Narrative vs. Actionable Content

As a writer for both print and Web (who isn’t?) I’ve leaned to bring a different mindset to each medium. On the page, I take the reader with me on a journey by constructing active sentences that blend smoothly into enjoyable paragraphs that build a compelling narrative. But the Web requires a different mindset. I try to be aware of where the reader came from and where he/she might want to go at any point in my content. As part of this informative article, Jacob Nielson provides the best summary I’ve seen on the differences between writing for print vs. Web:

Linear vs. non-linear.
Author-driven vs. reader-driven.
Storytelling vs. ruthless pursuit of actionable content.
Anecdotal examples vs. comprehensive data.
Sentences vs. fragments.

Oracle Grid Grows Up

In the old days, circa 2004, many were heard to say that when it comes to grid computing at Oracle, “RAC is Grid”. But I recall meetings in 2005 when guys like Dave Pearson were arguing to broaden the message to include at least virtualization and hopefully more; anywhere we can help customers pool and share computing resources in the data center.

Well, I just read George Demarest’s brand spanking new white paper on Oracle Grid Computing and it looks like Oracle has, through a combination of acquisitions and home grown technologies, turned Dave’s vision for Oracle Grid Computing as a broad and supple software offering into a reality.