Adam’s Peace

No, this article is not about peace.

Articles online have a major problem.

Either the articles are too short, and leave the reader wanting more, or they’re too long, leaving the reader overwhelmed with information that they don’t need.

Some authors have found a middle ground that works more often than it works for most people, but people still tend to read the first 2 paragraphs, skim the headings of the article, and find something else to read.

I have caught myself skimming many articles… I simply can not keep myself interested in the long articles. I purposefully leave articles unread in my RSS reader if I know that an author tends to write long articles. Even worse, I don’t usually add authors who only write short articles, because I don’t feel that I’m getting enough out of their writing to justify reading their articles.

This brings me to an idea I’ve been building over the last couple of weeks. For now, I’m calling my idea Tangent Rich Hyper-Textbooks, and I will be developing it on my other site, Code Artist (CodeArtist.com).

It’s like a blog blended together with lengthy in-depth tutorials, and a dash of Wikipedia’s link-crawling addiction thrown in.

The idea is far less time-sensitive than traditional blogs, where an article posted a week ago is considered ancient news, but far more interactive than news or how-to sites.

Here is my idea:

Each tutorial will span several individual pages… They’ll be split by sub-topic. For instance, the first tutorial that I’m writing will be on HTML, and its sub-topics will include a minimal HTML page, how to make links, how to format text, how to insert images, etc., each on their own page.

Inside of each sub-topic’s page, there will be links to tangents… a “further reading” section, if you will. Tangents can be on any semi-related topic, such as the difference between text editors and word processors, basic Search Engine Optimization, the death of Frames-based web pages, to name a few.

Each tangent will also include links to in-depth content that I (personally) rate as Super-Nerdy… For instance, in the tangent describing the differences between text editors and word processors, I might explain the inner workings of different file types, and how to put the raw data together. If this idea were applied to a different field, such as veganism, then the in-depth content might explain how sucrose, glucose, starch, and the other “sugars” contribute in different ways to our blood-glucose levels, giving rise to the Glycemic Index.

This three-tiered approach satisfies my need to write long, involved articles, but because each individual article is optional, those who simply want to walk through the tutorial without distractions are free to, satisfying the needs of those who simply skim articles. Those who want more information also have this information at their fingertips.

This way, the whole tutorial stays on a central theme, much like a textbook stays on its topic, but it also wanders around the topic, giving new perspectives, much like a blog does. The extra layers of tangents and Super-Nerdy content (hopefully) give the site the same time-drain abilities that Wikipedia has. This is where I get the name… Just like a blog, it is Tangent Rich, like Wikipedia, it is full of Hyper-Links, and it has the primary aim of a Textbook.

Admittedly, it isn’t a very imaginative name… It doesn’t even make a good initialism or acronym, although the combination of Hyper-Text and Textbook is pretty nifty…

Anyways, in addition to the site’s structure, there are a few things that I thoroughly enjoy about blogs that I simply would not be able to leave out. The first is comments.

Anybody who has written PHP extensively has found the utility of PHP’s online documentation… Along with the developers’ notes about each function, there are also countless user-contributed comments, ranging from asking silly questions to giving in-depth, invaluable insight and sharing best practices, common mistakes, better functions than the ones being discussed, and source code that has worked for them.

The second must-have feature is RSS feeds. It will take me quite a bit of time to write each tutorial, especially since I’m adding two extra layers of content per page. Letting a person subscribe to a topic — or even to the entire site, depending on their whim — would be an uncommonly useful tool, both for the readers, but also for the site in terms of enticing readers to return.

I think that forums are also a must-have feature for large information sites. Forums allow people to share ideas without having to find the right article to comment on, to ask questions that haven’t been answered on the content-side of the site, and also provide a wealth of resources for future articles, or to help improve existing articles. Since I’ll be writing the code, I’ll be able to tie the forums, content, and comments together in a way that very few sites can achieve.

Best of all, once I get the software written, I’m hoping that people will steal my idea.

After all, I may be good at programming, but if someone could write a Tangent Rich Hyper-Textbook on time management, I would be thrilled. A Tangent Rich Hyper-Textbook on linguistics could also be a valuable tool… As could a Hyper-Textbook on writing, or on fractals, or on paintings, or truly any subject that is worth talking about.

Since my Code Artist Hyper-Textbook will be devoted to teaching people how to write software, as I develop the software for the site, I’ll be making tutorials based on that software… By reading the site, people will be able to copy it.

And, for those who don’t want to bother learning how to code, once I finish making my site, I’ll make the software available for free. (Free as in Free Beer. That’s a good thing.)

How will I make money with this site?

That’s a really good question. Perhaps I could sell other software that I develop, such as Placebo TimeAgent. (No, I have not forgotten about it… Only neglected it.) Perhaps I could also start a business selling personalized programs, although the turn-around time will be pretty long until I can afford to hire employees… Especially since my primary loyalty is to my current employer. I don’t want to sell advertising… Especially not banner ads.

I might sell special privileges on the forums… such as a paid-members only area, customizable avatars, signatures, etc… Who knows? The time to monetize the site is still far away.

I’ve been thinking… Why does the field of Personal Development exist?

From what I can tell, there are three primary ways to approach personal development: Time management, task management, and emotional management.

It seems that the goal of the first two strategies is simply to get more done in less time… do more with less. While this is commendable in its own right, how does it fit in with the rest of our lives? If we take the first strategy, then we’ll have more time in the day, certainly. If we take the second strategy, then we’ll accomplish more during the day… By combining the two, we accomplish a lot in a very short time.

But, what is the point? Sure, we make a lot of widgets and trade those widgets for dollars. We then trade those dollars for someone else’s widgets… Eventually, though, we won’t be able to sell any more widgets or buy anyone else’s widgets, due to death and disease. Our life is impermanent, and while we may leave a great legacy, is there really a point to being the person who made the most widgets?

How about managing our emotions? Is there really a point to this?

The rewards from emotional management appear a lot sooner than the rewards from time and task management… yet emotions are even more temporary than the widgets we produce. I only know of two people who are known as the happiest people alive. Out of the billions of people in the world, this is an extremely small percentage. The chance of creating a legacy based on your emotions is astronomically low.

Now, I’m not saying that productivity and happiness are unimportant… Without food, shelter, and a stable emotional state, we would quickly die. I’m simply wondering why they are the primary focus of personal development.

There is one thing that I can think of, that is more permanent than emotions and that produces results faster than cranking out widgets: Knowledge.

There have been some studies among primates that suggest that humans are unique because we teach other members of our society. Other primates learn through observation just as well as humans, and there are some apes that make spears to use while hunting, which is a highly evolved skill. The difference is that we humans go out of our way to teach our young and our peers, rather than simply observing how others accomplish their tasks.

Some whales actively teach their young, such as by stranding them in shallow water, then demonstrating how to return to the deep water. Almost all mammals, especially carnivores, teach their young by demonstrating tasks essential to daily life, such as hunting or watching out for hunters. Primates and some rodents seem to be unique in being able to use tools, and a very small percentage of these species are able to create tools of their own. Among these tool using creatures, active education seems to be unique to humans.

When a person becomes a millionaire, they usually make their first million through hard work. They then make their second million by writing books, teaching others how to become millionaires.

Perhaps — just perhaps — what it means to be human boils down to learning, then teaching. It is often said that the best way to learn is to teach.

This is simply some food for thought.

On a related note, I have decided on a topic for one of my other sites, Code Artist. I’ll be using it to teach people how to develop software, starting with an extensive article on HTML that I expect to be finished with on March 24th.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a painter, a software developer, a writer, a grocery clerk, or a machinist; framing your art is one simple way for you to stand out from the crowd and get noticed.

Most of us want to be noticed, at least by a few people. The problem is, few people know how. If you are a writer for a blog, being noticed is probably one of your primary motivations for writing. Software developers want people to use their programs. Painters want people to view their paintings. Artists around the world are motivated by being noticed, yet it seems that a few artists have mastered the skills necessary, while the majority suffer in obscurity.

A Few Definitions

I would like to start with a couple of definitions so that there is no misunderstandings.

Artist: Anybody who works creatively. Painters are artists, as are writers. A grocery clerk could also be an artist by finding creative ways to help customers. Machinists can also become artists by finding different ways to present the parts they create.

Talent: Something which comes natural, or which other people generally can not do, even with special training. Talented people include contortionists, because most people can not be that flexible, and professional athletes. Wiggling your ears is also an example of a talent.

Skill: Something which can be learned. A database administrator may seem talented, but he simply chose to pursue his education for his skill beyond what most people are willing to learn. Painters are skilled because they practice, experiment, and receive feedback, as well as seek out other painters in order to learn their skill. Writers and programmers are also skilled, rather than talented, because they each learn their trade.

We can see from these definitions that anybody can be an artist, because art is a skill.

Painters and Framing

A typical painter has a certain set of tools that he uses when he paints. I was fortunate enough to live with a painter for several years during my childhood, so I can recognize many of these tools and describe their uses, even though I would be very clumsy if I were to try using them.

These tools include brushes, pallets, paint, easels, canvas, pallet knifes, pencils, pens, and in recent years, computers, among many others.

Would it surprise you if I included saws, hammers, nails, staples, routers, jointers, and other carpentry tools in my list of painter’s tools?

The artist that I lived with, my grandfather, considered his carpentry tools to be as important as his brushes, paint, and canvas in making his art.

He did many things himself that he didn’t have to. A person can go to a paint supply store and buy canvas that is already stretched across a framework, so that it will stay steady. My grandfather stretched the canvas himself, so that he could set the size of his painting, and so that he could control just how flexible the canvas would be as he is painting. This meant that he had to create his own wooden framework, so he needed his table saw, hammer, and nails, as well as staples so that he could fasten the canvas to the frame.

All of this work goes unnoticed when people visit my grandfather’s house. They simply see the paintings hanging on the wall, and don’t know or care how the canvas was mounted. The vast majority of people don’t realize that if the canvas wasn’t stretched across a framework, it would be impossible to paint on.

After my grandfather finishes a painting, he would set it aside for a few days, then come back and take a good long look at it. Often, he would simply store the painting, since my grandmother forbade him from ever throwing a painting away. Every once in a while, though, he would get a ruler out and measure the sides of the painting, then head back to the garage where he kept his carpentry tools. After several hours of cutting, he would let the glue dry on a new frame, then place the painting inside.

There were several things going on inside my grandfather’s mind while he was looking at the finished painting. First, he asked himself whether he liked it. If he didn’t like it, then there was simply no point in framing it. Second, he asked if someone else might like the painting. If yes, then he would build a simply frame for it, with little detail. If he didn’t think that other people might like it, though, he would spend a long time making the frame, putting special detail into it. It was understood that certain paintings were for sale, and certain others would never be sold.

The reason why my grandfather put simple frames on the paintings to be sold was because he wanted to be considerate to the buyer. Nobody knows, before hand, where a painting will end up. Because of this, my grandfather kept things simple, so that the painting could be hung in any room.

The reason why he put frames on his paintings was so that he could say that this is a finished painting, worthy to be viewed. The frame separated the painting from the wall it was being hung on, letting it stand out, and keeping the eyes from falling off the painting. He understood a lot about how the eyes travel while scanning objects, and he knew that if he could keep people’s attention on the paintings he wanted to sell long enough, the price would go up and he wouldn’t need to haggle. The frame drove the prices up, simply by existing. Sometimes, the frame would drive the price up to ten times an asking price for an unframed piece.

A lot of people assume that my grandfather created the elaborate frames in order to draw more attention to the special paintings that he never wanted to sell. My grandfather was smarter than that. He made the elaborate frames to make certain that a buyer would be less interested in the painting, and so that he could continue to enjoy his work. He knew that the complex frame drew the eyes away from the painting, making it blend into the background. Only the people who had become desensitized to the frames would see the paintings they hid… Only family and close friends would be able to see his most precious paintings, even though they were hidden in plain sight.

Framing and Writing

Writing is a different art from painting. The most immediate difference is, instead of making one original image which can’t be copied cheaply, writing consists of putting words in different order to create sentences and paragraphs, and these words can be copied many times for a few cents.

Writing can be sold, though. The price of my writing is that I ask people to consider my points, and be subjected to a couple advertisements. Please note that I do not require a person to click on ads. In fact, I discourage people from visiting those links, unless a person is genuinely interested in what may be on the other side of that ad. I believe that the power of advertising is only effective if people make purchases.

Similarly, writing is only effective if people read what you have written. This is where framing comes in.

A typical writer’s tools could be any number of things. These can include pens, pencils, and paper, spray-paint and a wall, or a computer and a keyboard.

What is often overlooked, though, is the printer’s tool set.

These tools include the font, size, colors, and decorations.

Size is self-explanatory, as is color. The key here is to be consistent.

Decorations include italic, underlined, and bolded text, as well as the less common struck-out text. ^Superscripts and _subscripts are also considered decorations when used in formatting text on a computer, but printers consider these different types of typesettings.

When working with web pages, each of these decorations and many other typesetting options can be set by learning CSS. Unfortunately, as fascinating as markup languages are, they is beyond the scope of this article, or even this site, so I would like to deffer those interested to W3 Schools.

Fonts deserve additional study, though. There are four types of fonts that people can use, two of which are not appropriate for long articles. The two fonts that shouldn’t be used are scripts (which look like cursive writing) and specialty fonts like Wingdings or ones that have each letter put into a shape.

The remaining two fonts are grouped together as serif and sans-serif.

For those of us who have never been able to learn more than English, sans means without. Before I learned that distinction, I was often found putting my foot in my mouth, classifying the different serif fonts as sans-serif, and vice-versa. My train of thought was that sans-serif sounds more distinguished, so I mis-labeled the more stylized fonts.

I had to enlarge the example sentence so that I could point out the key quality that makes a serif font. On most of the letters, there are additional lines, most pointing left or right. These extra bits help out in different ways, depending on what a person’s medium is.

Serif fonts are easier to read, because the letters give the eyes natural lines to follow. The key time to use a serif font is when a document has a lot of text closed up in paragraphs, and there are more than 25 words per line. When used this way, people are able to read faster, and so they’re able to absorb more information in shorter times.

The problem with serif fonts, though, is that they are distracting if they are used on lines with fewer than around 25 words, or if the serifs are not clearly printed. If your medium is printed paper, you have a lot of information to present, and you have a laser printer available, then it is recommended to use serif fonts.

On the other hand, if your intention is to attract attention, such as when you are printing the title of a paper or a section heading, sans-serif fonts are encouraged. Also, if your only printer is a bubble-jet, ink-jet, or another poor quality printer, or if you want to display the text on a screen, then you have to remember that the extra lines of a serif font will not show up clearly and will be distracting.

When writing, there is no real purpose to over-frame an article, as there is with paintings. If you want to draw attention to your article, make your article visually attractive and use clean lines around the text. If you can, use the lines of your template to draw people’s eyes towards the article and avoid cluttered appearances. A few bells and whistles draw attention. A room full of them is just noise.

Framing and Programming

Here is where I get into trouble. When I write programs, I want to get to the meat of the matter. I want to get in and start arranging array indexes, pass pointers, and fill stack heaps. (Yes, that’s all just jargon.)

When I’m deep in my code, I don’t want to worry about how the program is presented to the user. And yet, it has been shown time and time again that the “pretty” program will be bought before any others.

The source code for Linux and FreeBSD are beautiful works of art, lovingly refined through decades of dedication by the open source community. Unfortunately, everybody has to take my word for it, because few people are willing to look at source code and figure out what it does.

I haven’t looked at the source code for Windows, but from the way that it behaves, I picture the story of Humpty Dumpty… The kernel, the smallest part of the operating system that makes everything else work, would look like a fragile egg encased in strong armor so that when it falls off of its wall, it doesn’t need to be put back together again.

Macintosh used to be no better, except that it seemed to me to be a paranoid teenager afraid to talk to the girls from fear of being rejected. Fortunately, the guys at Apple decided to wise up, forgot about writing operating systems, and they now use FreeBSD, even though they’re continuing to charge an arm and a leg for something that’s free to the rest of us.

And yet, both Windows and Mac are doing better than Linux and FreeBSD. This is because the Unix descendants have zits… They’re still nerds who wear their own logos on their t-shirts. The average user takes one look at them, then sees Windows and Mac on the other side in their gleaming boxes, and they justify choosing based on appearances because they heard that Linux was hard to learn. Each time Windows crashes, they curse the machine, but never consider using an operating system that just doesn’t crash. Whenever Macintosh forces a person to think the Apple Way^(tm), they never consider that there are free programs out there that let you do things any way you want.

These huge businesses are successful because they know the value of framing their software, not because their software is better by any stretch of the imagination.

A lot of the framing comes directly from their marketing departments… This includes the color of their boxes, the deals they make with computer vendors, and the curvy glass look on their task bars. They have enough bells and whistles to attract your attention, but their bells and whistles show up around clean lines and curves calculated to draw your eye.

Just as a painter learns carpentry in order to frame his paintings, and as a writer learns typesetting in order to frame their words, software developers frame by learning a different art: Visual design.

It makes me wish that more visual designers would notice GIMP, jump on the open-source bandwagon, and start framing Linux and FreeBSD.

General Purpose How-To of Framing

We have discussed how painters, writers, and programmers benefit from framing, and some of the most obvious ways that they frame their art. What about the rest of us?

How can a grocery bagger frame his job?

By learning more skills. He can become more valuable to his managers by taking pride in maintaining the store. He can become more valuable to the customers by asking about them and engaging in small talk. He can find one small thing that he can turn into habit that will set him apart from the background, such as by putting a personalized thank-you note in each customer’s basket. (By personalizing, perhaps he can sign a stack of notes the night before, so that he isn’t taking extra time while bagging. Then, when he asks the person’s name while engaging in small talk, he can write “Dear so-and-so” at the top.)

How can a taxi driver frame his job?

Getting out of the seat can go a long ways towards improving the tips… Turning around (while parked) and looking people in the eyes. I have even heard stories of cabbies who have espresso machines in their cabs, and who give free drinks to their passengers before starting on their way (and before starting the meter). Of course, one cabbie in New York has set himself apart and has become the most-sought after taxi in the world by hosting a game show called Cash Cab. He has advertising funding, though, so it probably isn’t a good idea for other cabbies to copy.

Any other job:

Get to know what your customer would also like. It doesn’t have to be related to your main job.

How I’m Working On Framing

I have to admit, I haven’t given much thought to giving extra to my customers before I started this post.

I have already started writing a program for helping to keep track of different to-do lists. That would make an excellent extra perk for readers of this site, even though I don’t write about project management often.

As I’m finishing off the first rough-draft for this post, I am also noticing that my site’s template is boring, slightly distracting, and I haven’t worked on the non-blog portions of this site for a long time. It is time for a redesign with clean lines and flowing curves that accent the content and clearly mark the non-content. If someone is willing to donate a Wordpress template, saving me hours of coding, I would appreciate it very much, although I might have a logo being designed soon, so it would be best to wait.

In addition, I do know a bit of the technical side of HTML. While I have not practiced the artistic side of making web sites, I can create articles explaining how to use HTML with blogging, and perhaps redesigning my site’s template will help with making articles explaining how to make your own template.

Each of these take extra time to prepare, though. This leads into the reader question: What can I do for you, in addition to writing on this site?

Further Points to Consider: Clutter

I mentioned it before in the article, but this point is important enough to need its own section.

Clutter distracts from the art.

When it comes to paintings that my grandfather didn’t want to sell, increasing clutter by making the frames ornate served its purpose. Those who were used to the ornate frames could see past the clutter and appreciate the art, yet buyers seeing his art for the first time passed those paintings by.

Similarly, advertising copy is cluttered writing, full of many different typographical styles and tricks meant to grab people’s attention. Yet, more often than not, these tricks end up overwhelming the reader and they go to a different web site. There have been many products that I have considered, yet have turned down because I ran into ad copy.

If you want to “sell” anything, whether it be a product in exchange for money, or some writing in exchange for their honest consideration, the key is to set up your framing in a way that it draws attention to your product without distracting away from it. Naturally, your product must also be able to stand on its own; a terrible painting in a good frame is still a terrible painting, and a terrible article placed on a good template is still a terrible article.

The point of a frame is to give people a chance to stop and consider your product, not stop and consider the frame.

Link Love

The idea for this article came from reading Loren’s article on her site Writing Power, named Well Dressed Writing: Tips for Effective Page Design. I highly recommend that article for anyone who is considering the presentation aspects of their writing. I also highly recommend her entire site for anyone who writes.

Yes, this includes you. Everybody writes, so I recommend her site to everyone.

Reader Question

To repeat the question of the day, what can I do to help you, above and beyond writing on this site?

This can include any topic where I do not have to physically be present. No, I can not help you move to a new house, but I am willing to help out in any other way.

One idea includes interpreting symbols. I still astonish Jeff of Druid Journal.net with my interpretation of symbols, even though he first came to me to help interpret a dream that he had.