The text above is from a story on the main BBC website. Notice anything interesting about it? Notice how short the paragraphs are? The BBC uses 1-2 sentences per paragraph—that’s it. Go check for yourself. Click on any story. Their paragraphs are 1-2 sentences and no more. And crisp ones, too. Not the gnarly Christopher Hitchens kind. They…
Better Superlatives
The thing I dislike most about Apple is their overuse of the word, “amazing”. It’s downright criminal. It’d be a good drinking game during new conferences, for sure. We think it’s amazing how amazed you’ll be when you see how amazing our amazing new products are. Amazing. Sadly, that’s not much of an exaggeration. The good news is…
The Difference Between Analogy, Metaphor, and Simile
Many people confuse analogies, similes, and metaphors. Let me help. Analogies compare things so that you can see a relationship between them. There are many ways to do it, but the key thing is comparing one thing to another. Similes do this by saying something is “like” or “as” something else. He’s like a wall. She’s as smart…
Vim, Pandoc, and Happiness
Some days I take Vim’s power for granted. Today isn’t one of those days. I just got done migrating all of my content from shoddily-marked-up “static” PHP and HTML files into my CMS, and the cleanup has begun. The problem is that I’ve been writing articles and posts in various editors and formats (with varying code quality) for…
The Times Machine
From Times Machine: 129 years of New York Times journalism, as it originally appeared. Really cool project.
The Human Font
From Wired: BIC, the office supply company that makes the world’s most ubiquitous ballpoint pen, has launched a website that could prove to be excellent fodder for graphologists and scientists alike. The Universal Typeface Experiment lets anyone, from anywhere in the world, draw the letters of the alphabet and then submit them into a massive database. From each…
The Relationship Between Clarity and Quality
“A turgid and polysyllabic prose does seem to prevail in the social sciences. . . . Such a lack of intelligibility, I believe, usually has little or nothing to do with the complexity of thought. It has to do almost entirely with certain confusions of the academic writer about his own status.” ~ C. Wright Mills
The Differences Between Vi, Vim, and Emacs
Few geek conflicts have the incandescence of the “best editor” debate. Say the words Vim or Emacs in a deeply crowd and you’ll likely hear the sound of Katana safety clasps. But what’s the debate at this point? What are the merits of each? The advantages. The downsides.Let’s take a quick look at the core advantages and disadvantages…
Scott Adams’ Writing Style
Here is a great example of Scott Adams’ writing style. [ http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/cause_of_death_wtf/ ] It’s humorous, obviously, but what hits me the most is its simplicity, clarity, and rhythm.
Aspiring to be a Quality Thinker When Everything’s Been Said
I think occasionally about the value that my writing offers the world. Common questions include, Hasn’t this probably been said somewhere else? Even for original thoughts, what value does an incremental improvement really bring? How much value is there in summarizing wisdom, with a “next steps” component added on?