Posts Tagged ‘Consumer’
Plain Writing for Medical Insurance Policies — A Growth Field for Technical Writers
Introduction Without plain writing, medical insurance policies can be torture to read and understand. Example Please read the following description of “Primary Care Health Program” and see if you can understand anything: ——————————————————————- “The following rules determine which is the “primary” program: a) If the other program is not primarily a dental program, this program…
Read MoreHow to Write About Internet Connectivity — An Introduction
Telecommunications and internet connectivity are hot items not only for the consumers but for writers as well. Those writers specializing in these topics have countless magazines and web sites to which they can sell their articles. But first things first… If you’re a technical communication professional who’d like to write articles and reviews about Internet…
Read MoreOn the Idea of “Product Evangelist” in Technical Communications
I love product evangelists for two good reasons: (1) I love software products. I have no idea how we lived back in the 60s and 70s without any software doing all these wonderful things on our desktops, laptops, and mobile devices. (2) I like and admire the product evangelists that I’ve met both in person…
Read MoreHow to Avoid Obfuscation when Writing a Corporate "Tagline" or Mission Statement
Writing a corporate mission statement is both science and art. Movies Movies come with taglines that summarize the story in a hurry. ALIEN (1979): “In space, no one can hear you scream.” ERIN BROCKOVICH (2000) : “She brought a small town to its feet and a huge corporation to its knees.” FARGO (1996): “A lot can…
Read MoreWhy "Game Machines" make Excellent Computers for Technical Communicators
© 2010 Ugur Akinci As a result of my recent research into what makes a good new desktop or laptop machine I’ve made an unexpected discovery that saved me a lot of time and energy, if not money: the category of computers (desktop, laptop, notebook) generally referred to as “game machines” are excellent for technical…
Read MoreHow to Write a GPS (Global Positioning System) Device Review
© 2010 Ugur Akinci The day when every new car and truck would carry a GPS (Global Positioning System) device as standard equipment is not that far away. The market for GPS devices is expanding by leaps and bounds. In the second quarter of 2006, for example, 2.4 million GPS devices were sold in the…
Read MoreGlossary of MP3 Technology Terms
If you’re a technical communication professional specializing in MP3 players and writing about digital audio technology you need to familiarize yourself with the following industry terms and concepts: AAC Stands for Advanced Audio Coding. It’s the MP3-alternative digital audio standard used by Apple (in iPhone, iPod, iTunes, etc.) and Sony PlayStation 3. AAC supports up…
Read MoreGlossary of Internet Connectivity Terms
If you’re a technical communication professional writing articles and reviews about Internet connectivity, you should be thoroughly familiar with the following 4 terms: Wired Ethernet Connectivity When your computer is connected to the Internet through a wire in the wall that is called a “wired” connection. It is the oldest, most reliable, and fastest type…
Read MoreGlossary of HDTV Terms
If you’re a technical communication professional writing about HDTV (High Definition TV) you should know the meaning of the following industry terms: Aspect Ratio The ratio of a TV screen’s width to it’s height. An HDTV screen is much wider than a traditional cathode-ray tube (CRT) screen. A typical HDTV aspect ratio is 16:9. That…
Read MoreTechnical Communication Certification: Beware of Fake Diploma Factories
Training and certification is important for all technical communicators who want to stay relevant, productive and happily employed. However, when you are choosing a certification or diploma program for yourself, don’t fall for cash-for-diploma schemes. If you want to read the amazing story of one such scam and that of George Gollin, the physics professor…
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