http://tc.eserver.org/publisher/MetroVoice A listing of works published by MetroVoice 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/MetroVoice http://tc.eserver.org/23699.html http://tc.eserver.org/23699.html With the economic crunch affecting the workplace, many of us are being asked to perform additional tasks while facing the same tight deadlines. Dealing with this stress sometimes makes me feel bogged down and stuck in a cycle of drudgery. http://tc.eserver.org/23693.html http://tc.eserver.org/23693.html Several weeks ago, a supercilious colleague informed me that spell checkers and grammar checkers had rendered editors and proofreaders obsolete. When I attempted to explain that electronic grammar and spelling checkers are not reliable because they yield false negatives and false positives, she disagreed strongly. I went on to further explain that language is more complex than any computer can fathom, and that until artificial intelligence truly arrives, the best grammar checking program will continue to live between our ears. I am sorry to say that my colleague arrogantly declared that I was mistaken. I wrote the verse below in her honor. http://tc.eserver.org/23682.html http://tc.eserver.org/23682.html Blogging as a trend has gained enormous popularity with the simplification of automated self-publishing systems, such as Blogger at www.blogger.com, or MT at www.moveabletype.org. Blogging as a way of life is also gathering adherents at a rapid pace. http://tc.eserver.org/23702.html http://tc.eserver.org/23702.html I'm not ashamed to admit it: the reason I became a technical writer is because 'Technical' comes after 'Teacher' in the help-wanted ads. http://tc.eserver.org/23687.html http://tc.eserver.org/23687.html Many STC members work independently as freelancers, temps, or consultants. In some recent presentations I’ve given to STC members, many independent workers have asked me about ways to get more money and satisfaction out of their contracting careers. Almost invariably, my advice is to explore the possibilities of engaging clients directly, rather than using a staffing or consulting company. http://tc.eserver.org/23694.html http://tc.eserver.org/23694.html Most technical writers use much more care in choosing words than in presenting numbers. The writer who presents numbers poorly loses credibility. Poorly presented numbers also cause reader misunderstanding that leads to poor decisions. http://tc.eserver.org/23679.html http://tc.eserver.org/23679.html Using evenly spaced tick marks to represent different time intervals is a common error which has been repeated several times in recent STC publications and presentations. http://tc.eserver.org/23688.html http://tc.eserver.org/23688.html Systems and network engineers, developers, project managers, and technical staff have been hit hard since the technology bubble burst. Since Y2K there has been an influx of competitive workers on H1B visas who have stayed and now have green cards. Now there is also outsourcing to India, Bulgaria, Russia, Ireland, the Philippines etc. http://tc.eserver.org/23701.html http://tc.eserver.org/23701.html Writing spots were becoming fewer and farther between, and it was clear that I'd have to make a career change. I used to pick up temporary secretarial spots during lulls, but with the downswing in the economy and the proliferation of PCs, the demand for word processing gurus had dwindled considerably. Most of the writing jobs that did come my way over the last three years were dreadful. Job satisfaction had reached an all-time low. http://tc.eserver.org/23700.html http://tc.eserver.org/23700.html About 50 NY Metro chapter members and friends gathered at the Parsippany Hilton on Thursday, April 11, to glimpse the immediate future in the world of Web development and online help. The result was a lively meeting with five simultaneous conversations on different aspects of help. http://tc.eserver.org/23686.html http://tc.eserver.org/23686.html A case study of the 2002 redesign of the website for Catholic Community Services in Newark. http://tc.eserver.org/23684.html http://tc.eserver.org/23684.html We've been living in 'interesting' times, as the saying goes, and many of us feel that we've had about as much interest as we can tolerate, thank you very much. Chapter meeting attendance has been down and the popularity of technical presentations has decreased, while the popularity of career cafes and career management days has increased. In any conversation between three technical communicators, at least one is unemployed, about to be unemployed, or thinking about a career change. http://tc.eserver.org/23689.html http://tc.eserver.org/23689.html When I first saw this book, I was surprised that it was so slim. When you think of medical texts, you immediately imagine a volume of 600 pages or more. But Robert Bonk has been able to distill his information into a readable volume. All of the information is right there, easy to access, with no jargon cluttering the way. http://tc.eserver.org/23697.html http://tc.eserver.org/23697.html Many chapters have membership drives in the Fall. Not a big deal, something we’ve always done. However, today membership drives can play an important role in sustaining STC. http://tc.eserver.org/23703.html http://tc.eserver.org/23703.html What happened to the days where we didn't have to put in any effort to look for a job, recruiters were calling nonstop, and offers were being thrown at us on what seemed a regular basis? What happened to 10 jobs for every resume? What happened to big sign-on bonuses, large paychecks, and the feeling of being wanted? Have the tables turned? http://tc.eserver.org/23685.html http://tc.eserver.org/23685.html Overall, in my experience, writers and programmers prefer to use RoboHelp to create and maintain Help systems because the application has fewer issues with the Internet and programming platforms. In fact, for this latest version Of RoboHelp, I have only one minor complaint. Here is a summary of my findings. http://tc.eserver.org/23681.html http://tc.eserver.org/23681.html Why would someone make a movie and call it The Technical Writer? I did a quick rundown of similar titles from a movie web site, but I couldn't detect much of a pattern. http://tc.eserver.org/23690.html http://tc.eserver.org/23690.html In the global marketplace today, wise companies are learning an important fact about translation. Survival in today’s international environment means not making translation an afterthought. You gain precious competitive advantage if, as you develop your product and its accompanying documentation for simultaneous release in international markets, you plan for translation from the outset. http://tc.eserver.org/23698.html http://tc.eserver.org/23698.html The experience of setting up a new home theater system also sharply reminded me of what it is like to look at something as a new user: staring at a bunch of knobs and holes for the first time, holding a tassel of wire in one hand and a manual in the other, and really just wanting the darn piece of ?%^%! to do what it's supposed to do. http://tc.eserver.org/23696.html http://tc.eserver.org/23696.html The transition from being a technical writer to becoming a Visiting Professor of Technical Communication has meant, so far, that 1) I work a whole lot more, and 2) I finally have a chance to see the effect of the things that we create on the user. My students have helped me to do this. http://tc.eserver.org/23695.html http://tc.eserver.org/23695.html If there's one thing I can't stand, it's maintaining a website. The design is the fun part— solving problems, incorporating a brand, meeting user needs. That's what we live for. But maintenance? Yuck. So I surveyed the technologies available; what could I automate to ease the burden on myself and other volunteers? This article presents the results of this undertaking. It focuses mainly on the processes and their results. I discuss details of the tools and technologies where relevant, but this is not a tutorial on any tools or technologies; I'll provide resources for further information. http://tc.eserver.org/23678.html http://tc.eserver.org/23678.html Commodity writing is the type of technical communication characterized as the creation of formulaic documentation on demand, and is closely tied to writing code. Companies are increasingly comfortable outsourcing both of these tasks. Those are the jobs being sent offshore, as evidenced by the surge in job openings on STC job boards in the Asia-Pacific countries. http://tc.eserver.org/23672.html http://tc.eserver.org/23672.html Some quick tips toward a clearer, more lucid, meaningful,…well, you know what I mean. http://tc.eserver.org/23675.html http://tc.eserver.org/23675.html Using heading levels and styles in Microsoft Word, you can automatically generate a table of contents. It is useful when doing a long document that needs a table of contents and generating a table of contents is much faster than doing one manually. http://tc.eserver.org/23668.html http://tc.eserver.org/23668.html We can be almost certain that CDs will be obsolete in about five years. But what should we do about it? http://tc.eserver.org/23674.html http://tc.eserver.org/23674.html 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. http://tc.eserver.org/23673.html http://tc.eserver.org/23673.html because technical information is ever changing, we accept the fact that our work will be continually various, constantly in flux. It's just the nature of the beast. This is the essence of the purpose of the STC national organization's transformation initiative: Keeping up with the changing times. http://tc.eserver.org/23671.html http://tc.eserver.org/23671.html Single sourcing sounds good, but can you justify it in your organization? Reducing the need to maintain multiple versions of content produces real savings and improves return on investment (ROI). On the other hand, implementing single sourcing can be expensive and slow, and information developers will be on the spot to continue delivering content through every stage of the process. 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/23676.html http://tc.eserver.org/23676.html The best benefit of my STC membership and leadership volunteerism is that the STC name recognition helped me get the jobs I wanted. http://tc.eserver.org/23669.html http://tc.eserver.org/23669.html Microsoft Windows keeps all your files in folders (within directories and subdirectories), and allows you to have as many folders as you want. You can also name them in almost any way you want, but that sometimes leads to confusion, because Windows needs to be told how you want these folders ordered.