Search This Blog

Wednesday, February 7, 2018

I Think I Know But I Don't Know

I love getting emails from bands and musicians because, in a twisted way, I still think I will resume writing music reviews "someday" and yet, each day passes and I don't write one. I feel out of touch with the world of music when I see something like the text below that was delivered to my Inbox today. Out of the names listed, I only recognize one name - moe. (though I can't name a single tune by them) on the list of musicians playing this Led Zeppelin tribute:


I thought I knew but I didn't know. That said, I recognized the names in green below in the rest of the text about the concert (read the Editor's Note for information about the text in yellow):




We are five weeks out from what is always hailed as an amazing evening of music - the annual tribute concert produced by Michael Dorf will again be held at Carnegie Hall and benefit music education for underprivileged youth. The 15th Anniversary of this phenomenal night is taking place on March 7 and will feature the Music Of Led Zeppelin. Today, City Winery has announced the addition of several artists including Jackie Greene, Joseph Arthur, Nicole Atkins, moe., Son Little Patty Smyth and Bustle In Your Hedgerow featuring: Marco Benevento, Joe Russo, Dave Dreiwitz & Scott Metzger.
The house band will be led by Tony Shanahan of the Patti Smith Band and includes Jackie Greene, Andy York, Andy Burton and Dennis Diken. In addition to the newly announced artists there will be guest performances by Bettye LaVette, The Zombies, Living Colour, The London Souls, J Mascis, Orianthi and Richie Sambora, O.A.R., Erika Wennerstrom of Heartless Bastards and Brian Wheat of Tesla who were previously announced. More artists are still being added to the line-up. General admission tickets are available now. VIP packages offered to previous ticket holders have nearly sold out prior to any of this year's performers being announced - a testament to this landmark event as well as Led Zeppelin's legendary music. More information and tickets are available here: http://www.musicof.org/
As with past years, 100% of the net proceeds given to music education organizations for underprivileged youth. Over $1.4 million has been raised by the series to date for Young Audiences New York, Little Kids Rock, Church Street School of Music and GRAMMY in the Schools, among others.

Dorf's must-see sold-out Carnegie shows have previously honored the music of Aretha Franklin, Bill Withers, David Byrne, Paul Simon, Prince, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Elton John, R.E.M., Neil Young, The Rolling Stones and others. The David Bowie celebration, by an unfortunate coincidence, transformed into a memorial as "wide-ranging and celebrated as Bowie's career" (The Guardian), which led to the addition of another performance at Radio City Music Hall after the initial show sold out immediately. 2015's David Byrne and Talking Heads' celebration was "so explosive that absolutely no one wanted to leave" (Billboard) and Byrne himself closed the show, leading the marching band Brooklyn United down the aisles of Carnegie Hall onto the historic stage.

Editor's Notes: First, the band moe. is not worthy of a label on this blog if a single tune cannot be named. Second, by pasting the text as-is from the email I received, the text highlighted in yellow above indicates poor underlying code was distributed, most likely involving a lack of adherence to consistent application of CSS and HTML syntax.

How Awesome to Do TWing for this Company?!?

Any reader of this blog knows my passion for conversions from file format A to file format B is a major driving factor in my work as a technical writer. At pretty much every company I have worked at, I've found myself in some sort of 'we need to convert from file format A to file format B" situation. Some were enormous undertakings while others were smaller projects. This company - http://www.legacyconverters.com/ - specializes in converting code from one legacy programming language to another. I saw no mention of whether they then provide updated documentation / online Help for that converted system, but wow! I can envision how doing that type of work would be very beneficial to their company. If one of these systems to be converted had help text that was attached to each screen in the software so that the user could press F1 or click a Help button to access help text, I would want the job of ensuring that would work in the converted version. Plus, if the user guide had all of the system's tasks documented, I would love to go through each of those tasks, marking up the existing content, so that their updated documentation would be delivered at the same time. All I would need would be the legacy system's documentation source code (and whatever tool they had been using) so I could then zip up the new version of their tested and updated documentation.

Talk about an awesome jobs that I won't apply for!

Keep a Tissue Handy as you Read This

I have a strategy for the next time I feel overwhelmed. First, I will re-read this article - What is the saddest experience you have ever had? - and second, I will try to remain cheerful: Remain Cheerful. I hope it works.

Comments with No Content

I've worked with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for a long time, most often using Dreamweaver in my capacity as a technical writer. In all my years of embracing these technologies, I've looked at hundreds of web pages and, likely, at least 75 out of 100 times, I look at the source code of the web page I'm viewing - I geek out that way. I fully realize that I have not seen every web page on the Internet - no one has. Therefore, what I'm about to highlight may be a standard practice, used in each of the web pages I've never seen. However, I have my doubt all of those pages utilize 'empty comment' tags as a best practice:

Two Topics: dita OR DITA and Rahel-Anne-Bailie

I got an email with this link - https://2017-adobe-dita-world.meetus.adobeevents.com/ - and, because I'm always curious about "DITA" - in that I am somewhat familiar with it but not currently using it, mainly because I'm using RoboHelp for my disaster recovery documentation, not FrameMaker - but I've never heard of "dita" which means I guess I have another buzzword to learn.


I decided to listen to this session:


I'm 12:39 into the session - the total session is just under 1 hour - and I am already learning a lot, but only when I'm not focusing on picking flyshit out of pepper:


I'm not going to reproduce the presentation here, but these are some of the slides that inspire me to think about applying structure to my content:




Customers don't want to be "sold" - they want to be "supported" is what she said when this slide was on the screen:


Editor's Note: You need to stop. Click the link if you want more information.

Tuesday, February 6, 2018

Hopefully, NEVER Again

What to do when your hard drive fails

Singer IS KISS

Criss IS KISS

Farewell to CDs (Again)

Best Buy stores will stop selling music CDs, and Target could be next



Best Buy planning to end CD sales in stores     

Another sign of the digital times surfaced this week as Billboard reported that Best Buy plans to stop selling CDs. Citing anonymous sources, the trade publication said the retailer only sold $40 million worth of CDs last year, and noted that national sales of CDs were down more than 18 percent in 2017. Up in Best Buy's hometown, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports the company has already been shrinking the amount of floor space it devotes to music because of the trend toward streaming and downloading music in digital formats.
Baby boomers may find irony in the fact that Best Buy plans to continue selling vinyl records, in an effort to honor industry agreements. They are expected to be marketed alongside turntables.

Sunday, February 4, 2018

Prediction for Super Bowl LII: Patriots def. Packers

http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/2017-nfl-record-projections-patriots-headed-for-perfect-16-0-season

Editor's Note: The page at the end of the above link is broken:


Thus, here's an update about the game last night. 

No, the Patriots did not defeat the Green Bay Packers in the Super Bowl last night. In fact, the Patriots were defeated by the Philadelphia Eagles, 41-33. The Monday Morning Quarterbacks have their throwing arms primed for an off-season of speculation: Is Super Bowl LII Loss the End of Patriots and Tom Brady's Dynasty? by Sean Tomlinson February 5, 2018
. The following happened during the game last night:


"Batista" refers to "Dave Batista" who is a former WWE / professional wrestler. He has left the WWE to be in movies, the most recent being Guardians of the Galaxy, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, and the upcoming Avengers: Infinity War that is being released in May 2018.

To recap, the Batista powerbomb was really awesome, unlike the halftime show, with Justin Timberlake: Some Fans Are Horrified By Justin Timberlake's Super Bowl Tribute To Prince

Friday, February 2, 2018

An Audition Piece I Need to Woodshed

Need to Create this Toolset

How to Create the Ultimate USB Key Ring to Solve Any Computer Problem by Michael Crider on February 1st, 2018

All But ONE Needed a .

Here's a second rant about periods and bulleted items.

Documentation Specialist/Technical Writer

R & D Revenue Enablement Lincoln, Nebraska

Description


Are you looking for an opportunity to accelerate your career and work with a team of friendly, creative people? Upland Software offers a collaborative work environment full of smart, positive, and passionate people who are respected for their unique talents and empowered to do their jobs well. As a member of this close-knit team, you are encouraged to take good ideas and run with them, pursuing the best outcome for our customers while having fun along the way. If these things are important to you and you're driven by delighting customers, we want to talk with you!

Opportunity Summary:


We’re looking for a Lead Documentation Specialist/Technical Writer to join the FileBound team in Lincoln, NE. The successful candidate will possess a minimum of 2 years of technical writing experience and the ability to build relationships and work effectively at all levels of an organization. We have a very open and friendly environment where everyone has the opportunity to contribute their ideas, help improve existing processes and accelerate their careers. This team member will be responsible for the creation, distribution and delivery of product related documentation and knowledge for Upland’s FileBound products via our online help, product Communities and other mediums.

Primary Responsibilities:

  • Develop and maintain product user manuals, quick start guides, and online help.
  • Learn new product features and create documentation that helps users to understand and implement these features.
  • Engage with product team members including product marketing to develop new strategies for addressing and advancing documentation and knowledge needs
  • Architect and maintain a scalable documentation structure that fully utilizes the documentation tools available.
  • Keep track of documentation through the entire development process while adhering to strict timelines.
  • Create and maintain product release notes.

Requirements:

  • Minimum 3 years’ experience in writing software-based product documentation and procedures.
  • Understanding and knowledge of Madcap Flare.
  • Understanding of single-source authoring systems.
  • Working knowledge of CSS, HTML and XML.
  • Familiarity with Microsoft Manual of Style and technical writing standards.
  • Familiarity with Chicago Manual of Style and technical writing standards.
  • Education: 4-year degree, BA or BS Degree or a combination of education plus equivalent work experience preferably with a credentials in writing (Communications, English, Media etc.)
  • Expert knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
  • Communicate clearly and concisely both verbally and in writing.
  • Ability to work independently and cooperatively as a team.
  • Demonstrates strong interest to learn and the initiative to self-teach.
  • Excellent flexibility and change management skills.

Desired Skills: (Optional)


  • Graphic design and editing experience.
  • Knowledge and skill with media tools (video, audio and outlets for various media).

About Upland

Upland Software (Nasdaq: UPLD) is an enterprise cloud software company that provides award-winning solutions in Project and IT Management, Workflow Automation and Digital Engagement. Our goal is 100% customer success, achieved through a unified operating platform that delivers the performance, scalability and support that over 2,500 Upland customers worldwide demand every day. Learn more at uplandsoftware.com.

We offer a casual and collaborative work environment, a generous benefits package and significant growth opportunities. Upland is publicly traded software company based in Austin, TX with offices in the US, Canada and the UK.

Here's a question. Why do the other bulleted items have a period at the end but not this one:
  • Engage with product team members including product marketing to develop new strategies for addressing and advancing documentation and knowledge needs

Imagine the Chops!

I can't imagine how good this band will sound at the end of this ultra-intensive string of tour dates! From March 1, 2018 through March 23, 2018, the band has 20 concerts:


ACT OF DEFIANCE, the heavy metal group featuring the talents of Chris Broderick (ex-Megadeth), Shawn Drover (ex-Megadeth), Matt Bachand (Shadows Fall, Times Of Grace), and Henry Derek (Scar The Martyr), released their latest full-length album, Old Scars, New Wounds, via Metal Blade Records in September of 2017. Now, in 2018, the band returns to the road on a US headlining tour this March. Support will be provided by Shattered Sun. See all confirmed dates below.
<snip>
Issues Broderick of the upcoming trek: "ACT OF DEFIANCE is extremely excited to be touring in March for the release of our newest CD Old Scars, New Wounds. We are very happy to have along with us our friends in Shattered Sun and are stoked to see what they bring to a live show as I know they will kill it!"
ACT OF DEFIANCE w/ Shattered Sun:
3/01/2018 Brick By Brick - San Diego, CA
3/02/2018 Slidebar - Fullerton, CA (Free Show!)
3/03/2018 Club Red - Mesa, AZ
3/04/2018 The Dive Bar - Las Vegas, NV
3/06/2018 The Green Room - Flagstaff, AZ
3/07/2018 Rockhouse - El Paso, TX
3/08/2018 Rock Box - San Antonio, TX
3/09/2018 BFE Rock Club - Houston, TX
3/10/2018 Curtain Club - Dallas, TX
3/11/2018 The Ruins Live - Oklahoma City, OK
3/12/2018 Riot Room - Kansas City, MO
3/13/2018 Fubar - St. Louis, MO
3/14/2018 Token Lounge - Westland, MI
3/15/2018 The Forge - Joliet, IL
3/16/2018 The Outpost - Kent, OH
3/17/2018 Back Bar - Janesville, WI
3/18/2018 The Drinkery - Omaha, NE
3/20/2018 Black Sheep - Colorado Springs, CO
3/21/2018 Mesa Theater - Grand Junction, CO

Old Scars, New Wounds debuted at #20 on the Billboard Top New Artist Albums charts, as well as #58 on the Canadian Hard Music Charts upon its release. The album, which Team Rock calls, "technical, extreme metal that's as versatile as it is hard-hitting," is available now via metalblade.com/actofdefiance.

The closest they come to me is in Omaha, NE, on a Sunday night so that's not going to work for me.

Introducing the FODM - Forbidden Arguments for Dissing Metallica

I think it's time to retire the argument about how the Black album ruined Metallica because it was released 26 years, 5 months, 3 weeks, 2 days (9673 days) ago. Focusing on that is like focusing on how "Music from The Elder" ruined KISS! These "Bob Rock ruined the band" statements need to exist only within a 'forbidden arguments for dissing Metallica' coffin! I'm getting really tired of reading articles - MEGADETH's DAVE MUSTAINE Would Love To Play 'Big Four' Show Where All Bands 'Got Treated Fairly' January 30, 2018 - and seeing how, once again, the comments left by readers on the article include the same old antiquated argument: Metallica doesn't play their music with heart, which implies the band is playing on auto-pilot and only playing music for the money, and the source for all of that is Bob Rock:


First, the "Black" album was released in 1991, not 1990. The band was playing an awesome setlist in 1990:


Setlist

  1. Creeping Death
  2. For Whom the Bell Tolls
  3. Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
  4. Harvester of Sorrow
  5. No Remorse Short Version
  6. The Four Horsemen
  7. The Shortest Straw
  8. Bass Solo
  9. Whiplash
  10. Fade to Black
  11. Seek and Destroy
  12. Blackened

Encore

  1. One
  2. Master of Puppets
  3. Guitar Solo
  4. Battery

Encore #2

  1. Last Caress
  2. Am I Evil?
  3. Motorbreath

Encore #3

  1. Breadfan
  2. Blitzkrieg
Source: https://www.metallica.com/tour/9706

Someone open the lid of the FODM and throw these shitty arguments about Metallica into their final resting place!

Editor's Note: While not specifically bashing Lars Ulrich in Dan Maier's post, the "Lars Lashings" was applied to group this post with other posts discussing negative comments about Metallica.

Lazy Writing Strikes Yet Again!

Not even remotely qualified for this position, but I liked this line Fosters a culture of continuous improvement – promotes learning, code review, deployment, etc. so much I had to capture it on my blog. I like the idea behind it - that continuous improvement of employees is important.

Manager of Software Development QC
Job Locations US-IA-Coralville
Overview

The Manager of Software Development is responsible for supervising the software development staff for manufacturing. This position oversees a team of developers who design, develop, maintain and support software related to manufacturing. This position requires close interaction with manufacturing leadership, project management, support, architecture, other software development groups and QA teams.
Responsibilities
<snip a bunch of irrelevant info>
Essential Functions:
  • Supervises and directs the Software Development staff which would include employee hiring, training, evaluations and discipline.
  • Mentors and grows passionate individuals who work well in strong teams
  • Fosters a culture of continuous improvement – promotes learning, code review, deployment, etc.
  • Manages and adjusts the structure of the development teams as needed
  • Plans, executes and controls a project, establishes estimates, schedules and resource planning as well as providing status and reports to management.
  • Coordinates weekly priorities for developers and monitors the execution of assignments
  • Collaborates cooperatively with other programmers, designers and business users.
  • Understands the design and overall architecture of manufacturing related software.
  • Stays up to date with the industry.
  • Writes reports and documentation as need.
  • Demonstrates and upholds behavior consistent with the Integrated DNA Technologies Core Values and delivers the Integrated DNA Technologies experience to customers and other business associates.
  • Performs other duties as assigned.
Professional Experience:
  • Minimum of five years of experience programming required.
  • Prior database experience required.
  • Prior experience leading a group of software developers preferred.
  • C# experience preferred.
  • Background in manufacturing or supply chain preferred.

Other Job Qualifications
  • Strong leader, capable of motivating the very best software engineers
  • Knowledge of source controls system and code promotion
  • Knowledge of continuous integration and deployment technologies
  • Knowledge of web services and integrated systems
  • Knowledge of ORM (Entity Framework), message bus (Rabbit MQ)
  • Knowledge of Project Management and various development methodologies, Agile in particular
  • Adaptability to perform under stress when confronted with emergent, critical, unusual, or dangerous situations, or situation in which working speed and sustained attention are make-or-break aspects of the job.
  • Adaptability to perform a variety of duties, often changing from one task to another without loss of efficiency or composure.
  • Ability to maintain both a high standard of courtesy and cooperation in dealing with co-workers.
  • Ability to accept responsibility for the direction, control or planning of an activity.
<snip a bunch of irrelevant info>

I have a secondary reason for including the above job description. I noticed 17 of 28 of the bullet items above have a period at the end of the line. For example, these lines:
  • Supervises and directs the Software Development staff which would include employee hiring, training, evaluations and discipline.
  • Mentors and grows passionate individuals who work well in strong teams
Why is that? The first line ends with a bullet but the very next line does not. They are constructed the same, as in [("Verb") + ("Verb")] + [(subject)] so it's not because of the construction of the phrase. I vote lazy writing as the cause!

Remember When I Said They Should Shut Up about Each Other Part 2000000000000000000000000000000000000000

On this blog, I've wrote about how musicians that aren't in the same band should stop talking about the band they left so I'm not going to rehash it. I'm just offering another example of why Dave Mustaine needs to shut up and not talk about Metallica because articles like this one - Dave Mustaine: I'm Bothered By Metallica's Attitude Towards Big 4, Especially By Something Kirk Said - "It really wasn't the Big 4; it was Metallica and then the three of us" - don't help the situation. Here's the video:


I agree with this reader's comment:


If Dave Mustaine REALLY wants to have additional Big Four shows, he needs to SHUT UP!!

Drums Anywhere

Stupid

I remember one student in particular who, when I think about her, begins with the thought, "Shet was really dumb." I think about Kelly R. whenever someone says "dumb blonde" or tells a blonde joke.

When I encountered Kelly R, it was in the fall of 1991. She was in my 2nd hour Language Arts sophomore class. I remember my lesson was going to be about editing so I found an article with about 10 sentences published in the Sunday Cedar Rapids Gazette. I split the sentences in the story into numbered items and, as I typed them, I added spelling and grammar errors. I was really excited because editing is one of my (many) passions.
The next day, all excited about my lesson, I remember getting through our weekly spelling word list and being about to start the editing lesson. As I begin to explain what we're going to talk about and what the sheet I'm handing to them contains, Kelly R. raises her hand and says, "We did this sheet last year."

Over the last 27 years, I have thought about her sentence many times. Sometimes, I wonder if what she meant was "We [talked about editing] last year" and was trying to tell me that editing was going to be review and, ultimately, boring to her and her fellow classmates. Nonetheless, because I was a shitty student teacher, I plowed on with my lesson.

I write that I was a shitty student teacher because time has taught me something about myself. I let my passion for the things I love interfere with picking up on the reactions of other people. I have learned that about myself so now I don't talk about rock and roll with my father-in-law because he doesn't care about it - Elvis was the downfall of our society after all. I didn't always realize that about him so many times I would try to tell him about the music about which I am passionate about to, basically, someone who didn't care about what I was saying. To circle back to the graphic, I chuckle when I think about Kelly R on that morning, but I also think about what Kelly R. may have been trying to tell me. Maybe her intent was to warn me about myself and send me a message that said "Hey, you need to listen and not let your passion get in the way of our relationship." It was a failure in communication - she sent a message and while I heard her words, I didn't listen to her message. Even now, all these years later, I attempt to listen not just to Metallica or to the NEW Judas Priest tune embedded below, but to every person with whom I have contact. I think what started the revolution in my head was when I went to a weekly Bible Study at church. We were studying the Book of James and, one week, we discussed what has become my second favorite verse in the Bible:
My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry
I realize there are many translations of that verse - as documented on this website - but the above is my favorite version of it. I think about it as a means to 'ground' me in the reality of my surroundings, not the false reality in my head where I can be a proficient drummer by Sunday, February 11, 3 PM, by not practicing drums. Mark, my brother-in-law, razzed me last night as I was sitting on the couch, watching TV. "Why aren't you practicing? You have to have your A game ready!" I will likely find time to practice tomorrow.



KCS format for end user articles


Thursday, February 1, 2018

I'm My Biggest Fan

STP Revived

Stone Temple Pilots have announced a concert in Cedar Rapids on Wednesday, May 16th, which is




Forget Your Grief and Send Me Off Like This

http://www.geisenfuneralhome.com/m/?p=memorial&id=2064544&lu=1516817051&iu=1516834946

Noteworthy to Mention

Just to set up the situation, Marvel’s next big movie, Black Panther, will be released on Feb. 16. It will be followed by Avengers: Infinity War on May 4 and Ant-Man and the Wasp on July 6 - and I've embedded the trailers below.

I grew up reading comic books. My favorite was "Justice League" because I loved the way the heroes would split off into teams to go on their own adventure within the context of the larger story. The best example is issue #200 (link below) because it combined the 'old' heroes with the 'new' heroes of the Justice League in an imaginative way.

Personally, I think there's just so many opportunities for the future of the MCU, even if the X-Men, Marvel Universe crossover may not happen for years, Marvel Studios boss says - If it happens at all By Julia Alexander Jan 31, 2018, 9:02am EST.. From my perspective, it's very interesting how the MCU in movies has existed for quite some time - the Wikipedia page has the details about when it started and the chronological order of the movies.







And, just to catch up, here are the best trailers from last month:


Here's a link to information about Justice League issue #200: http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Justice_League_of_America_Vol_1_200

The Classic

In the future, I'll likely return to Thursday, February 1, 2018, and remind myself of what I was thinking about on that day so, Future PRHMUSIC, when you do, please, PLEASE take the time to re-watch this hilarious video of The Rock singing to Vickie Guerrero and smile.