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The Silicon Jungle by David H. Rothman
10. After-the-goof feedback. After you’ve botched up—and we all do

The Silicon Jungle by David H. Rothman

10. After-the-goof feedback. After you’ve botched up—and we all do

Chapter 17 11 words

Chapter 1: Chapter 1
Chapter 2: Chapter 7 and Backup VII, you’ll learn (1) the basics, (2) when charts
Chapter 3: Chapter 12, “How I Found ‘God’ on MCI (and a Few Other Odds and Ends
Chapter 4: 1. Bigger RAMs can work with more and larger numbers—a handy capability
Chapter 5: 2. More RAM can accommodate programs more complicated for the computer.
Chapter 6: 3. You may want the most sophisticated software to thwart computer
Chapter 7: 1. You can quickly make safety copies of valuable disks—something that’s
Chapter 8: 2. You can more easily work with long electronic documents.
Chapter 9: 1. Absence of bugs. The software maker should have gotten all the bugs
Chapter 10: 2. General ease of use. A program should be easy enough to learn _and_
Chapter 11: 3. Good documentation. The manual should be clear and logically
Chapter 12: 4. Usefulness to beginners and old pros alike. You can adjust the best
Chapter 13: 5. Speed. It lets you do your job fast, especially when you use it with
Chapter 14: 6. Power. Related to speed. The program can quickly accomplish
Chapter 15: 7. Fewer chances for botch-ups. Good programs limit the chances for
Chapter 16: 8. The Jewish-uncle effect. Ideally, your software will slow you down or
Chapter 17: 10. After-the-goof feedback. After you’ve botched up—and we all do
Chapter 18: 11. Ability to customize. You or at least a software expert can
Chapter 19: 12. Availability of “accessory” programs to make your original software
Chapter 20: 13. Support. Ideally, the software seller will stand behind his product
Chapter 21: 1. A =cursor= is just the marker on your screen—a blinking line,
Chapter 22: 2. A =file= is an electronic version of a letter, report, or other
Chapter 23: 3. A =control key= is what you start holding down to turn a letter or
Chapter 24: 4. To =scroll= just means to move from place to place in your
Chapter 25: 5. A =menu= lists commands on your screen. It can tell you how to
Chapter 26: 6. A =block move= is the ability to move material from one part of
Chapter 27: 8. A =search and replace= substitutes one word (or group of words) for
Chapter 28: 1. When you work for a stuffy old bureaucracy that’s rich and afraid
Chapter 29: 2. When you’re a procurement officer on probation. As they say, no
Chapter 30: 3. When you want to dump the training problems in the manufacturer’s
Chapter 31: 4. When you prefer an extra-large, extra-sharp screen and giant
Chapter 32: 5. When you’re looking for a machine that will run special software
Chapter 33: 1. It takes all of two or three minutes—maybe less—to copy a disk
Chapter 34: 3. Computer users want to befriend others with similar machines so
Chapter 35: 4. Many software companies overprice their wares. Yes, it’s expensive
Chapter 36: 5. Some people in large companies think software houses don’t give
Chapter 37: 6. Many software companies don’t offer enough guidance or other help.
Chapter 38: 2. A file in a data base is the electronic version of a file drawer or
Chapter 39: 3. A =field= is a category of fact like the amount of money spent on
Chapter 40: 4. =Structure= is simply the way a record is set up. There are three big
Chapter 41: 5. The EDIT command changes the contents of a data field. You can type
Chapter 42: 6. A command to APPEND can add new records to your electronic filing
Chapter 43: 7. =Sorting= lets you reshuffle records alphabetically, by date or other
Chapter 44: 8. The LIST command tells dBASE II to flash across the screen the
Chapter 45: 9. .AND. helps you narrow down the information you’re looking for or
Chapter 46: 10. .OR. is another way to describe the desired facts. LIST FOR
Chapter 47: 11. LIST FOR .NOT. SALE:PERSN = ‘BABBITT’ could help weed from view, or
Chapter 48: 12. =Command files= are programs that tell the machine how to manipulate
Chapter 49: 1. A large number of rows and columns. A spreadsheet of 254 rows and 65
Chapter 50: 2. Speed. “Even with a simple spreadsheet,” says Scharf, “someone might
Chapter 51: 3. General simplicity and ease of use. In tricky places, does the
Chapter 52: 4. Range of commands. Most spreadsheets nowadays let you easily move or
Chapter 53: 5. The ability to do what-if tables. The best spreadsheets won’t just
Chapter 54: 6. Easy consolidation of figures from different spreadsheets. That’s no
Chapter 55: 7. =Natural order of recalculation.= Cells must influence the numbers in
Chapter 56: 8. A useful =macro language=. Macros are combinations of commands that
Chapter 57: 1. Deciding whether to hire a computer consultant. How much in your time
Chapter 58: 2. Hiring and using a consultant. It isn’t just a matter of asking,
Chapter 59: 3. Training employees. Don’t clutter your people’s minds with
Chapter 60: 4. Working with your company’s data-processing people. Know which
Chapter 61: 1. The computer company’s FORTRAN, according to Stewart, was as badly
Chapter 62: 2. FORTRAN wasn’t as good as BASIC for micro data bases that stashed
Chapter 63: 3. Brown was still basically a mainframer. And micro FORTRAN was
Chapter 64: 3. “What’s the quality of the work?
Chapter 65: 1. Who’s teaching? Can he or she communicate well with the students, and
Chapter 66: 3. Why is the material taught? To make your people computer literate in
Chapter 67: 4. When do the students learn? On their time or yours? Will you reward
Chapter 68: 5. Where is the learning happening? Ideally, your students can take the
Chapter 69: 6. How do the students learn? Through instruction manuals, mainly, or
Chapter 70: 1. Even the best-intentioned companies may fail miserably in easing some
Chapter 71: 2. The traits which make somebody valuable to his company _may_ be the
Chapter 72: 3. At the same time you can’t stereotype anyone—by age, folksiness, or
Chapter 73: 4. An important part of training is simple salesmanship—persuading the
Chapter 74: 5. Don’t make computerization seem more threatening than it has to be.
Chapter 75: 6. As early as possible start people on real projects. The first day at
Chapter 76: 2. Helped them with some learning aids like color-coded keys showing
Chapter 77: 3. Motivated them by explaining how their new computer skills would make
Chapter 78: 1. Before approaching Data Processing, ask who-how questions about the
Chapter 79: 2. Ask your informal Data-Processing contact about possible technical
Chapter 80: 3. When you’re ready to deal with the Data-Processing manager, tell
Chapter 81: 4. Make it clear you’re aware of your project’s complications.
Chapter 82: 1. =The canary-in-the-mine= theory of labor relations. Ergonomics is
Chapter 83: 3. =“Terminal” happiness.= Detachable keyboards are just a start,
Chapter 84: 7. =Air conditioning, heating, and ventilation=—basics neglected by a
Chapter 85: 8. Honest assurances to your people that you’re exposing them to the
Chapter 86: 9. A willingness to consider alternatives to the TV-like CRTs that
Chapter 87: 10. Sensible use of wrinkles like the mouse—the hand-sized gizmo you use
Chapter 88: 11. A related ingredient, good software—the topic of earlier chapters.
Chapter 89: 2. How far the keyboard platform protrudes from the platform on which
Chapter 90: 4. The angle at which the screen faces you. You can swivel away to your
Chapter 91: 5. The height of your chair. You don’t of course need high-tech
Chapter 92: 1. Removing half the tubes from existing fluorescent fixtures. You’ll
Chapter 93: 2. Parabolic fluorescent fixtures with baffles to keep the light out of
Chapter 94: 3. Parawedge louvers, which, according to Eisen, “have been particularly
Chapter 95: 4. Desk and floor lamps. You might buy rheostats you can plug in between
Chapter 96: 5. Indirect lighting. The disadvantage is the expense. You may have to
Chapter 97: 1. Coatings or etching applied during manufacture of the video displays.
Chapter 98: 2. Coatings put on after manufacture. Generally, but not always, they
Chapter 99: 3. “Colored plastic panels and etched faceplates,” which, says Eisen,
Chapter 100: 4. Micromesh filters, favored by German ergonomists. Eisen says U.S.
Chapter 101: 5. Polarizing filters. They may reduce brightness and shorten tube life,
Chapter 102: 1. There is a possibility, extra-slim, but still there, that
Chapter 103: 2. More minor physical and mental problems from computers definitely do
Chapter 104: 6. The possibility of a detached retina
Chapter 105: 3. Guarding your electronic files
Chapter 106: 1. Burden programmers and others with electronic versions of heavy
Chapter 107: 2. Keep their computer systems easy to use—and vulnerable. (“Then you’re
Chapter 108: 3. Compromise. (“You get half raped.”)
Chapter 109: 1. How hard, exactly, would it be to puzzle out? Just how many
Chapter 110: 2. How compatible is the program with your computer? If security is so
Chapter 111: 3. Is the security program easy to use? If it’s too hard, it’ll be
Chapter 112: 4. Are you certain the program won’t jeopardize the accuracy and
Chapter 113: 5. Should you expand your system, will the security software be able to
Chapter 114: 6. Do you want a =public key= encryption system? It works this way. You
Chapter 115: 7. Will your code be based on the =Data Encryption Standard= (=DES=),
Chapter 116: 1. See if your disk has a file at least 500 or 600 words long. If so,
Chapter 117: 3. Erase A.
Chapter 118: 1. Zealously enforce a no-drinking, no-eating policy around disks, at
Chapter 119: 2. Remember the Rothman Dirt Domino Theory. Dirt, dust, and grease often
Chapter 120: 3. Realize that floppies don’t always mix well with office materials
Chapter 121: 4. Know about other natural enemies of floppies or at least of the data
Chapter 122: 5. Don’t even let your floppies rest against your computer’s screen,
Chapter 123: 6. Remember that the more information you can pack on a floppy, the more
Chapter 124: 7. Clean your disk heads. Don’t use rubbing alcohol. “Try something like
Chapter 125: 8. Have head alignment checked, to reduce disk errors. With heads out of
Chapter 126: 9. Buy quality disks. Of course, the more you spend on disks, the more
Chapter 127: 1. Every five minutes or so, type out the “KS” or an equivalent and dump
Chapter 128: 2. Every half an hour make a printout of your recent work. With a fast
Chapter 129: 3. Every day make your backup floppy. You might forget about the scratch
Chapter 130: 1. Dumping to floppies. It’s cheap but slow. Then again, you can speed
Chapter 131: 2. Transferring the Winchester’s contents to a special tape drive large
Chapter 132: 3. Dumping to an ordinary videocassette recorder. Although slow, it’s
Chapter 133: 1. How much time or money does it take to enter your data or set up your
Chapter 134: 3. How much time or money do you have for copying, cleaning,
Chapter 135: 1984. Many more companies might be. They might have kept quiet, however,
Chapter 136: 1. The cottage keyers are paying more than $2,600 a year to rent their
Chapter 137: 3. Likewise, the cottage keyers lack the normal fringe benefits. The
Chapter 138: 4. The keyers may not be sharing the experiment’s rewards fifty-fifty.
Chapter 139: 1. Ease and speed of use. You needn’t be a computer expert or wrestle
Chapter 140: 2. Friendliness. A good system isn’t just easy to use; it’s also boy
Chapter 141: 4. Confidentiality. Clerks aren’t privy to the same information as the
Chapter 142: 1985. They’d be able to place mutual-fund orders for clients, conduct
Chapter 143: 1. Lower phone bills. In a Midwestern office of the H. J. Heinz Company,
Chapter 144: 2. Elimination of telephone tag. “We can type a memo at the end of our
Chapter 145: 3. An end to garbled messages. Errors and misunderstandings decline when
Chapter 146: 4. More efficient sharing of ideas. =Computer conferencing= is an
Chapter 147: 1. How long a Kaypro took to sort dBASE II files electronically while
Chapter 148: 3. How long a second Kaypro needed to sort the dBASE files in the first
Chapter 149: 1. How extensive do you want your network’s file-sharing capabilities to
Chapter 150: 2. Who’ll manage the network? Who’ll determine who can see what
Chapter 151: 3. Do you want to assign special network-related duties to other people?
Chapter 152: 4. Who will work at what =node=? That’s jargon for a location or =work
Chapter 153: 5. Will some people share work stations? If so, you’d better decide
Chapter 154: 7. How many printers and other gizmos will people share, and where will
Chapter 155: 8. What kinds of computers are you planning to hook up? The WEB as of
Chapter 156: chapter 11, but subject to court approval, would be bought by a Swedish
Chapter 157: 1. If your computer messes up, remember the very last thing you did,
Chapter 158: 2. See if that isn’t the answer to your problem.
Chapter 159: 1. Know your prices. Study the want ads of the local papers. There’s
Chapter 160: 2. Pay attention to the machine’s physical condition. A banged-up
Chapter 161: 3. Find out how your pet programs run. If you don’t have any available
Chapter 162: 5. Find out what generation of equipment it is. Does it include all
Chapter 163: 6. Learn where you stand legally if you’re buying software with the
Chapter 164: 7. Call up commercial auctioneers and find out if they’re holding any
Chapter 165: 8. Obviously you’ll want to consider a maintenance agreement with a
Chapter 166: 1. Another daisy wheel machine. The daisy wheel is plastic or metal and
Chapter 167: 2. A =laser printer=. Typically, it works a bit like some copying
Chapter 168: 3. A =thermal-transfer printer=. This uses patterns of heat to arrange
Chapter 169: 4. An =ink-jet printer=. This kind literally squirts ink against the
Chapter 170: 1. =Draft quality.= The letters are too dotty for anything but drafts
Chapter 171: 2. =Correspondence quality.= It’ll do for a letter to a forgiving friend
Chapter 172: 3. =Near-letter quality.= You can get away with it for book manuscripts,
Chapter 173: 4. =Letter quality.= That’s typewriter quality.
Chapter 174: 1. Does the printer offer them no matter what computer or program you
Chapter 175: 3. For free, will the store modify your computer system to make the
Chapter 176: 4. Will your desired combinations of features work simultaneously?
Chapter 177: 2. If not, can the store make one up for you? At what cost?
Chapter 178: 1. The general logic of the manual. The author should have written it
Chapter 179: 2. The quality of the index. I’ll charitably assume it’s there to begin
Chapter 180: 3. Simplicity of vocabulary and sentence structure. A manual shouldn’t
Chapter 181: 1. The field may only contain certain numbers and/or letters—for
Chapter 182: 2. The field will _enter itself_ based on your previous entries. For
Chapter 183: 3. The field can be a constant. For example, if your data record
Chapter 184: 4. The field can automatically shift cases for you. For example, you
Chapter 185: 5. The field can insist that whatever you type in is identical two
Chapter 186: 6. The field can be required—something that you _have_ to enter, or
Chapter 187: 1. Does the program help you come up with pies, bars, or whatever kind
Chapter 188: 2. Can it do so as quickly as possible?
Chapter 189: 3. Does the program fit in well with your other software?
Chapter 190: 4. How much memory space does the program—and the electronic files of
Chapter 191: 5. What about the program’s color capabilities—both on screen and on
Chapter 192: 6. Does the program coexist okay with the printer or plotter you own or
Chapter 193: 7. How easy is the program to learn? What about the other general traits
Chapter 194: 1. “Who?” Who from the contracting firm is doing the work? A junior
Chapter 195: 2. “What?” Describe the task as clearly and precisely as possible. And
Chapter 196: 3. “When?” Can you negotiate a penalty if the firm misses a deadline?
Chapter 197: 4. “Where?” Will the consultants do the work in your office? Theirs? On
Chapter 198: 5. “How much?” Obvious.
Chapter 199: 1. Thinking small. Don’t bargain over the Who-How simply for the whole
Chapter 200: 2. Making the consultant give you the source code of the new software.
Chapter 201: 3. Insisting that any manuals for his software be complete and in plain
Chapter 202: 4. Bargaining if possible for a software warranty. Then, if you discover
Chapter 203: 5. Possibly requiring the consultant to give you a discount on
Chapter 204: 6. Negotiating for full or part ownership of the software he may develop
Chapter 205: 7. Forbidding the consultant from selling the new software to your
Chapter 206: 8. Making the consultant pledge that he won’t violate any trade-secret
Chapter 207: 9. Hammering out a confidentiality agreement, if necessary, to protect
Chapter 208: 10. Making the consultant agree in writing that he is working as your
Chapter 209: 11. Trying to write into the contract your right to a full explanation
Chapter 210: 12. Remembering that there’s only so much protection the law can give,
Chapter 211: 13. Choosing the right lawyer, if you can afford one, for the contract.
Chapter 212: 1. Is the convenience worth the extra several hundred dollars you’ll be
Chapter 213: 3. How do the windows look alongside each other? Do they =overlap=, just
Chapter 214: 4. How about =data transfer=? If you move information from one
Chapter 215: 5. What kind of graphics—=bit mapped= or =character based=? The bit
Chapter 216: 6. Will the window program work with ordinary software or just products
Chapter 217: 7. Will the windows at least slightly slow down some programs? A word
Chapter 218: 8. Is the program picky about the computers it’ll work with? A window
Chapter 219: 9. Does the program require a mouse—the gadget you roll on your disk to
Chapter 220: 1. Communicate teletype-fashion with the other person. You can keep
Chapter 221: 2. Call up electronic bulletin-board systems (BBSs) or plug into The
Chapter 222: 3. Get copies of other programs that altruistic computer buffs have
Chapter 223: 1. Start out with the other person’s modem set on ORIGINATE and yours on
Chapter 224: 3. Hit your carriage-return key.
Chapter 225: 6. Assuming you’re using a manual modem, flick the switch to “data.”
Chapter 226: 3. Hit your return.
Chapter 227: 1. From MODEM7’s main menu, you select =T= and again hit the return a
Chapter 228: 2. Find out if the other person can read words you type. (Don’t worry if
Chapter 229: 3. Tell him (or her) to set up his computer so that, on paper or on a
Chapter 230: 4. Once the other person is ready—while you’re still in the =T= mode—hit
Chapter 231: 5. Now you type =B:[name of file]=. Here and elsewhere don’t type the
Chapter 232: 6. Next hit your return. The disk should start spinning, and both you
Chapter 233: 2. Again, select your trusty =T= from the main menu. But don’t hit your
Chapter 234: 4. Type =B:[the name of the file you’re creating on the data disk to
Chapter 235: 6. Then hit the letter =Y= with your finger on the control key
Chapter 236: 8. Then, to preserve the file, “writing” to your disk, you must type out
Chapter 237: 2. From MODEM7’s main menu, type =S B:[name of the data disk file you
Chapter 238: 3. Hit the return.
Chapter 239: 3. Hit your return.
Chapter 240: 2. Type the word TYPE, then a space, then the name of the file—preceded
Chapter 241: 3. Then hit your return.
Chapter 242: 4. Hit your return.
Chapter 243: 3. Tap =Control-B=.
Chapter 244: 4. Type the right number (300 for 300 baud, 1200 for 1,200; do not use
Chapter 245: 5. Hit your return.

sooner or laterâ€”the program will tell you how you did so.

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