Man as Industrial Palace

The intertwining of science, art and technology: An animated and interactive installation based on the poster of the same title by Fritz Kahn from 1927.

For more information about the project go to:

industriepalast.com/​

Concept & Animation: Henning M. Lederer
Sound-Design: David Indge       



Der Mensch als Industriepalast [Man as Industrial Palace] from Henning Lederer on Vimeo.


Looking for a way to integrate your iPhone 4 or iPod touch 4G into your car's sound system? The all-new Pioneer AppRadio brings full on-screen access and control of your device's compatible apps right to your dash. Do you need tunes for any summer road trips this year?  

4 Golden Rules of Capitalization in Technical Documents

We all need an occasional refresher . . . .  from Technical Writing Tips, Tools & Templates

It is ebay or eBay or Ebay? How Technical Writers use capitalization in user guides creates many problems for editors, reviewers, and users. Part of the problem is a lack of guidelines and style guides. What you think looks fine break some style guide rule you were unaware of.

The Capitalization of Microsoft

A good example is the word Microsoft. When it started out, it was MicroSoft. Then it changed the uppercase S to a lowercase.

So, what do you do with all the legacy documents or international materials, for example, business documents for Chinese readers?

Guidelines for Capitalization

In general, use capitalization rules whenever possible – for example, common nouns are usually all lowercase and proper nouns are always capitalized.

1. Never use all uppercase letters for emphasis.
2. Follow the capitalization rules of software as necessary, as in case-sensitive keywords.
3. Do not capitalize the spelled-out form of an acronym unless specified otherwise in the List of Acronyms and Abbreviations.
4. Avoid over-capitalization.

Capitalization Of User Interfaces Elements

Microsoft recommends the following capitalization rules for interface elements:

• Menu names, command and command button names, and dialog box titles and tab names: Follow the interface. Usually, these items use title caps. If the interface is inconsistent, use title caps.
• Dialog box elements: Follow the interface. Newer style calls for these items to use sentence caps. If the interface is inconsistent, use sentence caps.
• Functional elements: Capitalize the names of functional elements that do not have a label in the interface, such as toolbars (the Standard toolbar) and toolbar buttons (theInsert Table button).
• Do not capitalize interface elements used generically, such as toolbar, menu, scroll bar, and icon.
• The Golden Rules of Capitalization in Technical Documents Do not capitalize unless it is case-sensitive.

Looking for examples

One of the hazards of having a love of words is that you see things that others take for granted.

So, when it comes to caps or should that be capitalizations… I see these everywhere.

For example:

Is it web site or Web Site or Website?

Is it the Bible of The Bible?

Is it IBM or I.B.M.?

What other examples would you add?

75 Tips to Reduce eLearning Costs

Learn How to Optimize Your Resources to Be More Efficient and Effective.  The eLearning Guild has just released a new (free) eBook:

Download here

In this complimentary eBook, eLearning Guild members reveal imaginative ways to cut eLearning costs, and share insights on how to optimize your resources to get the job done more efficiently and effectively, without sacrificing quality. See how others are doing amazing things with limited budgets, and how innovative cost-saving ideas can help you do more with less. Discover cost-saving tips in the following areas:

eLearning Courses Design & Development Tools Project Management

Learning Management Systems Staffing / Vendors Offshoring Professional Development

Can Agile Development be Applied to User Documentation?

Yes, claims Jean-Luc Mazet at WritersUA, user documentation can be developed using the Agile method.

But the project must be built on a foundation of all stakeholders buying in to the approch.  They must understand the benefits and successful outcomes of such Agile development, but over "selling" the approach seldom works. Instead show the results. 

The writing should be very modular and re-usable.  A Collaborative and pair authoring environment may work best. Regular meetings where team members report progress and discuss roadblocks are important.  Peer review of writing and flow must be built into the process.  Use times when software development makes documentation difficult to go back to some traditional processes and refine and organize the materials you have developed.

Your team motivation should be based on the five values of Scrum:

• Openness
• Courage
• Respect
• Focus
• Commitment

A mature, self motivated, self organized team works best in this environment.  Documentation should be based on User Stories and show how features of the software fulfill those user stories.   This kind of team will provide the most ROI for the stakeholder and customers.

Agile Terminology:

• Scrum: An iterative, incremental framework for project management often seen in agile software development, a type of software engineering.
• Pig: Person committed to building the product on a regular basis.
• Chicken: Person with an interest in the product and what the pig delivers.
• Product Owner: Representative of the customer's interest in the product. This person needs to be available at all times to answer questions and make decisions. Sometimes called the "single-wringable neck."
• Stakeholder: Internal or external customers and vendors or suppliers who will not be directly involved with the project, but may weigh in on the results of each Sprint Review.
• ScrumMaster (or Facilitator): Daily Scrum Meeting facilitator. Person who removes impediments (distractions, external influences) and enforces Scrum practices and rules.
• User Stories: Customer-centric, product requirements or features that can be summarized into one or two sentences. For example: "As a user of this product, I want to be able to log in and out from a central point."
• Sprint: Work iteration that lasts between 14 to 30 days.
• Sprint Planning Meeting: First meeting at the beginning of a Sprint to negotiate the work that can be achieved during that Sprint.
• Product Backlog or Backlog: Prioritized product requirements for customer-deliverable features and internal technical requirements.
• Sprint Backlog: Represents the tasks for the Sprint and the Product Backlog items.
• Daily Scrum Meeting or Standup Meeting: The short (15 minutes) team meeting where each "pig" participant reports their progress from the day before, what they have scheduled for the day ahead, and the impediments that prevent their progress. "Chickens" listen in and do not report status.
• Sprint Review Meeting: Held at the end of the Sprint to show the accomplishments of the team, usually a prototype or potentially shippable product that demonstrates the tasks and goals set at the beginning of the Sprint.
• Sprint Retrospective Meeting: Held by the team and the ScrumMaster after the Sprint Review Meeting to assess what went well and what can be improved for the next Sprint.

5 dimensions that should affect what method you use, according to Boehm and Turner's book, “Balancing Agility and Discipline: A Guide for the Perplexed”:

• Critically: If the end result includes failure, what would the cost be? The scale ranges from just the lost of comfort to the loss of many lives.
• Personnel: The skill level of the project team members.
• Size: How many people are on your team?
• Dynamism: The number of requirement changes per month (How well can youir team define the requirements?)
• Culture: Is your team used to handling change, taking their own initiative, or are they used to order, to having thier work laid out in plans for them?

Additional Readings:

Agile/Lean Documentation: Strategies for Agile Software Development

Agile Technical Documentation

Working With SMEs, the Comic

Cudoes to Julie Dirksen at The Usable Learning Blog for a great cartoon illustrating why e-learning cannot teach everything about a subject:

(You can make them sit through it, but you can’t make them pick it up and carry it around…)

10 Handy Web Apps To Save You Time At Work

Have I ever needed some of these apps in the past!  Check them out to improve your productivity and keep your sanity!

From Mashable:
 Your life just got easier!

"Web apps are a friend to all who mash the keyboard from nine to five. They live in the cloud, are accessible from any Internet connection and are great for chopping those mundane work tasks off at the knees."

• PrintFriendly -- Need to clean up a webpage you want to print? 
• Vector Magic  -- Need to enlarge a logo by making it into a vector image?  (Oh yeah. I'll use this one!)
• Dummy Image -- Need a quick placeholder for a graphic in your PowerPoint, Captivate or html file? 
• SimplyNoise -- Need to block out the idle chatter at work? 
• ShowMeWhatsWrong.com -- Need a really fast way to see a few mintues of someone else's computer screen? 
• Zamzar -- Need to convert a doc into a file format you can actually open? 
• Ge.tt -- Need to send a file larger than your email allows?  (I need this one all the time!)
• Ninite -- Need help in setting up a new computer?
• CopyPasteCharacter -- Need an easier way to add a special character to a doc?  (In my opinion, this app is the least useful, as I use the Windows option all the time, and it seems pretty straight-forward to me.)
• LucidChart -- Need more charting options?(Who doesn't?)

Corporate Blogging: The ROI of Blogging

Many companies, including mine, have corporate blogs today.  What do these blogs achieve?  Who determines the criteria by which their success or failure is measured?

"As a web marketer, you sometimes know better than your customer. But, you’re dependent on them for work. Be careful how you manage their expectations, especially if they want to achieve (not measure) that’s close to their heart. Once you have their trust, bridge them to a more rewarding activity where you can demonstrate your expertise and… show them what’s really worth measuring."

Ivan Walsh explores the metrics and ROI of corporate blogging on his blog at http://www.ivanwalsh.com/business-development/corporate-blog-metric/

25 Mind Blowing Text Effects Photoshop Tutorials

Oh, Oh, Oh, This is so freaking cool!  I have to post these tutorials from Photoshop Roadmap, because I KNOW that when I have time, I'll want to go back and practice many of them and use them.

"It seems that text effects have become extremely popular over the last years. Thanks to the new advanced tools and commands Adobe is adding to Photoshop in each new release, users can create more complex typography artworks instead of the dull and boring headlines of the past.  Just take a look at these 25 incredible text effects and you will see what I mean."

I've included pictures from some of them--NOT ALL!  Check here for the tutorial.  Great Stuff!

Cool, huh?

7 Ways To Position Yourself as a Technical Writing Expert Online

This article does offer some serious food for thought:  Technical Writing Tips, Tools & Templates

It discusses how to seriously make money as an online Technical Writer.  If you're thinking of striking out on your own, I'd recommend a careful reading.

"You have the expertise and experience but don’t know how to use the Internet to find work, attract clients or sell goods. How do you start?"

Here's  one writer's approach.  The topics he covers are listed below.  To read the complete article, click here.

• Focus on One Technical Writing Software
• Choose a Niche product
• Corner The Market
• Develop Information Products
• Create an Email List
• Sell Digital Products
• Use Social Media

Here are a few other links from this blog that are worth reading:
How to Setup a Profitable Technical Writing Shop On Amazon
My Top Ten Favorite Technical Writing Tools

 

Great E-Learning Template and New E-Learning Website

So, I'm in love with Tom.  Sure, he's over there at Articulate, and I presently using Captivate, but I cut my e-learning teeth on Articulate, and their support is second to none. I'm even thrilled that now Captivate has introduced some of the same features that Articulate has always had, but I still don't know if you can do simulations in Articulate.  In the past, you couldn't.  I plan to download a trial and see soon.  


But Tom.  His blog is awesome and a must-read for an e-learning professional.  They come to me in my email, and each time, I can't wait to find out what goodies he has for me today!  


Today's is definitely a winner.  It's a PowerPoint template based on the Notes app on the iPad.  I've only played with an iPad in the Apple store and I just popped out to my YouTube account and played some of my YouTube videos on it then, but, no matter. This template rocks!


This is what it looks like:

To read about it, view a demo, and download it, check out Tom's blog.


And while I was out clicking links in the blog, I found the E-Learning Heroes site.  Once again, it's Articulate-centric, but I am excited to now be part of that community.  Check out this page of PowerPoint templates and other cool downloads.

One Person's Method of Creating Training Videos

Wow. When it rain, it pours. I've been BUSY!!!!

I found this set of instructions of how to create a tutorials, and I think it has some valuable content for people who are just starting to create online training, because it's a comprehensive method.  Thought I'd pass it on, because I've had many of these experiences myself, and reading about someone else going through the same thing is pretty amusing.

From the "I'd Rather Be Writing" Blog

Creating video tutorials is no trivial task. When you sit down to create 20+ video tutorials for a project, you’re faced with dozens of questions. What screen size should the videos be, what recording tool should you use, what microphone is best, how long should the videos be, what file size is acceptable? Should you use voice or captions? Where will you create the recording?

You can create video tutorials using dozens of different methods. There are no official steps to create videos, because situations and audiences vary so widely. If you’re creating e-learning with quizzes for a global audience, your approach will be different from one who is creating demo videos for a small company.

Having said all that, here’s my general process for creating video tutorials:

1. I copy a topic from my help, put it into a Word document, and modify it into a script that I’ll read. I’ve tried being more spontaneous and off-the-cuff rather than reading scripts, but I end up having to restart so many times that it frustrates me. Scripts are fine, as long as I can communicate the info without sounding too much like I’m reading. Ideally, I start the script off with a conceptual paragraph that I illustrate in the video with a diagram. The more I write, the more I find that everyone wants to see a visual workflow or process.
2. I find an empty, quiet conference room. Luckily, at my work there’s a conference room that can’t be scheduled (so it’s often free), and it’s not adjacent to any office or other conference room. In general, I turn off anything in the room, such as a humming computer, air conditioning machine, ticking clock, or mini-fridge. One day I’ll make my own sound booth to dampen the acoustic echoing.
3. I connect my microphone to my laptop. I use an H4 Zoom recorder that connects to my laptop with a USB cord. My laptop then recognizes the Zoom as a microphone device. The Zoom H4 records pretty clearly, but since it’s a little pricey ($300), I also recommend a high-end Plantronics headset ($90). Whatever you use, avoid using your laptop’s built-in mic (because it sounds like a CB radio).
4. I open up my recording tool and the software application I’m explaining. I then fit the recording screen to the application. I personally like Camtasia Studio because it allows me to edit full-motion recording in ways that Captivate doesn’t. 640 x 480 is a good screen size, especially since some users may have their resolutions set at 1024 x 768. I start at 640 X 480 and drag the recording edge to 1000 x 750 (this keeps the same proportions while allowing me to capture the entire application; when I later edit and produce at 640 X 480, the video still looks clear because it’s proportional).
5. I prop the script up next to my laptop’s screen, and then simultaneously read my script as I move and click my mouse in the application to demonstrate a task. This is the hard part. I use the pause and resume hotkey (F9 in Camtasia Studio) to recompose myself or clear my throat if necessary. It’s hard to look at a script while also looking at the monitor, but if I keep the steps simple and short, I can often manage it without too many restarts.
6. As I read, I try to avoid swallowing, licking my lips, breathing loudly through my nose, stuttering or stumbling, over-enunciating, mumbling, sounding as if I’m reading, coughing, yawning, mis-pronouncing words I never have trouble with, or veering off my script.
7. When I’m finished making several recordings, I trot back to my desk and start editing the recordings. If the script has a conceptual intro, I insert a diagram (which I draw in Visio and Photoshop) depicting a workflow, process, or other concept. I think the visual diagram works well at the beginning of a tutorial, as it gives variety to the demo and grounds the user in a better understanding of the overall process.
8. As I edit the recording, I often need to manipulate the audio or video independently. In Camtasia Studio, I do this by selecting a portion of the audio, and then choosing File > Produce Selection As. I then produce just an MP3 file at max quality. I silence the audio on Track 1, and then import the produced MP3 file back into my project and add it to Audio Track 2. I can then move the audio independently of the video.
9. I publish the video tutorial. Although I compress the audio, I crank up the audio quality all the way. I keep the JPEG quality at about 93%, set the frame rate at about 10, and use the One Show format because it includes the preloader (whereas Express Show doesn’t). I always keep the file size around 15 MB or less because I have some users in South America and I’m not sure what their bandwidth speeds are. By keeping the videos about three minutes or less, the file size rarely exceeds 15 MB. (Almost no one has an attention span that lasts more than 5 minutes anyway.)
10. I integrate the videos into my online help file in the appropriate topics using a little javascript that pops open a new window sized just about the same as the video dimensions. Here’s the javascript:

    <a onclick=”window.open(‘http://mydomain.org/training/helpresources/rp/Documents/Videos/Create New Widgets.html’,'RPvideo’,'width=660,height=560,resizable=no’);return false”/ >
    <img style=”text-decoration:none; border:none;” src=”../../Resources/Images/videocamera.gif” alt=”" /> Watch Video </a>

    I also publish a web menu (“Camtasia Theater”) of the video tutorials, and create a help topic with a list of them all.

That’s my process, in a nutshell, for creating video tutorials. Overall, I’m pretty happy with it, but especially with the independent audio/video manipulation and the integration of the visual diagrams to reinforce understanding. The Zoom H4 acting as an audio interface also records with near-perfect clarity.

But I am looking to improve several things. First, I want to sound less like I’m reading, while still reading. I also need to get faster at creating visual diagrams. Finally, I’m a little perplexed that my scripts vary so much from my help topic text. When I arrange the text in a script, I listen to myself talking it out, and I start making dozens of changes. Ideally, I’d like to have my video scripts single source from my help topic text.

I dislike captions in place of voice. I once asked a user which he preferred, and he said voice ten to one. I agree. Of course voice is much more problematic for translation, but I don’t have to worry about that (yet).

I’m also not fond of the “let-my-try” videos. We have a test environment where users can experiment, and it’s just as easy to send them there to play rather than requiring them to click little hidden pixels here and there.

That’s what works for me. What’s your process for creating video tutorials? Do you have any tips or advice for me?

How to Be a Social Media Research Ninja for your Blog

Just found a very interesting article about tools you can use to help you better use Facebook, Twitter, and other social media,

Social media enthusiast like you and me love to find new tools to increase engagement on our favorite social networks. Keeping on top of current events and trends on sites like Twitter and Facebook is also a great way to conduct research for our blog posts. Here are a few of my favorite tools to help curate content, sort through the noise, and focus our attention on the information and the users that are critical to the success of our blogs.

Click here to read about Twylah, Pluggio, Summify, Social Mention, StumbleUpon, EdgeRankChecker.com, Klout, PeerIndex, TwentyFeet, Paper.li, Twilerts, and Google Alerts enhanced with YoLink

Video: Tips to Eliminate Passive Writing

We technical writers and instructional designers know how hard it is to get an engineer to write in active voice.  How much time do YOU spend turning sentences active?

Aggie Villanueva, author of the handbook, The Rewritten Word: How to Sculpt Literary Art, No Matter the Genre,  offers valuable tips for improving students’ writing in this video:

20 Slick YouTube tips and tricks you need to know

Wow. I'm getting behind.  Here I am, the YouTube Queen, and I haven't even tried several of these tip and tricks!

With over 3 billion YouTube videos watched every single day and 48 hours of footage uploaded every single minute to the world’s most popular video sharing website we wanted to produce a useful guide for getting the most out of the service. You’ll struggle to find somebody who uses the web and doesn’t watch YouTube videos on a daily basis but there is so much more to YouTube than just little funny videos of cats.

The list also provides tips and tricks for publishers. Over the coming years we can expect YouTube to continue its growth especially on mobile and possibly even on to our smart TVs in the future to form a core part of our daily entertainment experience. Here is how you can get much more out of YouTube…

Click here to find out how to use the following YouTube services:

• Leanback
• Disco
• Charts
• Editor
• Creative Commons
• Annotations
• Captions And Subtitles
• Watch Later
• Quiet Tube
• Live
• Watching Videos On Your TV