Editing, Presenting and Anal Retenting Thursday Bram, Christopher Swenson Center for Information Security University of Tulsa 600 South College Ave, Tulsa, OK 74104

Overview Editing skills Publications Anal retentive bits and pieces

Editing skills

Publications

Anal retentive bits and pieces

Manuals Chicago Manual of Style Excellent reference for all things about setting text Elements of Typographic Style , by Robert Bringhurst Best text for typesetting Writing for Computer Science , by Justin Z obel Good book for more technical writing Elements of Style , Strunk and White Classic, cheap, small

Chicago Manual of Style

Excellent reference for all things about setting text

Elements of Typographic Style , by Robert Bringhurst

Best text for typesetting

Writing for Computer Science , by Justin Z obel

Good book for more technical writing

Elements of Style , Strunk and White

Classic, cheap, small

Writing: the Three Cs Clear Don’t use difficult vocabulary Unless it is necessary; if so, define it No ambiguity Concise Shorter is almost always better But don’t add ambiguity Consistent Be consistent in language, arguments and formatting

Clear

Don’t use difficult vocabulary

Unless it is necessary; if so, define it

No ambiguity

Concise

Shorter is almost always better

But don’t add ambiguity

Consistent

Be consistent in language, arguments and formatting

Writing Tips Especially for papers, write in third person Use the academic “we” if necessary, but never “I” or “you” Outline your paper ahead of time Outlining gives you an idea of where you're going and what resources you need Define any technical or difficult terms at the beginning of your paper Vary your word choice

Especially for papers, write in third person

Use the academic “we” if necessary, but never “I” or “you”

Outline your paper ahead of time

Outlining gives you an idea of where you're going and what resources you need

Define any technical or difficult terms at the beginning of your paper

Vary your word choice

Common Mistakes Loose / lose Its / it’s They’re / their / there Then / than Effect / affect You’re / your Different than / different from Could of / would of

Loose / lose

Its / it’s

They’re / their / there

Then / than

Effect / affect

You’re / your

Different than / different from

Could of / would of

The Possessive – Just for Dr. Hale Chicago , 7.17–7.30 Possessives: ’s for everything, except Plural in form, singular in meaning Politics’, species’, United States’, National Academic of Sciences’ Ends in “eez” sound Euripedes’, Xerxes’, Ganges’ Unpronounced “s” Descartes’, marquis’, For …’ sake righteousness’, goodness’ Not hard and fast: can just omit for any word ending in “s”

Chicago , 7.17–7.30

Possessives: ’s for everything, except

Plural in form, singular in meaning

Politics’, species’, United States’, National Academic of Sciences’

Ends in “eez” sound

Euripedes’, Xerxes’, Ganges’

Unpronounced “s”

Descartes’, marquis’,

For …’ sake

righteousness’, goodness’

Not hard and fast: can just omit for any word ending in “s”

More on e.g., etc. i.e. = id est = “it is”, “in other words” e.g. = exempli gratia = “for the sake of example” Always use commas after (i.e., like now) When using e.g., i.e., and so forth, never end it with “etc.” – it’s implied etc. = et cetera = “and the rest”

i.e. = id est = “it is”, “in other words”

e.g. = exempli gratia = “for the sake of example”

Always use commas after (i.e., like now)

When using e.g., i.e., and so forth, never end it with “etc.” – it’s implied

etc. = et cetera = “and the rest”

Always Proofread Run a spell-checker If possible, have someone else look it over If not, try some of the following: Read paragraphs in reverse order Read one line at a time Print out a copy and highlight any words that are commonly mistaken

Run a spell-checker

If possible, have someone else look it over

If not, try some of the following:

Read paragraphs in reverse order

Read one line at a time

Print out a copy and highlight any words that are commonly mistaken

Cite Your Sources Know where your facts come from Cite consistently, regardless of style used Include all the information someone would need to find that source For papers, the minimum number of references is 10

Know where your facts come from

Cite consistently, regardless of style used

Include all the information someone would need to find that source

For papers, the minimum number of references is 10

Example Citation J. Smith, Analysis of Networking Procedures , Addison-Wesley, Crawfordsville, Indiana, 2005. Included is the name of the author, the name of the publication (article name and journal name), page numbers, the publisher’s name and location and the date published If citing material from the Web, cite the URL Book titles, journal titles should be italicized Article names in quotes Journal volume numbers in bold, issue in parentheses Artificial Intelligence 7 (1)

J. Smith, Analysis of Networking Procedures , Addison-Wesley, Crawfordsville, Indiana, 2005.

Included is the name of the author, the name of the publication (article name and journal name), page numbers, the publisher’s name and location and the date published

If citing material from the Web, cite the URL

Book titles, journal titles should be italicized

Article names in quotes

Journal volume numbers in bold, issue in parentheses

Artificial Intelligence 7 (1)

It’s Plagiarism … If you don’t give credit when you use another person’s idea, opinion or theory If you don’t give credit use facts, graphs, statistics or other pieces of information that are not common knowledge If you don’t give credit for a direct quotation or paraphrase of another person’s work

If you don’t give credit when you use another person’s idea, opinion or theory

If you don’t give credit use facts, graphs, statistics or other pieces of information that are not common knowledge

If you don’t give credit for a direct quotation or paraphrase of another person’s work

Style Always conform to the standard style Word limits, text size and formats are all there for a reason When in doubt, ask for a sample or a template Assume that copies of any paper, presentation, etc. will be given to other people Must be understandable without you present

Always conform to the standard style

Word limits, text size and formats are all there for a reason

When in doubt, ask for a sample or a template

Assume that copies of any paper, presentation, etc. will be given to other people

Must be understandable without you present

Presentation Tips Bullets are helpful Each bullet should be a complete thought Don’t rely on PowerPoint, except for displaying images Don’t just read off your slides Use easy to read figures Always use easy-to-read text Use strong colors, especially for text Avoid animations, neon colors and sillyness Try to keep bullets to one line

Bullets are helpful

Each bullet should be a complete thought

Don’t rely on PowerPoint, except for displaying images

Don’t just read off your slides

Use easy to read figures

Always use easy-to-read text

Use strong colors, especially for text

Avoid animations, neon colors and sillyness

Try to keep bullets to one line

Letters Every letter should have a header Date (no abbreviations) Addressee and Address (Name, Title, Company, Street Address, City, ZIP) Address letters to an individual Use Mr., Ms. or the appropriate title All letters begin with “Dear” End letters with “Sincerely” or a similar closing Leave a space for a signature and type your name

Every letter should have a header

Date (no abbreviations)

Addressee and Address (Name, Title, Company, Street Address, City, ZIP)

Address letters to an individual

Use Mr., Ms. or the appropriate title

All letters begin with “Dear”

End letters with “Sincerely” or a similar closing

Leave a space for a signature and type your name

Email Emails should not necessarily be less informal than a letter Always use the “Subject” field Refer to a specific project or connection Avoid using the words “Urgent” or “Important” Be professional Do not abuse the Caps Lock key (Sunday is INTERNATIONAL CAPS LOCK DAY!) It’s email, not e-mail

Emails should not necessarily be less informal than a letter

Always use the “Subject” field

Refer to a specific project or connection

Avoid using the words “Urgent” or “Important”

Be professional

Do not abuse the Caps Lock key

(Sunday is INTERNATIONAL CAPS LOCK DAY!)

It’s email, not e-mail

Spacing Em – space equal to the font size (12 pt font = 12 pt) En – half of an em Thick – 1/3 of an em Hair – 1/5–1/6 of an em Thin – a little smaller Word spacing should be 1/3 to 1/4 of an em After a period: Ends a sentence, either 1–1.5 word spaces Otherwise, 1 word space (Mr. Smith) Kerning – spacing after a character Special kerning between certain pairs is good, like Te

Em – space equal to the font size (12 pt font = 12 pt)

En – half of an em

Thick – 1/3 of an em

Hair – 1/5–1/6 of an em

Thin – a little smaller

Word spacing should be 1/3 to 1/4 of an em

After a period:

Ends a sentence, either 1–1.5 word spaces

Otherwise, 1 word space (Mr. Smith)

Kerning – spacing after a character

Special kerning between certain pairs is good, like Te

Dashes Hyphens (-) End-of-line, hyphenated words En-dashes (–) Ranges (pp. 22–30) A relationship (Muslim–Christian relations) Grammatically (Mr. Smith – a nice guy – something …) Spaces before, afters Em-dashes (—) Grammatically (no spaces, thin spaces, full spaces) Triple-em-dash for bibliographies Minus (-) Negative numbers Figure dash Placeholder for numbers

Hyphens (-)

End-of-line, hyphenated words

En-dashes (–)

Ranges (pp. 22–30)

A relationship (Muslim–Christian relations)

Grammatically (Mr. Smith – a nice guy – something …)

Spaces before, afters

Em-dashes (—)

Grammatically (no spaces, thin spaces, full spaces)

Triple-em-dash for bibliographies

Minus (-)

Negative numbers

Figure dash

Placeholder for numbers

Miscellaneous Ellipsis (…) is a special character ’”  ’ ” (hair space) Ligatures – special pairs of letters Typically, in English, ff, fi, ffi, fl, etc Unnecessary to use ®, ™, etc. in papers Use plain “Microsoft Word” Slashes “read” from top to bottom / = “forward slash” or “slash” = “backslash” All caps things should be put in small caps, if possible The sign said: WARNING: DO NOT ENTER 7 AM , or 7 a.m. No space between initials in a name J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis

Ellipsis (…) is a special character

’”  ’ ” (hair space)

Ligatures – special pairs of letters

Typically, in English, ff, fi, ffi, fl, etc

Unnecessary to use ®, ™, etc. in papers

Use plain “Microsoft Word”

Slashes “read” from top to bottom

/ = “forward slash” or “slash”

= “backslash”

All caps things should be put in small caps, if possible

The sign said: WARNING: DO NOT ENTER

7 AM , or 7 a.m.

No space between initials in a name

J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis

Fonts Serif – “boots” on the bottom and tops of some letters This font is serif’d Leftover from the original pens used to write Latin Good for anything more than a few lines Becomes illegible at small sizes Slab-serif (more modern), regular serif (more classic) Sans Serif – no “boots” Easy to read at any size, but a bit difficult to read for long Good for short things and very small things (headlines, captions, text in drawings and figures)

Serif – “boots” on the bottom and tops of some letters

This font is serif’d

Leftover from the original pens used to write Latin

Good for anything more than a few lines

Becomes illegible at small sizes

Slab-serif (more modern), regular serif (more classic)

Sans Serif – no “boots”

Easy to read at any size, but a bit difficult to read for long

Good for short things and very small things (headlines, captions, text in drawings and figures)

Sizes and Measures 72 points (pts) = 6 picas (pcs) = 1 inch Screen resolution: 72–100 dpi Paper resolution: 300–2400 dpi Font size (e.g., 12 pt) = height of ascenders, descenders, and x-height Also height of left-parenthesis ( Distance between two lines is usually 1.2 times the font size 12 pt size  14.4 pt line skip

72 points (pts) = 6 picas (pcs) = 1 inch

Screen resolution: 72–100 dpi

Paper resolution: 300–2400 dpi

Font size (e.g., 12 pt) = height of ascenders, descenders, and x-height

Also height of left-parenthesis (

Distance between two lines is usually 1.2 times the font size

12 pt size  14.4 pt line skip

Common Fonts Times ( or worse, Times New Roman ) Palatino ( Book Antiqua ) Century (New Century Schoolbook) Helvetica (bad imitation, Arial )

Times ( or worse, Times New Roman )

Palatino ( Book Antiqua )

Century (New Century Schoolbook)

Helvetica (bad imitation, Arial )

Comic Sans is Evil Comic Sans is overused Problems Wobbly baseline Poor kerning The childish, “cute” feature is way overused R ésumés Medical forms Tests Signage Euro symbol WoBblLe Calculus I €

Comic Sans is overused

Problems

Wobbly baseline

Poor kerning

The childish, “cute” feature is way overused

R ésumés

Medical forms

Tests

Signage

Euro symbol

Final Words About Fonts Use what looks good, clean and professional The key is to actually look and care Some fonts created for the screen Verdana, Tahoma, Calibri

Use what looks good, clean and professional

The key is to actually look and care

Some fonts created for the screen

Verdana, Tahoma, Calibri

Typesetting Code Use fixed-width fonts at a smaller size Courier New, Bitstream Vera Sans Mono is free Embed in documents Use bold for keywords ( for i in list ) Italics for comments Also use fixed-width fonts for File names Command-line programs Hexadecimal numbers Program output

Use fixed-width fonts at a smaller size

Courier New, Bitstream Vera Sans Mono is free

Embed in documents

Use bold for keywords ( for i in list )

Italics for comments

Also use fixed-width fonts for

File names

Command-line programs

Hexadecimal numbers

Program output

Alignment Ragged right – like this presentation (left-aligned) Okay for short works and web pages Justified – flush on both sides Anything more than a page or so in length Centered and ragged left (right-aligned) Use sparingly Side-note: double spacing is worthless if someone isn’t going to be editing with a pen Makes text harder to read, wastes paper

Ragged right – like this presentation (left-aligned)

Okay for short works and web pages

Justified – flush on both sides

Anything more than a page or so in length

Centered and ragged left (right-aligned)

Use sparingly

Side-note: double spacing is worthless if someone isn’t going to be editing with a pen

Makes text harder to read, wastes paper

Graphic Formats Vector-based formats Graphics rebuilt by redrawing them (lines, boxes, etc) Great for figures, poor for photos Postscript formats: EPS, PS, PDF Other formats: WMF, EMF, SVG Raster-based formats Rows of pixels JPEG images should only be used for images Lossy (takes advantage of defects in the human eye) Compresses geometric objects poorly PNG is good for non-photographic images (screenshots!) Lossless If it’s going in a paper, go ahead and make it grayscale

Vector-based formats

Graphics rebuilt by redrawing them (lines, boxes, etc)

Great for figures, poor for photos

Postscript formats: EPS, PS, PDF

Other formats: WMF, EMF, SVG

Raster-based formats

Rows of pixels

JPEG images should only be used for images

Lossy (takes advantage of defects in the human eye)

Compresses geometric objects poorly

PNG is good for non-photographic images (screenshots!)

Lossless

If it’s going in a paper, go ahead and make it grayscale

JPEG A little about lossy compression

A little about lossy compression

Lossless vs. Lossy PNG: 49,336 bytes JPEG: 48,815 bytes

Raster vs. Vector JPEG Vector (EMF) ~60K 31K

JPEG Vector (EMF)

~60K 31K

Editing Programs Microsoft Word sucks Good for text, bad for layout, bad for tables Kerning turned off by default Poor support for advanced typesetting features Poor hyphenation and line-breaking algorithm Poor support for non-TrueType fonts TrueType fonts use quadratic Bezier curves (Postscript / OpenType fonts use cubic – much cleaner) If you are going to use Word, use it properly Adobe InDesign Good, but poorly designed for documents TeX / LaTeX Best for science and mathematics Fairly easy to use Very difficult to use properly

Microsoft Word sucks

Good for text, bad for layout, bad for tables

Kerning turned off by default

Poor support for advanced typesetting features

Poor hyphenation and line-breaking algorithm

Poor support for non-TrueType fonts

TrueType fonts use quadratic Bezier curves (Postscript / OpenType fonts use cubic – much cleaner)

If you are going to use Word, use it properly

Adobe InDesign

Good, but poorly designed for documents

TeX / LaTeX

Best for science and mathematics

Fairly easy to use

Very difficult to use properly

Graphic Editing Microsoft Visio Decent, but dropped support for EPS export Fairly large diagrams Dia is a free mostly compatible replacement Illustrator Not as geared towards networks True book-quality figures Photoshop No substitute (GIMP is only okay) *DO NOT USE IT FOR DRAWING FIGURES*

Microsoft Visio

Decent, but dropped support for EPS export

Fairly large diagrams

Dia is a free mostly compatible replacement

Illustrator

Not as geared towards networks

True book-quality figures

Photoshop

No substitute (GIMP is only okay)

*DO NOT USE IT FOR DRAWING FIGURES*

Rules of Thumb for Figures and Graphics Tables are good Vertical rules are very bad Lines should be 1pt thick or more, if possible Font – sans serif and bold (Helvectica, Verdana, Tahoma are okay) Learn to use Alignment, Distribution Avoid shading and gradients Makes a good figure look great Look in professionally-created computer books for examples of good graphics

Tables are good

Vertical rules are very bad

Lines should be 1pt thick or more, if possible

Font – sans serif and bold (Helvectica, Verdana, Tahoma are okay)

Learn to use Alignment, Distribution

Avoid shading and gradients

Makes a good figure look great

Look in professionally-created computer books for examples of good graphics

Choose the Right Format Online viewing XML, HTML, RTF, Word Documents (online or printed) RTF, Word, PDF Printed PDF, RTF, Word PDF is the only true archival format Open standard, everything embedded

Online viewing

XML, HTML, RTF, Word

Documents (online or printed)

RTF, Word, PDF

Printed

PDF, RTF, Word

PDF is the only true archival format

Open standard, everything embedded