These are my own personal views and not those of my company Phaedrus Systems see www.phaedsys.com which is where the full version of this column, with links etc, resides under the Documents tab.

 

I had some interesting responses from the last column that it is not just the amount of spam but the quality of the “conversation”. Where people respond in haste without any real thought. Not to mention grammar, punctuation and spelling with txt spk and twittering about the most inane things getting into all forms of communication. We truly are heading for a tower of Babel.  

 

Amusingly the column itself also fell foul of ghost writing…. As with all magazine copy The Editor (the clue is in the title) edited.   Editors edit to fit the page or to clarify something and of course to make sure it is “legal decent honest and truthful”. In this case the editor added a line to explain an organisations name which was the “party line” or spin if you will from their web site. Where my view of what it stands for is somewhat different. It appeared under my name but would I have said it? No. Does it matter?  Well as A Writer I am of course mortified! 

 

However in reality, in this case, it probably makes no difference at all and was done to clarify not in any malicious way or trying to change the tone or facts in the column.  You can trust the Editor of this magazine.  I do. In fact in seven years of writing this column this is the only edit I have ever had any query about and ironically it was on a column on editing and moderation: poetic justice.

 

However editors do, like the moderators in news groups and web forums have a lot of power. Only I will know if the Editor has removed the preceding paragraph on the nuclear reactor in Surrey, or if it was never there in the first place…..

 

Coincidentally whilst looking for something else I came across several pages on the Wikipedia which have been removed… well the page saying the contents have been removed. I wondered why as the topics did not seem that controversial.   

 

This week in a Usenet photo-group some one posted a photo of the US president doing something indecent to a child. On inspection it was a fake, though technically done well; due to the usual tell tale photographic signs: shadow and perspective etc, quite apart from the fact it was in day light in front of some shops with several unconcerned people looking on and obviously in front of a camera.  However there are many who apparently think it is real!

 

It is all about the flow and more importantly the control of information. These days we seem to be drowning in information and in many cases just “noise” or twittering.  I don’t need to know what anyone had for breakfast, is wearing or is going to do in the next 30 minutes unless it directly impacts on my life! Even if it does the life of the information will only have a validity of 30 minutes but a life of years on the internet.

 

So where can you get good information? Well the obvious place is face to face meetings with real people.

 

Where do you find these real people to talk to? The answer is clear! Trade shows and conferences.  Most conferences, even the ones you have to pay for, like ESC usually have FREE trade shows attached.  Check the web sites for these conferences. Not only do you get the exhibitors but lots of other people to.  It is not the “sales and marketing team” They may set it up but at ESC most of the stands were manned by technical people.  For example at ESC Arrow, Farnel and RS had most of their FAE’s there.  It is the place to go for real technical information.  You can sit with these people over a coffee and talk. 

 

Before you ask even the x-Jtag girls are not sales “bimbos” over the last couple of years they have virtually all had at least a serious degree and in some cases Masters in Law, politics, history etc. Beauty and brains which is more than most of us can boast!

 

Also of course you have the conference speakers, many of whom are attached to the exhibitors, who just wander around the show i.e. the free side of the event.   We ended up with an impromptu debate on the Phaedrus Systems Stand “chaired” by Jack Ganssel.  In fact for 15 minutes we rivalled the free Showcase Theatre!  Yes, apart from the paid conference there was also a free “conference” on the flow of the show.  So if there is a Conference near you or in your domain check to see what the free side of the event is.

 

A day at a show can be one of the most productive days you spend this year.  The rate that the technology in the industry is moving is astounding the IET and BCS are running Continuing Professional Development because 80% of the technology new graduates will use during their working lives have not been invented yet.  The only real place to get up to date information that is not censored, edited, spun etc is at these shows where you can talk to the real people. 

 

I still recall meeting a couple of reluctantly attending engineers at an event where I presented on debugging tools for embedded. I comment that no one used method X any more as it had been superseded some 15 years before….  They spoke to me afterwards and said that was the main debugging method they used as they had no idea of all the new developments in any detail.  This came as no surprise when I discovered that this had been the first event they had been to in a decade.

 

The important point about these shows and conferences is that you can get round a lot of people and organisations quickly in one day.  This is why it is so cost effective.  Engineers should attend at least one domain specific and one general embedded event per year.  The general embedded show for the UK is ESC you missed this year’s make a date for next year’s event.  If you visit the Phaedrus Systems stand even the coffee is free and you don’t even have to talk to me!

 

Unfortunately due to publishing schedules and time zones I can not make a significant announcement on standards I had hoped. I need another 12 hours.

 

Also another 12 hours to see if the UK is officially out of recession.  This year has not been bad, hard work but not the disaster many expected and in fact turnover is up.  Hopefully 2010 will show a steady rejuvenation of the industry in general.

 

Whilst publishing schedules have slipped from 6 weeks to 10 days it is still not instant because good editing and sub-editing a quality magazine does take time.  It is the Quality we are missing in most modern communications.  For an interesting treaties on Quality read: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance where Phaedrus is a central Character.

 

 

Author Details and contact

 

Eur Ing Chris Hills BSc CEng MIET MBCS MIEEE  FRGS   FRSA is a Technical Specialist and can be reached at This Contact

 

Copyright Chris A Hills  2003 -2008
The right of Chris A Hills to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

 

 

 

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  Metaphysis of Quality