Marc Elias wrote a powerful letter to David Ellison that must be read.
https://newsletters.democracydocket.com/my-open-/letter-to-david-ellison-1
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@GreenMtnBear@4bear.com
mastodon 4.7.2I am a technical writer, editor, content creator, doc engineer.
Vermont bear. Big, gay, bearded, hairy, Kinsey 6, and married.
- Ar scáth a chéile a mhaireann na daoine
- Made of 100% recycled His Dark Materials.
- soc.motss/BML refugee
- I am a Vermonter. I am myself.
- I want to be good; is that not enough?
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Joined April 22, 2026
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The first article in the Writers' Table series discusses what technical writers DO vs. what people THINK we do.
https://open.substack.com/pub/stevearrants/p/what-technical-writers-actually-do?r=5qqjk8&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
Replying to
@lauren@mastodon.laurenweinstein.org If he said "the sky is blue", I'd stick my head outside to look and confirm.
Seen on Bluesky
Ugh. Even with the windows shut I can smell it.
I loved listening to his shows and learning more about music.
https://www.vermontpublic.org/show/exploring-music/2026-07-24/bill-mcglaughlin-host-of-exploring-music-passes-at-age-82
We’re all taught that passive voice is bad writing. Style guides are sometimes rigidly against it. Grammar checkers flag it for correction. Writing instructors teach it as a mistake to avoid.
Passive voice is correct when the actor doesn’t matter, when the actor is unknown, or when the action matters more than who performs it.
https://stevearrants.substack.com/p/the-passive-voice-myth
The F-pattern isn't a reading style to design around. It's a symptom. NN/g's own follow-up shows the F only forms when a page gives readers nothing to anchor on. Front-load the point and the scan never starts.
And now docs have a second scanning reader: the AI retrieval pipeline. The same structure serves both.
https://open.substack.com/pub/stevearrants/p/writing-for-the-f-pattern?r=5qqjk8&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
I think it's only going to get worse.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jul/18/inevitable-toxic-mix-fuelling-deadly-political-violence-world?CMP=share_btn_url
A poem by Rainer Maria Rilke, translated by Robert Bly.
Fascinating local Vermont story. Lake Champlain has secrets, and these folks are finding them.
https://www.sevendaysvt.com/arts-culture/history-arts-culture/local-shipwreck-hunters-capture-stunning-images-of-their-finds/
#vermont
Most documentation has a structural problem that exists before any individual piece of writing: nobody has decided what kind of content belongs in the documentation and what each content type is supposed to do.
The result is documentation that mixes procedures, explanations, reference material, and tutorials in ways that make all four harder to use.
#diataxis #technicalwritinghttps://stevearrants.substack.com/p/documentation-frameworks-a-field
CSPAN is doing a wonderful job, showing everything from local parades to readings and demonstrations.
https://www.c-span.org/liveEvent/?America250
Be very quiet. Zoey is watching for wabbits.
Replying to
@sultmhoor@christmas.tattoo We are with Verizon, neither ethical nor good. It's just the best of the meager Vermont offerings. It's like that like from AbFab -- "I don't want more choice, I just want nicer things." Every gets enshittified for profit. EV-ER-Y-THING
The botched ICE raid in South Burlington, VT
https://youtu.be/E376rVx-Hjo?si=fTssYbSK-MqcGIRL
#ice #vermont
I am angry at this, but I want people to know that there ARE resources to surrender your pet if you can no longer care for them. Please don't do this sort of thing. Find a local rescue or shelter. You loved them once; show them love now. #Vermont
https://www.mynbc5.com/article/vermont-state-police-seeking-information-about-dog-found-tied-to-street-sign/71906613
Seen on the intertubes tonight
This is going to hurt. Hurt many people.
Replying to on mastodon.laurenweinstein.org
@lauren@mastodon.laurenweinstein.org Add a 24/7 streaming channel and I'm a subscriber!
A draft goes out for review. One reviewer responds immediately with six detailed comments. A second never responds. A third responds three weeks later with comments that contradict the first. You send a follow-up. You send another. Eventually you make a judgment call and publish. Later, someone finds an error that reviewer two would have caught.
This is a workflow problem, and it’s yours. And like most workflow problems, it responds better to structure than to effort.
https://stevearrants.substack.com/p/review-and-approval-workflows
Fuck you, Death.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjejw8pq5elo
Fra-GEE-Lay! It's a major award!
From Doctor Zoom on Wonkette.
https://open.substack.com/pub/wonkette/p/trump-has-cunning-plan-to-win-inaugural?r=8b0xkx&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
Most writers edit everything at once — grammar in one sentence, structure in the next, purpose halfway through the page. The result is edits that contradict each other: a sentence you’ve tightened for clarity in one pass and then added caveats to in the next.
The editing problem isn’t a lack of skill but a lack of separation. Content, structural, and copy editing are three different jobs that require three different modes of attention.
https://stevearrants.substack.com/p/the-three-tiers-of-editing
This should all work out quite well.
https://newrepublic.com/post/213657/new-york-times-columnist-60-minutes-ross-douthat-pro-trump-overhaul
Senator Mitch Mcconnell joins the new season of Ghosts on CBS.
Kid Rock grew up rich. His dad owned a successful chain of car dealerships, allowing him to be raised on a 5.5-acre estate complete with a tennis court, a swimming pool, a personal apple orchard, and a barn for horses.
He dresses like this generation's Liberace
https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/kid-rock-says-he-calls-trump-while-drinking-late-at-night/
Some good advice for the Brave Little State
#ai #vermonthttps://vtdigger.org/2026/07/28/vermonts-economy-is-in-good-shape-state-economists-say-but-ai-boom-is-a-threat/
At some point in every technical writer’s career, a developer or subject matter expert reads a plain-language revision and says some version of: “This is too simple. Our users aren’t stupid.”
The complaint is often sincere. The SME genuinely believes that simple language signals disrespect for the reader’s intelligence.
They’re wrong, but arguing about respect for users usually goes nowhere. The better argument is cognitive.
https://stevearrants.substack.com/p/plain-language-is-not-dumbing-down
Has your employer required you to install software on your phone or computer? Ronan Farrow tells us the data it collects, the decisions made from this, and why it's a real problem.
https://www.facebook.com/reel/1723254505657175
A pharmacy chain in #Vermont implemented AI for efficiency. It's led to delays, incorrect information and privacy concerns. #AIhttps://vtdigger.org/2026/07/29/a-pharmacy-chain-in-vermont-implemented-ai-for-efficiency-its-led-to-delays-incorrect-information-and-privacy-concerns/
Stately Wayne Manor is for sale. Batcave not included.
https://christiesresocal.com/properties/380-s-san-rafael-avenue-pasadena-ca-us-91105-26848149
The collapse of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation AMOC would have catastrophic consequences for societies. We quantify the risk of committed AMOC collapse using large ensembles of Earth system model simulations. Under conservative assumptions of Greenland ice sheet melt, the probability that collapse is already committed is 10% rising to 80% by 2100 under worst case emissions. https://doi.org/10.31223/X5N48Q
Cooler and drier, I started mowing the front-back. I still worked up a sweat even with the battery mower. The shirt quality is much better today.
I'll do the rest after a break. Zoey is in the yard supervising.