#28629
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.
Schaefer, Peter D. and Meenakshi Gigi Durham. Communication Currents (2007). Articles>Computing>Aesthetics>Macintosh
#18242
Publishing on the Cheap: One Idea That Worked
For computer centers to eliminate paper documentation is cutting off one’s nose to spite one’s face.
Durack, Katherine T. ACM SIGDOC (1992). Academic>Computing>Publishing
#21930
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.
Bury, Scott. Adobe Magazine (1996). Articles>Computing>Ergonomics
#21932
In the world of storage, options are multiplying, prices are falling, and confusion is rampant. Here's a guide to the options.
Roberts, Paul. Adobe Magazine (1996). Articles>Computing>Technology
#23670
Outlaw spam? I think it's best just to ignore it.
Danbom, Dan. MetroVoice (2004). Humor>Computing>Email
#11766
#32033
Too Connected: Utopias and Dystopias of Communication
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.
Johnson, Tom H. I'd Rather Be Writing (2008). Articles>Communication>Ubiquitous Computing>Online
#26679
Trouble Free Computing: Leveraging Published Information to Assist with Computing Errors
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.
Bennett, Benford A. Orange Journal, The (2004). Articles>Computing>User Centered Design
#11765
#23124
Under the Desktop: The Real Nitty Griddy
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.
Morgenstern, David. Creative Pro (2004). Articles>Computing>Multimedia
#25720
User Expectations in a World of Smart Devices
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.
Kuniavsky, Mike. Adaptive Path (2003). Articles>User Centered Design>Ubiquitous Computing
#14583
Using Computers in Technical Communication Courses
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.
Broadhead, Glenn J. Texas Tech University. Academic>Computing>TC
#31359
#29446
Wash Your Hands After Reading This Manual
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.
Hart, Geoffrey J.S. Geoff-Hart.com (2001). Articles>Computing>Help
#29058
Women's Technologies, Women's Literacies: Sewing and Computing Across the Years 
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.
Rohan, Liz. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (2001). Articles>Computing>History>Gender
#32779
First Fictions and the Parable of the Palace
this column will take the form of a journey through a wide range of topics at the intersection of user experience design and everyware.
Lamantia, Joe. UXmatters (2008). Articles>Technology>Ubiquitous Computing>User Experience
#33248
Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct
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.
ACM (1992). Articles>Computing>Professionalism>Ethics
#33296
User Challenges in the Connected Home 
A discussion of the major user-related issues that may present a barrier to the development of the connected home.
Stockbridge, Lucy and Azia Mughal. Serco (2006). Articles>Usability>Ubiquitous Computing
#33674
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.
