveals When Band Sold Out

Metallica Producer Reveals When Band Sold Out: ‘They Felt They Were Selling Out’

If You Disagree





Thursday, March 29, 2018

Once Again, Iowa Misses

Prong & Helmet are on tour. The screenshot below shows they are playing 7 out of 8 nights - I call that a very intense tour! Still, I'm dismayed that the tour skips Iowa. Starting from Kansas City, the Prong / Helmet tour heads north to Omaha, NE, then north to Minneapolis, MN, then south to Chicago, IL, then north to Madison, WI, then it's off to Detroit, MI, and then to Cleveland, OH.


Wouldn't This Suck?


Yes! Justice for JUSTICE!

Ex-METALLICA Producer Says ...And Justice For All Reissue Might Feature "Alternate Versions" Posted by Greg Kennelty on March 28, 2018 at 1:48 pm

Coolest of the Big Four Thaws


This article - Anthrax Drummer: “I’m Old and Out of Touch” March 28th, 2018 at 5:01pm - has a killer opening sentence:

Man, wasn’t I just singing the praises of Anthrax and how they’re currently the coolest Big 4 band going?

Not only is it a great hook to make me want to read the article, it made me think about Anthrax and July 2017:


Look at other Chicago Open Air videos here.

Walking on the Wok

Officially Putting the Past Behind Me

My manager was off yesterday and just sent me this email:

Wow How could it be two years already?! Congratulations.

(My Manager)

From: Compensation Classification
Sent: Tuesday, March 27, 2018 6:53 AM
To: (My Manager); (HR Manager)
Subject: Career Status Change

(My Name) has moved from probationary to career status effective 03/28/2018.
Please inform the employee and feel free to contact Compensation and Classification if you have any questions or comments.

There it is - the book called Job Search 2016 can be thrown into a lake, never be revisited ever again! Words fail me when I try to describe the amount of happiness in my soul because I know where I'm going to work until I retire...

Not Going to CA for This


In My Pursuit of a Backup Solution

Was reviewing this product - https://www.paragon-software.com/medium-large-business/protect-restore/features.html - and looked at this PDF: http://download.paragon-software.com/doc/PPR-ENG/Protect-and-Restore-full-features.pdf. I noticed it was created in InDesign. It made me wonder if the Unnamed Hellhole in southern Iowa pulled their head out of their bum and started using InDesign like a real technical writing tool. Of course, if I was still there, I'm fairly certain I would have ditched InDesign in favor of RoboHelp to write their user guides for their software. Even the documentation that had to be translated into multiple languages likely would have found a home in RoboHelp.

Did I mention I really like RoboHelp?

Speaking of RoboHelp, I had a great meeting yesterday with a steering committee (with Senior Directors in attendance, including my manager's boss) about Knowledge Management. I spoke about snippets during the meeting and rattled off statistics about 8 sample documents I have been working with which had 121 paragraphs & 62 graphics. Of the paragraphs, 58% of the content existed in multiple documents. Of the graphics, 55% of the screenshots existed in multiple documents. What I need to do, for the next meeting, is to create a proof of concept that I can show to the attendees. I think talking in generalities is not nearly as powerful as showing a demo of how I would use snippets in our Knowledge Articles that will be our Knowledge Repository. I wrote about snippets and Cherwell's lack of support for snippets on the Single Sourcing Rant page, if you want to read more. I walked out of yesterday's meeting pleased with myself, for explaining why snippets are awesome, as well as hopeful about the way I want to create Knowledge Articles for our department could be adopted.

18 New Contract Technical Writer Remote jobs (and Other Lies Told by Indeed.com...)

This is one of those blog posts where I am telling my Future Self, do not look at the underlying HTML code even once because the content below was copied and pasted from an email I received this morning with the subject 18 New Contract Technical Writer Remote jobs. Since I use Microsoft Outlook, I can only imagine how horrifying the underlying HTML code is.



18 new Contract Technical Writer Remote jobs

Texcelvision - Phoenix, AZ
\*\*\*\*PLEASE NOTE Remote position. Experience writing a blanket maintenance or facilities management contract- Previous Experience in writing RFPs....
Easily apply
Mar 21
ettain group, Inc 3 reviews - Charlotte, NC
Technical writing background. Yes, this job is fully remote. Provides technical expertise and support within a business unit, rather than in an IT organization....
Easily apply
Mar 26
3.      WR TECHNICAL WRITER
T and T Consulting Services Inc - Bethesda, MD
Prepare, implement, monitor and update project plans and technical IT documentation. Manage, maintain, and update contract tracking repositories to monitor and...
Mar 24
Golden Bridge 25 reviews - Boulder, CO
$22 - $25 an hour
Schedule flexible with some work remote, some in-person. Light technical support including managing passwords and set-up support for various web platforms....
Easily apply
Mar 27
5.      Application Writer
Canna Advisors - Boulder, CO
Candidates with proven experience writing winning license applications may be considered for remote contract work.\*\*....
Easily apply
Mar 24
6.      Technical Writer
Comtech Global Inc - Manhattan, NY
How many years of experience as a Technical Writer are you looking for? What are 3 must have technical skills?...
Easily apply
Mar 26
SR International Inc. 5 reviews - Phoenix, AZ
Experience writing a blanket maintenance or facilities management contract- Previous Experience in writing RFPs....
Easily apply
Mar 26
MaxGen Energy Services 7 reviews - Santa Clara, CA
Electrical focused data and performance analysis, technical writer with direct experience focused on Solar generation and performance....
Easily apply
Mar 22
MaxisIT Inc 4 reviews - Westborough, MA
Developing project timelines, standards, budgets, forecasts, and contract modifications. Provides technical consultation and provides substantive advice on...
Easily apply
Mar 27
ICON Clinical Research, Inc. 229 reviews - North Wales, PA
Senior Technical Writer*. North Wales, PA or Remote*. In depth proven technical writing experience. A minimum 5 years technical writing experience....
Easily apply
Mar 28
MaxisIT Inc 4 reviews - Wilmington, NC
Developing project timelines, standards, budgets, forecasts, and contract modifications. Provides technical consultation and provides substantive advice on...
Easily apply
Mar 26
UWorld 4 reviews - Irving, TX
$40 an hour
Technical content management. THIS IS A REMOTE OPPORTUNITY. Communicates effectively with quality assurance team to resolve technical issues related to content...
Mar 21
FusionHCR Healthcare - Dayton, OH
General Programmer/Analyst/Clarity Report Writer. Monday- Friday- Remote options available. Provides advanced technical expertise and integrates it with...
Easily apply
Mar 27
NuEducation Incorporated - Washington, DC
Bachelor’s degree, preferably within a technical field. Remote candidates with strong qualifications will be considered....
Mar 25
Real Staffing 7 reviews - New Jersey
$114,400 a year
Global Pharmaceutical client that is based in North New Jersey is seeking to hire a Quality Control Specialist for a 1 year contract. Title/Position:....
Mar 24
Writing Assistance, Inc. - Plymouth, MN
$45,000 - $80,000 a year
Comfortable with technical subjects. Flexible schedule with some remote. With thousands of writers in our network we are able to assist clients with contract or...
Mar 27
Beacon Hill Life Sciences - San Francisco, CA
Looking for a contract SOP writer for Drug Development. Full-time, Part-time, Contract. Technical writing certification a plus....
Easily apply
Mar 22
UserEdge Technical Personnel - New Jersey
Contract to Direct Hire. As the lead writer, ensures timely completion, accuracy and quality of all clinical and submission documentation across all aspects of...
Mar 23

Why Can't Their Powers Be Used for Good Instead of Evil?!?

Ransomware, other cyberattacks hit US cities, states, companies

Tuesday, March 27, 2018

Attended a Webinar and Saw this on Slides...



Good News for CM

Big Ten grants Connor McCaffery's hardship waiver Will have 4 years of basketball eligibility remaining

This is a good thing for CM - I'm happy for him.

Oh Boo Hoo Hoo

I'm disappointed in this decision.

In order to do pretty much anything in government, you have to have research performed to look at all the relevant facts and to then have that research presented in a report that has a conclusion and a recommendation. After reading State not pursuing I-80 tollways, despite being financially feasible, all I can think about is if you are going to have a study performed and pay people to do that study, why in the hell would you not listen to their conclusions?

Oh, I know! I know! When FEAR dictates how to govern. Take Kapucian's quote below at face value

Sen. Tim Kapucian, R-Keystone, chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, said another challenge in Iowa is that tolls often motivate motorists to take alternative routes. In Iowa, when you can enter and exit the interstate at several locations across the state, those detours could force congestion onto back roads, he said.

Fear should not guide your actions as an elected official! More disappointment follows:

According to the study, revenue generated from 11 tolls, from Council Bluffs to the Quad Cities, would be enough to fund a nearly $4 billion six-lane widening and modernization of rural I-80 across the state, if all lanes were tolled. Those tolls would also fund continued operations and maintenance of the 248 miles of interstate.
“No additional public funding would likely be required,” the report states.
Toll rates would be 8 cents per mile for passenger vehicles and 24 cents per mile for trucks, with an annual 2 percent increase in toll rates to account for inflation, the report states.
According to the report, the revenue from those tolls would cover the five-year widening project, proposed for 2022 to 2026.
However, Lowe said the roughly $3.6 billion upfront cost — and potential debt financing that goes with it — of the tollway project goes against Iowa’s “pay as you go” mentality. In addition, I-80 is only congested in certain areas, which means widening the interstate isn’t a current need across the entire state.
“From a planning side, we don’t need 6 lanes by 2027,” Lowe said.

Lowe, you really don't know how to read. There's a conclusion in the report government paid for, written by experts, but damn! Lowe can't his head out of his ass and accept what the experts tell him. How does he know this? Is he suddenly more of an expert than the experts who wrote the research?!? Liberals ought to run ads against Republicans that say, "Look at the government wasting money, paying $XX.XX dollars for experts to research toll roads, receiving the recommendation to do it, even when financially feasible, but no, they are stupid politicians."

More on the subject:




State leaders pump brakes on I-80 toll road proposal




Iowa officials are giving the cold shoulder to a proposal to begin charging fees to pay for road improvements along Interstate 80. Despite a new report by the Iowa Department of Transportation saying it would be "financially feasible" to set up 11 toll booths across the state to fund $3.8 billion in rebuilding and widening costs, Gov. Kim Reynolds told the Des Moines Register Iowans were not interested in tolls. Under the proposal, cars would be charged eight cents a mile and trucks 24 cents a mile to rebuild a 248-mile stretch across rural Iowa over a five-year period. Ms. Reynolds' comments were echoed by Iowa DOT Director Mark Lowe, who said tolls were "not a good fit for a rural, farm to market state like Iowa." The toll road scheme is also opposed by groups like the Iowa Motor Truck Association, which is pushing fees on gasoline and diesel to pay for the improvements.

Sigh. Every time Iowa tries to shed its "we're farmland only" impression, Iowans use it to justify their opposition to some proposal.

Editor's Note: Perhaps not those exact words should be used in the Liberal ad campaign.