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Trends and Open Source Writing
I get the greatest emails sometimes, thanks to my blog. Here’s the lead-in line that especially piqued my interest: “I’m researching trends in technical communication for a grad-level writing class,”...
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Learn about Leveraging the Social Web for Customer Support
The webinar and interview we recorded last week thanks to MindTouch is now available for your listening and viewing pleasure. I had a blast talking to Scott. I thought we might argue a bit on some of...
View ArticleTwitter’s Value to Technical Communication
Some responses to an inquiry I got via email from a student at the University of Minnesota in the Scientific and Technical Communication program. Thanks Mary, for asking nice thought-provoking...
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Social Support and Documentation Communities
Stories of Social Media Sticking in Unlikely Places Saying, “No one reads the manual” just doesn’t hold water any more. Social technology has intersected even the classic user manual. There’s always...
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Google Summer of Code Doc Summit Stories
On my way to the airport after an intense and enjoyable three day session with four open source projects writing a book apiece, I wonder if I have any more words to write down. The group I worked with...
View ArticleExciting Future for Collaborative Printed Electronic Books
The future of the book is in your hands from Sourcefabric on Vimeo. Sourcefabric builds open source software to support independent media worldwide. On February 14th, we’ll announce our tool to help...
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Best Twitter Account Idea Yet from The Information
You know how all these bizarre yet entertaining Twitter accounts keep popping up? The character-based Mad Men account, @BettyDraper the one quoting his hilarious father (with the not-censored...
View ArticleFacebook for Social Support? I like.
When we first rolled out TryStack, a place for trying out cloud! for OpenStack, we heard the groans from the audience since our first ID check is through a Facebook login. No Facebook, no TryStack. But...
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Choose Conversation and Community
We’re closing in on the second edition of my book being released and available! I’m super excited about it. I can’t stop thinking about it. On the way back from the O’Reilly Open Source Convention, I...
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What’s New in Conversation and Community?
Love this new cover, both photos are Creative Commons licensed once again. Let’s look between the covers though! While thinking about the second edition and how three years had passed, I was...
View ArticleWhy use GitHub as a Content Management System?
GitHub is a website that gives a user interface to source control. The tagline on the site is “Social Coding,” and I find that phrase to be an excellent summary of why GitHub is so useful for...
View ArticleHone your writing skills or specialize? Observations from 2009
Never permit a dichotomy to rule your life, a dichotomy in which you hate what you do so you can have pleasure in your spare time. Look for a situation in which your work will give you as much...
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Tips for publishing Python Sphinx with Free Hosting on GitHub Pages
Here’s a new article on the Docs Like Code site, titled “Yes You Can Use GitHub Pages with Python Sphinx.” If you’re familiar with GitHub Pages, you may also know that by default it builds Jekyll...
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Conversation and Community, now available as a free ebook!
I started writing the first edition of the book about social media ideas for technical writing projects in 2008 and published it with XML Press in 2009. We created a second edition in 2012 and as I...
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How to Choose a GitHub Plan for Technical Writing?
You may find that the free plan gives you all you need, but for four dollars a month, access to Codespaces, Pages, and Wikis are right in the sweet spot for technical writers using GitHub and...
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How to Leverage Content Strategy Snippets
I used to drive up and down I-35 to get to my job (in a reclaimed mall) at Rackspace in San Antonio. I passed by Buc-ee’s and their billboards many times on that drive. Buc-ee’s is a super-charged...
View ArticleGet a Docs-as-Code Job by Volunteering in Open Source
As a technical writer interested in learning docs-as-code, volunteering in open source can be a great way to gain experience and develop your skills. It’s a path I took early in my career; I learned...
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