Goodbye July 14, 2007
Posted by Roger in : Blogging, Random Thoughts , 2commentsI am no longer able to maintain two blogs. This one drew the short straw. So long. Please join me at http://matthew25.vox.com.
Characters June 12, 2007
Posted by Roger in : Blogging, Random Thoughts , 1 comment so farSince I have recently performed a WordPress upgrade, I am finding odd characters sprinkled around the blog. I don’t have the time to track down each one, but if you find one, please leave a comment for that post. Here are a couple I found:
- Â
- â€
Summer Reading June 12, 2007
Posted by Roger in : Random Thoughts, Notable People, Notable Books , add a commentOften I travel to spots where I can relax and read at least two books during the summer. This year, however, I am taking a less laid-back trip to Jackson, WY to visit Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons for the first time.
My friends and I are planning river glides, balloon trips, a chuckwagon venture, bus tours, etc. And then there are the watering holes and the Scottish Highlands Festival that is taking place while we are in Jackson.
So, I had to select ONE book. It has been gathering dust, waiting on me to read it. August will be my chance. Yes, I will write a review when I return.
Technorati tags: Barack Obama, The Audacity of Hope
E-mail Bankruptcy May 29, 2007
Posted by Roger in : Language , add a commentThe Word Spy really finds some great new terms. Here is one to which I can relate.
e-mail bankruptcy
e-mail bankruptcy n. The state of being unable or unwilling to read and respond to all the e-mail messages one has received, and so to delete those message and start over again. Also: email bankruptcy.Example Citation:
Last month, venture capitalist Fred Wilson drew a lot of attention on the Internet when he declared a 21st century kind of bankruptcy. In a posting on his blog about technology, Wilson announced he was giving up on responding to all the e-mail piled up in his inbox.“I am so far behind on e-mail that I am declaring bankruptcy,” he wrote. “If you’ve sent me an e-mail (and you aren’t my wife, partner, or colleague), you might want to send it again. I am starting over.” …
The term “e-mail bankruptcy” may have been coined as early as 1999 by a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor who studies the relationship between people and technology.
Professor Sherry Turkle said she came up with the concept after researching e-mail and discovering that some people harbor fantasies about escaping their e-mail burden.
– Mike Musgrove, “E-Mail Reply to All: ‘Leave Me Alone’,” The Washington Post, May 25, 2007
Help Protect Atlanta’s Book Review May 5, 2007
Posted by Roger in : Other Media, Periodicals, News, Free Press, Random Thoughts , 1 comment so farWant to keep the book review section of the Atlanta Journal Constitution? Sign the petition here. Thanks for the tip, Ann.
Nanotech Medical News April 14, 2007
Posted by Roger in : News, Random Thoughts , 1 comment so far
One of the most promising applications for nanotechnology is in the field of medicine. On April 23, Dr. Samuel Stupp, a Northwestern University nanomedicine scientist, will present his findings on using nanotechnology to accelerate cell regeneration. He will also present his forecast about the future potential of using this science to treat many medical conditions.
The April 23 talk will be Webcast live from 12:30-1:30 PM EDT at http://www.wilsoncenter.org/nano.
Technorati tags: nanotechnology
RIP: Kurt Vonnegut April 12, 2007
Posted by Roger in : News, Random Thoughts, Notable People , add a comment
While many other people will write much longer pieces about him, I will write little because we have his books to continue to influence and entertain generations to come. I haven’t read all of his works because there are so many, but I’ve read enough to know that the world will be a lesser place without the amazing mind of Kurt Vonnegut. Rest in peace old friend.
Technorati tags: Kurt Vonnegut
FrameMaker Paragraph Tip April 5, 2007
Posted by Roger in : Random Thoughts, Resources , 1 comment so farI have been using FrameMaker just over one year now, and there is still much to learn. FrameMaker’s inferior Help lacks basic procedures, nevermind tips and tricks. I learned the following tip from the FrameMaker listserv.
You can create a page break paragraph style to eliminate the need for overrides. Create a paragraph style with 800 points after the paragraph. Set the color of the style to something that is easy to spot (such as green), and name the style something similar to{_Page_Break_}. The braces force it to the bottom of the paragraph style catalog, so it is easy to find.
Books in the News March 27, 2007
Posted by Roger in : News, Resources, Notable People, Notable Books , add a commentSocial Networking Fatigue March 22, 2007
Posted by Roger in : Blogging, Random Thoughts , 1 comment so farThe Word Spy often publishes new words or phrases that really hit home to me. This is one of them because, in addition to posting on WriteAtlanta, I maintain a Christian social justice blog over at vox.com.
social networking fatigue n. Mental exhaustion and stress caused by creating and maintaining an excessive number of accounts on social networking sites. Also: social network fatigue.
Example Citation:
Since, ostensibly, it’s “you” who has been providing all this content that has been lining other people’s wallets, media companies have a vested interest in hyping the idea of defining yourself. But in reality, they’re just worsening a bad case of “you” proliferation.This is why there’s been a growing online grumble about “social network fatigue.” It’s more than a frustration with signing up for umpteen useless accounts; it’s the exhaustion that comes from being asked to build an online identity over and over again. Yes, young people have an inexhaustible desire to try on and discard alternative personas like clothing. But the point comes where you say, can’t I just be me?
– Ivor Tossell, “Who do you want to be today?,” The Globe and Mail, February 16, 2007
Technorati tags: social networking fatigue, word spy, vox.com
My Hairy Typo March 5, 2007
Posted by Roger in : Blogging, Random Thoughts , add a commentI have seen it written and heard it said that once the written word is written, it is “out there” forever. You may have heard some variation on this theme. However, is it really true today? In our electronic wired world?
Although there is Internet caching of Web pages and blogs, such as by Google, caching is limited to some arbitrary moment in time. If I publish a post, and then say, “oh my gawd, look at that hairy typo,” I can typically correct the error within a minute, perhaps before it is cached.
But does an RSS feed contain the error. I don’t know. Probably. RSS feeds remind me of grade school tattletales. Everyone can know what you did and can have a good laugh about it. You also may be punished for it.
A good editor is hard to find, and in the blogosphere, where many writers publish alone, errors and typos are certain to make it into all of our writing. Look hard. You’ll probably find one here.
Amazon Unbox February 24, 2007
Posted by Roger in : Other Media , add a commentYou can download your favorite movies and television programs and watch them now on your computer, using Amazon’s new unbox service.
Technorati tags: Amazon unbox, movies, downloads, television
FrameMaker Plugins February 22, 2007
Posted by Roger in : Resources , add a commentTo the best of my knowledge, Adobe does not maintain a list of tested and approved plugins for FrameMaker. However, that has not deterred individuals and companies from developing them and offering them to users. Some are free. Most are not. Someone posted a link to an apparently “complete list” of FrameMaker plugins and tools. It is located at leximation.com.
Technorati tags: FrameMaker, Adobe
Adobe FrameMaker February 19, 2007
Posted by Roger in : Random Thoughts, Resources, Events , 1 comment so farAdobe FrameMaker is one of the most valuable tools that many writers use, particularly technical writers. Although I have been a technical writer for 18 years, until I accepted my current job, I had never used it.
I am not intimidated by software except where complex graphics are involved, such as with Adobe Photoshop. In the past my primary technical writing tools have been Ventura Publisher (now Corel Ventura), WordStar, WordPerfect (now Corel WordPerfect), and Microsoft Word (a good word processor, but not a good publishing tool). For online Help development, I’ve primarily used RoboHelp (now Adobe RoboHelp), but that is another post for later.
I’ve managed to learn and use each of these products successfully during my career, which has spanned working for many companies, from corporate giants to small private companies, as is my current employer. I have been using FrameMaker for under a year now and have come to love it compared to everything else I previously used.
Until Saturday, I had no formal training in FrameMaker. I usually have had to learn and use software using the “seat of pants” method, often because of limited training budgets where I have worked. This has generally worked well for me in my career, as I learned to use what I needed and avoided what I did not. (Confession: I did have have an entire week of Microsoft Word training a decade ago and earned a Brainbench certificate as a Word Power User. Forgive me please.)
Last Saturday, the Atlanta STC chapter sponsored a short class about using FrameMaker. Most of the students had not used FrameMaker and were curious about it. The rest of us were novice users at best. I picked up some great usage tips, learned the best way to use certain features, found some shortcuts that were new to me, and received reinforcement that my recent development of new FrameMaker templates at my current job was a good method. I paid for the training myself as it was not budgeted where I work, but it was worth the price and time.
Thanks to Howard Speck who organized the class and Chris McRae who taught it.
Technorati tags: FrameMaker, Adobe, Corel, RoboHelp, STC
How Plastics And Nanotechnology Are Changing The Microchip Industry And The World We Live In February 10, 2007
Posted by Roger in : Essays, News, Random Thoughts , add a comment[Author’s Note: This original essay was first published by The Content Wrangler and will be published in the next issue of The Edge.]
In an article I wrote for the July 2006 edition of The Edge, I used plastics as a metaphor to describe the dawning age of nanotechnology and how applied uses of the new science will sneak into our daily lives with little or no fanfare, as did plastic products. But little did I know when I wrote those words that plastics were still on the march too, particularly in the microchip industry. However, let me add that nanotechnology is behind this important development. So, there!
Many major companies and some upstarts are investing heavily to produce plastic polymer microchips, including Philips, Hitachi, Samsung, Lucent, and Plastic Logic. Plastic Logic? This seven year-old British company has developed the world first working plastic microchip prototype. More on the company later in this article.
Why do we need plastic microchips? After all, silicon is basically sand so how expensive can silicon microchips be to produce? Why would companies spend millions from their R&D budgets on plastic microchips? To paraphrase a well-known line from The X-Files, because the future is out there.
Plastic chips will be less costly to manufacture. The cost savings are more related to manufacturing and scale than to the cost of raw materials. Silicon chips require very expensive and elaborate fabrication plants, which use high temperatures and vacuums in manufacturing and also produce large amounts of waste. Plastics chips can be produced much more cheaply. With plastic polymers, there is even the potential that we can use ink-jet printing technology to make chips in our homes. “Honey, I just printed a new circuit board for the refrigerator.”
Let’s take a quick look at the science. Until recently, plastic polymers conducted electricity too slowly to challenge silicon-based materials. But it is all about chemistry in the end. Change the chemical makeup of the plastic, and all bets are off. “I was there because there was chemistry.” - Monica Lewinsky. Sorry, where did that quote come from?
Let me make this quick. Using nanotechnology, scientists have modified a plastic polymer by altering its molecular structure, creating a product that can more efficiently conduct a current. And there is more: You can dissolve this new polymer to produce a current-conducting ink and then apply the ink to most any surface, from paper to buildings.
Perhaps even more than the manufacturing cost savings, the increased number of industrial, medical, scientific, business, electronic, and consumer products that can use these plastic chips is incentive enough for many companies to invest. The possibilities appear endless.
Imagine your favorite newspaper or magazine displayed on e-paper with the most current news and articles downloaded over your wireless network. So, if you didn’t have time to check the news before work, toss the e-paper into your briefcase and read it on the train. Think also of billboards automated to change in an instant, allowing many companies to time-share a few choice billboards. Consider that hospitals will be able to use flexible plastic circuit boards as patient ID bracelets, which can contain the patients’ entire medical histories and display the information directly on the bracelet or remotely to a doctor catching a quick nine holes on a pretty day.
Eventually prices of many consumer electronics will plummet because of the new low cost technology. Devices such as computers, satellite receivers, televisions, digital recorders, mobile phones, global positioning devices, and game machines will be easier to afford and become more ubiquitous in our global village, thus allowing the information revolution to continue expanding into new markets.
Then there are the non-traditional products that the second wave of plastic microchips will invade, from clothing to food. With plastic threads and sensors woven into your clothes, you will have direct access to telephone services and the Internet and have no need for bulky separate devices. Wish you had worn a different color jacket when you left home? Not to worry, just touch a sensor and the jacket changes appearance from red to blue in an instant. On your way home, stop at the market to buy a quick meal for your family, and the electronic cooking container instructs your smart microwave or oven how to cook it.
As I promised, let’s take a look at Plastic Logic, the apparent leading company in this new plastic world. Since securing about $100 million in investment capital, this small British company is constructing a manufacturing complex in Dresden, Germany. The facility is expected to mass manufacture e-paper that is both portable and durable enough for everyday use and possessing a battery life long enough for you to read War and Peace. But with the Web 2.0 convergence of voice, text, and video, the e-paper has perhaps even greater possibilities. You may be watching bits of the film along with listening to the audio book. That would make War and Peace a bit more pleasant.
Plastic Logic expects to produce its first commercial e-paper for sale next year. Wow!
As a technical writer, I can only imagine the possibilities for delivering user and training information. How about instantly refreshing deployed user guides all at once to fix the typo on page four or rewrite the wrong instruction on page 50. If we ignore these emerging technologies, it is at our own peril. Get ready. Time is short.
Interesting Writing Blogs February 10, 2007
Posted by Roger in : Blogging, Random Thoughts, Resources , 1 comment so farThe blogsphere has an interesting mixture of writing related sites. Here are a few of my favorites:
- http://leekottner.typepad.com/blogorrhea_ii/: I have to list a friend first. Lee is a very talented writer, editor, and book artist who lives in NYC. She is looking for a publisher for her first novel.
- http://nytimesbooks.blogspot.com/index.html: This NY Times blog is all about book cover design, from …er unusual to eye-catching.
- http://www.wordspy.com/index.asp: I have been reading the Word Spy for several years. Any lover of words will enjoy the new finds from this site.
- http://crofsblogs.typepad.com/ckbetas/: For those of you who write for the Web, check out Writing for the Web. Crawford Kilian has passed Web 2.0 and moved on to Web 3.0.
- http://evileditor.blogspot.com/: This blog focuses on what keeps you from getting published.
More favorites later. This should occupy your time for awhile.
Clusty Cloud for Writing Blogs
Articles … Bloggers … Book … Class … Community … Creative … Editor … Entertainment … Fiction … Newsletter … Photos … Prompts … RSS … Reviews … School … Science … Technical Writing … Technorati … Tips … Writing Good Blogs
Technorati tags: Lee Kottner, Word Spy, Crawford Kilian, Evil Editor
Chinese Teacher Pushes to Correct Signs Before the 2008 Olympics January 30, 2007
Posted by Roger in : News, Language , add a commentIn an effort to make Beijing a friendlier international city before the Chinese capital hosts the 2008 Olympics, teacher Liu Yongli, has spent the past three years photographing signs written in bad English in Beijing and other cities in an effort to get business, government, and individuals to rewrite the signs.
A favourite of his reads: “To take notice of safe, the slippery are very crafty”. It is actually warning people to take care when using a sloping driveway up to a building. [iol.ca.za]
Does this spell doom for those of us who love Engrish.com? However, I wish him success in his effort. Now if he will help us in Atlanta, there will be peace on Earth.
Adobe Gives PDF Specifications to ISO January 30, 2007
Posted by Roger in : News , 1 comment so farSince its introduction in 1992, Adobe Systems’ portable document format (PDF) has gained increasing popularity and ubiquity in the publishing world.
In its effort for PDF to become an ISO standard, yesterday Adobe handed over the complete PDF specification to the Enterprise Content Management Association to be published by the International Standards Organization (ISO).
Various subsets of PDF, such as PDF for Exchange, are current ISO standards. This action is the next logical step to keep the format secure at least for the immediate future. With the coming of Web 2.0 and the convergence of voice, text, and video, open standards are increasingly a requirement. Adobe’s action is a step in that direction.
Funny Mental Image January 24, 2007
Posted by Roger in : Language, Random Thoughts , 5commentsGet ready to don your mental image hat. As I was reading a document written by a product manager today, I found this gem:
Static worklists are lists that you create by dragging and dropping records into a holding area. For example, you may create a static worklist named “My Best Receptionists.” You create this list by dragging and dropping your best receptionists into this holding area.
The question I had was how long can you legally hold them there.
Technorati tags: language, humor, mental image
Decent Exposure to FrameMaker January 23, 2007
Posted by Roger in : Events , 1 comment so farWHO: Chris McRae, Certified FrameMaker Instructor
WHAT: The Atlanta STC chapter is sponsoring an instructor-led tutorial on Adobe FrameMaker, one of the leading publishing software applications used in the US.
WHEN: Saturday, February 17, 9 AM - 2 PM (with lunch break)
WHERE: Southern Polytechnic State University, Building “F” Computer Lab
COST: $50 for STC members and $150 for non-members
CONTACT: pres@stcatlanta.org
NOTE: Limited class size
