Wow, I didn't know that, thanks! I love pop culture trivia like that.
911 karma · joined July 7, 2010
"Working models are not required for patents, merely drawings and descriptions. But I needed good models, models that would work perfectly and anybody could demonstrate, because these models were going to have to sell themselves, show by their very practicality and by the evident economy designed into them for their eventual production engineering that they would not only work but would be a good investment—the patent office is stuffed with things that work but are worthless commercially." - Heinlein, The Door Into Summer (1957)
"Oleomargarine", as they used to call it, is an off-white color. To make it more appealing to butter users, oleo manufacturers added yellow coloring, until the butter lobby appealed. I believe this regulation was overturned in the late 1960s.
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What's creepy is when an employee acts like they have no autonomy or personality beyond the brand.
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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Technologies: Technical writing, editing, marketing writing. CMS tools, JIRA, Confluence, SharePoint, ServiceNow, blogging platforms, Microsoft Office.
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Technologies: Technical and marketing writer. Technical writing: Documentation, install/admin guides, API references, online help, FAQs, KB items. Marketing writing: Press releases, Web site copy, newsletters, blog posts, brochures, data sheets, white papers.
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Email: jonathanacohen@gmail.com
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Technologies: Technical writing, editing, HTML, Office, SharePoint
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Email: jonathanacohen@gmail.com
1. Dry sucks...but humorous can be worse.
In the mid-90s, I worked at a company that used a DOS add-on to fax from an accounting program. One day we were in a panic because it wasn't working properly, so we dug out the manual. It was all of 10 pages, the last of which was a list of jokes about 'How to Safe Fax' (as in safe sex).
Similarly, I've heard of a government system from the 80s that would display animated monkeys onscreen when an error occurred, and another program with the classic error message "Oopie!".
Humor has no place in documentation.
I think of technical writers like other professionals - doctors, lawyers, etc. Often, you consult a professional because you're in a crisis: you're sick, you're facing a lawsuit, or you can't get a program to work properly.
Research shows that 80% of people don't refer to documentation at all until there's a problem. So when someone's reading documentation, it's a good bet they're in a crisis.
Humor doesn't help. When a reader needs assistance or is in a crisis, humor can come across as silly or insulting.
Humor can also confuse, especially if the reader's first language isn't the same language as the documentation. And lastly, humor makes translation and internationalization harder. Some concepts don't translate across cultures.
2a. Before you start, make sure you understand your audience.
This is the key starting point for technical writers. Who is the audience for your documentation? Is it the average end-user, a developer, a system administrator, or someone else? Once you know your audience, you'll know what information they need spelled out and what they already understand. You'll also know what they'll be looking to achieve, and how you can write documentation to help them meet their goals.
5a. Use illustrations only when necessary.
Illustrations and diagrams can be costly to create, update, and translate. Don't use them when a list or table would do the job.
I would add the following two points:
8. For longer documentation, always include a revision table at the beginning of the document. This helps readers (and writers who may update your materials in the future) to understand what changes have occurred.
9. Identify external hyperlinks that do not link to URLs. For example, I would write a hyperlink to a PDF as <hyperlink> (PDF, 3.6MB). This provides the reader with a preview of what they can expect to find.
Warner Bros. and New Line Cinemas did not find their reasoning persuasive, and after a trademark lawsuit and injunction, The Asylum changed the title to the less litigatable "Clash of the Empires."
"But the silliest feature of all was that if you wanted your company accounts represented as a piece of music, it could do that as well. Well, I thought it was silly. The corporate world went bananas over it."
"The yearly accounts of most British companies emerged sounding like the Dead March from Saul, but in Japan they went for it like a pack of rats. It produced lots of cheery company anthems that started well, but if you were going to criticise you’d probably say that they tended to get a bit loud and squeaky at the end. Did spectacular business in the States, which was the main thing, commercially."
On the other side of the fence, I find that a sympathetic word to a cranky/grumpy cashier or salesperson can really help cheer them up. For example, "Wow, looks like you're having a super-busy day. How's it going?"
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Technologies: Technical writing, marketing writing, copywriting - CMS systems including WordPress, Adobe Suite, Microsoft Office.
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Email: jonathanacohen@gmail.com.
TECHNICAL/MARKETING WRITER
Experience writing online help, white papers, FAQs, newsletters, blog posts, direct mail pieces, and Web site copy.
Seasoned, efficient, drama-free, and easy to work with.
Focused on improving your bottom line. Contact: jonathanacohen [at] gmail.com
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Technologies: Seasoned marketing writer, technical writer, editor and blogger with broad and deep experience in business writing, a deft touch with copy that sells, and a strong understanding of Web 2.0 and social media.
Resume/CV: http://ca.linkedin.com/in/jonathanacohen2008/
Email: jonathanacohen(at)gmail.com
Remote: Yes
Willing to relocate: No
Technologies: technical writing, marketing writing, editing.
Resume/CV: http://ca.linkedin.com/in/jonathanacohen2008/
Email: jonathanacohen@gmail.com
Seasoned marketing writer, technical writer, editor and blogger with broad and deep experience in business writing, a deft touch with copy that sells, and a strong understanding of Web 2.0 and social media.
Specialties:Experience with writing sales copy, Web copy, one-to-one communications, ghostwriting, and other types of documents.
My core competencies include Web 2.0, social media, Internet marketing, open-source software in business, bootstrapping.
Remote: Yes
Willing to Relocate: No.
Technologies: Technical/marketing writer, ergo Microsoft Office, Google Docs, HTML. :)
Resume: LinkedIn @ http://tinyurl.com/ly8g2sw or http://www.hiretechnicalwritertoronto.com
Email: jonathanacohen@gmail.com
Experienced technical writer and marketing writer. Online/Web help, print/PDF documentation, press releases, Web site copy, FAQs, white papers.
Seasoned marketing writer, technical writer, editor and blogger with broad and deep experience in business writing, a deft touch with copy that sells, and a strong understanding of Web 2.0 and social media.
Specialties:Experience with writing sales copy, Web copy, one-to-one communications, ghostwriting, and other types of documents.
My core competencies include Web 2.0, social media, Internet marketing, open-source software in business, bootstrapping.