TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:RE: Qualifications for an off shore writer? From:"Leonard C. Porrello" <Leonard -dot- Porrello -at- SoleraTec -dot- com> To:"Keith Hood" <klhra -at- yahoo -dot- com>, <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Thu, 19 Feb 2009 09:42:18 -0800
Do you realize that in your petty diatribe you commit all of the
offenses of which you accuse me? On top of the arrogance of your first
response--in which you "required me to clarify" my intentions--you are
now patronizing, insulting, and belittling. You also presume to read my
mind! I attacked your self-contradictory ideas, Keith, not you. In
contrast, you attacked me. Yes, in my "grotesque" restatement of your
words, I was speaking tongue-in-cheek. Get over it. In all honesty, I
thought I was responding to Keith M.-who has a sense of humor.
Nevertheless, although I am now convinced that you are heartily worthy
of contempt, being unacquainted with either of you, I heretofore had no
interest in insulting you or your grandfather.
This is the second time you've taken personally an impersonal email I
have sent challenging your ideas, and this is the second time you've
flamed me on this list. The first time, several months ago, I let it go.
I thought you were perhaps having a bad day or a bad week. It is now
clear to me that you are actually having a bad life. I pity you-and that
is the only reason I am troubling myself to correct you on this
occasion.
Perhaps last time you flamed me you took my silence as consent or
submission. It was not. It was tolerance. I've read your words and have
tried to engage your ideas and will continue to do so in the future. I'd
be most grateful if, in the future, you would keep your
characterological tendency to ire under control. You'll find that doing
so will bring you more peace and make you more effective as a technical
writer.
________________________________
From: Keith Hood [mailto:klhra -at- yahoo -dot- com]
Sent: Wednesday, February 18, 2009 7:28 PM
To: Leonard C. Porrello; techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: RE: Qualifications for an off shore writer?
My reaction to your first sentence was to think that you were perhaps
attempting to mock either me or my grandfather's thought by restating my
words in such a grotesque manner. Since you have apparently never before
been introduced to the concept, I will do you the favor of telling you
that most people, when their words are parodied back to them in an
overtly twisted manner, will react negatively because they will perceive
it as a mockery.
I did not disparage education. I disparaged the erroneous idea which too
many people hold that education and intelligence are the same thing.
Your categorization of the meaning of my words is totally erroneous. You
projected what you wanted to think onto my words and then replied to
your internal version of my words instead of responding to what I
actually wrote.
To top it off, you now have the gall to try to tell me what I was
thinking. What is this "only grounds" garbage? I will thank you in the
future to refrain from these ludicrous attempts at amateur mind reading.
Try replying to my words, not to what you think you have magically
divined to be my inner thoughts.
--- On Wed, 2/18/09, Leonard C. Porrello
<Leonard -dot- Porrello -at- SoleraTec -dot- com> wrote:
From: Leonard C. Porrello <Leonard -dot- Porrello -at- SoleraTec -dot- com>
Subject: RE: Qualifications for an off shore writer?
To: "Keith Hood" <klhra -at- yahoo -dot- com>, "TECHWR-L"
<techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Date: Wednesday, February 18, 2009, 11:24 AM
While the first sentence was tongue in cheek, I ultimately intended
neither a joke nor an insult. Knowledge of grammar and usage comes only
through education (formal or informal). And as you illustrate by the
umbrage you took to what I wrote, you yourself believe that someone who
uses "poor" grammar and usage is less than intelligent. Consequently, as
in your first message, I see a contradiction. In your first message, you
disparage education, but you do so using perfect grammar and usage-which
comes only from education. In your second message, you indicate (by
tone) that you were offended by what I wrote-and the only grounds for
that is that what I wrote sounded uneducated.
Where education is defined as, "the act or process of ... acquiring
general knowledge, developing the powers of reasoning and judgment, and
generally of preparing oneself or others intellectually for mature
life," education does make people smarter. Education is to the mind what
good diet, aerobics, and weight training are to the body. This, at
least, is the classical view. In contrast, the Romantic view lauds man
in a "state of nature," uncorrupted by the influences of culture and
"edumacation."
________________________________
From: Keith Hood [mailto:klhra -at- yahoo -dot- com]
Sent: Tuesday, February 17, 2009 7:25 PM
To: TECHWR-L; jleer -at- leertech -dot- net; Leonard C. Porrello
Subject: RE: Qualifications for an off shore writer?
I require a clarification from you. If you meant your words as a joke of
some kind and not as an insult to my grandfather or myself, it would be
a very good idea for you to make that clear now.
--- On Tue, 2/17/09, Leonard C. Porrello
<Leonard -dot- Porrello -at- SoleraTec -dot- com> wrote:
From: Leonard C. Porrello <Leonard -dot- Porrello -at- SoleraTec -dot- com>
Subject: RE: Qualifications for an off shore writer?
To: "Keith Hood" <klhra -at- yahoo -dot- com>, "TECHWR-L"
<techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>, jleer -at- leertech -dot- net
Date: Tuesday, February 17, 2009, 7:42 PM
Didn't you mean, "Edumacation ain't make you none smarter"? Even so,
where "education" is, "the act or process of ... acquiring general
knowledge, developing the powers of reasoning and judgment, and
generally of preparing oneself or others intellectually for mature
life," isn't the statement a bit of an oxymoron?
Leonard
-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+leonard -dot- porrello=soleratec -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+leonard -dot- porrello=soleratec -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- c
om] On Behalf Of Keith Hood
Sent: Tuesday, February 17, 2009 4:36 PM
To: TECHWR-L; jleer -at- leertech -dot- net
Subject: RE: Qualifications for an off shore writer?
Yes, having a degree has never been proof of anything except the ability
to know how to get by on tests. As my grandfather used to say and he's
never been proven wrong, more education does not make you smarter.
ComponentOne Doc-To-Help 2009 is your all-in-one authoring and publishing
solution. Author in Doc-To-Help's XML-based editor, Microsoft Word or
HTML and publish to the Web, Help systems or printed manuals. http://www.doctohelp.com
Help & Manual 5: The complete help authoring tool for individual
authors and teams. Professional power, intuitive interface. Write
once, publish to 8 formats. Multi-user authoring and version control! http://www.helpandmanual.com/
---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-
