Re: Grave questions

["Gaydos, Ron" <Ron -dot- Gaydos -at- RESPIRONICS -dot- COM>]

Perhaps you should consider international symbols---

Ron G.

> Hmmm.  You have neglected localization issues and single-sourcing.
> Will
> this material be viewed by an international audience?  Your
> spelled-out date
> will help in this regards.  What about other media?  Have you
> accounted for
> newspaper announcements, online help, html, database-driven java apps,
> etc?
>
>
> What about tool usage?  Steel-carbide chisels?  Whoa, you are way
> behind the
> times.  Any good technical communicator uses industrial-diamond tipped
> chisels.
>
> And have you tried baking the SME some cookies?
>
> I would suggest project managing this effort.
>
> Happy April 1st.
>
> Jason
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Meek, DavidX L [mailto:davidx -dot- l -dot- meek -at- INTEL -dot- COM]
> Sent: Thursday, April 01, 1999 9:06 AM
> To: TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU
> Subject: Grave questions
>
>
> Well, I finally did it.  The experts tell us to pre-plan our burial
> arrangements so as not to burden our loved ones when we pass away.  I
> have
> now purchased my plot and headstone; that dreadful task is now
> completed.
> With one exception:  the headstone itself.
>
> I'm speaking specifically in terms of font (types and sizes) and
> presentation.  I'm assuming my final marker will be more of a
> reference than
> a user's guide.  I cannot, however, assume my potential audience will
> be
> skilled users.  In fact, it seems likely that about half will be
> novices.
> Therein lies my dilemma.
>
> With skilled users, I could easily resort to the following:
>
> David L. Meek (This line in Arial Bold, 74 point)
>
> Born:  May 3, 1960      Died:  (TBD)  (This line and the rest in Times
> New
> Roman, 37 point)
> *       Son
> *       Brother
> *       Uncle
> *       Technical Writer
> (Note the use of bullets.)
>
> But important questions arise with this approach.  If my users are
> novices,
> will they understand that the data below my name is associated with
> me?  I
> think my format implies as much, but I'm uncertain.
>
> Many other questions remain.  In terms of format, should I use the
> bulleted
> style above?  Keep in mind I am under some space restrictions, and the
> text
> will literally be set in stone once it's approved.  Perhaps I should
> try the
> following:
>
> Born:  May 3, 1960      Died:  (TBD)
> Son; Brother; Uncle; Technical Writer
>
> Although this approach saves precious marble space, several things
> bother me
> about it.  Should I end the final line with or without a period?
> Should I
> separate the items, all of which are equally important, with
> semi-colons as
> shown, or with commas, colons, en-dashes or em-dashes?  And how many
> spaces
> between each punctuation mark and succeeding item?  I'm also concerned
> my
> audience might confuse my birth month, May, with Can, and thus
> erroneously
> conclude that I am (or was) Canadian.  Of course, I could look up this
> information in any sixth-grade grammar book, but I'd prefer to know
> how
> others feel about it.
>
> Maybe novices would be better served with the data chunked in tabular
> form
> (vis-a-vis Information Mapping).  For example:
>
> Born:  May 3, 1960      Died:  (TBD)
> Son      Brother
> Uncle    Technical Writer
>
> All help on this will be greatly appreciated.  I'd like to get
> responses
> ASAP, because the SME in charge of the "Died" date has not responded
> to my
> many pleadings for information (and I've tried everything from Ouija
> boards
> to tarrot cards).  The deadline, as you can see, is unknown, and I'd
> really
> like to have everything ready on time.
>
> Thanks in advance, and have a good April 1st,
> Dave
> (Any statements made above are mine, and mine alone.)
>
>
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>


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