--- title: "I’d Rather Be Writing blog" description: "{% for post in paginator.posts %} {{ post.title }} {{ post.date | date:" canonical_url: https://idratherbewriting.com/page143/ --- # I’d Rather Be Writing blog [Six Ways I'm Using the H4 Zoom Recorder to Do Technical-Writing Related Things](/2008/03/12/six-ways-im-using-the-h4-zoom-recorder-to-change-my-technical-writing-world/) Mar 12, 2008 • [technical-writing]( /category-technical-writing) If you asked me 6 months ago how much I used my Zoom H4 digital recorder, it wasn't much. I initially got it to record live interviews at conferences, and donations from my podcast listeners paid for the device. (Thanks, once again, guys.) But this past month, I've carried the Zoom with me everywhere I go. I use it almost every day at work. I can't imagine getting by without it. If you're a serious technical communicator, you probably nee... [Lots of 2008 SXSW Podcasts Now Available](/2008/03/10/lots-of-2008-sxsw-podcasts-now-available/) Mar 10, 2008 • [blogging]( /category-blogging), [creativity]( /category-creativity), [technical-writing]( /category-technical-writing) The 2008 South by Southwest Interactive (SXSW) festival, currently underway in Austin, Texas, until March 16, is one of the most popular, high-energy tech conferences of the year. This Interactive conference “celebrates the creativity and passion behind the coolest new media technologies.” Basically, everyone who is doing anything cool on the Internet ends up speaking there. 37 Signals, Facebook, Wired — they're all there. Many of the pre... [My 5 Pet Peeves with Reading Blogs (mostly surrounding comments and feeds)](/2008/03/09/my-5-pet-peeves-about-blogs-mostly-surrounding-comments-and-feeds/) Mar 9, 2008 • [blogging]( /category-blogging), [technical-writing]( /category-technical-writing) I have five short, simple pet peeves when it comes to reading blogs. 1. No email notification for follow-up comments. When I leave a comment on a blog, I want to be notified if the author replies. About 70% of the blogs I read lack this feature. If you use WordPress, you can incorporate this feature through the Subscribe to Comments plugin. I'm not sure how to do it Blogger, but I have seen it done (see the following image). Without thi... [Deciding When to Speak Up and When to Shut Up](/2008/03/08/deciding-when-to-speak-up-and-when-to-shut-up/) Mar 8, 2008 • [blogging]( /category-blogging), [technical-writing]( /category-technical-writing) If you watch TV, you've probably seen Simon Cowell on American Idol, or Dr. Gregory House on House (at right). Both characters are appealing because of their brutal honesty. We love those who tell the truth, particularly when that blunt truth isn't aimed at us. Their characters definitely fit the mold of one who "speaks up." And Speaking Up is one of the eight cultural values at my work. At first I didn't think much of this principle, but... [Two Types of Posts in the Blogosphere: Knowledge Posts and Creative Posts](/2008/03/07/two-types-of-posts-in-the-blogosphere-knowledge-posts-and-creative-posts/) Mar 7, 2008 • [creativity]( /category-creativity), [technical-writing]( /category-technical-writing) Lately I've come to a conclusion about blog posts. Bloggers write at least two kinds of posts: knowledge posts and creative posts. Knowledge Posts Knowledge posts involve documenting what you already know. For example, the last two posts I wrote on my blog -- methods for recording presentations and software demos -- were knowledge posts. I personally didn't learn anything writing about them. It was merely an act of documenting a specific ... [Recording SME Demos -- It's Easier Than You Think](/2008/03/04/recording-sme-demos-its-easier-than-you-think/) Mar 4, 2008 • [technical-writing]( /category-technical-writing) You know the scenario: you've been assigned a new application to document, and you arrange for the subject matter expert (SME) to demo it. But when you show up at the demo, the SME is on fast-forward, moving through each tab and screen on hyperdrive. From your perspective, the SME may sound like this: Soyoucandothisonthistab and fromhereiswhereyoudothat and makesureyoudocumenthowtodothis .... Before you know it, the 1 hour demo is over, a... [How to Record Live Presentations with the Zoom H4 Digital Recorder](/2008/03/02/how-to-record-live-presentations-with-the-zoom-h4-digital-recorder/) Mar 2, 2008 • [blogging]( /category-blogging), [technical-writing]( /category-technical-writing) Recording a presentation can be tricky. Not only do you face the challenge of capturing audience questions, you also usually have a PowerPoint presentation everyone is looking at, the hum and whir of a projector, and a mobile presenter who wants to walk around a room. Although you can use a variety of digital recorders, the inexpensive Olympus digital recorders will sound a little scratchy, like sizzling bacon in a worst-case scenario. (T... [My Blogging and Podcasting Presentation -- the MP3 and Video Recording](/2008/03/02/mp3-and-video-file-of-my-blogging-and-podcasting-presentation/) Mar 2, 2008 • [blogging]( /category-blogging), [podcasts]( /category-podcasts), [wordpress]( /category-wordpress) Listen here: For those of you who missed my blogging and podcasting presentation to the STC-Intermountain chapter, here is the mp3 file of the audio recording. Additionally, if you're sitting at your computer, you can't watch the PowerPoint slides with the audio in real time. Watch the recording here Topics covered: Arguments for blogging Who reads blogs, and how Liabilities and assets of blogging Gaining visibility and... [Stoking the Creative Muse: How Finding Ideas to Write About Is Similar to Remembering Your Dreams](/2008/02/29/stoking-the-creative-muse-how-finding-ideas-to-write-about-is-similar-to-remembering-your-dreams/) Feb 29, 2008 • [blogging]( /category-blogging), [creativity]( /category-creativity), [technical-writing]( /category-technical-writing), [writing]( /category-writing) We writers tend to have a romantic idea about a creative muse that comes and goes, whispering interesting ideas to our minds. But the idea of a creative muse is, I'm pretty sure, no more magical or mysterious than the same process by which we remember dreams. Ultimately, the more we write down our dreams, the more our brain learns to remember dreams. Similarly, the more we write, the more our brain [creative muse] starts thinking of thing... [How My BlackBerry May Benefit You](/2008/02/27/how-my-blackberry-may-benefit-you/) Feb 27, 2008 • [blogging]( /category-blogging), [technical-writing]( /category-technical-writing), [web-design]( /category-web-design) Through a very fortunate circumstance, I was recently admitted to the ever-growing community of BlackBerry users. Owning a BlackBerry is a wonderful feeling -- it's like having the Internet in your pocket, wherever you go. At any point in time, you can check your mail (both work and gmail), read your feeds, check your calendar, instant message someone, navigate yourself on a map, check the weather, glance at the New York Times headlines, ... [A blogging family](/2008/02/25/a-blogging-family/) Feb 25, 2008 • [family]( /category-family) We started a blog for Sally last week. The URL is theordinaryprincess.com. So far she's been excited about it, although one day she did ask me why we blog. It's funny, because Shannon and I both blog fairly regularly. Now Sally blogs too. Just today she was complaining that Mom didn't help her on the computer and she didn't get to write her post for the day. Seven years old, and already concerned that she didn't get to write her daily pos... [Eight stitches for Susan](/2008/02/25/eight-stitches-for-callie/) Feb 25, 2008 • [technical-writing]( /category-technical-writing) Last night I took Susan to the hospital to get stitches for a cut on her forehead. She and Sally were playing behind the sofa chair. Following Sally's instruction to pull the chair out a little, I didn't realize Susan was perched on top, and she came quickly tumbling down, hitting her head on the windowsill ledge. Going to the hospital with one of my kids is always an unsettling experience. To hold her little hand while she cried and crie... [CNN Producer Fired for His Blog -- A Growing Discontent for Mainstream Media](/2008/02/24/cnn-producer-fired-for-his-blog-my-thoughts-on-corporate-blogging-policies/) Feb 24, 2008 • [blogging]( /category-blogging), [technical-writing]( /category-technical-writing) At times most every blogger feels some trepidation about hitting the Publish button. Especially when your post expresses a strong viewpoint or relates a personal story with risky details. You feel trepidation because you're putting yourself in the public sphere -- in front of your employer -- and bloggers get fired every once in a while. Chez Pazienza, a CNN producer, was fired a week ago because of the strong views he expressed on his b... [10 Ways to Bomb Your Presentation](/2008/02/23/10-ways-to-bomb-your-presentation/) Feb 23, 2008 • [technical-writing]( /category-technical-writing) Conference season is approaching and presenters are busy preparing their notes and PowerPoint slides. Now is the perfect time to review some good ways to bomb a presentation (especially since I did a great job bombing a presentation I gave today). 1. Prepare your presentation without any awareness of your audience. About the worst thing you can do is grossly misunderstand your audience. Assume they're familiar with an application they are... [My Love Affair with Drop-Down Hotspots Ends](/2008/02/21/my-love-affair-with-drop-down-hotspots-ends/) Feb 21, 2008 • [findability]( /category-findability) I used to think drop-down hotspots were the cat's pajamas, until I realized they're problematic for single source chunking. Let me elaborate. Drop-down hotspots seem like they'd be all the rage -- the ability to compress massive amounts of information into little spaces that are easy to scan. You can get around the bloated TOC that intimidates readers with its endless books that expand and expand. Instead you make your help file look thin... [« Previous](/page142/) Page: 143 of 174 [» Next](/page144/) var contents = new Array() // One ad slot, two creatives, same as the sidebar: the new dark State of // Knowledge creative in contents[3] alternates with the light August one // in contents[1]. contents[0] is the dark August creative it replaced -- // paused Sep 21, 2026, and expected back in ~2 months, at which point // swap it in for contents[3]. // contents[0] = '