watch your tone

Allow me to preface this week’s blog entry with a little background information. I work as a software technician at Hewlett Packard. The job title implies a professional atmosphere and although at times the utmost professionalism is required, most of the time, the work environment is very relaxed. Below is an email thread from today between myself and two engineers. I’m the test lead for a software project, and they are the driving force behind the code.

#13 is up in Dropbox. Also, I put Dave's new 0.24 hpmudn drop in there too.

I got Bravo working on Mac again, and we should probably check Linux to make sure we are OK there too

-Don

As you can see, the tone of this email is very relaxed. There’s a wealth of technical jargon to be sifted through before the instructions present themselves. The phrase, “we should probably check..” is the red flag signaling what this particular engineer would like to see.

Linux is working a-okay.

-Stan

Again, the tone is relaxed. This engineer is letting everyone else know that he’s already looked at the software in Linux, and everything is working properly as far as he can see.

Treetop isn't happy post bravo012. Stan and I saw the Treetop throwing a 49 error yesterday afternoon. It looks like when bravo tries to communicate with Treetop, the unit errors out. I'm currently using the Sprint 5 driver which I'm told is the latest. I just got the same error while using Dave's latest (.24) hpmud stuff.

Log files attached.

-Linus

Upon further review, I probably should’ve used a more professional tone in my email to Don and Stan, but in an effort to maintain status quo, I chose to use a relaxed tone. If I were emailing my supervisors, I would have chosen a more appropriate vernacular (ie: less slang, more specifics). Since I’ve worked closely with these two engineers and consider our relationship to be more friendly than not, I feel comfortable speaking in such tone.

Maybe Dave could take a look at it? If hpmud is giving the same error, it must be some sort of low level IO issue?

-Don

Don seems to enjoy camouflaging his instructions so as to not seem demanding. He’s also deferring the investigation to Dave by using deductive reasoning.

As per Dave, the laserjet LEDM xml packets are different from the inkjets, thus resulting in a system hang. The 49 error translates to an IO hang which requires a power cycle with the USB cable unplugged to clear.

-Linus

My reply seems very robotic. I was typing this email as Dave, another engineer on the same project, was dictating his analysis to me orally. After re-reading the email, I realize that I could have been more descriptive. In my defense, this was my own reduction after I processed what Dave was telling me. It’s really easy to get confused when engineers are rattling off complex technical terms while explaining what’s happening and why.

Dave, can you please expand on this? My examination of LEDM on Treetop is that is it mostly the same, with a few different elements here and there. I put a few small hacks into our code to handle the small differences. I've had no problem talking to Treetop with LEDM over the network, for example.

-Don

I obviously didn’t do a good job relaying the information between the two engineers. Don has asked for clarification on the matter. Don’s tone has changed from very relaxed to mildly pressing. He’s stated his theory and backed it up with logos rhetoric. “My examination … is that it is mostly the same with a few different elements...” This statement shows that he’s already done some research, and taken measures to prevent the issue. “I put a few small hacks into our code…” This is letting Dave know that he’s already made adjustments to handle the issue. The tone is unaggressive while still stating his stance. This will most likely be the first topic tackled upon returning to work in the morning.

link to ch3 worksheet

see the "useful links" tab on the right hand side

also, here

rhetorically speaking

One statement from last Tuesday's class that stuck in my head is, "rhetoric is the basis of every argument". Argumentative to me means pertaining to argument, but when describing rhetoric, argumentative is meant to infer a suggestive statement rather than a combative one. Rhetoric is the backbone of all methods of persuasion.

Rhetoric plays a larger part of my everyday life than I imagined. I've always heard the term "rhetorical" in reference to a statement made with no expectation of a retort. Little did I know, the term is much more encompassing. Rhetoric is the backbone of all methods of persuasion. Advertising comes to mind when I think of rhetoric. I come across advertising in some shape or form a number of times on an hourly basis. For example, I came across this ad while reading Sports Illustrated.

(see picture above)

The ad is an example of the pathos form of rhetoric. The presumed sick child sitting on an examination table in what looks to be a hospital or clinic is clearly akin to the pathos or emotional side. Upon further inspection, the ad indicates that PI affects 10 million and that early detection can lead to a better quality of life. These statements are meant to strike a chord of fear in the reader and alert them to investigate this matter further via the web address or phone number provided. I wouldn't expect a full page ad like this in a sports magazine, but rather some kind of dietary supplement to aid in body building. Nonetheless, this ad immediately caught my attention, even given my lack of my own children.

The vast majority of the rhetoric I use on a daily basis is of the logos form. I'm a software technician, so I speak in binary code (figuratively, of course) all day. I'm constantly relaying information between engineers. I try to keep things simple to cut down on confusion, so I make sure to leave out the fluff and stick to the technical specs and data they're most concerned with.

First blog entry

I'm currently reading A Crack In The Cosmic Egg by Joseph Chilton Pearce. I've just now made it through the first chapter, and I've been reading it on and off for about a week. This book is quite possibly the toughest piece of literature I've ever read. If the subject matter weren't so abstract and interesting, I would most likely put the book down and opt for something lighter. This is my third attempt at this novel, and I'm sure I'll wind up putting it back on the shelf once the reading load for the semester picks up.

When I try to think of the latest good book I've read, the first one that comes to mind is Freakonomics by Levitt and Dubner. This book is what I would consider the polar opposite of the Pearce novel. I enjoyed this book thoroughly, and even found myself reading tidbits of the “Freakonomics” column on the New York Times online. The crazy correlations backed by empirical evidence were quite entertaining and warranted out loud laughter on a number of occasions.

Outside of textbooks, these are the last two books I've read, or in the case of A Crack In The Cosmic Egg, made an attempt to read. Reading websites, magazines and newspapers qualifies under a different kind of reading. Most of my reading comes from this alternate category. I don't consider Audiobooks as reading at all. Some would argue that this form of ingesting literature is more effective than the traditional method, but I would wholeheartedly disagree. I do enjoy listening to Audiobooks from time to time, but I find that I don't retain the material nearly as well.

first post

Here is my first post.