Ryan

A misunderstood technical writer in the software engineering field. And I write a "comic"!

[Ryan @DevB4Doc]

It's 'National Ask a Stupid Question Day'! Society may argue that there is no such a thing as a stupid question, but once a year we have to acknowledge the truth.

(stupid questioners and ignorance are topics for another day) — feeling inspired

[Ryan @DevB4Doc]

If I've learned anything after working in software engineering for the last decade, it's that Dilbert is not a comic strip. It's a documentary. — feeling thoughtful

[Ryan @DevB4Doc]

The first-place deliverable of my engineering department's 24-hour business value project competition? Context-sensitive help links. — feeling proud

[Ryan @DevB4Doc]

Logging into your work computer after updating the password feels like when I forget to write the correct year in January. It's too hard to avoid reflexively entering the previous password! — feeling confused

[Ryan @DevB4Doc]

"Forget grammar and think potatoes." -- Gertrude Stein

[Ryan @DevB4Doc]

I should say commas can kill style sheets just as easily as they can save grandma (“Let’s eat grandma” vs “Let’s eat, grandma”).

[Ryan @DevB4Doc]

I just spent the last hour wracking my brain over why the CSS was suddenly broken for my help library. Turns out that I accidentally left a comma where it shouldn't have been. Pay attention, people!

[Ryan @DevB4Doc]

"It's more important to be nearly right and understandable than to be academically accurate and unintelligible." -- Unknown

[Ryan @DevB4Doc]

"Write. Rewrite. When not writing or rewriting, read. I know of no shortcuts." -- Larry L. King

[Ryan @DevB4Doc]

"Don't talk about it; write." -- Ray Bradbury, author

[Ryan @DevB4Doc]

"A writer is someone for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people." -- Thomas Mann, author

[Ryan @DevB4Doc]

"I didn't have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead." -- Mark Twain, author

[Ryan @DevB4Doc]

"He was a child who thought differently... this soft of person often becomes either a writer or a career criminal." -- Anne Lamott, author

[Ryan @DevB4Doc]

"There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed." -- Ernest Hemingway, author

[Ryan @DevB4Doc]

"The road to hell is paved with adverbs." -- Stephen King, author

[Ryan @DevB4Doc]

The phrase commonly goes, “The pen is mightier than the sword.” But as I was listening to an episode of Hardcore History, the paraphrase came up, “Don’t quote laws to men with swords.” (Original quote from Pompey, “Stop quoting laws! We carry swords!”)

Wise words...

[Ryan @DevB4Doc]

"Writing is the most fun you can have by yourself." -- Terry Pratchett, author

[Ryan @DevB4Doc]

The biggest lie ever:
"I have read and agree to the terms of use."

[Ryan @DevB4Doc]

"I get a lot of letters from people. They say: 'I want to be a writer. What should I do?' I tell them to stop writing to me and get on with it." -- Ruth Rendell, author

[Ryan @DevB4Doc]

Conversation from earlier today:

Me: "What does this field mean by total 'unknown' devices?"
Dev: "It means the device type isn't on our list."
Me: "So they're unsupported devices?"
Dev: "No, they're all supported. The... https://t.co/7Un50Wwibr