http://tc.eserver.org/dir/Computing A listing of the most recently indexed works about Computing in the field of technical communication. en-us Copyright (c) 2005-08 by the EServer. All rights reserved. tclib-editorial@eserver.org (TC Library Editorial Board) webmaster@eserver.org (Geoffrey Sauer) http://tc.eserver.org/images/newlogo.gif http://tc.eserver.org/dir/Computing http://tc.eserver.org/33674.html http://tc.eserver.org/33674.html AJAX is a name given to an existing approach to building dynamic web applications. Web pages use JavaScript to make asynchronous calls to web-based services that typically return XML. http://tc.eserver.org/33296.html http://tc.eserver.org/33296.html A discussion of the major user-related issues that may present a barrier to the development of the connected home. http://tc.eserver.org/33248.html http://tc.eserver.org/33248.html Commitment to ethical professional conduct is expected of every member (voting members, associate members, and student members) of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). This Code, consisting of 24 imperatives formulated as statements of personal responsibility, identifies the elements of such a commitment. It contains many, but not all, issues professionals are likely to face. http://tc.eserver.org/32779.html http://tc.eserver.org/32779.html this column will take the form of a journey through a wide range of topics at the intersection of user experience design and everyware. http://tc.eserver.org/32033.html http://tc.eserver.org/32033.html The more you blog, the more people you attract through Google. The more search-engine-optimized your posts are, the more people find you. The more tweets you send, the more people follow you. The more social networks you join, the more people add themselves to your page. The better posts you write, the more people subscribe to your RSS feed. The more content you generate – in whatever form and media – the more trackbacks and links people generate about you. The more you produce, the more emails and questions you get. You become like a content cloud – attracting Google searches. http://tc.eserver.org/31438.html http://tc.eserver.org/31438.html Before I swapped my desktop computer for a laptop a couple of weeks ago, I had visions of reclaiming my desk and basking in the openness of white space. The reality, of course, was a fresh jumble of cables and wires—not to mention a CPU, a flat screen monitor and other assorted computer equipment strewn around the edges of the room. http://tc.eserver.org/31359.html http://tc.eserver.org/31359.html For those who dream about gaining high-speed, efficient, and bug-free performance from their PCs, Archee discusses the option of Linux, the world's most developed computer operating system—and it's free. http://tc.eserver.org/29446.html http://tc.eserver.org/29446.html The next time you complain about the usability of your computer, think of this: despite patently suboptimal design, Windows computers are really no more difficult to use than your washroom, and the washrooms have been around for an awful lot longer. The bottom line--you should pardon my choice of words--is that despite manifest flaws in both technologies, each lets you accomplish surprising quantities of work. And technical writers take heed: this appalling gap in end-user documentation could just be the next million-selling 'for Dummies' book. http://tc.eserver.org/29416.html http://tc.eserver.org/29416.html Conveying the emotional tone of a Web page has, up until now, been impossible with HTML, and the XML standard fails to address this issue. As an interim solution, developers have proposed several new tags to the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). http://tc.eserver.org/29424.html http://tc.eserver.org/29424.html The first 'macro viruses' attached to Microsoft Word documents emerged within weeks after Office 97 was released, and sounded the warning that a new era was upon us. http://tc.eserver.org/29429.html http://tc.eserver.org/29429.html Installing major software patches or upgrades ranks right up there with paying your taxes in terms of stress. Why the stress? Well, first, there's the instinctive fear of screwing up something that's already working reasonably well, thank you very much, and spending the next 60-hour week trying to get back to where you were before you 'improved' things. http://tc.eserver.org/29135.html http://tc.eserver.org/29135.html Universities and colleges are investing millions of dollars in information technology infrastructure to support teaching, research, and service, and thousands of dollars annually in faculty training programs. And yet, many college graduates entering the workforce lack adequate technology skills. To ascertain the frequency of faculty adoption of information technology, we surveyed a random sample of faculty in the liberal arts and sciences departments in our university. Overall faculty members (n = 174) reported a low usage of information technology for teaching, though the rate of software adoption is higher than the rate of hardware adoption. While opportunities to learn technology are available, about two-thirds of the faculty members have not completed the available seminars and workshops on information technologies but prefer more informal ways of learning information technology, such as talking with other faculty members. http://tc.eserver.org/29058.html http://tc.eserver.org/29058.html This article compares the historical and contemporary clothing industry with the current microelectronics industry. It argues that the development of paper patterns, along with the perfection of the sewing machine as a technology in the 1870s, democratized fashion for lower and middle class women just as the development of the World Wide Web and Web-making software has democratized publishing for authors before unable to gain access to an audience for their writing. Comparing the businesses of three groups of women using the World Wide Web, this article finally problematizes these historical and contemporary democratizing technologies the sewing machine and the computer by pointing out both obvious and more subtle socioeconomic realities which undercut some utopian promises of publishing in Cyberspace. http://tc.eserver.org/28629.html http://tc.eserver.org/28629.html Many people use a Macintosh computer and choose to do so because of their hip, popular designs. The look of Apple's competitively priced desktop, the iMac G5, exemplifies the company's attempts to beautify digital technology with a sleek shape that inserts the computer into the monitor. Yet the tool's attractive appearance also disguises socially problematic aspects of the production and disposal of new media devices. http://tc.eserver.org/28569.html http://tc.eserver.org/28569.html This builds on the previous article, 'MobiLink Synchronization Wizard in SQL Anywhere 10.' The new Deployment Wizard in SQL Anywhere Server 10.0 makes it painless to deploy the model, a task which was script based and terse. http://tc.eserver.org/28567.html http://tc.eserver.org/28567.html Two wizards are compared. One client script from DOJO and the other server component from Microsoft. Both fo them work exceedingly well in IE 7.0. Dojo wizard looks smashing. http://tc.eserver.org/28566.html http://tc.eserver.org/28566.html These are the golden days of JavaScript, which was warily used in the not too distant past because of the browser wars (still being waged). With enhancements to JavaScript in recent years and the advent of AJAX, interest in Javascript has taken a new turn, a turn for the better. Early on with AJAX it was recognized that there was a contender for XML for handling data which was stable, faster, and portable. This was the beginning of JSON. This article gives you a good explanation. http://tc.eserver.org/28565.html http://tc.eserver.org/28565.html This article shows how AJAX calls are made using the JavaScript extensions developed by the Dojo foundation to retrieve data using the JavaScript Object Notation (JSON)and displaying the results on the browser. http://tc.eserver.org/28352.html http://tc.eserver.org/28352.html Even where the application of ubiquitous technology would clearly be useful, I know enough about how informatic systems are built and brought to market to be very skeptical about its chances of bringing wholesale improvement to the quality of my life. http://tc.eserver.org/28317.html http://tc.eserver.org/28317.html The mobile user interface is becoming a key differentiator for mobile telephony devices and services. The increased focus on usable, emotive, and branded user interfaces is the result of three key drivers. http://tc.eserver.org/28305.html http://tc.eserver.org/28305.html HCI Vistas presents cartoons that illustrate the interesting relationship between the human and computer. http://tc.eserver.org/28233.html http://tc.eserver.org/28233.html A trio of systems illustrates the challenges of designing large displays for use in ubiquitous computing environments that are, indeed, unremarkable. http://tc.eserver.org/27016.html http://tc.eserver.org/27016.html Personal computing is in an awkward adolescence right now. On one hand, we are rapidly moving into ubiquitous computing environments that let people constantly interact with the omnipresent network; on the other, the devices and interfaces we are using to enter these new frontiers provide woefully inadequate user experiences. Let's take a look at one of the key technologies that will take mobile user experiences to the next level: holography. http://tc.eserver.org/26970.html http://tc.eserver.org/26970.html The right kind of comments to speed up the development process and enable a couple of interesting possibilities to generate documentations automatically. This article tries to reflect on the pros and cons of comments and to show some interesting possibilities for automatic comment parsing. Comment Basics http://tc.eserver.org/26679.html http://tc.eserver.org/26679.html As computers become more complex and pervasive in modern society, humans also become more dependent on the systems and services supporting the computer. The ability to efficiently deal with problems when there is a break in the technical system will be more critical as society heads down this technological path. http://tc.eserver.org/26352.html http://tc.eserver.org/26352.html Search engines are often key to the successful promotion and running of your website. Read more on how clean URLs can influence your ranking and how clean URLs can be achieved for dynamic applications. http://tc.eserver.org/25720.html http://tc.eserver.org/25720.html I'm increasingly convinced that, as networks of smart objects permeate our environment, people's attitudes toward technology will become more animist. In other words, we’ll start to anthropomorphize our stuff. http://tc.eserver.org/25144.html http://tc.eserver.org/25144.html Although many programs require one or more project-based course for their majors, most students never get to work with a real client on a project that will be used outside the classroom setting. We felt strongly that students would benefit more from both their communication and their software design courses if they could somehow connect their efforts across traditional curricular boundaries and work with a real audiences and purposes. And in fact, this is what we found—students understood the relationship between their technical and communication responsibilities much more fully in both classes than either of us had experienced in these same courses prior to linking them. http://tc.eserver.org/23670.html http://tc.eserver.org/23670.html Outlaw spam? I think it's best just to ignore it. http://tc.eserver.org/23124.html http://tc.eserver.org/23124.html For creative professionals working in digital video and other media that demands high-performance computing, dual-processor machines are a godsend. But what happens when even two processors aren't enough? Welcome to the world of grid computing. http://tc.eserver.org/22027.html http://tc.eserver.org/22027.html The essential equipment and software include a current PC -- should be a Pentium II or better -- and licensed software. Ideally, the PC should have at least 128 MB of RAM, a 19-inch monitor (min.), a high performance video card with a minimum of 64 MB of video RAM, and adequate storage for graphics and photos – at least an 80 GB hard disk. These are general specifications. Your requirements may be different depending upon what area you specialize in and to what extent you work on your own. http://tc.eserver.org/21953.html http://tc.eserver.org/21953.html Your document won't print? Don't panic - here's a systematic guide to troubleshooting the problem. http://tc.eserver.org/21938.html http://tc.eserver.org/21938.html An overview of portable technology - not just computers but also printers, presentation devices, and peripherals. http://tc.eserver.org/21930.html http://tc.eserver.org/21930.html A monitor that's perfect for one job might be inadequate - or overkill - for another. Here's how to find one that'll fit your needs. http://tc.eserver.org/21932.html http://tc.eserver.org/21932.html In the world of storage, options are multiplying, prices are falling, and confusion is rampant. Here's a guide to the options. http://tc.eserver.org/21442.html http://tc.eserver.org/21442.html Many computer users ignore the risk of data loss - until it is th late: Imporant Data have vanished. Who then desperately seeks advice in any of my mailing lists might get my try answer: "Simply restore from your last backup." OK, I do confess: This might contribute to a nervous break down. So better be prepared! http://tc.eserver.org/18242.html http://tc.eserver.org/18242.html For computer centers to eliminate paper documentation is cutting off one’s nose to spite one’s face. http://tc.eserver.org/14583.html http://tc.eserver.org/14583.html The technical writing program at Oklahoma State University, like many others throughout the United States, serves two groups: - students in technical and scientific disciplines whose preparation for the workplace requires the development communication skills (in keeping with the guidelines of professional accrediting organizations) - students who intend to seek employment as technical communicators. For both groups, our curriculum must provide instruction about writing and document design in a workplace that increasingly performs its tasks on computers. For undergraduate students in science and technology, our main upper-division course (English 3323, 'Technical Writing') focuses on workplace genres such as proposals, progress reports, and recommendation reports. Our approach also addresses the goals of most professional accrediting bodies, which consistently urge that students be prepared for their professional roles, and not simply for academic reports that are evaluated simply for their solution of a technical problem, to the neglect of the larger contexts of such technical problems in real-world writing. In our primary technical writing course for undergraduates, therefore, we enhance the traditional and emerging concerns of technical writing courses with assignments that require use of computers. Finally, when not in class, students have access to a Writing Center (located next door to the Electronic Classroom) and to many computer labs across the campus. http://tc.eserver.org/12945.html http://tc.eserver.org/12945.html You are in a large lecture hall full of people in your profession. Included in the audience are students, educators, professionals. You cannot make out their faces, but they could reasonably include your employers or potential employers, your coworkers, and the ever-present violently obsessive technical writing groupies. Most of the audience members sit quietly as one member at a time gets up, walks to the podium, and shares information or advice or asks questions. Some of it is rich and detailed, some cursory but helpful, some trivial but relevant in a roundabout way. Somewhere in this stream of information, someone expresses an opinion or gives a piece of advice that you feel obligated to respond to. http://tc.eserver.org/11766.html http://tc.eserver.org/11766.html A poem about computer-related terminology. http://tc.eserver.org/11765.html http://tc.eserver.org/11765.html A collection of fictitious viruses and their characteristics. http://tc.eserver.org/10799.html http://tc.eserver.org/10799.html A dog-ate-my-homework computer failure from the Ray computer logs. http://tc.eserver.org/10503.html http://tc.eserver.org/10503.html During the Fall of 1997, the authors participated in Electronic Discourse and Pedagogy, a course offered by Dr. Kris Blair at Bowling Green State University . One objective of this course called individuals (or groups) to lead facilitations based on assigned readings throughout the semester. These facilitations/presentations were to be informal and interactive. It was here that the authors presented the following timeline which was intended to accompany and expand the work done by Gail E. Hawisher, Paul LeBlanc, Charles Moran, and Cynthia L. Selfe in Computers and the Teaching of Writing in American Higher Education, 1979-1994: A History. This original facilitation involved a detailed discussion on the past, the present, and the future of computers in the classroom, as well as a road-trip to the LinguaMoo Mooloqium for moderated group activities. In preparation, the authors of this timeline compiled information from the text and used this information as a springboard for research which has come to be present http://tc.eserver.org/10354.html http://tc.eserver.org/10354.html This article shows how principles from the fields of adult learning and situated learning can be applied to the method of Instructional System Design to create classroom-based training for software products. These principles and methods do not need to be antithetical; rather, they can complement each other to create instructional strategies that incorporate context-rich activities for work-oriented instruction.