Wi do technical writers keep doing this?

[Mike Gayner]

Moreover, we're talking about newspapers etc, in which using terms like "wireless fidelity" obfuscates the issue more than it clarifies.

 

[CZroe]

If you take a technical writing course, you'll learn that you're supposed to explain any abbreviations or acronyms the first time they are used in a section of the paper.

"The USB (Universal Serial Bus) cable plugs into the PC (personal computer)."

You have to repeat that kind of crap at the beginning of every major section.

I did take a technical writing course and I can tell you right now that you do not take a name and then pretend that the name has some different, non-sensical, meaning when it doesn't.

Though it isn't nearly as awkward with some names...
Nintendo Famicom (Family Computer)
Pokemon (Pocket Monsters)
...it's more like saying "The FBI, or, Eff Bee Eye, was established by Herbert Hoover." Even if it were technically correct, which it's not, it does not aid in understanding.

OK, I think I've got one:
"Use the industry-standard RSA (Rivest, Shamir and Adleman) public-key encryption algorithm for extra security." RSA is a company and algorithm name. Listing what it stands for as an explanation does not answer what RSA is. It's still just some random group of names.

Here's another:
"MDK (Max, Dr. Fluke Hawkins, and Kurt) is a '90s game available on the PC and Playstation video game console." The game designers actually had fun with the name "MDK" and many believed that it meant "Murder, Death, Kill." In fact, that is what was printed on the PC version's shelf-tag at Wal-Mart! It's a name that grew out of the label on the physical character sketch folder at Shiny Entertainment that contained the concept art for those three characters. That's it. By listing their names after the game's name, you raise more questions than you answer.

 

[slag]

I always thought "Wi-Fi" was a stupid thing to call wireless internet. I guess Wi-LAN just isn't as catchy.

Wifi isn't even wireless internet. It can be, but its just wireless networking. I have a wifi setup in my house to allow computers in different areas to communicate, but the network that goes out of my house in on Uverse coax.

 

[spidey07]

X.25? Frame Relay? ATM? MPLS? How does a question about the network design of a random corporation prove anything? Do you work for Intermec?

No, but back in the day they ruled the wireless arena. Back when a wireless AP weighed 6-7 pounds and was the size of an encyclopedia.

 

[sonicdrummer20]

Oh, so now on I can call FireWire 800, FiWi? Think about it, it works!

 

[Ichinisan]

I had a Virgin Mobile MiFi that I sold.
(http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2147179)

Should the manual say this?
"MiFi (Mireless Fidelity)"

 

[KentState]

You know it's a good thread when you forget what the original topic was by the end of reading all of the posts. I almost thought this was a Spidey nostalgia thread.

 

[spidey07]

You know it's a good thread when you forget what the original topic was by the end of reading all of the posts. I almost thought this was a Spidey nostalgia thread.

I watched a history of communication show on history channel this evening.

I was yelling at the tv "watch! Here comes the revolution of the rotary phone! This is the groudwork of the Internet"

It really is.

 

[zokudu]

I watched a history of communication show on history channel this evening.

I was yelling at the tv "watch! Here comes the revolution of the rotary phone! This is the groudwork of the Internet"

It really is.

You're so cool Spidey.

 

[CZroe]

I had a Virgin Mobile MiFi that I sold.
(http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2147179)

Should the manual say this?
"MiFi (Mireless Fidelity)"

Or what about those SD cards that transmit your photos with built-in WiFi? Eye-Fi = "Eye Fidelity?" Delphi and Sprint both make devices called MyFi. Sprint's is similar to the MiFi, Delphi's is an XM sat radio. "My Fidelity?"

 

[rockyct]

It's like how HD Radio doesn't actually stand for "High Definition Radio." Of course, it doesn't really matter if WiFi stands for Wireless Fidelity or not, but calling HD Radio High Definition Radio would be misleading.

 

[grrl]

I watched a history of communication show on history channel this evening.

I was yelling at the tv "watch! Here comes the revolution of the rotary phone! This is the groudwork of the Internet"

It really is.

In high school we watched a program on Neanderthals and when one 'discovered' fire I screamed, "This is the groundwork of the atomic bomb!"

 

[Ichinisan]

From the same manual:

Advanced DMZ Host Page

This page allows you to specify the default recipient of WAN traffic that NAT is unable to translate to a known local PC. The DMZ (De-militarized Zone) hosting (also commonly referred to as “Exposed Host”) can also be described as a computer or small sub-network that is located outside the firewall between the trusted internal private LAN and the untrusted public Internet. It prevents direct access by outside users to private data.

For example, you can set up a web server on a DMZ computer to enable outside users to access your website without exposing confidential data on your network.

*facepalm

 

[zinfamous]

THey have HD glasses that you can use to see the world....in...High Definition 3D!!


at last!

it must be great because you can get it on TV.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKYKyIObXyM

 

[FoBoT]

i call it a radio

 

[vshah]

You're all wrong, it stands for "wireless fisting" Everyone knows this.

Please link to educational/how to videos

 

[calvinbiss]

Arise from the dead...

 

[Lifted]

Umm, Wi-Fi does mean "wireless fidelity"

lolz

thx for the necro :thumbsup:

 

[Ichinisan]

The same manual again:

Ping Utility
Ping (Packet InterNet Groper) allows you to check connectivity between the SBG941 and other devices on the SBG941 LAN.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ping

The name comes from active sonar terminology.

:hmm: That's what I thought.

* Ichinisan pushes Ctrl+F on Wiki page and searches for "groper"

* No matches

 

[Drako]

Packet InterNet Groper

LOL, looks like they had a comedian writing that manual