I am dabbling in proposals again through side freelance project I am currently working on. This time my job isn’t writing boiler plate but the template (though I am offering up a lot of comments and some suggested edits) but to build a bullet proof Microsoft Word template for the client’s sales people to work from when writing a proposal. Their corporate standard is Microsoft Office 2010 so I am welcoming the opportunity to raise my game on Microsoft Word 2010.
The first contestant in my home office for the iOS 5 upgrade was my 1st generation iPad 3G. It’s a device that sees a lot of use during the day but if I bricked it would be a crisis but not as bad as if I bricked my phone. iOS 5 performance on my iPad has been great (but not quite as great as my iPhone) and except for some groups getting out of whack my upgrade was a rather painless affair.
Microsoft Office applications have been a major part of my working life for years. Throughout my work as a technical writer and later as a computer book technical reviewer and then freelance writer, I’ve been able to watch the growth and changes in Microsoft Office from all sides.
The most exciting developments for me have been seeing Office applications move to the web and onto mobile platforms other than PCs. I remember the first time I saw a demo of Zoho Business and got first access to Writely (now Google Docs) and could see the potential for such applications on the web. But my question even back then was how smoothly could such applications integrate with desktop applications. This question is getting easier to answer now with many recent developments.
I’ve comes to see the desktop suite extend beyond its desktop origins into both the web and mobile layers. These are natural layers for Office applications since the way people work has changed so dramatically. This new model also accommodates the diffe
I’ve been a big Microsoft Visio user off and on during my career especially during my time in the Internet services and telecommunications world. Visio is a powerful diagramming tool and I think Visio 2010 is perhaps its strongest release yet. Back when I was a pup technical writer, it was an application that only the “Visio guy” was using but usability and new features in the last few versions have made it a very accessible application even for non-artists
Even if somebody is not an artist, it is easy to create diagrams with Visio as long as you can follow a template and can use the mouse to drag and drop elements. Here are five ways I use Visio during the course of my technical writing work:
Gwen Plummer, Ben Harrison, and I spoke spoke at the Messiah United Methodist Church Jobs Ministry meeting about employment options outside of traditional full time employment. Here is our slide deck:
Now that I am back to more of a semblance of life after getting my groove back, I am relying on my iPad a lot more especially when it comes to documents. While the iPad may never replace my laptop, it does let me do away with carrying around papers. The new Evernote integration with Quick Office Pro HD really caught my attention.
Quick Office Pro HD is one of the apps I use when I want to review documents on the go. While the pace of development for iPad apps that can substitute for desktop Office applications is on the uptick, I am still waiting to see the apps take wide advantage of integration opportunities with cloud-based apps like Evernote and others.
I don’t have to write some snarky lede about the bad economy. We all know it. Even folks who have a job are finding fulfilling work and resources to be as scarce as Lord of the Flies. There is a record amount of disengagement in the workplace or so my informal polling shows. This means workers have a choice to either find a new groove or suffer through the mind sucking sludge of today’s workplace recovering from the economic apocalypse.
If that is the case, then it is time to hunker down and survive. Here are some ways I know people are surviving their recession jobs:
Now that my iPad and iPhone have been running iOS 5 for about a week now, I am finally turning my attention to iCloud, Apple’s heir apparent to MobileMe and their first real contender into the cloud services market. Despite Apple’s reputation for perfection and iteration, the cloud has consistently eluded them for years.
I want to see Apple do well in the cloud this time. Their previous missteps are not befitting a company of their caliber.
Screen captures are a way of life for me as a technical writer. I also use them a lot on this blog. After not being happy with SnagIt for Mac because of issues after my move to a new MacBook Pro, I began thinking of switching to another screen capture tool. This was right around the time that Evernote acquired Skitch, a Mac only graphics application for annotating, editing, and sharing screen captures and photos. Since I am a big Evernote fan, testing out Skitch was a given.
I am not seeking Skitch for annotating or sharing photos or even sharing screen captures. I want to check it out as a potential new screen capture tool only. Even though I have my own Mac apps I prefer, I like to stay well versed in free apps to recommend to people especially some new Mac users I know.
© 2012-2013 Will Kelly All Rights Reserved -- Copyright notice by Blog Copyright
About Will Kelly