This past week I traveled to Florida to help clear out my dad’s house. He recently fell and hit his head, and now he’s in a rehabilitation center while his memory recovers. It may take him months to return to his normal self. When he does, we want him to live closer to my sister in Tampa. I spent an entire day clearing out his … more »

I received the following question from a reader: I have semi-transitioned to a new position at my job where I’m responsible for creating and maintaining documentation for our systems, programs, policies, etc. I was selected for the position because I have written many tutorials for our applications to be read by new employees. Since I have no formal education in writing (I love to write, … more »

In this video, I talk with Whitney Quesenbery and Caroline Jarrett about the feasibility of removing links embedded directly within paragraphs — which Kathryn Summers and Ginny Redish describe as “exit points” that confuse and disorient low-literacy readers.

The other week Jane and I met with our daughter’s teacher for a regular parent-teacher conference. Sally is in third grade but reads books beyond her level. She’s read the entire Harry Potter series. She raced through the Percy Jackson books, and will read about anything with a horse in it. The last Jazz game I took Sally to, we stopped off at Barnes and … more »

[Audio clip: view full post to listen] Download MP3 Length: 25 min. I recorded a carcast on the way home this evening. In the carcast, I explain how I’ve changed Writer River to incorporate Publish2.com‘s link sharing technology. Using Publish2, you add links to your blog, twitter account, and a technical communication newsgroup at the same time. Publish2 provides a robust platform for managing and … more »

According to a survey, reading books boosts your optimism more than anything else. Quite a bit more than “blogs,” the survey says.

Giving the Instructions a Fair Shot