Facebook Faux Pas Number Two: A User Experience Only Programmers Could Have Devised

by Scott Abel, The Content Wrangler Facebook is incredible for so many reasons, most of them positive. But, not all of them. The world’s most popular social network is loaded with incredibly stupid, time-sucking functionality that makes using the service much more difficult than it need be. In many cases, lazy programming and unnecessary clicks are to blame. Replacing Multiple Clicks With One Most of the challenges I experience using Facebook are usability problems. I’m certain I am not alone. Consider the absence of the ‘select all’ button, long a Read the full article…

Diminished Reality Makes It Easy To Make Amazing Edits To Video In Real-Time

[Webinar] Selecting The Right Tool For The Job: When An Online Editing Tool Is The Right Choice

What do you need to know when you are considering a move to a collaborative authoring system (CAS)? What are the advantages and disadvantages to using a CAS? What questions should you be asking (both of yourself and possible vendors)? And are there any particular pitfalls that you need to know about so you can avoid them? Join Scott Abel, The Content Wrangler, as he interviews Charles Cooper of The Rockley Group, and learn how to make the best choices in your search for software tools. Register for “Selecting The Read the full article…

Kirsty Taylor: Looking Forward To My First Localization World

October 6-8, 2010 I’ll be in Seattle for my first ever localization conference — Localization World. I’m really looking forward to it (cliche, but it’s true!). Earlier this year, I was given responsibility for coordinating my company’s translation and localization projects. I have so much to learn. At the conference, I’m hoping to meet other in-house translation coordinators, as well as localization vendors, to learn what products and services they offer to help an organization like mine localize software in up to 16 languages. To get ready for the conference, Read the full article…

A Vision of Students Today: Is Your Organization Being Heard By Today’s Youth? Do You Even Know How To Reach Them?

In 1964 Arthur C. Clarke Predicted Remote Work, Social Networks, iPads and More

[Webinar] What Every Chief Marketing Officer Needs To Know About Content Strategy – August 25, 2010 | 10:30am PDT

Plan to attend our free one-hour webinar, “What Every Chief Marketing Officer Needs To Know About Content Strategy“, Wednesday, August 25, 2010 10:30am PDT. Scott Abel, The Content Wrangler and Mark Fidelman, Vice President of Sales, MindTouch will discuss content, content strategy, and how a lack of a cohesive content strategy can negatively impact corporate marketing efforts. The duo will also explore the findings of a recent survey of 300 technical communicators, and discuss how companies that understand the concept of “social proof” (and how it impacts buying decisions) are Read the full article…

Lifehack: Free or Cheap SaaS Tools I Used to Get to Inbox Zero

By Chris Bucchere, Chief Executive Officer, Mojo Lately I’ve been really overwhelmed by my email inbox. This is not a new problem, but in the past I’ve been able to keep it at under a hundred emails; recently it has grown to nearly 300 and it has really begun to interfere with my getting things done. So, last night, I took a good, hard look at what was really IN my inbox. About 40% of the notes consisted of links sent to me by well-meaning people who thought I should Read the full article…

How Yelp Works

Here Comes Socially-Enabled Everything – Scott Abel, The Content Wrangler @ Web Content 2010 Chicago

How A Taste Of Kindle Reader For Blackberry Made Me Hunger For More (And More, And More)

by Maxwell Hoffmann, Desktop Publishing, Localization, Globalization and Sales Training Veteran A few weeks ago I got a Tweet that sent me straight to downloads-ville. A “free” Kindle Reader app for my Blackberry! As a used-book store addicted Baby Boomer who color codes all of his hard copy books with highlighter pens, might I be the perfect guinea pig for this latest content delivery platform? Could an old school guy like me get used to reading literature or technical manuals in chunks smaller than 3×5 cards? The answer surprised even Read the full article…

The Making of a Mashup Compilation: Aurally Volume 1

By Scott Abel, The Content Wrangler, aka The Audio Wrangler What do you get when you cross Pink Floyd with Christina Aquilera? How about a little Elvis with your Public Enemy? Or some Cher on top of This Mortal Coil? Although it may sound a little frightening, pairing musical groups and vocalists together in unorthodox ways can yield some pretty incredible audio sensations. Known commonly as mashups (or bastards), these bootleg musical creations are user-generated derivative works created by blending two or more songs, usually by overlaying the vocal track Read the full article…

[Interview] Joe Gollner: Defining Intelligent Content And Providing Some Real-World Examples

Interview with Joe Gollner by Scott Abel, The Content Wrangler The Content Wrangler: Joe, thanks for agreeing to chat with us today. Tell us a little about yourself and your experience in the content industry. Joe Gollner: I began tinkering with content, using open markup technologies, in 1987 while still a grad student at University of Oxford. The tinkering has never stopped. Tapping on another side of my background, the military side, I was deeply embroiled in the CALS initiative – where we applied open markup technologies to the most Read the full article…

Valentine: The Digital, Device-Independent Comic Available Via Wireless In 14 Languages

By Alex de Campi Imagine a graphic novel series, released every month simultaneously in 14 languages and across all major wireless platforms (Kindle, EPUB, Android, iPhone), hopefully soon via the web and, eventually, in collected print editions. Every month, you pay 99 cents and get 70-75 screens of action, adventure and suspense. In its first fortnight after launch, in the difficult final weeks of December and with no marketing and without all our distributors yet on stream, the first episode had 5,000 downloads — of which English was in the Read the full article…