Matthew Arnold Stern's Blog, page 36
March 13, 2018
If a feature isn’t documented, it doesn’t exist
My wife and I were shopping for a new adjustable bed. We found the one we wanted and got a demonstration about the importance of technical writing. We had a list of features we wanted. One thing on my wish list was a bed that I could control with my smartphone. I’m a professional nerd, …
March 10, 2018
Technology and “adult entertainment”
The following post contains adult themes and links to NSFW content. When I went to my first CES in 1984, I heard stories of an “Adult Entertainment Pavilion.” I didn’t go because I had booth duty and mixed feelings about “adult entertainment” because of my father. My hornier coworkers came back with excited tales of …
March 7, 2018
Quirks and strange habits of famous writers
Which writer kept rotten apples in his desk drawer? Or cured writer’s block by hanging upside down? Our friends at Custom Writing Service have another fascinating infographic for you.
March 6, 2018
The latest, latest on Amiga
I admit that I’ve been wishy-washy about how I want to publish Amiga. I believe in independent publishing, but I also seek the validation of being selected by a publisher. So, I submitted Amiga to a publisher. A rejection? OK, I’ll publish it myself. Wait, another publisher is accepting submissions? OK, I’ll submit it to them. No …
March 1, 2018
Stoneman Douglas and the importance of teaching public speaking
We want to prepare our children to deal with the world — including the worst parts of it. The students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School were well prepared by their teachers. If you look at the students leading the national discussion about guns, they are the ones from the school’s debate team and drama program. These programs …
February 19, 2018
An open letter to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School
I received the following tweet asking for people to send letters of support to the students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. I was contacted on Facebook by a teacher from Stoneman Douglas High in Florida. She would love it if her students had letters of support when they return. Please send …
February 17, 2018
It’s time for a revolution
To be clear, this is not a violent revolution. There is enough violence in the world, and most violent revolutions replace one brutal regime with another. The revolutions that have the biggest impact in history are ones of the mind. Agriculture, religion, writing, medicine, cosmology, democracy, industrialization, and technology. The realization that the earth orbits …
February 14, 2018
Black Panther: Character development matters
I had the opportunity to see an advance screening of Marvel’s Black Panther in 3-D IMAX. It has everything you would expect from a superhero movie: thrilling action set pieces, brilliant CGI-driven special effects, and a Stan Lee cameo. But what really got me into the story were characters I could care about. This is a problem with most superhero …
February 5, 2018
Songs to raise your spirit
We hear plenty of bad news every day. What we need is something to raise our spirits, inspire us, and make us feel better. I’ve always turned to music for an emotional boost. Part of it comes from years of performing in choirs and musicals. Most of it comes from how music makes me feel. …
January 29, 2018
IQ is just a number
On Quora, I find a lot of questions about IQ. “What is it like to have an extremely high IQ?” “What is the relationship between IQ and BMI?” “Does an IQ of 142 give me bragging rights?” Yes, these are actual questions. And an IQ of 142 does give you bragging rights over me, since …
