Dissociated Press

The KDE project released a third snapshot of KDE 4 last Friday, which I covered on Linux.com. KDE devs Aaron Seigo and Will Stephenson were kind enough to answer a slew of questions about the snapshot, so mosey over to Linux.com if you’d like to get the scoop on where KDE 4 development is at right now.

I also went ahead and installed the developer snapshot on my machine, via the Kubuntu repository. (Thanks Kubunterinos!) It’s really not ready for end users yet. I logged out of KDE 3.5.6, and logged back into KDE 3.8.03, and it was… well, pretty darn buggy. I tried launching a few apps, managed to lock up Kicker and really didn’t accomplish much.

That’s not a criticism, it’s advertised as a developer-only preview, and they mean it… but if you’re an end user, stick to KDE 3.5.x for the time being, KDE 4.0 still needs some time in the oven before it’s ready for end user testing.

Even though it’s nowhere near usable, I still find it pretty cool that I can dig in and check out the developer snapshots or CVS/SVN snapshots any time I want. Open source really rocks that way.

Here’s another writing pet peeve — when folks confuse peak (or peek), and pique. Here’s an example of proper usage: I live in Denver, Colorado, so I have a lovely view of the mountain peaks when I look to the West, but my interest is piqued when I find a good book about world history.

Instead, what I see most commonly is “this really peaked my interest,” or “I thought this would peek your interest.”

This doesn’t trouble me too much when I see it on blogs, mailing lists, and so forth. I’m used to seeing language atrocities there… but it’s just a different story when it’s something from a communications professional, i.e., from a PR person.

I’ve put up a link to my “most recent” tracks on Last.fm. This is a bit faulty, since there’s no way to track music I listen to on my home stereo (still a preferred method), via XM Radio in my car, and so forth… but it still captures a pretty good picture of what I like to listen to.

But I’m curious to hear what music other folks find interesting. I’m particularly interested in music that’s not on a major/RIAA-affiliated label, and music that’s good for coding/writing/doing administration.

I dig XTC, Robyn Hitchcock, The Beatles, Aimee Mann, and a wide range of so-called alternative music, but those bands don’t necessarily enhance one’s concentration when writing or focusing on setting up a new LAMP-based piece of software.

Also — bonus, bonus points for suggestions of non-DRM encumbered download sites (legal) and music merchants like Magnatune.

You have managed to wean me off of other RSS readers, and I am totally hooked on the starring feature… when the hell are you going to enable search for my feeds?

I mean, you’re Google, how the bleep does one of your products not have search???

Part of my job is to review software and hardware, and the software I review falls into two categories: FOSS and proprietary software. Reviewing FOSS projects is usually a joy because there are not artificial hurdles between me and the review: Identify an interesting project, download the software, read the README and any other relevant docs, install and use the software, write it up, rinse, repeat.

Proprietary software is usually a huge PITA, though, because I usually have to contend with several hurdles before I can get to the “install and use” phase that I enjoy. Specifically, I usually have to:

1. Find the PR contact, and email or call.
2. Prod said PR contact when I haven’t received a response after 48 or 72 hours
3. Fend off attempts to set up a bogus briefing to receive access to software.
4. Wait for download/boxed product
5. Get annoyed because I’ve been given a time-limited or feature limited version of the software (time-limited software invariably expires the day your editor has a final question about the review…) and try to explain to the PR person / contact why that’s a problem.
6. Get annoyed because I’ve been given the wrong product key, or one that doesn’t work, or one out of two, or … whatever. Product keys suck, period.
7. Alternatively, get shunted off to the public demo page, where you’re supposed to sacrifice your contact info to get the demo download — which ensures you will never get off their sales lists and will be relegated to the demo version.
8. After getting the software, respond to regular “when’s the review going to appear” emails.

The last one is an inevitable function of the PR person doing their job (except when the request for software was prefaced with “we might be interested in looking at this” or in the rare case when software has been sent my way unsolicited… if I didn’t ask for it, don’t pester me with follow ups…) but the others? Usually unnecessary hurdles that make reviewing the software a PITA for reviewers.

So, I agree heartily with David Pogue’s “A Downside of Being a Tech Writer”:

Honestly, what IS it with PR people wanting to set up phone calls with executives? Now and then, I’ll agree to it, and usually, the executive is just as bored as I am.

Both of us are fully aware that I’m writing a *review*. I really don’t care about the company’s long-term goals, its strategic Asian rollout, how it sees the industry sector, etc. My job is to test and assess the company’s product, and none of that is going to affect the review or make it into the column. (This is not the same as getting questions about the product answered, by the way, which is usually handled with calls to the engineers or product managers.)

Everyone involved is perfectly aware that it’s just a way to spin the reviewer positively. If this were a profile of the company, that’s one thing. But in a product review, it’s generally just a waste of time all around.

Please, PR folks, stop wasting time sending out briefing requests to product reviewers. Also, do some basic list maintenance before sending out the road show emails: I live in Denver, I don’t give a damn that your CTO will be setting up interviews in New York, San Francisco, or Seattle, okay?

Some of the things that bug me, in no particular order:

1. Confusion of similar words like “they’re,” “there,” and “their,” or “your” and “you’re.” Is it truly that difficult to distinguish between words? I am referring to native English speakers here, I understand how they could be very difficult for non-native speakers.

   The big pet peeve? Seeing people mistaking “then” and “than.” Seeing a sentence like “this is so much better then that,” makes me nuts.

2. Asserting what others feel. I hate reading a story in the news where the writer uses terms like “believes” or “feels” for other people — i.e., “The candidate believes that…”If a figure in the story says they believe something, then quote them or make sure it’s attributed properly — but don’t assert to your readers that a person “believes” this or that when there’s no earthy way for a reporter to actually know what another person believes.

   You should never read “Dave Robbins believes that if we can just pass the Omnibus Pork Bill, no child will ever go hungry in the US again.”

   Unfortunately, I see that kind of slop all the time. How does the reporter know what Robbins really believes? Answer: She doesn’t — it’s sloppy writing at best, or a case of the reporter deliberately trying to convince the reader of something at worst.

3. Cramming too much into a sentence. “Calling from 15,000 feet above sea level in his private plane, in May 2006, Bob Smith, the Democratic representative from Ohio, remembered that when he took office in April 2000, he was shocked by how busy the average congressperson was on a daily basis.”

   Okay — if you need more than three commas in any given sentence, you probably need to take a look and see if one or more statements could stand on their own. I see this a lot when writers have a bunch of information they don’t seem to know what to do with, or they’re just not willing to revise and clean things up after the first pass.

   By the time the reader finishes the sentence, they won’t remember how it started. This is particularly true, I think, for online content. People usually skim Web sites, rather than becoming deeply engrossed in the story or article as they might when reading something in bed or in a comfy chair. Give the readers short, concise material that’s easy to digest.

4. Fluff words and phrases, like “both,” “current,” “future plans,” “my personal opinion,” and many others. It’s fine to say “my opinion,” because personal is implied — “my personal opinion” is silly. If it’s your opinion, then of course it’s personal…

5. Two words: “Today announced” — I see this in press releases all the time, and it makes my spine itch. It’s doubly annoying when it gets carried over to news stories. For example, “Acme Labs today announced the release of Coyote Rocket Shoes…”

   What’s wrong with “today announced”? It’s bizarre usage. Do you say to your friends, “Bob and Sheila today invited me to a party,” or “Bob and Sheila invited me to a party today”? It’s strange, strange usage — and I only see it propagated via press releases and “news” written off of press releases.

What’s your pet peeve?

Okay, I asked a while back about the quality of Comcast Digital Voice, but didn’t get much feedback at the time. Since then, I’ve seen a bit of interest in the topic, and I went ahead and got CDV in January, so I thought I’d comment on its quality.

Overall, it’s OK, but I have noticed some quality issues, and I’ve also been told that it often clips the beginning of my side of the conversation by a second or two.

I’m going to keep using it for the time being, since I don’t really talk on the phone that much, but I can’t say that I’m overwhelmed by the quality of the service.