wpoint, Author at WritePoint

Followup on the Ethics of Technical Writing

A few weeks ago, two of my competitors contacted me to tell me that another of our "colleagues" had taken our personal and corporate names and put them in as keywords for Google AdWords. This meant that if you Googled our names or companies, you'd find it in the Sponsored Ads section...but if you clicked on it, you were diverted to his site. I found this to be so wrong and so I posted about it, including naming…

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December 22, 2011

Webinar on Improving Usability of Your Software with Embedded Help

The best software user assistance is so elegant that users don’t need to look for it. One of the best ways to "answer the question before it is asked" is to provide embedded help right in the interface. Studies have shown that embedded, dynamic help improves the usability of software applications. However, most software does not include it because it takes too much time to implement. Traditionally, developing and maintaining embedded help has required a great deal of…

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December 22, 2011

Content Management / DITA / Technical Writing

Is DITA Just for Technical Writers?

When I bought my first cellular phone back in the early 90's, it was the buy. Having a cellular phone was cool. It was prestigious. It made you look rich. It was an indicator of your social status. Only a few people, usually businessmen and women, could afford one. These days, you look weird if you don't have a cell phone. Everyone has one, even young kids. In just 20 short years, the cell phone has turned from…

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December 14, 2011

Blogging / Culture / Technical Writing / Travel Tips

A Promise is a Promise

What do you do when you find out someone has attempted to steal your company name (the one you registered and incorporated years and years ago)? What do you do when you see they've taken your slogan ("We Write to the Point") and created a website, even one with a Flash banner? Well, normally, you'd probably write to them and suggest that since they stole it, they "unsteal" it. In this case, the site was so poorly done,…

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December 13, 2011