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

TechnoZen

Why writers should use mind maps

I don’t experience writer’s block. That isn’t a boast. I’ve developed tactics that enable me to write a decent first draft without much difficulty. The main tactic: I use a mind map.

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Fuel economy as a game: the 2016 Ford C-MAX Energi

Ask any teacher how best to help people learn, and they’ll often recommend you turn learning into a game. Makers of hybrid vehicles have taken note. All things being equal, hybrid vehicles reduce fuel consumption over equivalent internal combustion engine- (ICE-) only vehicles. Drivers who want to achieve even better

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My relationship with Getting Things Done

The David Allen Company is taking its Getting Things Done show to Toronto (my hometown) in a few weeks. That, plus a recent reminder about the system, got me thinking more deeply about how I use it in my own life. Warning: this post ended up being

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Making document assembly more efficient

Asim Iqbal has suffered the document assembly itch. “I sat there as a junior, assigned to do a book of authorities. I had all my cases printed. I was drawing lines by hand. And I was thinking: ‘This is ridiculous.’ I’m taking stuff from an online source,

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Hitting the hockey highway in the 2016 Ford Flex AWD

Bad weather seemed to be the watchword for my week with the 2016 Ford Flex AWD Limited. Just look at it the day after I picked it up for this review. Fortunately, weather didn’t put a damper on anybody’s spirits. The Flex was going to prove an able teammate

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What a phone scam sounds like

Hearing messages like the one in this post annoys me. Before I go into my bullet-pointed rant, click the link below to listen to a 40-second recording I made of a voice mail message early this spring (my apologies for the rough audio quality, but it is all understandable):

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2016 Mitsubishi Outlander ES 4WD

In the automotive market, crossovers may be the hottest, most competitive segment. So it’s no surprise Mitsubishi brought a number of refinements to its 2016 Outlander.

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Nostalgia for outdated technology

A recent road test in a BMW reacquainted me with the task of drawing letters on a touchpad. BMW’s version of the in-car screen system consists of a controller that you twist like a knob, shove in several directions like a joystick and press like a button. This

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Mobile devices gaining importance in probes

Whether a case centres on employee theft, insurance fraud, intellectual property theft or a range of other matters, cell phones and other mobile devices can contain “relevant information that shouldn’t be ignored,” says Chuck Rothman, director of e-discovery services for Wortzman Professional Corporation. “Information on phones can

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BMW X1 xDrive 28i

It’s rare that I say “no thanks” to extras on vehicles I review, but I had to ask the rep who recently set me up for a week with the BMW X1 xDrive 28i to remove the BMW-branded roof rack it was equipped with. (I was afraid it might hit the

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