What Fast Food Managers Have and Tech Pub Managers Need

July 31, 2007 Blog No Comments

Diane Wieland and Scott Abel of TheContentWrangler.com tell it like it is in this editorial in the July 2007 issue of DCLNews. To quote: “Technical documentation departments can learn a lot from industries that have spent decades collecting and analyzing process information, industries like the fast food industry. McDonald’s has earned four billion dollars in cash from operations the past three years. The success of McDonald’s was built on collecting information on its processes and finding ways to slash six seconds from the drive-thru line. A McDonald’s manager is far …

[Podcast] Conciseness in Writing

July 31, 2007 Blog No Comments

Harry Miller at Microsoft has created an educational podcast about concise writing that is both interesting and enjoyable. Give it a listen.

Cabspotting: Web 2.0 Solutions For City Travelers

July 25, 2007 Blog No Comments

Hailing a taxi—and getting a fair fare when you do—can be challenging, especially in large metropolitan areas. That’s where TaxiWiz comes in particularly handy. TaxiWiz calculates approximate taxi fares in cities including: Boston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York City, Las Vegas, and Toronto. The service can be accessed on the web or via a mobile device. According to TaxiWiz, a cab ride from Logan International Airport to the Westin Copley Place: “This cab ride would cost about $23.11. It is about 4.72 miles. There is a $6.00 surcharge for …

Information Architects: Web Trends Map

July 24, 2007 Blog No Comments

The folks at Information Architects have produced a poster that tracks the 200 most successful websites, ordered by category, proximity, success, popularity and perspective. It’s a very interesting—and useful—data set, provided in a friendly format. Check it out today!

Adobe Releases FrameMaker 8.0 and Captivate 3 Today

July 22, 2007 Blog No Comments

Many technical communication and engineering professionals have been anxiously awaiting the release of the latest version of Adobe FrameMaker and its software simulation cousin Adobe Captivate. Today, the wait is over. FrameMaker 8.0 The new version is not called FrameMaker.Next as some of our readers incorrectly divined from a recent posting on this blog. Instead, it’s called FrameMaker 8.0 and Adobe’s PR machine is making big noise about it. Some folks will find the new release an exciting one—others will not. In our view, FrameMaker 8.0 appears a solid release …

Localizing Nutrition: Case Study of McDonald’s

July 18, 2007 Blog No Comments

How do you design icons for 109 countries and not offend cultural sensibilities? Does your company ever have to employ visual icons in multiple locations to visually communicate critical info? Have you encountered situations where your icon was misunderstood, or even considered offensive? Maxwell Hoffmann recently authored a white paper for ENLASO on a global iconographic review the firm conducted in over 109 locales for McDonald’s restaurants. McDonald’s aimed to develop an easy-to-understand, visual nutrition language that could be used to communicate such things as caloric intake, fat, carbs, and …

Open Source CMS Awards: Nominations Run Through August 31, 2007

July 16, 2007 Blog No Comments

The Packt Open Source Content Management System Awards committee is seeking nominations. Awards will be issued in the following categories: Overall Winner Most Promising Open Source CMS Best Open Source PHP CM Best Other Open Source CMS Best Social Networking CMS Nominations accepted through August 31, 2007. Learn more about the Packt Open Source Content Management System Awards.

NASA Typo? What An Endeavor! (sp)

July 16, 2007 Blog No Comments

Don’t feel badly. Everyone does it. We do it. You do it. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) does it, too! According to Space.com, just after being rolled out for launch, “NASA scrambled someone out to pad 39A with a new sign that has the orbiter Endeavour‘s name spelled correctly.”

Training Program Accelerates Content Creation for Homeland Security Classes Using FrameMaker, DITA

July 9, 2007 Blog No Comments

Proper training is crucial when responding to emergency situations. For firefighters, police officers, homeland security agents, and others protecting the public, the Texas Engineering Extension Service (TEEX) offers renowned training and education programs via its Texas headquarters to locations worldwide. Every year, more than 175,000 people participate in TEEX programs, gaining the skills to respond safely and successfully. With more than 550 programs in areas ranging from homeland security to health and safety, TEEX serves a range of clients in the public and private sectors. At the core of TEEX …

WordMap Makes Taxonomy Creation Simple

July 8, 2007 Blog No Comments

One of the challenges of the information age is helping people find things. There are many ways to do this, but they all boil down to improving the two main approaches to locating information: navigation and search. Taxonomies are essential for improving both of these approaches and contributing to the bottom line goal of making information more findable. Navigation A taxonomy is an organizing principle or structure. If we take the example of an e-commerce website, these sites usually start with a small number of top level categories that branch …