Recently due to flooding in my window wells, I had to dig the wells deeper. I piled up the dirt and rocks around the outside, and then realized I needed to sift the dirt from the rocks because I wanted to put the rocks back in, but move the dirt elsewhere in my yard to re-slope it. To sift the dirt from the rocks, I … more »

The other week, by invitation, I was at a Missouri State University Workshop for Teachers of Technical Writing. I presented about trends in technical communication and highlighted multimedia, particularly video, as an important trend. Near the end of my presentation, I asked the academic audience why so many teachers don’t require students to create video (e.g., screencasts, e-learning, video tutorials) as part of their help … more »

Here’s a common scenario for creating a corporate screencast. In an effort to create a screencast, the project manager writes a script, carefully storyboarding it in PowerPoint. The project manager reviews the script with a committee several times to make sure it’s perfect, and each member of the committee makes a few edits. Finished with the script, the project manager hands the copy off to … more »

For a long time, I looked at help authoring tools in terms of their single sourcing ability — creating the source material in the tool, and then outputting to online help, print, and other targets. However, I’ve given up on the ideal, at least for now. I’m convinced that the new vernacular, as a SXSW podcast called it, is audio and video. If faced with … more »