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

TechnoZen

Sync your phone

I recently watched a podcast (embedded below) about syncing a phone’s contacts with Google contacts. It reminded me of what happens to people who: rely on their phones exclusively for contact information for hundreds, if not thousands, of people don’t back up their phones to their computers

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A better car touchscreen?

Carmakers continue to pack ever-increasing amounts of technology into their wares. While much of what they offer makes perfect sense, I sometimes wonder if buyers understand how to use it all. To be fair, many people have had difficulty learning how to use sophisticated gadgets, most notably

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Some prose and cons of editing software

Lawyers and government writers are often noted for needlessly convoluted writing. “Lawyers often believe they are different to other professions as they have to use language interpreted by courts over centuries as the template for all current writing,” says Nick Wright. “The result is often a series

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Finding things on your computer

Every day, people need to find things stored on their computers. Some people store them on the desktop, to the point that the desktop looks impossibly cluttered. Others put shortcuts on the desktop – same effect. I still keep files in my Documents folder so that it

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My website has been hacked

Here’s how I found out my WordPress-based website was hacked. One day in January 2014, I had to find an article on my website. I’m a freelance journalist, among other things, and I republish most of my articles on my website once they’re no longer in the

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Review: 2014 Mazda3 Sport

Where do you go if you want to test a car’s technology? Why, to Québec City during Winter Carnival, of course! That’s where I took a Soul Red Mica Mazda3 Sport. Significantly redone for 2014, it delivered on looks, from the vertical front grill sporting an oversize

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For LEGO megafans

Some time ago, a P.R. rep from No Starch Press contacted me about a book they were publishing. Their slogan is “The Finest in Geek Entertainment.” I have no idea why they contacted me (cough). The book, The LEGO Adventure Book: Spaceships, Pirates, Dragons & More! (ISBN-10: 1-59327-512-9)

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Turning the e-mail beast into a straightforward task

Ever wonder why e-mail stresses people out? Maybe it’s the nagging feeling that somewhere among the hundreds or thousands of messages sitting in their inboxes are numerous scraps of information — from appointments to contact information to follow-up tasks to interesting reading and beyond — that they’re

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Custom keyboard shortcuts

I frequently add comments to both Word documents and PDFs. In Word, there’s an “Insert Comment” menu command and in Preview (the software I use to view PDFs) there’s a “Thought Bubble” menu command. Another thing I frequently do is save my documents as I work on

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Coordinates in three words

I get really good concentration when I tote my laptop for coffee and a snack at hints.avid.together. The Apple Store I normally visit when I need to ask questions about my Mac or iPod is at speedy.ferrets.phased.

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