Hi, Interesting tech writing tie-in. I am not claiming better wording on the map warning would have saved this guy.
But, winter is a season. And winter begins (here) December 21. So, when the subject could lead to injury or death, should we technical writers be precise in what we write, or just impart the general idea and move on? Which is to say, it often snows in the late fall. Even here in Connecticut, we are prone to having significant snowfalls in the beginning of November, though our snowiest month is February. So, I say one mapmaker is guilty of not including a critical warning and the other is guilty of including a warning that is not specific enough--depending, of course, on when the road really closes (does the state close it on Dec. 21 or does the state close it beginning with the first snowfall, etc.?). Cheers. -----Original Message----- From: Thomas Johnson [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, December 07, 2006 10:43 AM To: Brierley, Sean; [email protected] Subject: RE: [TCP] CNET Editor Death Caused by a TechnicalCommunicationMistake? Maybe Sean is right that the warning should be written differently, but winter is winter unless you're interested in avoiding responsibility for your own ignorance of the outdoors.<snip> DISCLAIMER: Important Notice ************************************************* This e-mail may contain information that is confidential, privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure. If you are not an intended recipient of this e-mail, do not duplicate or redistribute it by any means. Please delete it and any attachments and notify the sender that you have received it in error. Unintended recipients are prohibited from taking action on the basis of information in this e-mail.E-mail messages may contain computer viruses or other defects, may not be accurately replicated on other systems, or may be intercepted, deleted or interfered with without the knowledge of the sender or the intended recipient. If you are not comfortable with the risks associated with e-mail messages, you may decide not to use e-mail to communicate with IPC. IPC reserves the right, to the extent and under circumstances permitted by applicable law, to retain, monitor and intercept e-mail messages to and from its systems. ______________________________________________ Are you a Help Authoring Trainer or Consultant? Let clients find you at www.HAT.Matrix.com, the searchable HAT database based on Char James-Tanny's HAT Comparison Matrix. Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] for details. Interested in Interactive 3D Documentation? Get the scoop at http://www.doc-u-motion.com -- your 3D documentation community. _______________________________________________ Technical Communication Professionals Post a message to the list: email [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, unsubscribe, archives, account options, list info: http://techcommpros.com/mailman/listinfo/tcp_techcommpros.com Subscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Need help? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] Get the TCP whole experience! http://www.techcommpros.com
