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Not writing about warNot writing about warNot writing about war 03/19/2003 10:44 PM My guess is that now and in the coming days some people will be
looking for more news and opinion about the war in Iraq—and
other people will be looking for less, they’ll be
looking for other things to read about. This is a GrokNews Entry: (what is grok?)Not writing about warGrok Headline matches for Not writing about warBad Writing = Good Writing?Bad Writing = Good Writing? 10/30/2003 11:56 PM Bad Writing = Good Writing? The academic journal Philosophy and Literature used to hold a "Bad Writing Contest" to ridicule dense, unreadable academic prose... but a new book argues headache inducing sentences are necessary to express subtle theoretical points. Writing for the WebWriting for the Web 03/13/2003 10:15 AM One of the things that traditional journalists find unsettling about the weblog medium is the notion that you're "working without a net" -- i.e., without an editor. In fact, everybody edits your stuff, albeit after the fact. The other day I wrote a column in which I asked: How do we tune networks to deliver the right information to the right people at the right times?The triteness warning bell sounded in my head, but not loudly enough to force me to find a better way to express that thought. And sure enough, somebody calle d me on it. (How do I know? I found that URL in my referral log.) I really enjoy this kind of thing. Writing is infinitely improvable, and too often mine goes unchallenged. Partly, that's because of my brain wiring. I have an unusually strong built-in editor, watching everything I do as I write, and complaining loudly. As a result, what I write for print publication is very close to what you see in those publications. If you added up the diffs, over the many hundreds of articles I've written over the years, they wouldn't amount to much. ... More On Writing for the WebMore On Writing for the Web 03/19/2003 10:28 PM WritingWriting 03/13/2003 10:23 AM My writing leaves much to be desired. I've been thinking about it lately and I have to say that I didn't start blogging to become a writer as such, let alone a good one. It just helps if you can string together some sentences with a semblance of meaning. Technically speaking, there's much room for improvement. Vocabulary wise I'm circumscribed (like it?) by a short attention span that causes me to spend too little time searching for suitable, uncommon words. But beyond possessing a good technical ability when it comes to writing well, I suppose that being a good writer all-round must surely mean writing about things that also interest people. There has to be a middle ground, a balancing act between mono-syllabic grunting about albeit very interesting subject matter and writing exquisitely well about excruciatingly boring things. I can't help but think that it would be a hell of a lot easier to maintain this blog if I wasn't confined by the limited range of source material I choose to be confined by. Perhaps I need a specialism? I can't talk about my work, well I could but it wouldn't be very interesting and I chose not to talk about it early on. Perhaps one day. I envy those that can and do. Nothing wrong with professionals blogging. Speaking of which, the bag lady's new blog design is the best I've seen. Seriously, it looks the cat's pyjamas. On a different note, World of Ends (World Offends?) strikes me as not only a very cool and necessary thing to do but it inspired me to think about what else we, the people of the Web, should be doing to help outsiders understand, integrate and take part in it more effectively. Surely this honourable responsibility doesn't only lie at the feet of the likes of Doc Searls and David Weinberger, however qualified and bang-on about it they happen to be? Who are the new thought leaders on the Web? Where can I find them? Writing XMLWriting XML 09/03/2002 04:40 PM This article shows you how to create XML documents using manual writing, DOM and SAX. It provides you with some excellent learning material, but using either DOM or SAX for creating XML still looks like overkill to me.
"zeldman.ming" Writing RSS 1.0Writing RSS 1.0 01/09/2004 09:54 PM On Writing XMLOn Writing XML 01/18/2004 12:24 AM In a recent essay I offered, given demand, to author some XML-writing software. There’s been quite a bit of feedback, and the consensus seems to be that the Java community is fairly well-served with XML writing software, but that this would be real useful at the C level. So that’ll be my coding fun for the month of February. The rest of this essay lists some of the Java options that people told me about, and introduces some issues around the C implementation... Useful Writing ToolsUseful Writing Tools 04/10/2004 02:29 AM Let's face it, we all get stuck for words from time to time. I'd like to take a moment to recommend a couple of tools that can help you create more diverting dispatches. By Christopher Breen, Macworld (via MyAppleMenu) Tom on Community WritingTom on Community Writing 03/16/2003 09:52 AM Tom gets at something true in his blogging about writing that creates a sense of community. It's the sort of thing you think you must have always known even though you didn't until you read it.... Writing in the MarginsWriting in the Margins 02/11/2004 07:35 AM Our new monthly roundup of indie publishing: Junko Mizuno's deranged manga, Disney's war against the underground, Flann O'Brien on life during wartime, lefty theorist Mike Davis' children's book (set in Greenland), and William Upski Wimsatt bombs the 2004 election. Writing For the Web (Sales)Writing For the Web (Sales) 03/19/2003 10:28 PM [VBB] Manifesto writing[VBB] Manifesto writing 12/17/2004 06:31 PM Joi Ito and Jim Moore are leading a discussion of what could be in a "manifesto for a better global conversation." The first comment is that generally we care about our families and towns before we get to worrying about the world. Alex Steffen from WorldChanging says that our goal should be to expand our notion of family. Ethan says that we should start from the common ground: All of us are trying to reach out beyond where we are. The conversation meanders a bit into more abstract topics. (I am guilty of contributing to it.) Ethan slaps it upside... Writing an End to the Bio of BIOS?Writing an End to the Bio of BIOS? 12/30/2003 10:55 AM An anonymous reader writes "Intel and Microsoft are gearing up to move toward the first major overhaul of the innermost workings of the personal computer. The ... Writing an end to the bio of BIOSWriting an end to the bio of BIOS 12/30/2003 07:21 AM Intel and Microsoft are set to start pitching "EFI" as an improved way of starting up a PC's hardware before its operating system begins loading--a task that's been handled by the BIOS for a quarter century. Web writing a whole new experienceWeb writing a whole new experience 10/31/2003 01:56 PM Canadian Press via Canada.com Oct 31 2003 12:22PM ET The Writing FieldsThe Writing Fields 01/11/2004 11:16 AM People of a certain age — mine — will remember Prince Norodom Sihanouk as the incumbent leader of a neutral and relatively peaceful Cambodia, before the war in Vietnam spilled over Cambodia's borders, leading to the rise of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge, the fall of the Cambodian government, and the killing fields. Now Sihanouk is an expat king in his eighties, writing a blog by hand with his queen, from France. Sources: Stuart Hughes, The Guardian, Yahoo News. Help keep the Bird writingHelp keep the Bird writing 09/14/2004 03:51 AM Shelley of BurningBird is broke and needs a little help paying the hosting bills to keep BurningBird going. Shelley is one of the earliest weblog writers, and she has a distinctive, original and beautiful writing voice. She catches a lot of flack because she is often the one to turn over the rock that everyone would rather leave lying there, revealing a truth that people don't want to see. Truth be told, she probably also catches flack because she can be a bit cranky at times, but she only turns her rhetorical guns against powerful people, and she is incredibly generous with her time and expertise. The web would be a much poorer place without her presence and that of BurningBird, and if you can spare a bit of change, drop some in her Pay Pal jar. If you can't spare a bit, at least help get the word out.... Writing about your friendsWriting about your friends 08/09/2004 10:24 PM Over the years I've become quite friendly with many professional journalists. It's interesting that two of my best friends are journalists and they both have told me, "the only bad thing about becoming your friend is that I can't write about you any more." As a blogger, I don't think I have any trouble writing about my friends if I explain my relationship. The issue of professionalism aside, I think the first person tone of blogging makes it easier to write about your friends in the context of providing information. It's probably much harder or impossible to write about your friends objectively in third person. Comment - TrackBackWriting GenxWriting Genx 02/15/2004 08:58 PM In between beach time and rainforest time, I’ve been coding away on genx; herewith some impressions with one important lesson and an interesting bit of history... so i have this cool new writing gig . .
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