Learning the Hard Way: How I Learned to K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple, Stupid)

I used to believe that if you knew a subject well enough and were passionate about it, you could pen a masterpiece. But it was two years of working as an IT journalist (and never really understanding or liking it!) that actually taught me how to write.

Dower, Sophia. Communication World Bulletin (2005). Articles>Writing>Journalism>Technology

The Life Cycle of a Technology: Why it is So Difficult for Large Companies to Innovate

Donald Norman recommends a list of books on human-centered design.

Norman, Donald A. JND.org (1998). Articles>Management>Technology

Life-Long Computer Skills

Schools should teach deep, strategic computer insights that can't be learned from reading a manual.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2007). Articles>Education>Technology

Look at the Underside First

In a recent issue of Nature magazine (8 April 1999), lithography rises again, in a new, ultra-high-tech guise!

Sterling, Bruce. Upper and lowercase Magazine (2000). Articles>Publishing>Technology

Looking Beyond the Technology: Supporting the University Community’s Use of Information Technology  

The distributed nature of information technology services poses considerable challenges to the technical writer handling policy interpretation, dissemination, and education. Our unit endeavors to stay abreast of new technology and anticipate new issues. No sooner did I arrive on my job than MP3 music sites became the main topic among students. By their downloading of music from the Internet, some students were potentially violating copyrights.

Young, Kathleen A. STC Proceedings (2000). Presentations>Technology

M3W

M3W is a journal and site that provides the latest news, products and techniques for the mobile web.The journal provides a discussion blog and reviews technolgoy related to handheld and mobile web browsing.

Marcello, Vincent. SoNet (2006). Journals>Technology>Wireless Web>WAP

Making Meaning and Value for Edison’s Light and Power in the Human World: A Rhetorical Project  

Of all the early electrical inventors and manufacturers, Thomas Edison seemed particularly aware of the many meanings electrical light had to establish. It was attention to the successful representations of the light in many different communities and networks of communication, as much as his technical accomplishments, that led to Edison having a dominating role in the early electrical industry. He had to create valued stable meanings within each communication realm in each social network that would grant incandescent light and central power the necessary status to be accepted, supported, approved of, employed, or otherwise actively a part of each system brought together over communication.

Bazerman, Charles. Lore (2001). Articles>Communication>Technology

Management Stem Overview  

Management in the nineties is a challenging task. From managing technologies that didn't exist five years ago to constantly being asked to do more with less, managers are freed with a formidable set of obstacles and challenges.

See, Edward J.P. STC Proceedings (1994). Careers>Management>Technology

Managers Should Adopt a Technical Mentor  

You may not have the time to read or the money to burn on analysts' reports, but adopting a technical mentor can help you keep your skills fresh. Here are the pros and cons of making the move.

Osborn, Matthew. TechRepublic (2003). Careers>Management>Technology>Collaboration

Managing Organizational Change that Results from Adopting New Technologies  

This workshop helps managers explore key issues involved in successfully adopting new technologies--identifying potential barriers, generating approaches to overcoming them, and developing implementation strategies using case study materials.

Huff, Claudia H. and Nancy E. Davis. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>Management>Technology

Managing Technology Transfer: Issues for Scientific Communicators  

Technology transfer is arguably one of the greatest communication opportunities of our day. In this panel presentation, we will define technology transfer terms and issues, identify technology transfer issues in private industry as well as in government R & D labs, and discus how today’s technical communicators can play a key role in technology transfer.

Cuba, Laurence L., Rich McGillick, Suzanne S. Roberts, Donna G. Roper and David Schuelke. STC Proceedings (1995). Articles>Scientific Communication>Technology>Technology Transfer

Marketing Technology in an Information Systems Environment  

As an Information Systems/Marketing department liaison, you are a 'translator' for two foreign lands: Techcom and Marcom. A skilled translator must juggle the IS department’s concern that information is factual and the marketing department’s need for information that sells the product. When you take into account the concerns of both departments, you can simplify your writing task by producing component-oriented material that you can reuse for technical and marketing purposes.

Hines Kurfman, Cindy. STC Proceedings (2002). Articles>Technology>Marketing

Meryl.net

Articles and reviews cover writing-related topics, computers and technology, and online marketing.

Evans, Meryl K. Meryl.net (2005). Resources>Writing>Technology>Blogs

A Meta-Analysis of Journal Articles Intersecting Issues of Internet and Gender    

The propagation and mainstream acceptance of the Internet has become a hot topic addressed in media, business, and scholarly environments. The gender implications of technology are studied in various ways across the disciplines of communications, gender studies, and technology and society. This study overviews and summarizes articles dealing with gender implications of the Internet in journals in these fields. The analysis identified 132 articles during the period of 1995-2003 in 28 publications in which frequencies, trends, and potential gaps were assessed using quantitative and qualitative meta-analysis. Most of the research in this area is being done in technology publications (59.7% of articles). Women's usage of the Internet is the most frequently studied level of participation. Results indicates that the survey method was the most predominant, but various qualitative methods are often employed. Notable themes included those of equal access yet unequal participation, the existence of both negative and positive aspects of the Internet, and the dichotomy of online/offline activities. The purpose of this study was to encourage interest in performing continued research on this topic as women's Internet access meets and exceeds that of men.

Royal, Cindy. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (2005). Articles>Research>Technology>Gender

Mobile Devices Will Soon Be Useful

New mobile devices and services are more realistic and useful than last year's models, and will likely expand mobile device adoption. Design usability and simplicity are key, particularly for the automotive market where complexity can be dangerous.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2001). Articles>Usability>Technology>PDA

Mobile Devices: One Generation From Useful

New mobile devices show a huge improvement over previous generations, but they're still not good enough to score a real win. To get there, we need both PC-integrated applications and specialized mobile services rather than repurposed website content.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2003). Articles>Usability>Technology>PDA

The Myth that Software Will Save the World  

There is a perception that off-the-shelf automated conversion software will accurately transfer documents from one system to another. In the author's experience pre-packaged software does not work well on any significant, large project. Large documentation libraries are developed over time by a variety of people to meet wide-ranging needs. The documentation set is never as structured as one would hope, and the costs of do-it-yourself solutions are underestimated.

Gross, Mark. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>Software>Technology

Nanotechnology: Implications for Transforming Communication

The implications for transforming communication due to the development of nanotechnology is summarized.

Albing, Bill. KeyContent.org (2004). Articles>Communication>Technology

The Need for Technical Communication in IT Departments

Although many would not believe such to be true, there is a vast amount of communication that must be done in the IT world. This is even truer when the IT organization is involved with a regulated industry (e.g., pharmaceutical). In general, procedures and practices that went into the development, installation, and use/maintenance of a system require documentation and the communication of outages to the user community are also important. Among the more specific areas are help documentation, user instructions, code comments, installation instructions, and maintenance procedures/schedules. When a problem arises, it is often necessary for the IT professional to explain exactly what happened and provide the resolution in a coherent, layman-termed method, whether it be verbal or written (or both). Unfortunately, not all IT professionals are capable of doing this.

Mardekian, Beth. MetroVoice (2004). Articles>TC>Technology>Collaboration

Neologisms, Part 1: Fun with Words

In our professional lives, business and technology are the main sources for many new words. In our personal lives, blame (I mean credit) goes to popular culture for new words. New words, or 'neologisms,' are defined in Merriam Webster as 'a new word, usage, or expression' and (and next is my preferred definition) as 'a meaningless word coined by a psychotic.'

Caldanaro, Regina M. Carolina Communique (1997). Articles>Language>Technology

Network Resource Planning

Building larger networks implies higher infrastructure and maintenance costs, and increased sophistication. Any additions or modifications to a large operational network necessitate a plan, which should be devised after understanding existing weaknesses and vulnerabilities, and identifying current and future needs. This article will introduce the fundamental concepts of network resource planning (NRP), a methodology used to design, upgrade, and expand computer communication networks, and will focus on how such a methodology can be applied in enterprise networks.

Acosta, Beatriz and Kostas Pentikousis. ACM Crossroads (2003). Articles>Technology>Planning

The New Atlantis

The New Atlantis is an effort to clarify the nation’s moral and political understanding of all areas of technology—from stem cells to hydrogen cells to weapons of mass destruction.

New Atlantis, The. Journals>Technology>Cultural Theory>Ethics

New Levels of Experience Design

The internet was originally developed as pure technology - interactions and navigations were very complex, so there were huge opportunities for anyone who could make the user experience easier, more intuitive, more compelling. But now experience design isn’t just about the usage of a device, but all the other aspects as well.

Sinclair, Matt. Ping Mag (2006). Design>User Experience>Technology

New Literacies and Old: A Dialogue  

Despite what some consider evidence to the contrary, the U.S.A. remains largely a nation of readers and writers.

Moulthrop, Stuart and Nancy Kaplan. Kairos (2004). Articles>Rhetoric>Technology