Copywriter, technical writer, translator (FR>EN, ES>EN, IT>EN), journalist

Posts Tagged electronic documentation

Creativity in user manuals

I worked as a technical writer full-time for years at a software development company, and I continue to do so on contract for various companies. Yet I kept on thinking manuals need to be one of the following: on paper PDF HTML Windows Help The following video reminds

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Out with wet ink, in with Acrobat DC

Hiding at the back of the room during an April seminar, I checked e-mail on my iPad. A prospective client had sent me an NDA to sign and date. I opened this Word document using Adobe’s recently released Acrobat Document Cloud (DC), converted it to a PDF,

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Recording interviews using mobile devices

Just when I figured I’d tried every last interview recording technology I could use (and omitted ones I don’t care for anymore – goodbye cassettes), along comes a technology that improves on what I’ve used before. That’s why this series of blog posts on interview recording technology

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Software makers respond to spam law

Earlier this year, in reaction to Canada’s anti-spam legislation (CASL), various organizations flooded their contacts’ inboxes across the country with requests for permission to continue sending them e-mails. Software developers also responded, marketing systems that help businesses comply with CASL. Knowing little about CASL or the systems being

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Going online with dispute resolution

We bank online. We earn continuing legal education credits online. We even work online. But the day when Canadian citizens can resolve common, low-value legal disputes online seems a long way off.

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Automated editing assistants

Earlier this year, I reviewed software that plugs into Microsoft Word (for Windows only, not available for Mac) to help writers sharpen their prose. (Editors at the magazine I wrote this for came up with a witty title for the resulting article.) I could accomplish similar ends using features built into Word and

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Putting word counts in Word documents

As a freelance technology writer, I get magazine and blog post assignments in which clients ask I stick to a specific word count, or word count range (e.g. 400-600 words). I track word count using both the bottom frame of the Word window and a word count

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Data disasters are waiting to happen

Having a recovery plan is indispensable for your system’s inevitable crash Ben Sapiro well knows the meaning behind the metaphor “like closing the barn door after the horse escapes.” When lawyers call him about disaster recovery, it’s usually because something has already happened. “Very often, questions come after

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The virtual deal room is now more advanced

Used as data rooms, lawyers can share confidential information. Physical “deal rooms” house documents pertaining to confidential activities such as mergers and acquisitions. Access to such rooms is controlled. No photocopiers are found within, and no cameras allowed inside. Brock Smith, a Vancouver-based partner in the technology

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The power of Preview

Sometimes software developers cram more features into their products than most people know about, and they don’t think to go looking for them. Take the humble PDF reader. Not something to get excited about, right? Well, maybe I can change your mind on that.

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