Tech Writer This Week for May 17, 2012 by TechWhirl
TechWhirl’s Weekly Roundup of the best technical communications and technical writing posts on the web.
Storified by · Thu, May 17 2012 00:54:34
Tom Johnson (idratherbewriting.com) discusses accepting new experiences and how different things sometimes creep up on us. Tom also talks about what your college major should be for a career in technical writing (and it’s not always writing!). Alan Pringle (scriptorium.com) talks about getting socked in our professional face and why it sucks SO bad.
Stephen Arnold (arnoldit.com) discusses the “Disneyfication of search” and Mark Baker (everypageispageone.com) opens up to why he is a content strategist but still hates the word “content.”
We wrap up with Microsoft’s overhaul of the Bing search engine, five free online tools that allow you to write without distraction, and five solutions that facilitate video conversations.
Technical Communication
Trying New Things, Changing Interests | I’d Rather Be WritingIt’s interesting how new things sometimes sneak up on us. I’m 36 years old, which means I’m past my exploratory twenties. It fascinates m…
Q&A: What should my major be for a career in technical writing? | I'd …1 day ago … I'm a 20 year old college student and I just finished up my first year at a local community college and I was wonderi…
When perceptions bite tech comm's backside | Scriptorium Publishing2 days ago … It can be a mightily sucktacular experience when you discover what other people think technical communicators do. Case i…
Findability
Findability and Design: How Sizzle Distracts from Understanding : Beyond SearchI have been watching the Disneyfication of search. A results list is just not exciting unless there are dozens of links, images, videos, …
Usability
10 Quick Usability Testing TipsMany of these are rehashes from previous posts, but who doesn’t love seeing handy tips in list form? Let us know if there are any others …
Content Strategy
I am a Content Strategist | Every Page is Page OneA couple of weeks ago, I wrote a post asking Am I a Content Strategist? In response, Sarah O’Keefe tweeted "If you’re not, then nobody is…
Career and Life
Bing search engine gets major overhaul3 days ago … Upgraded edition of Microsoft search engine focuses more on social discovery.
5 Free Online Tools for Distraction-Free WritingLast week I talked about the importance of distraction free writing and suggested five free desktop tools for distraction free writing. H…
Five video communication apps | TechRepublicYou know, voice-to-voice communication is just so one-dimensional. Today it’s a simple matter to add faces and expressions and gestures t…
Hope to see you at the STC 2012 Summit, being held May 20-23 at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare in Chicago-Rosemont, Illinois.
