Technical Writing for the Terrified
February 26, 2007
Introduction
Sometimes it may be beyond a companies or individuals budget to hire a professional writer to address their technical documentation. Although in an ideal world all technical documentation should be produced by a highly trained expert, unfortunately we do not live in an ideal. In the same way that many people will attempt to repair their own home appliances, many people will attempt to write quality technical documents. Just as fiddling with a toaster can result in electrocution, attempting to write technical documents from scratch without prior advice will ultimately result in failure. As a rough rule of thumb you should always seek to employ a specialist, but if for whatever reason you can’t and you are the poor unfortunate that has had documentation duties foisted on them, don’t despair. This brief guide outlines some of the core skills you will need to bring to your writing, technical conventions to be aware of, software packages you can consider, and definite things to avoid. Hopefully even if you have never written a sentence in your life about anything vaguely technical you will have at the very least, a broader picture of what technical writing entails.
What is Technical Writing?
Animal Communicator
February 26, 2007
I have a business card burning a hole in my Rolodex. It’s from an animal communicator. Someone who allegedly interprets mental pictures from animals. I love my dog dearly. He communicates with very expressive eyes and I don’t seem to have much trouble" getting" him. But because I’m so attached to him I’ve been toying with the idea of going that step further to find out what’s really in his mind. So why don’t I?
Well. Some givens going into the situation. What goes on in dog’s heads is important to them. They’re not likely to give you a tip on the fifth at Santa Anita. They think about food, toys, other dogs. And although I’m not quite sure how the process works I don’t think it’s like Karnak the Magician where you can ask questions.
But back to why I don’t just call the number and set up an appointment.
Maybe I’m not sure I want to know what my dog thinks of me or what goes on in his head. After all he is privy to all our secrets.
The Exotic Rose of Sharon
February 25, 2007
Perhaps you were browsing the pages of a catalog and found a beautiful picture of the Rose of Sharon (Hibiscus Sriacus)? Or maybe you were lucky enough to see a Rose of Sharon in person at a local garden center?
Are you wondering whether these will make a beautiful addition to your home? Getting a little knowledge of these beautiful plants will allow you to make a decision.
Although once somewhat uncommon, the Rose of Sharon has become a widely loved plant. Not your typical rose bush, these are more like shrubs. Other names for Rose of Sharon include althea and shrub althea. Some can grow up to 10 feet tall, while most maintain a height of 5 feet. Sounds like a tree? It looks like a beautiful shrub with blooms of a variety of colors. The Rose of Sharon makes for a great fence as well. Placed several side by side in a row, they create a natural fence that will enliven any landscape.
How To Identify Your Own Style Of Writing
February 25, 2007
This article is to help identify which style, technique or strategy of writing that one may use. I will also help to understand the method in the way a writer writes and help in determinining which aproach may suite your needs.
I hope that this information will help all to become more effective in writing to help suite the needs of the reader as well as the writer by identifying which style is best for both parties.
Architectural strategy
Writing which comes ‘out of an architectural drawing of the thing you are doing’ no such dismissiveness is intended here. Academic writers in a study who used this very common plan-write-edit strategy reported that they consciously chose their writing strategies.
These writers were less likely than others to see writing as a way of thinking. In these respects these writers tended to be Planners. While most writers agreed that they wrote better when concentrating on the topic rather than on the way they were writing.
Architectural Writers showed an implicit awareness of the role of the unconscious as they exhibited the strongest tendency amongst all groups to think that it helped to leave their evolving texts and to return to them later.
The Unusual Characteristics Of Reverse Painting
February 25, 2007
By stepping backwards in time one can discover an important part of art history associated with reverse painting on glass.It was an era that heralded the use of this art form ‘en masse’ during which people in communities could directly express in their own original way what they lived, perceived and felt in their own daily lives. Even to this day many artists who work on glass have been inspired through their links with furniture-making, glass production, the building trade, the teaching profession, or with farming and agriculture.
Reverse paintings on glass often allude to reality, seeking it as an accessory rather than as a necessity. They instead tend to give importance to their symbolic quality.
This is an art technique that pertains to the surface rather than one which creates space or depth. In turn (due to an absence of volume) it also creates an absence of light and shade.
Reverse paintings on glass are often profusely decorative, possibly an expression of the artist’s need to be attentive to ornamentation and detail.
There is quite often a tendancy to use direct complimentary colour combinations e.g. orange with blue, or red with green.
Buy Dog Supplements Online
February 25, 2007
Dog Supplements
A good nutritional program of dog supplements is just as important for your best pet friend as it is for us. Our pets have feelings, emotions, aches and pains just as we do. It’s pretty tough to look your buddy straight in the eyes and not feel love and compassion that drives itself right to our hearts. Foods lacking of vitamins and minerals do little more than temporarily fill the tummy. Dog supplements are ever so important for optimum health and happiness of our doggie.
Finding help for our pet best friend whether for joint, arthritis, heart, muscle, hair, or plain ole good fiber needs isn’t difficult any longer. Whether holistic or natural things like calcium, cranberry, dhea, minerals, and the whole spectrum of essentials should be on the dietary list. It’s not really that hard to deal with once your get your hands on the information. Many times all or many of these needs are dealt with in a multiple fashion.
Amino acids, acids, antioxidants and enzymes are just a few of the ingredients that cover issues from dandruff, to cardiovascular, circulatory, skin care, and immune system strengthening for the pets we love. If our little guys aren’t bouncy, peppy and happy you know something’s missing in the diet most likely.
Season Your Pans for Non Stick Cooking
February 24, 2007
Nothing is more frustrating than trying to cook a delicious meal and having it stick to the bottom of the pan. A well season or cured pan will make cooking more fun, easier to clean and create better tasting food. There is a saying in the restaurant business; Hot pan ? Cold oil. Meaning never put the oil in a cold pan and then heat it up. By heating the pan first and then adding the oil, then immediately the food, you’ll have much less sticking. Furthermore if you season the pan when you first purchase it, you will have even better results.
Curing by metal types
Stainless Steel ? Unfortunately stainless steel cannot be seasoned because of the hardness of the metal. A matter of fact I don’t know of a single restaurant which uses stainless steel pan. They are great for storing food because the food won’t react with the metal, but horrible for cooking. My advice is just stay away from them altogether.
Writing Helpful Help ? A Minimalism Checklist
February 24, 2007
User documentation is all too often written by programmers for programmers. It tends to focus on the product’s features, rather than the user’s tasks. Generally, programmers aren’t in the ideal position to be writing user documentation. They’re too close to the bits and bytes, and they’re too far from the user. To them, what the product can do tends to be far more important than what the user can do with the product.
It’s a subtle ? but vital ? distinction. Research shows that the key to effective user documentation is writing task oriented help. Even better, write your help according to the minimalist theory. In the documentation world, "minimalism" is a fancy word for a commonsense practice. In basic terms, it means write to your reader and keep it simple.
The theory itself has a lot of twists and turns. If you want to read a great ? but slightly wordy ? book on the subject, check out the book "Minimalism Beyond the Nurnberg Funnel", 1998, edited by John Carroll.
In the meantime, if you can tick every item in the following checklist, you’ll be well on your way to usable online help that both your readers and your managers will thank you for.
Materials for Snake and other Reptile Cages
February 24, 2007
What kind of materials should you use when constructing a reptile cage? This question was posed to me once by someone wishing to build their own reptile cage. They were particularly asking about pine and cedar as they had heard these were no good. But it did raise the question about what are the best materials.
All-glass, tubs, melamine cages, screen cages, there are many different types of housing systems for herps. Take your pick, depending on the adult size of the animal, how much room you have to spare, and how much money you are willing to spend!
Aquarium tanks: Good choice for keeping snakes under 6 feet, amphibians, turtles, and basically anything requiring a swimming pool or some humidity. If a screen top is used, there will be enough ventilation to keep a sand boa or leopard gecko or any desert animal in it. If higher humidity is needed, the screen top can be partially wrapped with Saran wrap, and the tank can be treated as a tropical garden; put soil in it and plant some plants to raise the humidity!
Does Your CD Cover $ell (Or Suck)?
February 24, 2007
Oh, I know the last part of the title (Suck) isn’t a very pleasant description to apply to anyone’s CD cover. But, in the interest of plain old honesty, and to face our demons head on, I wanted to (again) utilize a worst case scenario that we can only improve from.
And, having said that, think of the average (and not so average) recording artist’s CD cover, and I’ll bet you will agree that 9 out of 10 CD covers present the artist simply posing while staring straight into the camera.
And, the few artists who want to appear different, unique and diverse, simply either turn sideways, stare into deep space, or gaze downward or backward for their photo sessions.
If you happen to be among the aforementioned guilty, you should realize that by *not* becoming more proactive and aggressive with the visual aspect and design of your CD cover, you are shortchanging the potential of your release from the onset, and not giving it its best possible chance for maximum success.
I first began noticing this overall trend when CDs began replacing albums. And, I believe that the difference was due, in part, to the dramatic reduction in the cover size.
