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.
Please stop this topic! 50+ messages about humour is not funny. This volume
on these sorts of topics will force those of us who are too busy to read
hundres of e-mails a day to quit this mailing list.
Thanks,
Scott
Pilipovich, Kathleen wrote:
> > Lisa Comeau wrote: "My fave was my grade 11
> > Physics teacher who discussed the principles
> > of accelleration and decelleration by using the
> > example of swinging a cat over your head by it's
> > tail and then letting it go..."
>
> > Laurel Nelson wrote: "I found the above statement
> > very offensive. To me, cruelty to animals is not
> > funny even when it's imaginery. As some people
> > have said, you have to be very careful when
> > using humor. It's all a matter of perception."
>
> I agree with Laurel and others. Be careful about humor.
> You can turn folks off in a hurry. Anyways, the best
> example I've seen of humor in a technical document
> was the user guide for Norton Utilities v6.0 for DOS.
> The procedures were straight forward and easy to
> follow. Chapters 1 and 2 explained how hard drives
> work and what can go wrong with them. He added
> humor in different parts of those chapters that broke
> up the technical information and kept the reader's
> interest. I don't have the book any more so this won't
> be an exact quote. In the section where he talked
> about what causes a hard drive to fail, he says
> head crashes, ....., and things that go bump in
> the night. Very light, not offensive, and appropriately
> placed - IMO.
>
> Kathy Pilipovich
> United Space Alliance
> 407-861-7723, USK-252
>
begin: vcard
fn: Scott Wahl
n: Wahl;Scott
org: Bridgewater Systems
adr: 555 Legget Dr. Suite 800;;;Kanata;ON;K2K 2X3;CANADA
email;internet: swahl -at- bridgewatersys -dot- com
title: Customer Documentation Coordinator
tel;work: 1-613-591-6655
tel;fax: 1-613-591-6656
x-mozilla-cpt: ;0
x-mozilla-html: TRUE
version: 2.1
end: vcard