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Entries Tagged as 'Writing'

Three Pages, a Thousand Words Plus Figures

August 18th, 2022 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Any topic and just about any situation. Please provide three pages that contain a thousand words and several figures. Right or wrong, we reach a point in life and history that we need information on this or that. What format? Try the title of this post. On three pieces of standard-size paper […]

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Tags: Communication · Expectations · Ideas · Information · Language · Writing

The Right Word and the Wrong Word

August 4th, 2022 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips It is important to use the right or correct word and avoid using the wrong word. This is an old fundamental in writing and speaking. Why am I writing about this? Because I continue to encounter professionals who make this error often. What is the right word and the wrong word? Consider […]

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Tags: Choose · Communication · Fatigue · Vocabulary · Word · Writing

The Work Diary

June 30th, 2022 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Information is power. It can be good as well. I keep a steno spiral notebook on my workspace. I jot the date for today and everything I do today. I have done this since sometime in 1986. That is … a bunch of years. I have all the notebooks, so if you […]

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Tags: History · Notebook · Record · Work · Writing

Modern

June 16th, 2022 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips I see a trend in people using the word “modern” to describe technology. I find that unfortunate. Just this morning, I read: modern data stack modern programming practice modern machine learning modern artificial intelligence modern compilers And then I quit. I guess I am one of “those people” who expect others to […]

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Tags: Alternatives · Communication · Technology · Writing

How to Write as Fast as You Can Type

April 7th, 2022 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips A writer can write 2,400 words in an hour and thereby finish a novel in 14 days (three weeks). Why don’t we? The average typing speed is 40 words per minute. That is 2,400 words per hour. If you write three hours a day and rest your hands the remainder of the […]

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Tags: Competence · Expertise · Play · Practice · Writing

Abbreviations, Grouping Persons, and Removing Accountability

February 28th, 2022 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips This bothers meā€”this bothers me often and deeply. We abbreviate or shorten descriptions of individual persons. We “lump them together” so as not to name individuals or describe them. Such removes accountability. This bothers me. Here is a news story about the Congress of the United States. There are hundreds of such […]

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Tags: Accountability · Clarity · Communication · Respect · Writing

The Power of Streaks

January 3rd, 2022 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips There is something to the concept of momentum where a body in motion continues in motion. That even works with mental activity. Momentum works. Even with the mind. That doesn’t make sense, but in my experience it seems to be true. Examples: For over 700 weeks (13+ years) I have viewed the […]

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Tags: Blog · Patterns · Reading · Synergy · Time · Writing

The CRUD Systems

December 23rd, 2021 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Once stripped of all the extras, the great majority of computers systems we use are CRUD. And that is okay. We invented computers to compute, i.e., to calculate things. 1+2=3 and so on. We also learned that computers are good at storing information. We put information in the computer, it is there. […]

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Tags: Change · Cloud Computing · Computing · Writing

Okay, Write Those Words

December 20th, 2021 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips For some reason, we often run away from the words that we want most to convey. I work with persons who are trying to write. They show me their draft, we talk, we walk through the words, and I ask questions. The questions usually lead to grimaces and twisted expressions, struggled breathing, […]

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Tags: Adults · Brevity · Clarity · Communication · Word · Writing

Do You Want to Communicate?

November 22nd, 2021 · No Comments

by Dwayne Phillips Of course we want to communicate. That is a basic. Nevertheless, here is a small test to measure the actual desire to communicate. Here is a quick test to measure a person’s desire to communicate to others. Here is a blank piece of paper. Here is a pencil. Write three things (plus […]

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Tags: Authentic · Choose · Clarity · Communication · Growth · Testing · Writing