You will also find some rules of thumb and management tips here that can be useful sanity checks in a variety of situations. They work for us, but your mileage may vary!
You will also find some rules of thumb and management tips here that can be useful sanity checks in a variety of situations. They work for us, but your mileage may vary!
POSH — Port-side Out; Starboard-side Home this acronym arose from the booking requests for people who were travelling to and from the tropics and India in particular. By booking cabins in accordance with this rule, the cabin was relatively cooler in the tropical regions.
TIP — Tuppence is promptitude this acronym arose from paying people twopence to be on time and to show alacrity in their tasks.
HEP! HEP! (Hurrah!) — this acronym arose because the siege of Jerusalem in 139 AD was such a huge affair that a common toast at Roman feasts was Hierosolyma est perdita! (Jerusalem is destroyed!) and the guests responded with "Hurrah!". The sequence of Hep! Hep! is derived from this toast by a principle known as Notarica by which the first letter of each word in the expression is used alone. Notice that Hep! is still said by only one person.
QED — quod erat demonstrandum QED, like HEP, is derived by Notarica from the longer expression meaning it has been proved/shown .
F**K — this acronym is derived from the tombstones in the New England region of the United States where people who were found guilty of sexual intercourse with minors were put to death. Their tombstones bear the words For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge .
The document,
IEEE 830-1993, provides the following interesting definitions:
A
requirement specifies an externally visible function or attribute of a system.
A
design describes a particular subcomponent of a system and/or its interfaces with other
subcomponents.
The Rule of 72. Divide
an interest rate number into 72 and the answer tells you how long it will take for the sum
of money to double in financial terms.
Example 1: if you are charged 18% pa on the unpaid balance of your credit card, then in 72/18 = 4 years the debt will double.
Example 2: if inflation is 6% pa, in 72/6 = 12 years the sum will be worth half its value (assuming inflation does not change, of course).
Example 3: If you receive a pay rise of 6% pa, in 72/6 = 12 years your salary will be double the current amount.
When you see someone
failing in their job, you should look first at the performance of their manager, not the
unfortunate individual.
Nothing is impossible
for the person who does not have to do it.
When you hear the
expression I got so much done yesterday while the boss was away you know a boss who
has a lot to learn.
When you hear an
employee has a new hobby, you know a middle manager somewhere in your organisation has
totally suppressed that employee's enthusiasm. It is good news for the employee, they
have broadened their horizons, but it is bad news for the company because all that free,
creative talent just went elsewhere.
Writing Style:
Be good. Be brief. Be gone.
Web Design: Be
clear. Be consistent. Respect the Users. (Tiffany Shlain, founder of Webby Awards)
Technical
communicators are those people who compile information of a technical nature and put
it in a language and format that can be easily understood by people who are unfamiliar
with that technology.
Familiarity with evil
diminishes its enormity in our sight.
