I’m reading new thinking from Adam Hyde, FLOSS Manuals founder, in a new book titled “A Webpage is a Book” at http://www.booki.cc/a-webpage-is-a-book/_edit/. I found the gem of a quote above in the section on collaboration. He is re-writing his book about book sprints in this new tome. I knew he had been refining his thinking after running 30 book sprints over the last five years, so I look forward to hearing his new perspectives as he shifts from “it’s editorial” to “it’s ease of production, collaboration, and reuse.” The best motivation…
Technical Writing
-
Most Topular Stories
-
Musings on Collaborative Authoring
Just Write Click13 Apr 2012 | 11:50 pm -
The New Chicwriter
Chicwriter7 May 2012 | 11:11 amI started Chicwriter as a way to share my technical writing knowledge with others and to meet others writers. It slowly developed into a way to show that I do know what I am talking about and find clients. For awhile, I stopped accepting new clients to focus on my non-profit Stop Alcohol Deaths, Inc. However, I miss freelancing and working with a variety of clients and different projects. Therefore, I am returning to what I love doing. I am also going to change the format of Chicwriter to be more personal. I want to share real-life stories that might motivate new technical writers and… -
New text processor for iOS – UX Write looking for beta testers
ffeathers19 Apr 2012 | 5:22 pmComing soon to your iPad and iPhone: a new text processing app designed for structured, sophisticated documents. I’ve had some fun beta-testing UX Write, an app under development by Peter Kelly at UX Productivity. It’s very cool. UX Write is in the fairly early stages of development, but it can do a lot already. The screenshots below show the functionality as it is today. It will change. UX Write stores its content as HTML. It uses WebKit to render the content. WebKit is the browser engine behind Safari and Chrome. Peter also plans to support Microsoft Word and LaTeX in a future… -
Know Your Limitations
More Specifically3 Feb 2012 | 8:17 amHaving always worked full time, I had specific hours I had to work and a boss checking in on my projects to make sure I am on task. Freelancing gives me the freedom to work on my own time. Freelancing part time always gave me the ability to pick my projects and I could always choose to turn something down if I did not have time for it or just did not feel like the project fit my skills. Since I am transitioning, I have that fear that many beginner freelancers have that I won’t get enough clients or make my bills because of lack of work. This fear has pushed me to take on every project… -
How To Set the Right Fee for Your Work
Chicwriter13 Apr 2012 | 12:29 pmIn February, I had some serious damage to my ceiling due to the upstairs neighbor having a water leak. Trying to figure out who was responsible got a bit difficult because there is a tenant living there. After some back and forth, it was decided that the tenant should pay for the damage in the hallway bathroom due to a clog in the toilet, and the condo owner should pay for the damage in the master bathroom due to a water pipe bursting. I decided to use my contractor who did a great job renovating my hallway bathroom. Everything has been fixed, and now the contractor and upstairs owner are…
-
ffeathers
-
See you at STC Summit 2012
12 May 2012 | 12:06 amIt’s just a few days away now! STC Summit ’12 is the annual conference of the Society for Technical Communication in the United States. I’m looking forward to greeting old friends and meeting a number of people that I’ve chatted to on Twitter, blogs, and other online places. There’ll be plenty of excellent presentations and good events too. My own presentation is bright and early on Monday, the first full day of the conference. It’s called Building a Developer Documentation Wiki. Here’s the link for people using the STC social platform, Zerista: Event… -
How long does it take to write a book
28 Apr 2012 | 11:52 pmA number of people have asked me how long it took to write my book, and how much of that time was spent on the actual writing. Luckily I’d thought it would be interesting to know that myself, so I recorded my time from the very beginning of the project. Thank you to Peter Maddox for helping me to turn my dry figures into a pretty chart! The time tracking starts from mid May 2011, when I began planning the book in earnest. I stopped tracking my time in mid February 2012, when the book became available on Amazon and B&N. The figures include only the work I did myself. Other people put… -
Recording of webinar about Confluence wiki, collaboration and technical communication
27 Apr 2012 | 11:24 pmYesterday I presented a Scriptorium webcast titled “Collaboration: A hands-on demo using Confluence wiki“. The kind folks at Scriptorium have made a recording of the webinar available, and I’ve uploaded my slides too. This presentation is about collaboration and what it means to technical communicators, and how we can use a wiki to enhance the experience. I give a hands-on demonstration of creating a technical documentation space on a wiki. You will see how to design a home page using the Confluence editor, macros, and even a touch of Twitter integration. You’ll also… -
Invitation to a webinar about collaboration on Confluence wiki
20 Apr 2012 | 3:20 pmI’m presenting a session in a Scriptorium webinar about collaboration and technical documentation. The webinar is on Thursday 26 April 2012. (Actually, the date depends on your time zone. It’s Friday 27th April in Sydney.) The session is called “Collaboration: A hands-on demo using Confluence wiki“. Can you join Sarah O’Keefe and me? We’d love to have you there. Part of the session is a hands-on demo, because I want to show you what it’s like to work on a wiki. The hands-on sections are interspersed with slides, so that we can discuss concepts and… -
New text processor for iOS – UX Write looking for beta testers
19 Apr 2012 | 5:22 pmComing soon to your iPad and iPhone: a new text processing app designed for structured, sophisticated documents. I’ve had some fun beta-testing UX Write, an app under development by Peter Kelly at UX Productivity. It’s very cool. UX Write is in the fairly early stages of development, but it can do a lot already. The screenshots below show the functionality as it is today. It will change. UX Write stores its content as HTML. It uses WebKit to render the content. WebKit is the browser engine behind Safari and Chrome. Peter also plans to support Microsoft Word and LaTeX in a future…
-
Just Write Click
-
Best Twitter Account Idea Yet from The Information
2 May 2012 | 7:33 pmYou know how all these bizarre yet entertaining Twitter accounts keep popping up? The character-based Mad Men account, @BettyDraper the one quoting his hilarious father (with the not-censored four-letter-word-in-the-title), the FakeSteveJobs account, and how about this insane spam one, @horse_ebooks, told in the Ballad of @Horse_ebooks? Best quote in that article, “The reason it hasn’t been shut down yet is the same reason it’s so hilariously terrible at its job: It doesn’t bother anyone who doesn’t want to be bothered.” I’m sure I don’t have to tell at least… -
Must Read: Confluence, Tech Comm, Chocolate
26 Apr 2012 | 11:22 pm“Who cares about printing money, let’s print chocolate!” –Chapter 23, Driving Wiki Development, Confluence, Tech Comm, Chocolate Do you need proof that Sarah Maddox, author of Confluence, Tech Comm, Chocolate: A wiki as platform extraordinaire for technical communication, is a complete chocolate and wiki expert? Let me tell you, she knew that one day we will print chocolate in our (industrial-grade) kitchens. And sure enough, that day has arrived! And so has her book. It’s a wonderful addition to the XML Press family. Sarah has an amazing knack to start at the… -
Command line reference with true scrolling
24 Apr 2012 | 7:52 amI’m at the OpenStack Design Summit this week, and one of the OpenStack companies here, Piston Computing, created a pen that contains a scroll inside. When you open the scroll, you can see all the commands available for the “nova” client, which is how you send commands to the OpenStack Compute API at the command line. Clever! -
Musings on Collaborative Authoring
13 Apr 2012 | 11:50 pmI’m reading new thinking from Adam Hyde, FLOSS Manuals founder, in a new book titled “A Webpage is a Book” at http://www.booki.cc/a-webpage-is-a-book/_edit/. I found the gem of a quote above in the section on collaboration. He is re-writing his book about book sprints in this new tome. I knew he had been refining his thinking after running 30 book sprints over the last five years, so I look forward to hearing his new perspectives as he shifts from “it’s editorial” to “it’s ease of production, collaboration, and reuse.” The best motivation… -
Open Advice Book Now Available
10 Feb 2012 | 9:54 amWhat we wish we had known when we started working on free open source software (FOSS) – that is the premise of this essay collection, Open Advice. What’s especially interesting to me after having read all 42 essays is there isn’t really a pattern like you’d see when looking at “what I would tell my younger self” such as “believe in yourself” or “don’t worry about what others think.” Those themes do come through, but the heart of the collection centers on open source projects, software, users, coders, and the myriad roles that…
-
one man writes
-
All change!
14 May 2012 | 5:39 amEver wanted to just throw everything away and start over? I’ve been tempted by this notion recently and, whilst it may seem a bit ill-conceived, part of me does wonder what would happen if we just, quietly, started removing some parts of our documentation. In fairness, we’ve done that in the past. Our Development Kit has many aspects to it but, applying that old favourite 80/20 rule, we realised we didn’t need to maintain or even publish documentation on every single function point. One of the reasons for the current line of thinking is that, quite simply, we have too much… -
New ISTC Website is live
13 Apr 2012 | 5:24 pmhttp://www.istc.org.uk It’s Friday the 13th (still!) what better day to announce that the new ISTC website is going live. I have just updated the domain nameservers to point to the new website. It can take a day or so for these things to propagate through the Internet so it might not appear immediately for everyone. If you experience any problems or spot anything that needs corrected please let me know. I have still to upload all of the InfoPlus and Communicator archives, but aside from that, the rest of the content should be available. http://www.istc.org.uk -
TCUK – Call for Papers
23 Mar 2012 | 3:48 amCall for Papers for TCUK 12 Dear reader, You are an intelligent person, have you ever considered sharing your knowledge with others? Perhaps doing a short presentation at an industry conference? Regardless of your experience, or industry, the Technical Communications UK conference wants you! New speakers and experienced speakers – all welcome Regardless of whether you want to present for the first time or you are a seasoned conference speaker, we want to hear from you. We don’t mind if you are new to technical communication or if you have worked in this field for ever, if you have… -
Tagging
21 Feb 2012 | 3:32 amLast night on Twitter I asked “Looking for a way to tag topics in an authoring platform. Not part of Author-it, does any app do it?” and a few helpful people gave me suggestions. I later clarified and thought I’d expand on that here. My clarification was that “Re tagging: we want to tag topics in the authoring tool so whatever the output, the user can filter on tags eg, v1.0/email or v2.3/document”, it was at this point I realised I needed more than 140 characters to explain what I was looking for… Our product is in the throes of moving to a… -
Dealing with change
10 Jan 2012 | 9:40 amIt’s going to be a big year for us, both as a company and as a team. We have grand and achievable plans for the product which will mean the working processes for the Publications team will need to change for, as well as multiple streams of work with their own staggered release dates for the product, we are also restructuring our entire information set to improve ‘findability’. Which immediately prompts a question, how do you improve ‘findability’? The simple answer is would be ‘in as many ways as possible’ as there is no silver bullet. What may work…
-
The Content Wrangler
-
Hey, Book Publishers! Evolve or Get Out of the Way
15 May 2012 | 3:44 pmScott Abel, The Content Wrangler Book publishers are an endangered species. That’s right. The producers of textbooks, romance novels, and cookbooks aren’t long for this world. Their likely extinction is both predictable and preventable. Even if they put up a good fight, it’s unlikely they’ll survive in their current form for one reason: They are slow to evolve. Case in point: Just over two years ago, while book publishers were busy conducting business as usual, an outsider invaded the industry and reshaped it in the publishers’ image. The invading force was… -
Detecting Expensive Inefficiencies: The Case For Optimizing Content Production Processes
7 May 2012 | 9:17 pmScott Abel, The Content Wrangler I’ve got a challenge for you. Take a look at the way you create, manage and deliver content. No, really. Take a close look. Conduct a systematic, fair, scientific survey of your content production lifecycle. Get professional help if you need to. Look at each and every step in your process and ask yourself, “Is this the best we can do, or is it just the way we’ve been doing it for so long that we believe it is the correct — and only — way to work?” What I’m certain you will find is that your organization utilizes an… -
Are You A Failed Writer If You Haven’t Spent 10,000 Hours Writing?
7 May 2012 | 2:40 pmYuvi Zalkow is a self-described “writer, storyteller, novelist, shame-ridden schmo, and maker of online presentations about [his] failures (and occasional successes) as a writer”. This video is one such presentation. In it, Zalkow discusses an idea from Malcolm Gladwell, author of the book “Outliers” (a book that Zalkow admits he has never read), about success. Gladwell says that in order to master your art, you have to spend 10,000 hours practicing it. I’m not sure 10,000 hours is the definitive number, but there is, generally speaking, something to be said for… -
Re-Thinking In-Line Linking: DITA Devotees Take Note!
3 May 2012 | 4:17 pmby Mark Baker The question of whether links on a web page should be inline in the text or relegated to one of the margins is not a new one. It deserves re-examination because the increasing popularity of the Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) introduces a technical bias into the question. Managing inline linking in reusable content in DITA is complex, which makes it expensive, which makes it rare. It is commonly considered a DITA best practice to avoid inline links in favor of links created by external reltables, which means that the links are listed at the bottom of the page. -
[Infographic] Changes In Technical Communication Staffing And Budget
26 Apr 2012 | 8:46 pmMoney, it’s a hot topic these days, given the economic situation in which we find ourselves. This infographic takes a look at the state of technical communication budgets and staffing levels today. How does your situation compare?
-
I Came, I Saw, I Learned...
-
Adobe Captivate 5/5.5: Switch TTS Agents in a Snap
15 May 2012 | 2:31 pmby Kevin Siegel During every Captivate beginner class, time is spent on the second day teaching everyone how to use Captivate's Text-to-Speech feature to convert slide notes into speech.Recently, one of the students asked an excellent question: "Is there an easy way to change my mind? I'd love it if there was a pain-free way to quickly change the agent from Kate, to Paul and then maybe back to Kate."You can switch between one agent to another. The solution, while easy, isn't obvious. Here's how:First, go through your project and convert the slide… -
Adobe Captivate: Reuse Text to Speech
10 May 2012 | 3:11 pmThe Adobe Captivate BLOG features a video that goes into Captivate's Text to Speech feature and how to reuse audio files in multiple projects. Read more -
PowerPoint: Chart Templates
10 May 2012 | 3:10 pmby AJ George I was perusing the Microsoft Office Forums and came across an unanswered question from someone about chart formatting. This PowerPoint user wanted to be able to create multiple charts with the same formatting (ie bars on a graph with a gradient effect) without having to individually format each separate piece of every new chart. An attempt at copying and pasting the slide using the Keep Source Fformatting option did not keep the chart's formatting. The person struggling with this issue also mentioned that there were more than 300 charts that needed formatting and… -
Adobe Captivate 5/5.5: It's Alive... Preview
8 May 2012 | 10:29 amby Kevin Siegel Last week I wrote about how you can save and share effects you've added to the Effects panel (so the effects can be used in other projects or by other developers). I'd like to stick with the Effects theme for another week. If you've used the Effects panel, there's a good chance that you've missed a useful feature--it's often overlooked by even veteran developers.The most common way to preview an effect or a slide animation is to either Preview the project, the next 5 slides or from the current… -
Adobe RoboHelp: Top 10 Mistakes to Avoid When Creating a Help System
5 May 2012 | 3:04 pmNeil Perlin has written a well-rounded white paper covering the top mistakes Help authors make when creating a Help System. Among the mistakes: Not developing mechanisms to support content consistency Not developing mechanisms to support format consistency Not revisiting project design in light of 'environmental' changes Not planning to test QA (Quality Assurance) and usability Not planning to create an index Read more
-
I'd Rather Be Writing
-
How Character Drives Story — Book Review of Ann Patchett’s State of Wonder
14 May 2012 | 8:00 amState of Wonder, by Ann Patchett Ann Patchett’s State of Wonder, published in 2011, is a story about a pharmaceutical researcher’s attempt to make sense of her lost colleague, presumably dead in the Amazon, while wrestling with a domineering academic professor who refuses to communicate updates about her research. The book begins at a slow pace but, as Janet Maslin notes in her New York Times review, the story catches fire when the narrator, Marina Singh, meets up with Annicka Swenson, the mythic professor of Marina’s past. Dr. Swenson, a medical professor specializing in reproductive… -
Q&A: What should my major be for a career in technical writing?
12 May 2012 | 11:47 amI received the following question from a reader: I’m a 20 year old college student and I just finished up my first year at a local community college and I was wondering what my major should be if I want to become a technical writer when I eventually graduate. Right now my counselors have me majoring in General Science (b/c my dream job would be to work as a writer at Scientific American) but I’m wondering if that’s the right path I should be taking. I’m new to this site but I’ve already found a wealth of great information by just browsing about. Any advice you… -
Trying New Things, Changing Interests
9 May 2012 | 9:55 amIt’s interesting how new things sometimes sneak up on us. I’m 36 years old, which means I’m past my exploratory twenties. It fascinates me how I’ll be perfectly content in one way of life and then suddenly find another. My wife, Shannon, seems to follow the same path as well at times. About six months ago, she discovered yoga. Shannon has never been so fully engaged in any activity like this (other than reading, which she’ll do all night). Now she goes to yoga about three to four times a week. At her encouragement, I tried yoga — in our living room… -
Book Review: Mistborn, by Brandon Sanderson
8 May 2012 | 8:31 pmMistborn, by Brandon Sanderson Mistborn, by Brandon Sanderson, is a fantasy trilogy that takes you into a world where the characters can “burn” metals inside their bodies to give rise to certain powers, such as increased strength, the ability to push and pull other metals, an enhancement of the senses, or the most potent of all, the ability to see several seconds into the future (critical for fighting). Mistings possess one of the nine powers; a mistborn possess all nine. (For more information, see this Allomantic Table of Metals.) The protagonist, Vin, is a young girl, an orphan… -
Stuck in a system
7 May 2012 | 3:24 pmI’ve been reading Sarah Maddox’s new book, Confluence, Tech Comm, Chocolate, and have been impressed. I enjoy the energy and speed in Sarah’s writing. If you’ve read her blog before, her book has the same tone. This is not a book review, because I’m not yet finished with the book. But it doesn’t take too many pages to come to some realizations worth noting. My primary realization: I wish I had a Confluence wiki rather than a Mediawiki wiki. I intend to explore Confluence some more. After reading the chapter on installation, it seemed easy enough, so I am…
-
THE BOGGLISH HUDERON
-
connors' history
19 Apr 2012 | 7:23 amConnors, Robert. “The Rise of Technical Writing Instruction in America.” Journal of Technical Writing and Communication 12.4 (1982): 329-352.I didn’t think that I would, necessarily, come back to Connors' seminal essay for a close reading. I’ve covered this historical ground already, but as I got back into it I was again drawn into the progress narrative. His reliance on written records and textbooks was what first attracted me to the piece. This time around, that reliance is helping me flesh out my taxonomy and map, specifically in the way Connors frames two disciplinary binary… -
more on the humanist tradition
19 Apr 2012 | 6:49 amRutter, Russell. "History, Rhetoric, and Humanism: Toward a More Comprehensive Definition of Technical Communication." Central Works in Technical Communication. Eds. Johnson-Eilola, Johndan and Stuart A. Selber. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2005. 20-34.I want to follow up Miller with Rutter simply because they are making the same call to professionalization, if only at different times of Tech Comm’s maturity as a discipline. Where Miller focused on the teacher, the classroom, and the discipline, Rutter focuses on the practicing technical writer as a well-prepared pre-professional (a call taken up… -
tech comm's humanistic value
15 Apr 2012 | 7:39 pmMiller, Carolyn. “A Humanistic Rationale for Technical Writing.” College English 40 (1979): 610-617.Miller’s essay is a seminal work in Tech Comm’s disciplinary progress narrative, and a noted point of departure from current-traditionalism. “I wish to argue that the common opinion that the undergraduate technical writing course is a skills course with little or no humanistic value is the result of a lingering but pervasive positivist view of science” (610). This positivist lens reduces technical and scientific discourse to “the skills of subduing language so that it most… -
technology and writing
15 Apr 2012 | 6:55 pmCharles Moran – Technology and Teaching WritingI wanted to revisit this essay to make sure I hadn’t forgotten something essential to my mapping efforts. What I didn’t realize before is that teaching writing with technology is not pedagogically bound, therefore there is no clear association with Berlin’s taxonomy. There is, of course, a relationship to computers and writing and the systematization of writing instruction – as if each activity (invention, writing, revising) and sub-activities could be departmentalized as discrete programmable functions. Similarly, teaching with… -
mcleod's WAC
15 Apr 2012 | 6:22 pmSusan McLeod - WAC pedagogiesWriting Across the Curriculum (WAC) has always interested me because of its focus on teaching the content of a discipline and the discourse features used in writing about that content. This instructional strategy has afforded Tech Comm a long history with various Engineering disciplines, as well as the social sciences (as C. Miller has addressed in her seminal essay). McLeod illustrates this focus when she discusses WAC as a transformative pedagogy aimed at, “moving away from the lecture model of teaching to a model of active student engagement with the material…
-
CyberText Newsletter
-
Keyboard not working
15 May 2012 | 7:47 pmMy new Windows 7 computer (and new keyboard) is only a month or two old, but this morning when I booted up, the keyboard was dead. How did I know? I used a trick I learned back in the early 1990s when I worked for my first-ever software company — I pressed the Num Lock key above the numeric keypad. if the light stays steady when you press that key a couple of times, or if the light doesn’t come on at all (as was the case for me this morning), then the keyboard is dead. But it may not be truly dead, as in you have to replace it. Sometimes, it just isn’t ‘seen’… -
More labeling woes
8 May 2012 | 4:30 pmSometimes you just wonder how people decide on the names for their company/product…. Their website gives you no clue as to the origin of the name either. And searching Google brought up a lot of hits totally unrelated to chilli sauce… Filed under: Humor -
Another strange label
7 May 2012 | 4:30 pmThis time, quite a different mixed message that still has me puzzling. I live in the south-west corner of Western Australia not far from several famous wine regions (Margaret River, Geographe, and Blackwood Valley, in particular). When we go out for dinner in a restaurant, we try to buy local wine — really local if possible, then south-west wine or Western Australian wine in general, before we look at a wine from other areas of Australia. Many of the local wines are from boutique winemakers who don’t make wine in export quantities. There are exceptions, of course, and some… -
Mixed messages
30 Apr 2012 | 4:30 pmThis was last Friday’s weather forecast: ‘Cloudy with patchy light rain’. However, the forecast and the images just don’t match. The lesson here for technical communicators: Make sure your messages are consistent, be they via text or images. The image on the far left indicates rain, and a fair bit of it (if it’s light rain or occasional showers, they use a different symbol). But it’s the radar image, which covers the entire south-west of Western Australia, that tells the real story. Lighter green is ‘rain’, darker green is heavier rain. -
Word: Compare documents not working
29 Apr 2012 | 4:30 pmI’ve been working with Word for a couple of decades (!) now, but still it surprises me with what it can do. There are some things I rarely use (such as mail merge), so I’m not familiar with how they work, and then there are other things I just didn’t even realize were in Word — like ‘compare documents’ — because I’ve never had any need to use those features. However, a work colleague uses Word’s compare function quite often and was having trouble when comparing two versions of the same document. She asked me for help, and then I discovered…
-
A Tech Writer's World
-
Tech Writer Confidential
27 Apr 2012 | 3:35 pmWhat do a doctor, lawyer, and priest have in common? A very special arrangement with their users which ensures total confidentially. It goes by different names, depending on the profession.For doctors, it's doctor-patient confidentiality; for lawyers, attorney-client privilege; for priests, priest-penitent privilege or clergy privilege.Whatever its name, the principle is the same: that all communication between the professional and the client is strictly confidential. It's an important principle because it helps ensure full, open, and honest communication. A similar principle applies to our… -
Paying some interest to your docs
4 Apr 2012 | 3:47 pmWith the release of the Ontario and the federal Canadian budgets, debts and interest rates are again in the news. Both budgets continue to run deficits; this is especially frustrating in Ontario, whose government recently commissioned a document (the Drummond report) that recommended major spending cuts; yet another effective user guide that has been promptly ignored.Interest rates are the lowest they've even been in years. This keeps borrowing costs low, but creates another problem: if rates rise even a small amount (as they inevitably will), borrowing costs increase tremendously.Canada's… -
Single Sourcing Greece's Default
9 Mar 2012 | 8:30 amGreece is now dangerously close to defaulting on its national debt. Despite the recent bailouts, many financial experts believe that the situation is unsustainable. Greece simply cannot afford to pay its bills. Its debt to GDP ratio is a staggering 140%, meaning it owes almost one and half times the value of all its goods and services. It could only be a matter of time before Greece defaults.Defaulting, while certainly undesirable, does not necessarily mean the end of a country. Argentina, Russia, Ukraine and many other countries have also defaulted, and have gone on to have healthy and… -
iHate unclear product names
8 Mar 2012 | 11:54 amApple finally launched its latest iPad. Because it comes after the iPad 2, most everyone expected it to be named the iPad 3, following the naming conventions of the iPhone. Instead, Apple gave it a name that only a marketer could have developed:The New iPadIf a technical communicator had been asked to name this product, this name would never have entered their mind.Where to start?First, how long is this iPad going to be new? One month? Three months? Six months? Major product releases are often a year apart or more. Can you imagine walking into an Apple store a year from now and asking for a… -
Our unpredictable users
8 Feb 2012 | 8:53 amIf you're reading this, you are probably a human being, and if so, you are member of a most strange and unpredictable species.Trying to predict human behaviour in order to change it is big business. Governments impose laws trying to get their citizens to conform. Companies create products and services trying to get people to buy them. The problem is that people often behave in a way that is completely opposite to what you would expect.Let's start with the government. Our dear leaders want us to drive safely so that we don't kill or maim ourselves or each other. To encourage this, they enact…
-
The Humane Experience
-
The Troughs of Disillusionment
14 May 2012 | 9:49 amOnce again, my experience with music delivers an epiphany that sheds light on other aspects of my personal and professional life. Bear with me on this somewhat wandering blog as I tie several seemingly disparate threads together into a tapestry of personal meaning. (I also apologize for that last sentence, but as burdensome as it might be to read, it was a lot of fun to write.) Thread One I -
Is 'Useful' the New 'Usable?'
10 May 2012 | 4:14 pmI have recently written two separate pieces that are starting to converge for me. One was a guest blog at Usabilla.com: Useful, Saleable, Buildable: The Role of UX in Defining Requirements. The other was a column in UXmatters.com: UX Dimensions of Conflict In the first, I mention that I have been shifting my design focus from being usable to being useful. In the second, I discuss the risk of -
Not right does not mean wrong
25 Jan 2012 | 9:50 amI'm reading a really good document about risk analysis, and the author makes the point that when using probabilities to make predictions, at some point the future will unfold in a way that will make others perceive you were wrong. He emphasized "perceive" and that got me thinking. We do that a lot. Someone does their analysis, makes a decision, and then acts on it. Like a football coach that -
Think Aloud Is More than Talk Aloud
16 Jan 2012 | 11:58 amNielsen's current Alert Box reinforces that think-aloud is a great usability test tool. I couldn't agree more, but I'd like to add some in-the-trenches wisdom I learned from my first usability mentor, Loren Burke. There is a big difference between someone thinking out loud about the task they are doing and someone voicing their opinion about the design. The first is very valuable; the second, meh -
It ain't the walk, it's the talk.
20 Dec 2011 | 10:27 amI have a new column out today in UXmatters. It has to do with managing design tensions, but I talk a little in it about Action Science. During my doctoral research, in which I studied how development teams learn collectively during usability tests, I came across a field called Action Science, which analyzes dysfunctional communication with a focus on resolving contradictions between stated
-
Cherryleaf Technical Authors Blog
-
How software users become champions
14 May 2012 | 3:57 amMatthew Syed is a British sports journalist and former three times Commonwealth Games gold medallist, who has been investigating what is needed to make people excellent at doing any task involving... [[ For the full article, see http://www.cherryleaf.com/blog.htm]] -
Upcoming Cherryleaf presentations and events
10 May 2012 | 1:54 amHere is a list of the upcoming Cherryleaf presentations and events: 21 May 2012 ”What Should Technical Communicators Do When Products Just Work?” STC Summit, Chicago What is the future... [[ For the full article, see http://www.cherryleaf.com/blog.htm]] -
Announcing our ‘Using the iPad as a documentation device’ workshop: 31 May 2012
3 May 2012 | 4:09 amWe’ve completed the slides and booked the training room for our new workshop, Using the iPad (and other tablets) as a documentation device: With more and more people using the iPad and other... [[ For the full article, see http://www.cherryleaf.com/blog.htm]] -
Our May “Trends” talk is now sold out
30 Apr 2012 | 5:39 amOur next Trends in Technical Documentation talk, “User Assistance in a Social Media World”, on the 9th May, is now fully booked. Our next Trends talk is likely to be a webinar hosted by... [[ For the full article, see http://www.cherryleaf.com/blog.htm]] -
Do you need a Documentation Manager when Technical Authors are embedded into Agile project teams?
25 Apr 2012 | 3:48 amEarlier this week, I was asked my opinion on whether a Documentation Manager was needed when the individual Technical Authors are embedded into Agile project teams. My response was that a... [[ For the full article, see http://www.cherryleaf.com/blog.htm]]
-
Communications from DMN
-
Tasting a little Confluence, Tech Comm, Chocolate
2 May 2012 | 8:00 amWikis have been part of my professional freelance writing and technical communication lives for a number of years now. I’ve used them extensively and even maintain my own wiki; I’ve written with and about them; and I’ve even set up a few documentation wikis. While a couple or three people have generously suggested that I’m an expert in this area, I’m not. Far from it, in fact. I still have a lot to learn. To do that, I turn to others who know a lot more about wikis than I do. Folks like Stewart Mader, Alan J. Porter, and Sarah Maddox. And it’s Sarah Maddox,… -
Using Evernote Web Clipper and Clearly as research tools
19 Mar 2012 | 8:00 amResearch. It’s the life blood of any writer. No matter what you’re doing – journalism, blogging, penning fiction, or doing any kind of technical or corporate writing – you need to gather facts and information. Of course, the nature of research has morphed since I went pro all those many years ago. I remember spending a lot of time in the library or on the phone digging up information. Then, the Internet came to our computers and changed the game. In the early days, researching on the web involved either copying and pasting information into a text editor or word processor file, or… -
Breaking free of your comfort zone
12 Mar 2012 | 8:00 amFalling into a nice little rut. Getting complacent. Finding a comfortable groove. Wrapping yourself in a cloak of familiarity. Call it what you will, but most of us fall into the comfort of a routine now and then. Yes, the oft-talked-about comfort zone. There’s nothing wrong with that. But I find that inhabiting the comfort zone can get boring. Actually, worse than boring. You’ve probably felt the same way. The work is easy to do and feels more like typing than actual writing. Or, you feel the need to move into areas other than just pure technical writing. Lately, I’ve been feeling that… -
Weekly links roundup
9 Mar 2012 | 7:00 amHow mobile networks and app developers affect user experience If John Henry was a technical writer and not a steel-driving man … An interesting musing on the help system of the future Concept or reference, what’s the difference? What developers want -
Using topic-based writing to pull together any writing project
5 Mar 2012 | 7:00 amI don’t have to tell you that topic-based writing is a very popular idea in the world of technical communication. And with good reason: it can help make writing, managing, and assembling documentation a lot easier. But you can apply topic-based writing to work outside of our profession. As you may or may not know, I do quite a bit of freelance writing. And sometimes, I have an idea for a non-fiction writing project, but am only able to chip away at it bit by bit? That sometimes feels like it happens a bit too often. I also find that with projects like that, I write in bits and pieces…
-
Core Dump 2.0
-
#G20 #Fail Byron Sonne innocent
15 May 2012 | 7:13 pmByron Sonne, who spent two years fighting trumped up terrorism-related charges after he was arrested before Toronto’s G20 summit, has been found not guilty of all charges. It’s a small breath of sanity in an otherwise insane judicial process. BoingBoing has a good series of posts that cover the story going back to his arrest. Also worth checking out are Jesse Brown’s Search Engine podcasts on the subject. -
Taking a break
9 May 2012 | 7:23 pmI’ve been feeling particularly unmotivated recently when it comes to blogging. I’m not sure why, but I think I’m going to take a break. Posts will resume when I find something interesting to blog about and feel like writing, probably in a week or two. -
The Dynamic Publisher
8 May 2012 | 4:48 amA while back, Scott Abel announced the launch of the Dynamic Publisher site. If you’re interested in content managment, XML publishing, or DITA, you’ll probably want to keep an eye on this one. There isn’t a huge amount of content on it right now, but what’s there is pretty good. Just a quick note to say that in addition to my many other roles, I’m also now the editor of TheDynamicPublisher.com. Formerly a web property used by Quark to publicize its dynamic publishing products, TheDynamicPublisher.com is now a vendor neutral home for all things related to dynamic… -
Ebooks and problems with print reference material
7 May 2012 | 10:34 amTeleread has an article that points out some problems with ebooks and how they present reference material. The article uses examples from several fantasy novels, where the ebook presentation of maps is markedly inferior to the maps in the printed edition. (I’ve noticed this myself in some books, particularly the figures in James Gleick’s The Information. From what I understand of ebook formats and ebook production, I’m not sure what the solution is – current devices and formats have a lot of limitations. However, if you’re reading an ebook on a tablet with a… -
Why all the hype?
7 May 2012 | 4:04 amWe went to see The Avengers last night and I’m wondering what all the fuss was about. Given the hype this movie has engendered, you’d think it was the second coming of Citizen Kane. Don’t get me wrong, I did enjoy it – it’s probably about as good a Saturday night popcorn flick as you’ll find and it is visually spectacular. But it’s not very deep, despite having Joss Whedon as screenwriter and director. It lacks the characterization of The Watchmen (the book, not the movie) or the moral complexity of Chris Nolan’s Dark Knight series. If I was…
-
The Humane Experience
-
The Troughs of Disillusionment
14 May 2012 | 9:49 amOnce again, my experience with music delivers an epiphany that sheds light on other aspects of my personal and professional life. Bear with me on this somewhat wandering blog as I tie several seemingly disparate threads together into a tapestry of personal meaning. (I also apologize for that last sentence, but as burdensome as it might be to read, it was a lot of fun to write.) Thread One I -
Is 'Useful' the New 'Usable?'
10 May 2012 | 4:14 pmI have recently written two separate pieces that are starting to converge for me. One was a guest blog at Usabilla.com: Useful, Saleable, Buildable: The Role of UX in Defining Requirements. The other was a column in UXmatters.com: UX Dimensions of Conflict In the first, I mention that I have been shifting my design focus from being usable to being useful. In the second, I discuss the risk of -
Not right does not mean wrong
25 Jan 2012 | 9:50 amI'm reading a really good document about risk analysis, and the author makes the point that when using probabilities to make predictions, at some point the future will unfold in a way that will make others perceive you were wrong. He emphasized "perceive" and that got me thinking. We do that a lot. Someone does their analysis, makes a decision, and then acts on it. Like a football coach that -
Think Aloud Is More than Talk Aloud
16 Jan 2012 | 11:58 amNielsen's current Alert Box reinforces that think-aloud is a great usability test tool. I couldn't agree more, but I'd like to add some in-the-trenches wisdom I learned from my first usability mentor, Loren Burke. There is a big difference between someone thinking out loud about the task they are doing and someone voicing their opinion about the design. The first is very valuable; the second, meh -
It ain't the walk, it's the talk.
20 Dec 2011 | 10:27 amI have a new column out today in UXmatters. It has to do with managing design tensions, but I talk a little in it about Action Science. During my doctoral research, in which I studied how development teams learn collectively during usability tests, I came across a field called Action Science, which analyzes dysfunctional communication with a focus on resolving contradictions between stated
-
EServer TC Library: Recent Additions
-
Getting technical content into social media: a strategy checklist
3 May 2012 | 5:34 amTechnical communicators cannot afford to ignore social media channels as a publishing platform anymore. Singleton and Melongon were spot on when they said that in today's hyper-connected context, "information can no longer only be provided as downloadable, static documents" (2011, page 7). Technical communicators need to keep up with the content explosion in the social web. Blogs, forum posts, infographics, and short content feeds that double as status updates in social networks can very likely be part of their deliverables too. Calbay, Raymond -
The Best Browser is the One You Have with You
2 May 2012 | 1:18 pmThe web as we know and build it has primarily been accessed from the desktop. That is about to change. The ITU predicts that in the next 18–24 months, mobile devices will overtake PCs as the most popular way to access the web. If these predictions come true, very soon the web—and its users—will be mostly mobile. Even designers who embrace this change can find it confusing. One problem is that we still consider the mobile web a separate thing. Stephanie Rieger of futurefriend.ly and the W3C presents principles to understand and design for a new normal, in which users are channel… -
For a Future-Friendly Web
2 May 2012 | 1:18 pmNo one knows what the landscape will look like even just two years down the road, so it would be foolish to say that we can create anything that is truly future proof. But while there aren’t cut-and-dried prescriptive solutions for dealing with this increasing diversity, there are things we can do as web creators to better prepare for what’s in store. Frost, Brad -
Style Tiles and How They Work
2 May 2012 | 1:18 pmWebsites are so much more than just usable interfaces: they tell a story. The style tile is a design deliverable that references website interface elements through font, color, and style collections delivered alongside a site map, wireframes, and other user experience artifacts. Style tiles are based on visual preference discussions with the client. They’re sample options that spur discussion with stakeholders on a common visual language. Containing sample UI style swatches, a style tile illustrates how a designer translates a stakeholder’s brand to the web. When a client uses the word… -
Artistic Distance
2 May 2012 | 1:18 pmIf you are passionate about what you create, it is impossible to completely disassociate yourself from your work in order to objectively evaluate and then improve it. But the ability to achieve “artistic distance”—that is, to attain a place that allows you to contemplate your design on its own merits—will enable you to improve your own work immeasurably and, ultimately, to cast off the immature shackles of ego. Learn to let your work shine by letting go of it. Acquire the knack of achieving artistic distance. Burton, Paul
-
David Barnes at work
-
Tumbling to Tumblr
24 Apr 2012 | 8:30 amGonna try Tumblr for a bit; Posterous is getting too slow. Follow me at http://packtdavidb.tumblr.com/ Permalink | Leave a comment » -
Financial Times’ Web app draws in 2m users in the ten months since launch
24 Apr 2012 | 7:43 amFinancial Times’ Web app draws in 2m users in the ten months since launch Last month we wrote that FT.com’s subscription revenue was on course to overtake its ad-based revenue in 2012, with Rob Grimshaw, Managing Director ... Source: http://goo.gl/mag/XziiZ Shared via Google Currents Permalink | Leave a comment » -
Move over Harry Potter... Packt books bought from Packtpub.com can now be sent straight to Kindle
5 Apr 2012 | 10:36 amScreenshots below. And of course you'll still be able to access the book in a variety of DRM free formats from your Packtpub.com account. See the full gallery on Posterous Permalink | Leave a comment » -
Nobody Wants to Learn How To Program
5 Mar 2012 | 11:04 amThis post by @AlSweigart says more about how to write a tech book than the whole history of this blog, in a single post. Readers want programs, not programming. They want to build things they can brag about, copy, and show off. It doesn't just apply to programming. Every technical skill fits this pattern. Nobody wants to learn Drupal. They want to build a web site. Nobody wants to learn Backtrack. They want to hack (or protect) wireless networks. Too few authors and publishers take this seriously. Heeding Al's advice leads to happy readers and substantial sales. Do it. Permalink | Leave a… -
The most useful thing I learned at university
17 Feb 2012 | 8:10 amEarly in the second year we were given a project to develop an IT strategy for a small printing business. We delivered a comprehensive strategy with some pretty powerful recommendations for enterprise grade marketing management software. It was going well until one of the lecturer's playing the role of client said, "just one thing... what makes you think a small business like ours wants to implement a complex IT strategy like this?" "You've got to move with the times," we said. "You've got to modernize." "We'd rather not, if we can help it," said the lecturer. "Well you asked us here to…
-
2moroDocs
-
Facebook: Create a Page List
1 May 2012 | 2:38 pmIt’s very easy to add lists just for pages. That enables you to categorize pages into separate lists so you can then view information for only those pages. It makes it easier to separate posts from friends and posts from pages in your timeline. The default inclusion of everything can be overwhelming. Like Friend lists, [...] -
Facebook: Create a Friend List
1 May 2012 | 2:19 pmThere are default friend lists in Facebook such as Family and Close Friends. They’re listed in the Friends section in the left navigation bar. You can add more at any time. Here’s how! 1. Left bar: FRIENDS > MORE 2. + Create List 3. Add a List Name. 4. Create 5. Add Friends 6. Select [...] -
YouTube: Find and Subscribe to Video Channels
24 May 2011 | 1:38 pmThere are so many videos on YouTube that it may seem overwhelming to find some of interest to you. There’s an easy way to always find videos you like. Companies, bands, and others set up channels for their videos. You can subscribe to them so they’re easily accessible for you, and you can set it [...] -
Facebook: Sort News Feed to View Only Friends or Pages
23 May 2011 | 3:48 pmAfter a while, you may find that you’ve added many friends in Facebook and liked many pages. So many, perhaps, that your news feed is a mix of both and it’s difficult to separate the two. The default is to display both. It’s possible to sort your news feed so that you can view only [...] -
Facebook: Hide Pages
6 May 2011 | 1:49 pmIf you have liked a Facebook page and want to remove it from your news feed so the posts don’t display, you can hide it. This removes the posts from your news feed, but does not unlike the page. You can undo this at any time to have the posts display in your news feed again. [...]
-
Kai's Tech Writing Blog
-
Hiring 2 tech writers in Copenhagen
16 May 2012 | 2:21 amWe are looking for 2 tech writers for financial software in Copenhagen, Denmark: 1 Senior Technical Writer with at least 5 years experience 1 Technical Writer, graduates welcome SimCorp is a leading provider of investment management software and service solutions. For details, see the company job page or ask me via twitter @techwriterkai or via LinkedIn. Filed under: technical communication, technical writing Tagged: copenhagen denmark -
Tribute to a fellow tech writer
14 May 2012 | 2:00 amPJ, a colleague and fellow tech writer, died last Thursday. It’s the first time that someone who I’ve worked with has died, and it’s made me pause and think about how well I know and appreciate my colleagues. He was the first tech writer I met when I joined the company in 2008. He had covered the area that was to become my responsibility, so I inherited some of the documentation he had written. It soon became apparent that we approached documentation from opposite angles. PJ had been with the company for several decades already. He knew developments and details of our… -
Top 5 reasons I look forward to the STC12 Summit
7 May 2012 | 8:00 amI’ll be going to my first STC Summit in a couple of weeks and I’m already really excited about it. Here are my top 5 reasons and motivations: 1. Learn about new trends The obvious reason to attend a conference: Many of the 80 sessions cover new industry trends – or at least topics that are new to me. We’re currently implementing a new HAT which brings a a lot of opportunities and some challenges, so I’m looking forward to: Andrea Ames’ Improving the User Experience by Applying Progressive Information Disclosure Nicky Bleiel’s Five+ Ways to Add… -
Let Monty Python help you build techcomm lists correctly
30 Apr 2012 | 3:00 amMonty Python offers a most entertaining reminder about the safest way to introduce bullet lists in their sketch The Spanish Inquisition: Omit the number of elements in the list’s introduction. This allows you to add elements to the list without having a wrong introduction. In the words of Cardinal Ximénez (Michael Palin): NOBODY expects the Spanish Inquisition! Our chief weapon is surprise…surprise and fear…fear and surprise…. Our two weapons are fear and surprise…and ruthless efficiency…. Our three weapons are fear, surprise, and ruthless… -
Summing up Scriptorium’s tech comm experts webcast
23 Apr 2012 | 3:00 amIn Scriptorium’s “Ask the experts” webcast on 17 April 2012, Sarah O’Keefe, Nicky Bleiel and Tony Self reflected on frequently asked questions and trends. Here’s a timed play-by-play synopsis, so you can access the bits in the recording that interest you. I try to provide teasers, not spoilers, so scoot right over to Scriptorium’s blog and check out the meaty answers for yourself! FAQs The panel starts with the questions they hear most often, from the underlying architecture via the tools to the deliverables. 5:46 – What is the best help/XML/CMS tool…
-
More Specifically
-
My New Boss
10 May 2012 | 2:44 pmHe may only be seven weeks old, but he is very demanding on directing my time both day and night. My newborn has definitely changed everything I knew about working from home. He might sleep a lot, but he also feeds and cries a lot at unpredictable times. It always seems I just get him down for yet another nap and he does not stay asleep very long. This new mom sure has a lot to learn, but here is what my new boss has taught me so far: Time Management I have learned that the second his eyes close and I am able to put him down for a minute (or two?) I find something to do, such as fix his… -
Back To Work!
30 Apr 2012 | 2:53 pmI am happy to report that my maternity leave is over and I am back! Officially, I am now a full time freelancer and work at home mom to a 6 week old and so far it has definitely been a huge change as I learn to juggle being a mom and running my business. The latest to report is that my business name is officially registered and the logo is almost finished. I am so excited to continue to improve this website and hope to have a redesign soon. Please comment below what you either like or dislike about this website so I can work to keep the good and toss the not so good. -
Book Review: 103 Ways To Create Sharp Blog Content: By Sara Lancaster at No 2 Pen SHARP
8 Mar 2012 | 8:21 amHave you found yourself sitting down to write your blog article, only to have no idea what to write? It can happen to any writer from time to time. Author Sara Lancaster has been in your place and has written an ebook with 103 ways to not only find something to write for your blog, but write substantial content to make your blog stand above. Lancaster uses bright colors and pencil tips to highlight headings and to be sure you do not miss important tips. Each tip is numbered to be used as a reference in the future when you are stuck for a blog topic. It is obvious Lancaster did her research in… -
Hiatus
24 Feb 2012 | 7:47 amHello. This blog will be on hiatus while I take maternity leave. Please look for me again in May. I will miss you all, but am excited to focus on my new family. Thank you. ~Andrea -
Know Your Limitations
3 Feb 2012 | 8:17 amHaving always worked full time, I had specific hours I had to work and a boss checking in on my projects to make sure I am on task. Freelancing gives me the freedom to work on my own time. Freelancing part time always gave me the ability to pick my projects and I could always choose to turn something down if I did not have time for it or just did not feel like the project fit my skills. Since I am transitioning, I have that fear that many beginner freelancers have that I won’t get enough clients or make my bills because of lack of work. This fear has pushed me to take on every project…
-
I Came, I Saw, I Learned...
-
Adobe Captivate 5/5.5: Switch TTS Agents in a Snap
15 May 2012 | 2:31 pmby Kevin Siegel During every Captivate beginner class, time is spent on the second day teaching everyone how to use Captivate's Text-to-Speech feature to convert slide notes into speech.Recently, one of the students asked an excellent question: "Is there an easy way to change my mind? I'd love it if there was a pain-free way to quickly change the agent from Kate, to Paul and then maybe back to Kate."You can switch between one agent to another. The solution, while easy, isn't obvious. Here's how:First, go through your project and convert the slide notes to… -
Adobe Captivate: Reuse Text to Speech
10 May 2012 | 3:11 pmThe Adobe Captivate BLOG features a video that goes into Captivate's Text to Speech feature and how to reuse audio files in multiple projects. Read more -
PowerPoint: Chart Templates
10 May 2012 | 3:10 pmby AJ George I was perusing the Microsoft Office Forums and came across an unanswered question from someone about chart formatting. This PowerPoint user wanted to be able to create multiple charts with the same formatting (ie bars on a graph with a gradient effect) without having to individually format each separate piece of every new chart. An attempt at copying and pasting the slide using the Keep Source Fformatting option did not keep the chart's formatting. The person struggling with this issue also mentioned that there were more than 300 charts that needed formatting and dreaded… -
Adobe Captivate 5/5.5: It's Alive... Preview
8 May 2012 | 10:29 amby Kevin Siegel Last week I wrote about how you can save and share effects you've added to the Effects panel (so the effects can be used in other projects or by other developers). I'd like to stick with the Effects theme for another week. If you've used the Effects panel, there's a good chance that you've missed a useful feature--it's often overlooked by even veteran developers.The most common way to preview an effect or a slide animation is to either Preview the project, the next 5 slides or from the current slide (these options are all found… -
Adobe RoboHelp: Top 10 Mistakes to Avoid When Creating a Help System
5 May 2012 | 3:04 pmNeil Perlin has written a well-rounded white paper covering the top mistakes Help authors make when creating a Help System. Among the mistakes: Not developing mechanisms to support content consistency Not developing mechanisms to support format consistency Not revisiting project design in light of 'environmental' changes Not planning to test QA (Quality Assurance) and usability Not planning to create an index Read more
-
Chicwriter
-
The New Chicwriter
7 May 2012 | 11:11 amI started Chicwriter as a way to share my technical writing knowledge with others and to meet others writers. It slowly developed into a way to show that I do know what I am talking about and find clients. For awhile, I stopped accepting new clients to focus on my non-profit Stop Alcohol Deaths, Inc. However, I miss freelancing and working with a variety of clients and different projects. Therefore, I am returning to what I love doing. I am also going to change the format of Chicwriter to be more personal. I want to share real-life stories that might motivate new technical writers and… -
Chicwriter Feed Problems Fixed
3 May 2012 | 11:59 amThe feed was corrupted. It seems that a post that had some code was messing up the feed. I fixed it, and now it is working. If this ever happens to you, you can to the Feed Validator, and it will tell you what is going on with your feed. If you are using Feedburner, you might have to “Resync Now” to make sure that it captures the changes so that your feed can once again start working again. Source: audioboo.fm via Ileane on Pinterest -
How To Set the Right Fee for Your Work
13 Apr 2012 | 12:29 pmIn February, I had some serious damage to my ceiling due to the upstairs neighbor having a water leak. Trying to figure out who was responsible got a bit difficult because there is a tenant living there. After some back and forth, it was decided that the tenant should pay for the damage in the hallway bathroom due to a clog in the toilet, and the condo owner should pay for the damage in the master bathroom due to a water pipe bursting. I decided to use my contractor who did a great job renovating my hallway bathroom. Everything has been fixed, and now the contractor and upstairs owner are… -
Writers: How Do You Handle Revisions that Creep In?
9 Apr 2012 | 12:15 pmRevisions are something that will usually occur in any writing project. There will be multiple people looking at the document for various reasons: 1. To make sure that the content is accurate 2. See if the document adheres to the company’s and/or client’s guidelines 3. Edit the document so that there aren’t any spelling or grammatical mistakes Whatever the case, revisions will happen. When you are freelancing, when do you decide that the revision is included in the price that the client and you agreed upon or if it is an additional fee? When you turn in a document, you should get… -
Four Requirement Types and the Documents to Put Them
3 Apr 2012 | 3:49 pmWhen you are developing a solution, you will be creating requirements that describe every detail of the design. If you don’t, then your solution is probably going to fail. Therefore, you have to be sure to collect all of them, analyze them, and make sure they are implemented correctly. In business analysis, requirements are broken down into four types: business, stakeholder, solution, and transition. Business Requirements Business requirements are the highest level of requirements. These are usually defined during your initial meetings with stakeholders and when you are getting a better…
-
Owner's Manual, Ebook Tutorial, Service And Repair Manual PDF
-
Plantronics WIRELESS OFFICE HEADSET SYSTEM CS50/55
11 May 2012 | 8:16 am43031 -
Plantronics T20
11 May 2012 | 8:16 am43030 -
Plantronics .Audio 990
11 May 2012 | 8:16 am43029 -
Plantronics Discovery 925
11 May 2012 | 8:16 am43028 -
Plantronics Voyager 835
11 May 2012 | 8:16 am43027
-
IT4buddy
-
Google mobile apps: Banned in China
7 May 2012 | 8:30 amChina’s Secretary of state for Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) on Saturday declined that it had prohibited China cellular companies from installing Google’s programs on the cellular phones. “We never provided an order to ban the use of The search engines company brand name and programs on cellular terminal items. The information online was against the truth,” the ministry said in a declaration on its established web page. The declaration came after reports by a number of major information websites in China suppliers, such as Sina.com, stating a observe on the established… -
Google to be fined for for hacking Apple’s Safari browser
7 May 2012 | 8:27 amSearch massive The search engines could face a excellent of over 10 million dollars for purportedly coughing Apple”s Opera internet browser to focus on customers with ads, according to a review. The company is currently discussing with the US Government Trade Commission payment (FTC) over how much it will have to pay for the The excellent would be the first by the FTC for a abuse of Online comfort as the organization steps up administration of consumers” online privileges, The Quotes Day Usher in reviews. According to a person acquainted with the matter, the FTC is planning to… -
LG to launch Google TV sets in U.S. later this month
7 May 2012 | 8:25 amTv massive LG Gadgets plans to release Internet-enabled TVs in the U.S. later this month centered around the The search engines TV foundation, according to a mature organization professional. The shift comes as the Southern region Japanese company, the second biggest producer of tvs in the world, looks to obtain a grip in the growing Online TV industry. Speaking to Reuters, Ro Seogho, professional v. p. of LG’s television company, said that development of the new gadgets will begin at its Southern region america flower next weeks time, and the first products will be available for purchase… -
Will Samsung be able to rule without Android
3 May 2012 | 8:19 amNew samsung Gadgets is the globe’s greatest cell phone producer and greatest user of Google’s Managing program os. Samsung’s meteoric increase – in the first one fourth of 2011 it delivered less cell mobile phones than Apple company , Htc or Analysis in Movement, but is now industry innovator – has passed it a situation. Does it risk becoming a investment producer of components, packed like the PC creators of old between whittling edges and those who management the application that makes their gadgets run, or does it try to break into other parts of the business – the… -
Gmail users get Google Fax and 10GB for e-mail
3 May 2012 | 8:10 amAfter establishing the long awaited The search engines Generate, the search massive now plans to offer its Googlemail customers an extra 2.5GB storage area potential. Over the decades, The search engines has improved the Googlemail storage area potential from 1GB to 7.5GB and this new move will entitle Googlemail customers to an overall of 10GB storage area space. “Today, we’re happy to declare that we’re improving everybody’s free storage area in Googlemail from 7.5GB to 10GB (and counting) to enjoy today’s release of The search engines Generate,” said…
-
Technical Writing ToolBox
-
The 2012 MadCap Roadshow in Toronto
12 May 2012 | 5:19 pmMadCap Software visits several cities in the US, Canada and Europe to provide an intensive, one-day technical writing seminar called Madcap Roadshow. Thanks to the heavily discounted price (75% off), available only for technical communication students, I registered for the 2012 Madcap Roadshow in Toronto. This event will be held on 17th May at Toronto Hilton. [...] -
Pomodairo: A Software Timer based on the Pomodoro Technique
10 May 2012 | 12:40 amProgram Name: Pomodairo Use: A software timer based on the Pomodoro Technique Cost: Freeware Size: 1.7 MB Works on: Windows (XP/Vista/7), Linux and Mac (requires Adobe AIR) Download Link: http://code.google.com/p/pomodairo What is the Pomodoro Technique? “Pomodoros” is an Italian term which means tomato. Pomodoro technique uses a timer to break down periods of work into 25-minute intervals called ‘Pomodoros’ separated by [...] -
5 Free Online Tools for Distraction-Free Writing
8 May 2012 | 9:21 pmLast week I talked about the importance of distraction free writing and suggested five free desktop tools for distraction free writing. However, some of us cannot install any software in a workplace computer due to the mighty-IT department restrictions or often work on shared computers. If you find yourself in either of these scenarios then [...] -
Pomodoro Technique: A Recipe for Increasing your Writing Productivity
6 May 2012 | 5:16 pmPomodoro technique is a time management technique developed by Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980s and is quite effective in increasing work productivity. I’ve experimented with the Pomodoro technique and have received extremely positive results in increasing my own writing productivity. What is the Pomodoro Technique? “Pomodoros” is an Italian term which means tomato. Pomodoro technique [...] -
7 Useful Insights about How People Read Documentation
3 May 2012 | 10:04 pmReading is a primary form of communication for most people and they have different habits of reading. Not surprisingly, different people read product documentation in different ways. But how do they read and why should we care about their reading habits? A writer writes with a purpose. This purpose gives shapes to their thoughts and allows [...]
