If you've ever listened to the Diggnation podcast, TWIT (This Week in Tech), Buzz Out Loud, the WordPress podcast, or other popular podcasts, one thing they have in common is co-hosting. And this is the new direction we're taking with the Tech Writer Voices podcast. Until now, Tech Writer Voices has largely been a podcast of interviews. But now we will switch to the co-host style and be more conversational. The focus of the podcast will n...
If you prefer to post by email, you can do this with WordPress. Posting by email might be advantageous if you want to automate your job postings or even your listserv announcements. When you post by email, you set up a secret e-mail account and simply send the e-mail to that account; the content of the message then appears on your blog as a new post. The only drawback in posting by email is that your posts must remain in plain text, so yo...
Forrester has started to publish some podcasts for free. Check them out here: http://www.forrester.com/podcasts/im One that I particularly liked was the podcast on Social Computing, which features an interview with Charlene Li. Here's a description of the podcast: The next generation of marketing is more than just adopting emerging, consumer-generated "Web 2.0 channels" like blogs or wikis. Forrester believes that firms and consumers are ...
For a long time now I've wanted to make a chapter member map mashup with Google maps. To see what I'm talking about, look at this page: http://stc-suncoast.org/map.html. I'm not finished putting all the members up there — this is obviously just a start. Google Maps has an API that allows you to blend your own data with their mapping system. It's really much easier to create a Google map mashup than it may initially appear. To create a me...
Although I currently use RoboHelp 5, I can think of at least 10 good reasons not to upgrade to RoboHelp 6. 1. Communication from Adobe is bleak. Have you ever posted a comment on their blog? After I finished the RoboHelp podcast on Tech Writer Voices, I posted a comment on the Adobe RoboHelp blog letting them know about the podcast. I assumed my comment was in moderation, but apparently it was filtered. Maybe Adobe didn't like the podcast...
I heard this on NPR the other day and it was in my head all day, so I decided to make a post about it. The San Francisco Chronicle allows voice comments on their articles, and an irate reader called up complaining about redundant terminology used to describe pilotless aircrafts. The Chronicle plays the comments as mini-podcasts on their site. Someone remixed the pilotless drone comment into a catchy little tune that is now amassing thousa...
If you're interested in learning more about the wiki, blog, and RSS functionality of SharePoint 2007, watch this movie from Microsoft's Channel 9. To create a new page on the microsoft wiki, you just surround a name in double brackets, like this [[Getting Started]]. When you surround a word in double brackets, it becomes blue and underlined (i.e., a link). When you click the link, a new page is created. When the new page is created, the u...
I re-recorded the initial WordPress installation demo video tutorial I did the other day. This one is about three times as long and has a lot more more information. I started out thinking it would be 10 minutes, but it ended up being 30 minutes. If you're looking to get started with WordPress, this Getting Started / installation demo will (sort of) show you how to do it. I'm still experimenting with screencasting and Blueberry's Flashbac...
A RoboHelp to Wiki conversion tool has been announced. This tool will convert your RoboHelp project over to Mediawiki (Mediawiki is the same tool used to create Wikipedia). Other tools already exist that convert HTML pages to Mediawiki pages, but this RoboHelp2Wiki extension apparently allows you to convert batch files all at once. Here's an exerpt from the developer's blog: When we create Product Design documents we include descriptions,...
I created a quick little tutorial on how to install WordPress using Fantastico from your web host's cpanel. Installing WordPress You might want to maximize your screen -- and of course put on some headphones or turn up your speakers.
Listen here: When Adobe released RoboHelp 6, they touched off a hot debate among technical communicators. Rick Stone is one of the most ardent supporters of RoboHelp, and is the one behind the infamous Skinny on Skins file that shows you about a hundred ways to tweak your RoboHelp skin. In this podcast on RoboHelp 6, the following topics are covered: New features in RoboHelp 6 Rick's background with RoboHelp Robohelp's ...
I was talking to Charles Arnold after the last STC-Suncoast chapter meeting about using wikis as project documentation tools. Neil Perlin just presented on Web 2.0, and referenced James Surowiecki's The Wisdom of Crowds: Why the Many Are Smarter Than the Few and How Collective Wisdom Shapes Business, Economies, Societies and Nations. Surowiecki's main idea is that collective wisdom almost always outstrips individual wisdom. I was thinking...
With a title like this, the 43 folders podcast is bound to attract listeners. But more than a gimmick, this podcast from 43 folders is actually pretty interesting. Basically, with kung fu, meditation, and sex, you can study and think and learn about these topics all day, but until you actually go out and do them, you'll never get anywhere. The 43 folders guy explained how some people can become obsessed with studying methods for productiv...
Neil Perlin delivered a cool presentation to our chapter tonight on Web 2.0. After the meeting, we all (that is, Mark Hanigan, Karen Bachman, Clyde Parson, Charles Arnold, Lisa Carpenter, Michael Pleasant, Neil Perlin, and I) went out to eat at Bahama Breeze. In his presentation, Neil mentioned that he was going to start learning about WordPress. This of course caught my attention. It turns out Neil is going to start not only a blog, but ...
I have been using SurveyGizmo to issue some short surveys to our chapter and found that the tool is not only the best survey tool I've used, but issuing short surveys is also the best thing I have done. The type of feedback that comes back is amazing, particularly when you leave a free answer essay in there. People usually have feedback, and this gives them an opportunity to provide it. Here are a few tips for surveys. Keep them short. A...
