Issue Number 06 - May 1999

"Visual Explanations"
Edward Tufte is an Information Design guru with strong views on the presentation of data. "Visual Explanations" is the third in a series of books which he has written, designed, and published himself. This volume has become famous for a central section in which he analyses the disaster of the 1986 Challenger space rocket which blew up on launch. He argues that this could have been averted if scientists had presented their technical warnings in a clearer manner. His exposition covers all sorts of other interesting cases - from diagnosing cholera in 19th century London, to the dynamic presentation of a thunderstorm and how magicians' tricks are recorded in two dimensions. It's also a very beautiful book - stunningly illustrated on good quality paper, with elegant page design and first rate typography. A review article and full details at --

http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/tufte-01.htm

"Improve your Writing Skills"
Is it possible to improve your writing without learning lots of grammatical rules? We think so. This is a set of guidance notes which explain effective communication and clear writing without any resort to rules or jargon.

The emphasis is on keeping everything simple and being aware of Audience, Form, and Function. That is - 'Remember who you are writing for', 'Organise your writing to suit the occasion', and 'Get to the point!'

This is now coming up close behind "Writing Essays" as a best-selling title. Full details at --

http://www.mantex.co.uk/books/improve.htm

"The Classic Guide to Better Writing"
We offer the latest in our reviews of guides to better writing. Flesch and Aaron put their emphasis on the need to plan, how to generate ideas, and how to put these ideas into some order. Each chapter has exercises, so you can check your understanding of the topic. They cover all the common problems which prevent people from writing well. Chapters on making your writing more direct and even amusing will appeal to general readers and there is plenty for those interested in creative writing. However, they issue a warning that "This book won't make you into another Shakespeare...But it will, we hope, teach you to write simply, clearly, correctly" Review article and full details at --

http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/flesch.htm

Windows Key - a quick tip
If you bought your computer after 1995, you probably have a Windows key -- usually between the left-hand Ctrl and Alt keys, with a picture of the Windows logo on it. What's it for?

Instead of clicking the Start button, press the Windows key. The Start menu appears! You can highlight Start menu items by using the arrow keys and execute them by pressing Enter. [That's one use, anyway.]

Striong Links in Sheffield
Newsletter subscriber Seb Schmoller sent an interesting list of site recommendations based at Sheffield College.

http://www.living-it.org.uk
This is a series of online courses - 'Learning on the Net', 'Information Retrieval', 'Web Page Authoring', and 'Online Group Working'

http://www.sheffcol.ac.uk/lettol/
No, it's not Swedish beer, but a course on 'Learning to Teach OnLine'. You can download samples of course materials and read commendations from previous participants.

http://www.sheffcol.ac.uk/links/
These are an excellent bibliography [netography?] of connections related to the arts, sciences, and humanties. I followed the links to English [my own subject] and quickly came across a course on grammar which is free to anyone accessing from an 'ac.uk' domain.

http://www.opencontent.org
This is a database of freely available material for supporting instruction and helping people learn.

"OpenContent is freely available for modification, use, and redistribution under a license similar to those used by the Open Source/Free Software community. In plain English, the license ensures that if someone else bases a work on OpenContent, that the resultant work will be made available as OpenContent as well".

"Waterhouse on Newspaper Style"
This too is a guide to good style, but it was written as a very amusing critique of tabloid journalism. Keith Waterhouse takes apart the prose of his fellow Fleet Street hacks and reveals the bad habits and shoddy thinking [or lack of thinking] behind the headlines. He deals with issues in an alphabetical series of short articles on topics such as cliche, headlines, jargon, metaphors, and syntax. There's a laugh on every page, and it's a salutory reminder that even though the book has sold well, hacks are still guilty of the same old shoddy practices today. Read it, and don't make the same mistakes yourself. Review article and full details at --

http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/water.htm

"Internet Marketing and Promotions"
Peter Kent is a one-man business dynamo who wrote a best-selling guide to setting up your own web site on a budget [ http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/kent.htm]
Now he's teamed up with Web research specialist Tara Calishain to produce a follow-up which tells you how to develop the commercial potential of your site. It's all done using cheap, cheerful, and even free resources. Peter's approach is direct, practical, no-hype, and completely honest - including telling you where he's gone wrong himself. Review article and details at --

http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/kent-02.htm

Fit to Page - a quick Word tip
You've got a document you'd like to fit on one page, but it insists on running a line or two over onto the next. You could employ drastic text surgery, or you might increase your margins. But before you cut one word of your precious prose, try this quick tip.

1. In Word, choose File + Print Preview.
2. On the Print Preview toolbar, click Shrink to Fit.
3. Word reduces--proportionately--the size of all the text in the document so that it fits perfectly on a single page.
4. Click Print to print the document.

"Worst of the Web" - How to Qualify

1. Have your whole site in one page, then you won't have to bother with navigation buttons.

2. Put a huge graphic on the entry page, before the content of your site. It's not your fault if visitors have slow modems.

3. Nobody minds the odd broken link.

4. Use animated GIFs liberally. These are very amusing.

5. Have the site in at least three frames.

6. Web sites without background wallpaper are dull.

7. Use lots of different fonts. Everyone has the same fonts installed these days.

8. Purple text on a black background looks really good.

9. Use the blink tag to attract attention.

10. Decorate pages with page counters, clip art, and and plenty of horizontal rules.

11. This is the Internet, so you don't have to worry about spelling and punctuation.

12. If some pages are unfinished, just paste in an "Under Construction" sign.

13. HAVE ALL YOUR TEXT IN CAPITALS - AS IT MAKES IT MUCH EASIER TO READ. SEE THIS GOOD EXAMPLE.

14. Once you've got your site, make sure that you publicise it as widely as possible. If you are not certain which groups to post to, you should post to as many as possible.

15. Ensure your message gets through by posting it at least three times. Repeat these postings on a daily basis.

16. Use plenty of underlining. This will draw people's attention to the important parts of your message.

17. Better still show people you mean business by highlighting lots of your text. This can be done at random, but it's best used on special offers. It also looks really COOL.

[with thanks to 'alt.demon.homepages.authoring']