Re: About.com Guide for Perl [was Fwd: RE: Guide Application for [Perl]]

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I was trying to say that you should try again. I suppose I could have
summarized that in a single statement and then have gone into the details
about how your writing examples.  My aim was just to give you a picture of
what someone sitting on the editor's side of the desk might say.

Effective written communication is either going to be a platform for succes=
s
for an IT professional or a constant impediment.

I know all this stuff about writing because at one point I was going to be =
a
professional writer. In H.S. I only had two concentrations -- English and
Computer Science. By 4th year it was basically all English because my schoo=
l
ran out of CS classes for me to take! I took Basic, Pascal, all the typing
courses I could find and even some computing concepts class that put me to
sleep as I remember it. With no other options I elected to concentrate on m=
y
other skill, English. It was either that or not graduate.

When I hit college I was, naturally, a declared English major in the first
year. In my mind there was nothing that could stop me from being a publishe=
d
author. Then reality set in. I realized that there were very few jobs for
someone with an English degree outside of teaching and mid-second year I
found college impossible to afford. I left for the workforce and
menial-job-drudgery that spanned everything from opening boxes of books for
a well-known book distributor to digging up death benefit files in a huge
storage room for a petroleum company. In short, work sucked.

Then one day the powers that be realized I had a knack for computers and I
got an assignment providing grunt-work support for a team of IT consultants=
.
They were making some trading system in PowerBuilder as I remember it. Thei=
r
lead guy sat right next to me and took me under his wing. He basically
prepared me for my entire undergraduate career, walking me through which
classes would be the most difficult and spoon feeding me tips on what to
focus on. I remember quitting that job and marching right into college two
weeks later. Four years after that and plenty of college loans later I had =
a
degree in computer science.

Now that I've gotten my brief history out of the way you might be wondering
what is the point? By themselves my communication skills did not count for
much. I couldn't use them to secure a good job sans anything else. However,
once I had studied computer science, good communication skills have proved
to be INVALUABLE. It has gotten me jobs; kept me in jobs; and put me in a
position of helping clients choose solutions.

People cannot know what you are capable of if you cannot communicate it to
them effectively. The same goes for Perl and that is why this post is good
for an advocacy group. Effective communication in the form of writing is
critical and more important than any other skill if you want to convince
people to use some form of technology. It is like the difference between
'Bada-pa-pa-paaaa...I'm lovin it' for McDonalds and 'Please come and eat
some of our burgers and fries...'  Good writing makes all the difference.




On Sat, Sep 10, 2011 at 5:33 AM, Shlomi Fish <[email protected]> wrote:

> Hello Joel,
>
> sorry for the late response.
>
> On Tue, 31 May 2011 11:15:08 -0500
> Joel Limardo <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > I was the one who asked for your writing sample. I wanted to see if the=
re
> > was something fairly obvious in your writing that would cause a
> rejection.
> > After looking at the links you provided, I'm sad to say that I agree wi=
th
> > About.com.
> >
>
> Well, in my letter I asked if anyone would be willing to volunteer for
> maintaining the Perl section of About.com, due to the fact that my
> application was rejected. The fact that my application was rejected was a
> given and I assumed there was little or nothing I could do about it.
> Telling me
> why my writing is lacking, is besides the point of finding someone to
> maintain
> the Perl section on About.com, and I didn't request that input.
>
> Thanks for passing your commentary on my writing, but it's not going to
> help
> with the issue I raised.
>
> Regards,
>
>        Shlomi Fish
>
> --
> -----------------------------------------------------------------
> Shlomi Fish       http://www.shlomifish.org/
> Interview with Ben Collins-Sussman - http://shlom.in/sussman
>
> Had I not been already insane, I would have long ago driven myself mad.
>    =97 The Enemy and how I Helped to Fight It
>
> Please reply to list if it's a mailing list post - http://shlom.in/reply =
.
>

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I was trying to say that you should try again. I suppose I could have summa=
rized that in a single statement and then have gone into the details about =
how your writing examples.=A0 My aim was just to give you a picture of what=
 someone sitting on the editor&#39;s side of the desk might say. <br>
<br>Effective written communication is either going to be a platform for su=
ccess for an IT professional or a constant impediment. <br><br>I know all t=
his stuff about writing because at one point I was going to be a profession=
al writer. In H.S. I only had two concentrations -- English and Computer Sc=
ience. By 4th year it was basically all English because my school ran out o=
f CS classes for me to take! I took Basic, Pascal, all the typing courses I=
 could find and even some computing concepts class that put me to sleep as =
I remember it. With no other options I elected to concentrate on my other s=
kill, English. It was either that or not graduate.<br>
<br>When I hit college I was, naturally, a declared English major in the fi=
rst year. In my mind there was nothing that could stop me from being a publ=
ished author. Then reality set in. I realized that there were very few jobs=
 for someone with an English degree outside of teaching and mid-second year=
 I found college impossible to afford. I left for the workforce and menial-=
job-drudgery that spanned everything from opening boxes of books for a well=
-known book distributor to digging up death benefit files in a huge storage=
 room for a petroleum company. In short, work sucked.<br>
<br>Then one day the powers that be realized I had a knack for computers an=
d I got an assignment providing grunt-work support for a team of IT consult=
ants. They were making some trading system in PowerBuilder as I remember it=
. Their lead guy sat right next to me and took me under his wing. He basica=
lly prepared me for my entire undergraduate career, walking me through whic=
h classes would be the most difficult and spoon feeding me tips on what to =
focus on. I remember quitting that job and marching right into college two =
weeks later. Four years after that and plenty of college loans later I had =
a degree in computer science.<br>
<br>Now that I&#39;ve gotten my brief history out of the way you might be w=
ondering what is the point? By themselves my communication skills did not c=
ount for much. I couldn&#39;t use them to secure a good job sans anything e=
lse. However, once I had studied computer science, good communication skill=
s have proved to be INVALUABLE. It has gotten me jobs; kept me in jobs; and=
 put me in a position of helping clients choose solutions.<br>
<br>People cannot know what you are capable of if you cannot communicate it=
 to them effectively. The same goes for Perl and that is why this post is g=
ood for an advocacy group. Effective communication in the form of writing i=
s critical and more important than any other skill if you want to convince =
people to use some form of technology. It is like the difference between &#=
39;Bada-pa-pa-paaaa...I&#39;m lovin it&#39; for McDonalds and &#39;Please c=
ome and eat some of our burgers and fries...&#39;=A0 Good writing makes all=
 the difference.=A0 <br>
<br>=A0<br><br><br><div class=3D"gmail_quote">On Sat, Sep 10, 2011 at 5:33 =
AM, Shlomi Fish <span dir=3D"ltr">&lt;<a href=3D"mailto:[email protected]=
">[email protected]</a>&gt;</span> wrote:<br><blockquote class=3D"gmail_q=
uote" style=3D"margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1e=
x;">
Hello Joel,<br>
<br>
sorry for the late response.<br>
<div class=3D"im"><br>
On Tue, 31 May 2011 11:15:08 -0500<br>
Joel Limardo &lt;<a href=3D"mailto:[email protected]">joel.lima=
[email protected]</a>&gt; wrote:<br>
<br>
&gt; I was the one who asked for your writing sample. I wanted to see if th=
ere<br>
&gt; was something fairly obvious in your writing that would cause a reject=
ion.<br>
&gt; After looking at the links you provided, I&#39;m sad to say that I agr=
ee with<br>
&gt; About.com.<br>
&gt;<br>
<br>
</div>Well, in my letter I asked if anyone would be willing to volunteer fo=
r<br>
maintaining the Perl section of About.com, due to the fact that my<br>
application was rejected. The fact that my application was rejected was a<b=
r>
given and I assumed there was little or nothing I could do about it. Tellin=
g me<br>
why my writing is lacking, is besides the point of finding someone to maint=
ain<br>
the Perl section on About.com, and I didn&#39;t request that input.<br>
<br>
Thanks for passing your commentary on my writing, but it&#39;s not going to=
 help<br>
with the issue I raised.<br>
<br>
Regards,<br>
<br>
 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0Shlomi Fish<br>
<br>
--<br>
<div class=3D"im">---------------------------------------------------------=
--------<br>
Shlomi Fish =A0 =A0 =A0 <a href=3D"http://www.shlomifish.org/" target=3D"_b=
lank">http://www.shlomifish.org/</a><br>
</div>Interview with Ben Collins-Sussman - <a href=3D"http://shlom.in/sussm=
an" target=3D"_blank">http://shlom.in/sussman</a><br>
<br>
Had I not been already insane, I would have long ago driven myself mad.<br>
 =A0 =A0=97 The Enemy and how I Helped to Fight It<br>
<div><div></div><div class=3D"h5"><br>
Please reply to list if it&#39;s a mailing list post - <a href=3D"http://sh=
lom.in/reply" target=3D"_blank">http://shlom.in/reply</a> .<br>
</div></div></blockquote></div><br>

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