Last week I posted a survey on my site asking who my readers were. Here are the results of that survey. You can view the report here as well. Geographic Breakdown Here's a geographic breakdown of where my readers are located. Survey Analysis Most of my of my readers are in technical communication. They're more interested in blogging than podcasting, and only a handful have met me personally. This means I'm largely writing for strangers....
This innovate podcast with Michael Arrington, founder of TechCrunch, provides an interesting look into entrepreneurship. Arrington says blogging can be like a treadmill rather than a train — the treadmill (blog) just requires more and more content without really going anywhere. He actually says blogging is not a good business. Each day you have to generate new, interesting content for your blog to keep readers coming back. The best kinds ...
This podcast from Tim and Tom's Design Critique is a good introduction to Information Architecture. Information architecture involves making content findable, usually in reference to websites. How intuitive is it for users to locate what they're trying to find or do? The role of the information architect is to organize information such that the user has no trouble finding exactly what he or she desires, particularly in situations where th...
My Recommended Podcasts feed gives you the best episode picks from a variety of podcasts. These podcast episodes often spur me to write about their ideas. You can subscribe to the Recommended Podcast feed here. (You can also read about 17 podcasts I recommend here.)
If you glance at the instructions for installing Mediawiki, it looks like you have to run complicated scripts with shell access to your server and other geeky stuff. In reality, it's about as easy to install as Dokuwiki -- assuming you have a typical hosted account, such as with Blue Host or Lunar Pages. Here's how to do it. To install Mediawiki: The latest version of Mediawiki requires PHP5. If you don't already have PHP5 on your serve...
Update Feb 2008: If you read Paul's post at the link below, almost everything is now crossed out, because Madcap has either fixed all the problems Paul raised or they explained workarounds. It's a really interesting read. Also, be sure to check out this podcast with Paul as well as my post on 45 Things I Love About Flare, 31 Things I Hate About It. Paul Pehrson has an excellent post detailing six persistent problems he's encountered with ...
Listen here: In this podcast, Heidi and I try to cover the latest news related to the technical communication field. We amassed a number of newsworthy items on a wiki and talked about most of these items. For shownotes, see the wiki archive page. There you can find links to everything we covered. If you have news you would like to submit to the podcast, add to the wiki here. To contact me, send me an e-mail at tomjoht@g...
Destry Wion pointed out this video detailing Google's Master Plan to me. Really interesting presentation to watch. Google's simple motto is "Don't be evil," but as they achieve total human omniscience, won't it be tempting to start abusing that power? I hope they use it for good -- such as catching criminals and stopping terrorists, rather than empowering marketers. Google is still viewed as cool; if they abuse their power, they'll lose t...
I heard a good podcast on IT Conversations called "Everything Is Miscellaneous." Dr. Moira Gunn interviews David Weinburger, one of the authors of the Cluetrain Manifesto (which was the Web 2.0 manifesto). One of Weinburger's points is that traditional models of classification are breaking down. Information cannot be neatly categorized and shelved anymore. Everything is thrown into a giant box labeled Miscellaneous. His point is best expr...
I came across a good article on writing style for blog posts. Pro blogger Darren Rowse says, The average person only comprehends 60% of what they read. .... To ensure your reader ‘gets' what you're saying you need to make it clear by using some of the following techniques. - Use simple language. Avoid technical jargon. - Don't introduce too many ideas in one post. You can always add another post later. - Start your entry wi...
This podcast from Alexander Kjerulf, called "Why 'Motivation by Pizza' Doesn't Work," opened my eyes about the reasons behind motivation. We were on the verge of implementing a member recognition/rewards program in our chapter when Clyde Parson sent me the link. Kjerulf's podcast was so good I listened to it twice. In brief, Kjerulf says you can't motivate someone by offering a reward, whether the reward is a bonus or a pizza, or whethe...
I learned a great leadership lesson today. For a couple of weeks a few of us were complaining that no one wanted to do the STC competition this year because it's too much work. And so often in the chapter we feel short on volunteers. You have to twist people's arms to get them to do anything, it seems. Not really. Mark Hanigan e-mailed me saying, "I would bet that there are quite a few people who would volunteer to take on roles if you ca...
It's interesting to watch the global flow of information in the blogosphere. Tonight I attended a presentation by Char James-Tanny at our Suncoast chapter meeting and heard her tell a story about the Battle of Kruger video she saw from Rhonda Bracey's blog. A month ago, I invited technical communicators to post their blogs on the techwriterblogs.com wiki. Someone posted a link to Steve Borsch's blog, which I added to my feedreader. From B...
In this episode from the Big Ideas podcast, Simon Winchester tells the fascinating story behind the making of the Oxford English Dictionary. (Here's the podcast feed.) Winchester narrates the story flawlessly in a classic English accent. The OED founders undertook the creation of a descriptive, rather than prescriptive, dictionary of the English language. Whereas Samuel Johnson, the first lexicographer, derived definitions for most words ...
Carolyn writes with the following question about recording conference calls: I'd like to have a conference call with the two speakers and interview them in much the same way as I've heard you do. I'd like that interview to be a podcast and am wondering what I need to do besides record the phone conversation. Recording is a free feature of http://www.freeconferencecall.com/; the only cost is your long distance charges if they apply. Howev...
