Week 9

Chapters 7-10 contained a lot of good information on copyright, document design, use of images, and everyday writing situations. I will probably refer to these chapters in the future whenever I am doing a report or essay for school and when communicating in the workplace.

This quarter continues to fly by at an alarming rate. This is good in some ways, because I can't wait to be done! Of course, it also means that there's a lot of work to cram into these last few weeks. I just completed the chapters 7-10 test and am getting ready to start on the next assignment. Once I am done with this resume/cover letter/etc. assignment, I will be ready to start on my proposal.

Week 8

Yeah, it's really week 8.

Wow.

This weekend I looked over chapter 10 in the textbook. Chapter 10 was about various forms of everyday communication such as memos, reports, letters, and oral presentations. I think this is a great chapter because it has checklists for each type of communication. I wish I had seen this earlier. I will be using these checklists at least for the remainder of the quarter, if not longer. Another great thing is the "Usability Considerations" section at the end of each segment.

Well, I have to make a brochure for some product now.

Peace.

Week 7

I have been going over chapter 7 in the textbook. It is all about copyright and privacy issues. In today's digital world, it is easier than ever to "rip off" someone else's work or invade their privacy. This chapter covers some of the legal and ethical issues one may have to face in technical writing regarding these things.

I finished the first assignment for this block of work. I interviewed a friend of mine who works at a local hospital in the IT department. Since he was a buddy of mine, we were able to conduct the interview over the usual card game and couple of drinks, which made this assignment a lot better than most. If only all of them could involve such things...

Week 6

Well, I got my website finished. I ended up using MS Publisher. I contacted Ms. Jackson and asked her if I had to upload it or if I could just turn it in to her. She told me to just send it in as an attachment, which I did. My website was not as nice or as extensive as I would have liked it to be, but at least it's done!

I read chapter 6, which was all about ethics and its role in technical writing. The chapter had some very interesting examples of ethical failures in technical writing such as the Challenger disaster and the Three-mile Island incident. It also talked about legalities versus ethics.

In unrelated news, it's election day, and I have no idea who to vote for. My conscience tells me not to vote for any Democratic or Republican party politician, because the two-party system is obviously not working. It's time to get some new blood in there. Of course, I realize it's not happening this election cycle. But it's time to get the ball rolling!