bookmark_borderNew and Shiny

My new PC has arrived!

I spent a fair chunk of time last night un-installing the supplied software, and installing my preferred choices and all in all it’s pretty darn sleek, fast and quiet. Still a few things to tweak and tinker with but, by and large, it’s all setup how I like it.

I’m still using Windows, XP not Vista, and I’m still with DELL as the past 5 and half years have been largely hassle free. Of course I’ve future proofed things as much as I could (plus they had a double RAM offer, although that now seems a little ludicrous..).

For the geeks then:

  • Intel Viiv Core 2 Duo Processor (2.4GHz, 1066MHz, 4MB)
  • Dual Channel DDR2 677MHz (4×1024) – they wouldn’t give me two 2GB modules.. buggers.
  • 500 GB (2x250GB) Serial ATA (7200 Rpm)
  • 256MB Nvidia GeForce 7900GS
  • Dell 20″ UltraSharp Wide Aspect Digital/Analogue Flat Panel
  • Audio Integrated HDA 7.1 Dolby Digital capability
  • 16x DVD rewriter (and I’ll slap my other one into it later on)

It’s Vista capable but given the widespread issues that seem to be multiplying daily, I’m holding off until later before, maybe, upgrading. It’s also the first PC I’ve owned that didn’t have a floppy drive.

Now all I need to do is get my cable modem to keep a connection for more than 5 minutes and I’m sorted… vaguely recollect that I need to supply the MAC address of the new PC to my ISP…??

So, as soon as I get my connection sorted I’ll be able to get on with the two site designs I need to get finished this month, and kick off some Scottish Blogs activities. And, of course, I’ll finally be able to catch up with all my favourite blogs.

bookmark_borderMiscellany

Vroooommm click

Wouldn’t it be cool if you had a front mounted camera on your car. How many times have you been driving along, admiring the view laid out before you, without anyway of stopping and capturing it? Those mornings when the sun is streaming dramatically through the clouds, whilst some idiot is 2 feet from your rear bumper meaning that any deviant from your course will problem result in the removal of your rear bumper.

Yes that type of camera would be very nice to have. Please Mr. Manufacturer, make it so.

Either that or fit a rear-pointing rocket launcher to my car. Thankseversomuch.

Red moon

Arriving home on Saturday night, Louise commented on the colour of the moon. It was rather striking, and we nipped upstairs to setup the telescope. Thankfully the sky was crystal clear and we got an excellent view of what turned out to be an eclipse. I also got a couple of slightly dodgy photos.. but bugger me, the moon is a tricky subject to photograph. Admittedly it could’ve been down to the bottle of Cabernet Merlot I’d quaffed, or perhaps the 35% proof rum, or the fact it was midnight, the temperature was hovering around zero and I had neglected to put a jumper on..

Glad we caught it though. Even if it was completely by chance.

No-one to thank

Like most bloggers (I suspect, ohh god, say I’m not the only one who does this!), there are times when I catch myself viewing the world primarily as a means to aid with the composition a post. I was doing just that the other morning, and had the bare bones of a post mapped out in my head… before realising that it contained a basic flaw and I wouldn’t be able to post it.

However, in the spirit of sharing and, um, because it’s Monday morning and I’ve little else to mention… see if you can spot the flaw in the following:

Dear God,

Congratulations on that sunrise thing. It truly is a work of genius, I honestly wish I’d been getting up this early more often to catch this dazzling display.

Slight problem though, as my drive to work takes me West, I am spending increasing amounts of time gazing into my mirrors. Understandably this is possibly not the best thing to be doing whilst belting along the A726 at 70mph..

Any chance you could flip things around, sunrise in the West, sunset in the East? No? Pffff, and you call yourself a deity..

Did you spot it?

Forced blogging

I’d like to coin a new term. For all of us who have forced themselves to start writing, in the hope that a viable blog post will spew forth, I’d like to introduce “forcing”. No wait, that’s already something… umm… “Forging” .. dammit.. “Forceblogging”?

Arses.

Whatever the term is, this post is most DEFINITELY an excellent example of this new genre of blogging.

Forciblogging? Determinablogging?

And finally…

It seems the gods of technology are hell bent on retribution. Not only is my home PC beginning to make some rather loud rattley type noises, far louder and rattlier than normal, but this week I’m in a week long induction course (which does include a session entitled “First Expressions, Lasting Impressions”…). Blogging shall be of the “lite” variety, diet blogging, if you will.

Of course I’m sure I’ll find the odd moment here and there but I’m just getting my excuses in now, rather than have you all wondering if my previous post —Blogs are rubbish— was some form of epitaph. Although, frankly, if you think that’s how I’d sign off from blogland you are sadly mistaken and really haven’t been paying proper attention.

bookmark_borderAnd so, it begins

Please excuse the dust, and mind your feet, I’m still tidying up. I was always told you should finish a website before launching it but, in the days of instant gratification that advice seems somewhat stilted and old-fashioned. So here it is, yes, it’s another blog.

I’ve been blogging for many years now but this is my first attempt at writing a professional blog. To make it a little bit easier on myself I’ve chosen an area in which I’m fairly well-versed – Technical Communications. I have been a Technical Writer/Author/Communicator (I’ll cover that issue another day) for over 10 years and have worked in a variety of different environments, for a variety of different companies, with different cultures and different technologies. I’ve got various articles and whitepapers written up, but largely un-published, and these days if you don’t have a blog… then you are probably out doing something more interesting!

I’ll be covering every facet of Technical Communications that I’ve stumbled across, although I’ll be steering away from discussions on grammar, spelling and english usage (others already cover that in far better style than I could).

So what will I be covering? Everything from planning and designing documents, user analysis, manipulating graphics, DITA, working on the web, document design, AuthorIT, content mapping, agile development, review processes, using the documentation, web design, writing, modular documentation, FrameMaker, editing, CSS, indexing, task analysis, single source, content management, minimalism and much more that I’ve not thought of yet.

I’m not entirely sure where this blog will take me, where it’ll end up, but it’s first step towards a bigger picture and the fruition of many years of trying to have a “professional” place on the web. Comments and discussions are encouraged, and I most certainly do not promise to always be correct. Like most people I’m still learning and trying to keep up as the scope of my profession expands and contracts, and like most I’m sure the internet will continue to play a large part in that process.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve just got another lick of paint to apply…

bookmark_borderOn being professional

Since starting my new job I’ve been getting re-acquainted with a lot of the different facets of my profession (that’s Technical Communications for those who haven’t been playing attention). I’m working on the basis that if you don’t ask, you don’t get and, to that end, I’ve put myself forward to be part of the Usability team. One step forward.

Expanding the empire

I registered a new domain name the other day, it’s in keeping with my “brand” and will form part of a triumvirate of sites which I’ll pull under the same umbrella at some point in the future.

I love that word “triumvirate”. TRIumvirate. TriUMMMMvirate.

The new site will host my musings about my “profession” and it will, naturally, be a blog. Technical Authors dabble in many areas so I’ll be writing about (amongst many other things) usage of industry specific software (mainly FrameMaker), writing techniques and approaches, planning the content, creating graphics, indexing manuals, working with developers, and everything else that makes up part of my day job.

It’s an outlet for a lot of the thoughts I have about my profession, most of which I don’t post here, but will not ever be specific to the company I work for and I will be telling them it exists. The aim is to post regularly, but not once a day, and to keep it focussed, much like many other professional blogs.

That’s the plan at least, but it’s very much a baby-step at the moment, more of an experiment than a commitment. Time will tell if it is successful.

I wonder if anyone can guess the URL?

Umbrella? It’s not raining!

As part of the above, and further to some of the ideas I’ve mooted here (another great word MOOT MOOT!!) I’ve been trying to figure out a way to link the sites I run. A little bit of cross promotion if you will.

I think I’ve found a nice, subtle, way of doing this. No details just yet but it was sparked by watching a demo of the Apple iPhone the other day.

Hey, if you are going to steal, steal from the best, right?

It pays to seize the initiative

As well as taking some bold steps with my employer, my ‘other work’ is benefitting from my new found enthusiasm.

A flyer for a local computer services company was posted through my door last week. The kind of thing I generally glance at then throw straight into the recycle bin. For no good reason (other than the fact I’m considering getting a new PC before my current one dies) I looked it over. It was a fairly crude job, and I spotted that whilst they had an email address listed there was no mention of a website.

I nipped upstairs to the computer and when I tracked down their website (using the details after the @ in the email address) I was presented with one solitary page which was an image of the very flyer I had in my hand. Not great.

So, taking the bull by the horns, I emailed them to suggest that, for a modest fee I could provide them with a simple website. A couple of emails later and things are underway. As it happens, the guy I’m dealing with knows one of my previous (oneman) customers and as we all know that word of mouth is THE best marketing method, he was quick to say that he was happy to be doing business with me. This is before he’s even seen the design brief!

Sometimes living in a small world helps!