I am a proponent of integration for ease and fluidity; it is at the core of my approach to computers. However, a problem often arises when I try to explain it with a list of benefits or features, because no list can do it justice. It is the way one thing reinforces the other and then aggregates to whole far greater than the sum of its parts. Today a series of events occurred that captures what I mean; it involves Document Styles, Twitter, Scouts, and Landscape Architecture.
Tweet and the Scouts
While having a drink with a lawyer friend, I mentioned my current Twitter kick. He said he saw little value in Tweeting and even having an account brought ridicule at the firm. I told him that following the right people on Twitter is like having scouts on the Internet reporting back good stuff to check out. To illustrate my point, I showed him some Tweets on the iPhone and touched one from someone I had just started to follow, @expertparalegal, who Tweeted a link to an article discussing points from the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals guide to lawyers for formatting documents for submission. As a legal writer, and just at the right time, I had a concrete example of one way Twitter can be useful. My friend retreated, just a hair, from his position.
The Persuasive Papers
As I scrolled down the article right then, perhaps rudely. I discovered the Court published a guide to give “suggestions to help you make your submissions more legible—and thus more likely to be grasped and retained.” Some of the points were:
-Times New Roman and Arial are not good fonts, Georgia and Constantia are better.
-While I knew serif fonts are easier to read because the serifs move the eye along, I did not know that the relationship between serif and sans serif fonts might be reversed on a computer screens. (Looks like I have to change one of my sites)
-One space after a period, not two. Two is an archaic holdover from typewriters and unnecessary with modern proportional fonts. I didn’t know that.
-Use all capitals if you want to be ignored. I knew that one.
-Don’t underline and avoid boldface. I knew that and cringe at underlines.
-Indent .25 or less. I typically use .5 so that was helpful.
The Document Styles
Then the big one, the one I have been screaming from the rafters: "Learn Styles!" In my paperless law office video series about using common systems more effectively - I hit this point hard.
In the first video of The Paperless Express 2.1 Making Office Letter titled “Critical Intro to Styles in Word” I start the movie with:
“Of all the things I could possibly tell you about anything I think this movie is the most important of the entire site….”
I end the movie with:
“That is styles, and that is the heart and soul of Word; it gives us consistency, it gives us control, it gives us predictability… “
And because of that Tweet, I now have the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals backing me up. Not bad for a Tweet, but there’s more.
The Landscape Architect
Satisfied I had won a small battle with a friend not fond of change, I went out for a celebratory smoke, reached for a lighter but found none. I noticed a couple at a table with one available and asked for a light. “Have a seat.” He said, and I did.
“What do know about Twitter?” I asked. He replied that he had heard of it but didn’t use it. I explained to him the idea of Twitter scouts. I said that there was no way I could find all the stuff that all those people had.
He quickly followed up, “They are filters.”
“Yes.” I said. “That’s exactly what they are.”
“That’s what we need in landscape architecture.” He replied.
It turns out that scholars in the field are producing exciting ideas and useful information but practitioner’s have trouble accessing the useful bits amidst the rhetorical flair. After kicking around the issue for while, we decided that maybe something could be done about it as he rather enjoyed the scholarship and I have become partial to building containers for it.
It turns out that environmental concerns of landscape design, like computers, work out great for everyone, if you just go with it.
And that’s the story of Document Styles, Twitter, Scouts, Persuasive Papers and Landscape Architecture.