--- title: "I’d Rather Be Writing blog" description: "{% for post in paginator.posts %} {{ post.title }} {{ post.date | date:" canonical_url: https://idratherbewriting.com/page164/ --- # I’d Rather Be Writing blog [Matt Mullenweg Explains Genius of Akismet and Appeal of Fast Development Cycles](/2007/02/22/matt-mullenweg-explains-genius-of-akismet-and-appeal-of-fast-development-cycles/) Feb 22, 2007 • [technical-writing]( /category-technical-writing), [wordpress]( /category-wordpress) I listened to an awesome podcast today. Brian Oberkirch from Edgework talks with Matt Mullenweg about WordPress. Of course I love WordPress so it was great to hear from Matt, the WordPress lead. Matt said a few things about Akismet and accelerated development cycles that were interesting. Akismet, the spam-blocking software packaged with WordPress and produced by Automattic (the company behind the open-source WordPress application), is re... [Eric Schwartzman Talks About Integrating Podcasts into the Marketing Mix](/2007/02/21/recommended-podcast-eric-schwartzman-on-integrating-podcast-into-the-marketing-mix/) Feb 21, 2007 • [technical-writing]( /category-technical-writing) This podcast from Podcast Academy talks about integrating podcasting into your company's mix of marketing deliverables. Schwartzman talks about how, for an opera site, his company added podcasts that consisted of opera singer interviews. He says the main purpose of a podcast should be to drive listeners to your website—the website should be the center of your activity, not the podcast. A little shocking was the cost. Schwartzman says hi... [Virtual Meetings? Chat Feature](/2007/02/20/virtual-meetings-chat-feature/) Feb 20, 2007 • [technical-writing]( /category-technical-writing) One of the responses in our recent chapter survey showed that members want more information about other members (see #3). I think this means members want to interact more, to get to know their peers better. But going out to the meetings each month isn't always possible given the remote locations of some members. And others have family commitments or other obstacles that prevent them from interacting. To get around this, I've added a chat ... [Blogging for Your Future Employer](/2007/02/20/blogging-for-your-future-employer/) Feb 20, 2007 • [blogging]( /category-blogging), [technical-writing]( /category-technical-writing) Jakob Nielsen offers 10 principles for weblog usability. But it's #9 that really jumps out: Whenever you post anything to the Internet -- whether on a weblog, in a discussion group, or even in an email -- think about how it will look to a hiring manager in ten years. Once stuff's out, it's archived, cached, and indexed in many services that you might never be aware of. Years from now, someone might consider hiring you for a plum job and t... [Are Newsletters Dead?](/2007/02/17/are-newsletters-dead/) Feb 17, 2007 • [blogging]( /category-blogging), [technical-writing]( /category-technical-writing) In a recent survey we did with our chapter, 75% of the members said the blog was sufficient, and that we don't need to bring back the chapter newsletter. We archived our newsletter about 2 years ago because each newsletter editor kept getting burned out. When we converted our site to a blog, members contributed to it but the posts were not really articles as much as announcements., job listings, or requests for advice. I asked the newsle... [WordPress Easter Egg Defies Logic by Removing Styles](/2007/02/16/wordpress-easter-egg-its-omission-is-mind-boggling/) Feb 16, 2007 • [technical-writing]( /category-technical-writing), [wordpress]( /category-wordpress) As a technical writer, I use styles for almost everything. That's why I almost died when I learned about this WordPress Easter egg in the visual editor. Go to where you would write a new post and look at your visual editor. Press alt+shift+v. You'll suddenly see an additional toolbar appear that wasn't there before. Uhm, isn't restricting heading tags and other formatting options one of dumbest omissions in a WYSIWYG editor? If it's poss... [Boagworld Shares Advice on Podcasting](/2007/02/16/boagworld-shares-advice-on-podcasting/) Feb 16, 2007 • [technical-writing]( /category-technical-writing) Boagworld shares some worthwhile advice on podcasting. If you skip ahead to minute 37, you'll get to the part about podcasting. Here's what Paul and Marcus said that I found interesting: Your listeners are listening to your podcast while doing something else, such as driving, exercising, or working. So you only have part of their attention. The implication is that your content has to be somewhat light, not requiring 100% attention to abs... [Ze Frank's Show — STC Speaker in Minneapolis Conference](/2007/02/15/ze-franks-show-stc-speaker-in-minneapolis-conference/) Feb 15, 2007 • [technical-writing]( /category-technical-writing) You probably saw the brief descriptions of the two keynote speakers at the STC Conference in March, but did you know one is a podcaster. Or a videocaster, or a new media artist. The show with zefrank is an interesting new video art form. He does some creative, theatrical commentary while looking at your straight in the eye. Click the image above to see Ze Frank talk about Google and Valentine's day and "Googe." The show is a satire on Go... [Doug Davis on the Job Side of Technical Writing — Location, Industry Experience, and Salary](/2007/02/15/post-in-business-columns-of-whats-host-in-stc-by-proedit-guy/) Feb 15, 2007 • [technical-writing]( /category-technical-writing) I read a few STC articles from Doug Davis on the business side of technical communication today. He had some interesting things to say. The following 15 cities are where 50% of the technical communication jobs are found. So if you're looking for a job, you might have better luck living in one of these locations: San Jose, California ( Silicon Valley) Boston, Massachusetts Seattle, Washington Washington, D.C. Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minneso... [Two more surveys — Innovations and WritersUSA](/2007/02/15/two-more-surveys-innovations-and-writersusa/) Feb 15, 2007 • [technical-writing]( /category-technical-writing) Like taking surveys? Even if you don't, there are two more that you might just want to take: The Innovations survey. This survey is an eye-opener as to what features are out there in help systems, and what features you believe are innovative. (Side note: The Hat-Matrix site, which lists a lot of the features of different help systems, is pretty interesting.) The WritersUSA Salary survey. This survey is particularly important because it h... [Podcast Revenue Idea: Provide 20 second Job Listing Spots in Place of Ads](/2007/02/14/podcast-revenue-idea-provide-20-second-job-listing-spots-in-place-of-ads/) Feb 14, 2007 • [technical-writing]( /category-technical-writing) I have been thinking about how to monetize Tech Writer Voices. Most podcasters spend a lot of time creating and editing audio for their podcasts. What's the return on investment? You can make money with podcasting, but the ads (such as ads for hosting services or other products), don't seem to generate enough profit to be worthwhile. However, I just stumbled upon an idea that may prove to be a powerful revenue generator: selling job descr... [Reflections on the First Cohost Podcast](/2007/02/14/cohost-podcast-is-posted-some-reflections/) Feb 14, 2007 • [technical-writing]( /category-technical-writing) I just posted a first cohost podcast with Heidi Hansen, a technical writer in Seattle and my new co-host. If you listen to the podcast, let me know what you think of the new cohost format. I think it went well; it was different from a regular interview, and the new style is something I'll have to work on. We also tried a little recording trick to try to make the voices clearer. Heidi's voice sounded crisper and clearer than mine, so I wil... [First Cohost Podcast — A Natural Conversation about Technical Writing](/2007/02/14/cohost-tech-writer-voices-podcast-feb-14-2007/) Feb 14, 2007 • [podcasts]( /category-podcasts) Listen here: This podcast takes a different direction than the previous podcasts, which were more interview-driven. This time the podcast consists of Heidi Hansen (co-host) and me talking about various topics in technical communication. The flow is more conversational and spontaneous. Topics covered include an introduction to the new co-host, competition entries, an interesting entry from Microsoft, audio in instructions... [Is technical writing boring?](/2007/02/13/is-technical-writing-boring/) Feb 13, 2007 • [technical-writing]( /category-technical-writing) After Clyde posted his survey about technical writing blogs, we read the following from Fred Sampson's blog: ... I included a comment saying that discussing technical writing bores me. And Jenny comments: Well, apparently, it bores me as well. I haven't posted anything about it in at least a year (hell, I haven't posted about anything in quite a long time), and yet they still listed my blog on the survey. *sigh* I guess even a barely-acti... [DMN Comm. Podcast Gives Thumbs Down on RoboHelp; But More Interesting Is Shift in Style](/2007/02/12/dmn-comm-podcast-gives-thumbs-down-on-robohelp-but-more-interesting-is-shift-in-style/) Feb 12, 2007 • [technical-writing]( /category-technical-writing) DMN Communication's latest podcast is well-worth listening to. It is by far their best podcast to date. They've moved from a scripted style to one that is more natural and conversational. They also lengthened it to 16 minutes. I really enjoyed listening to them talk about their honest thoughts about RoboHelp 6 (which, by the way, they give a thumbs down.) They've also embedded the Podbean player directly into their blog posts. Overall, e... [« Previous](/page163/) Page: 164 of 174 [» Next](/page165/) 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] = '