Comments for Glenn J. Lea - Technical Writing

Comment on Removing Dead Links on a Mac Sidebar by Enda Farrell

Enda Farrell — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 23:01:49 +0000

Nice one Glenn: the Command key + dragging off worked a treat. Many thanks.

Comment on Removing Dead Links on a Mac Sidebar by Glenn

Glenn — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 22:16:48 +0000

Thanks Jim for your update, and the tip. I was able to move the broken item holding down the Option key, but it just popped back into place. However, holding down the Command Key and with the mouse pointer, dragging it off the Finder window deleted it. I didn’t find it in the Trash, so I assume it was deleted forever.

Glad to get rid of those two annoying items in Places on my Finder, Jim.

Thanks.
Glenn

Comment on Removing Dead Links on a Mac Sidebar by Jim Vanderveen

Jim Vanderveen — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 16:36:02 +0000

Hey Glenn, thanks for stopping by my blog. I wrote that post for a much earlier version of Mac OS X. If you read down in the (numerous) comments, there are some suggestions for more recent versions. I’d suggest holding down the Option key and try to drag off the broken item from the sidebar.

Good luck!
Jim

Comment on Getting Information from (Out of) Engineers by Techquestioner

Techquestioner — Mon, 30 May 2011 01:55:23 +0000

I had one job where the development engineer had gone to a college where the documentation was considered part of the project grade in his Computer Engineering courses. Many other developers have always considered it someone else’s job. If management doesn’t make it plain that the tech writers can’t just pull information out of the air, and insist that the SMEs answer questions and provide access to test systems, etc., the TWs waste needless time hounding the uncooperative engineers and programmers. It really is primarily a management problem. My worst job was a position where i couldn’t expect management s support to insist that the developers provide the information I need to produce the docs. Sometimes, I resorted to just making something up and sending it to them for review. Some of them couldn’t wait to explain the product to set me straight (after they ignored me previously.)

Comment on Five Leadership Myths by Techquestioner

Techquestioner — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 02:57:19 +0000

I think the difference those who lead by their actions, and those who believe those myths is why some organizations have both nominal leaders, the ones with their names on the organization chart, and actual leaders, the people in the organization who, without an official title, actually get things done, solve problems, and effect change in their organization.

Comment on Writing for Lawyers or Writing for Users by Glenn

Glenn — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 10:25:36 +0000

I just read this on a Scriporium site. It might explain some cultural differences between the EU and the Anglo-Saxon world regarding product documentation: "A product that ships with defects in documentation is considered a defective product in the European Union. Therefore, you also see discussions of regulatory requirements. In the U.S., these discussions are confined to the few industries that are regulated — medical and nuclear come to mind." Read her full article here: tekom: Benefits for North American writers

Comment on Reliability, Utility and Satisfaction – and DITA by Dian Kjærgaard

Dian Kjærgaard — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 22:26:09 +0000

I found your posting on the Cherryleaf blog. How I wish that other people would follow up your point about the downside of divorcing content and design!