Design isn’t free
The mantra of XML is that you separate content from formatting. Authors do content; formatting happens later. During a panel discussion at last week’s (excellent) UA Europe conference, I realized that this is only half the story.
Cloudy with a chance of WOMBAT
For remote work, file management in the cloud is way easy. Other methods, not so much…
From Boulder to Bangalore
When I was a high school student in Boulder, Colorado, my first job was as a stock boy in an India-imports store. The store, Hamara Dukan, stocked all sorts of handicrafts and objets d’art from India including clothing, wood carvings, brass bowls and knickknacks, hand-printed bedspreads, incense, Kashmiri boxes, and thousands of other items. After working there for a couple of years, I acquired an appreciation of the things the country produced, but was always curious about the people and what it was like to be in India.
Another peril in ebook publishing: Amazon KF8 compatibility
KF8. Nope, it’s not K2‘s long-lost mountain cousin. It’s Amazon’s new ebook format.
While dealing with this new format probably isn’t as daunting as scaling a 28,251 ft. mountain, KF8 is providing a particularly bothersome challenge right out of the gate: it’s not compatible with any Kindle devices other than the Kindle Fire!
2012 predictions in technical communication
It’s time for that annual exercise in humiliation known as the “review of last year’s predictions” followed by the “some people never learn” event in which I soldier on with new predictions.
2012 resolution: Explore the frontiers of tech comm with Scriptorium
Our 2012 event schedule is starting to come together. Our guest speaker lineup includes Char James-Tanny, Peter Lubbers, and Sarah Maddox, with more to be announced.
This year, we are changing our conference schedule somewhat. I am looking forward to participating in Intelligent Content for the first time, and Simon is going around the world for tcworld India.
(Non)predictions for 2012
With 2011 waning, people are contemplating what 2012 will bring for technical communication. Our profession is changing rapidly, so intelligent conversations about the future of tech comm are essential.
All that smart talk has absolutely nothing to do with this post.
Orthodoxy versus nuance
Simple answers are appealing and are easy to remember. [Refrain from gratuitous political joke here, mostly.] But the real world is full of complex issues that are not easily reduced to soundbites. This also applies to technical communication and XML adoption.
Tekom thoughts
You know you’ve had a bad travel week when you cannot wait to compose the complaint letter to the airline. But sandwiched between flight problems, I had a great time in Wiesbaden at tekom/tcworld 2011.
