Monthly Archives: March 2011

Life Technical Writing

Does a Technical Writer make the Worst Patient?

March 31, 2011 – 9:34 pm

I’ve been quick to put my technical writing experience and skills to work as I try to navigate through the medical establishment post surgery and get my Synthroid dosage balanced but I am afraid it might not be working. My first big culture shock is the differences in how the IT community (where I am from) and the medical community are how they troubleshoot issues.

Having been on my fair share of leading edge to failing IT projects, I look for patterns when something wrong occurs. I call this the last plugged in/first unplugged method. Evidently, the medical profession doesn’t prescribe to this method of troubleshooting always especially when it comes to thyroid issues. When I was at a recent meeting of the THYCA, another attendee brought up the fact that endocrinologists are chemists at heart – and approach diagnoses accordingly – meaning the street cred I’ve earned getting my questions answered from the most eccentric and socially inept programmers and engineers has no bearing on my communications with endocrinologists.

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OffiSync: Another Google Docs/Microsoft Office Syncing Option

March 27, 2011 – 1:36 pm

I’ve long been a proponent of a complementary model for Google Docs and Microsoft Office. While Google Cloud Connect is a great tool, I need to mention OffiSync — available in the Google Apps Marketplace — as another option for file syncing between the two office suites.

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My Thoughts about Microsoft SharePoint and the iPad

March 24, 2011 – 9:42 pm

Two of my favorite professional reading topics lately have been Microsoft SharePoint and the iPad. I am staying abreast of SharePoint technologies because my current contract is due to end in July and documenting a major SharePoint implementation is still high up there on my “technical writer bucket list”. I am a big iPad user and enjoy following its advances into the corporate enterprise.

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Updated Senior Technical Writer Resume

March 22, 2011 – 7:55 pm

An updated version of my resume is now available over at willkelly.com.

 
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The Cloud versus Portable Media

March 22, 2011 – 7:04 pm

I was discussing the launch of the iPad 2 the other week at work with two colleagues of mine who are amateur photographers and pretty serious about their tech. Their use cases for the iPad are much different than mine but one bemoans the lack of an internal SD card slot.  I have many technical discussions with these two colleagues and our iPad discussions have gotten me wondering, “Is the cloud overtaking portable media?” after I was able to explain where I store the bulk of my files.

The iPad and iPhone are prime examples of the cloud overtaking portable media with a growing list of apps offering DropBox and/or Box.net support. When I was looking at the iPad 2 specifications for myself, I confirmed how much memory I was consuming on my 32 GB iPad 3G+WiFi and was pleasantly surprised I had more than half my space free because much of my data is in the cloud whether on Dropbox, Google Docs, or in Gmail.

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Seeking Part-Time Technical Writing Projects

March 19, 2011 – 2:54 pm

I am now available for part-time technical writing projects that can be accomplished from my home office.  Currently, my availability is 15-20 hours per week and I am able to make conference calls towards the end of the business day EST. My strong and diverse technical writing experience  includes:

  • Writing articles on technology and project management related topics for publication
  • Writing user guides and online help for cloud based applications
  • Reviewing and updating legacy technical documents
  • Conducting technical reviews on computer book manuscripts

You can read more about my technical writing experience on my professional site or LinkedIn profile. Please contact me for further information about my availability for technical writing projects.

 
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Publishing Technical Docs to a Wiki: Lessons (Re)Learned

March 19, 2011 – 2:51 pm

I am coming to the end of a side technical writing project and we made the decision to publish the two customer facing documents I wrote to a wiki (DokuWiki to be precise). It has been a while since I’ve published documentation to a wiki platform so this project has gotten me to rethink my stance on wikis as a documentation publishing platform.

My previous wiki experience has been relegated to largely writing documents directly into a wiki so I was looking forward to the document migration. Along the way, I came to reconsider the following lessons:

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Mobile Devices Music

Do I still need a Portable Media Player?

March 18, 2011 – 3:57 pm

While I far from consider myself a “music person”, I listen to music everyday at work and at the gym. Music helps me concentrate at work and tune out from my day when I am at the gym. While some may foolishly write that listening to music via headphones while working is stealing — it gets me in the zone when I need to write and think strategically. Listening to music while working on the cubicle farm is also one of the only ways you can control your surroundings.

An iPod has had a place in my gym or workbag since the 2nd Gen iPod debuted but I am starting to wonder if I still need one. My primary music device at work is now my iPhone 4 while a 160 GB old school iPod holds my gym music.The iPhone became my work music player because I’ve maintained separate iPods for work and the gym for years now. The older 80 GB iPod I used to carry to work is sitting on my home office desk. Even though I am one to consider the iPad a consumption device, I’ve yet to load it up with any music.

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My Technical Writing Process

March 13, 2011 – 1:05 pm

Many of my previous technical writing assignments placed me in organizations that had formerly placed little or no effort in technical documentation and needed to have technical documentation in place to support a major technology initiative, product launch, or a major audit.

One of the things I always try to do is to attack a new technical writing effort methodically – either at the client’s direction or behind the scenes – because I like a smooth running writing project.

Here is a high-level overview of the elements in my technical documentation development process:

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5 Ways a Technical Writer can use an iPad

March 12, 2011 – 2:46 pm

I am reading more articles everyday about how the iPad is gaining a foothold in the corporate enterprise and how vertical markets are seizing upon the opportunities this new device presents. Nevertheless, how can a technical writer use an iPad to become more productive? Is the iPad suitable for technical writers? While I am not going to say, you’ll be writing your next technical document on an iPad, but with the right mix of apps, a technical writer you can off  put a number of related tasks from your PC and enter a new era of productivity. read more »

 
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