Re: MadCap Nightmare

Subject: Re: MadCap Nightmare
From: Lou Quillio <public -at- quillio -dot- com>
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Date: Thu, 10 Aug 2006 23:00:39 -0400

Frank Ellifsen's invisible friend wrote:
> Sorry for the anonymous post, but I don't want this to come back and haunt
> me somehow (you know it will).

So, uhh, hound MadCap yes, haunt you no? Doesn't seem quite fair.
Ever been hounded? Wanna be?

Google queries can be restricted to a particular domain this way:

`[my query] site:techwr-l.com`

Naturally you can query phrases by enclosing them in quotes:

`"my favorite expression" site:techwr-l.com`

And you can insist that certain terms be included:

`+"important term" other stuff site:techwr-l.com`

So what's to stop a clever fellah from probing the TECHWR-L archives
for somebody with an interest in "winhelp" (or some such) who likes
the expressions "I see no reason", "sulk", or "gauntlet", and who
expresses proficiency in HTML? Once you're down to a short list,
you might check if and when they expressed interest in Flare.

There are other domains that house TECHWR-L archives, too. Some of
them are easier to probe because the terms "Madcap" and "Flare"
haven't appeared in site adverts, only in posts, so the query focus
is better.

Maybe Anonymous has never posted here. That's possible (yeah,
right). I'm just sayin'.

# # #

Columbo-ing aside -- and disclosing that I think Robo-widgetry is
dumb, ignored by all but its authors, and nothing an XML/XSL/XHTML
practitioner needs -- it's been pretty clear that those MadCap guys
rushed to market. You could smell it.

Somewhere near the nexus of wishful thinking and first-adopting and
capital crunches and coming-soon hype, you always find ... buyer's
remorse.

Stay one notch behind the power curve, kids, maybe two. That's
where *value* lives. Always has. If you fly out to the edge and
get burned a little, whose fault is that?

LQ
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References:
MadCap Nightmare: From: Frank Ellifsen

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