Y. Karp? Why Not!

A few days ago I found myself sitting in a cinema, wearing ridiculous 3D glasses over my regular specs, getting ready to see Gravity. I'd heard that the film is excellent, but I wasn't prepared for the amazing special effects, breathtaking scenery, and riveting story. George Clooney and Sandra Bullock were very believable in their roles, and the 3D effects mercilessly drew me in to each scene. I don't want to spoil it for anyone, but something odd came to mind as I was sitting there, gripping the arm-rests of my chair, trying to catch my breath: internationally recognized symbols in space station documentation is really handy. The character could not read the text, but had no trouble deciphering the diagrams. As the credits rolled and the cinema slowly emptied, I suddenly realized that I really need a break. Anyone who can watch a movie as heart-stopping as Gravity and think of nothing else but Technical Writing issues probably spends too much time at work....

Using the power of Flipboard, one of my favorite apps, I have started publishing my own digital magazine called " Everyone Needs One of These ". "Everyone Needs One of These" showcases new, innovative, weird, and interesting products. As of writing this blog post, I have published six articles, including: An "Invisible Girlfriend" service (one for your Facebook profile) A champagne vending machine (one for your wine cellar) A Sony "smart wig", complete with laser pointer (one for your head) A DIY Batmobile for sale (one for your cave) The AUUG iPhone Grip that turns your body into a musical instrument (one for your hand) The Full Metal Jacket Jeep Wrangler (one for your garage) Download Flipboard from the iStore, Google Play, Windows Store, and Blackberry World and subscribe to "Everyone Needs One of These". You can also view the magazine on the web from any browser, here:  https://flipboard.com/section/everyone-needs...

Be geeky - substitute these 25 computer terms for what you really want to say. Computer Term Real Meaning 1 Low disk space Slow down! You're giving me too much information. 2 Battery is running low I'm going to bed. 3 This device can perform faster I'm lazy and I know it. 4 Pairing devices I'm getting married. 5 File type mismatch I'm getting divorced. 6 This program has stopped responding I'm no longer listening to you. 7 Unexpected catastrophic failure Oh crap. 8 Driver required Can someone please take me to the mall? 9 Windows needs to restart I need a vacation. 10 Illegal operation I just did something naughty. 11 Printer offline My pen ran out of ink. 12 Save as draft I'll finish it tomorrow. 13 Loading I'm getting dressed, just hold on a minute. 14 Defragmenting drive C I'm tidying up the house. 15 Undo Forget what I just said. 16 Redo Say that again. 17 3 minutes rem...

Over the past few days I have spent way too much time in hospitals. However, on the up-side, I discovered that hospitals are an interesting source of business advice. Although hospitals are not usually profit-generating organizations, a lot of the activities they undertake are analogous to those in profit-centric companies. For example, there are many departments, all of which have to work together towards the same ultimate goal: make the patient well. In a traditional businesses, you may also have many departments working towards the same ultimate goal: selling more stuff. To achieve their aims, both hospitals and businesses require communication, systems, and sometimes even creativity. Here are five business tips you can learn from hospitals. 1. Share information It surprises me that in this era of fast networks, databases and cheap storage that the different departments in the hospital don't necessarily share information. We had to tell and re-tell to every doctor we met ...

Email is either the best invention ever, or the bane of your existence. Either way, this technology invented in the 1960 s is a necessary tool. How do you deal with all of the messages that find their way to your inbox? Google " Rethinking Email " for 7,940,000 articles on the subject. 651,000,000 Google results will tell you how to deal with " too much email ". Or, if you want to use the modern term, search for " inbox zero " to find 45,200,000 suggestions for getting your inbox down to nothing. GMaaces. uggests you prioritize: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=5nt3gE9dGHQ Here is how I try to out-Outlook Outlook 2010. All incoming email goes to the Inbox (no automatic filtering). In a PST file called "Projects" I have a sub-folder for each project I'm working on. I use "Quick Steps" that mark the email as "Read" before moving it to the relevant sub-folder (this is for emails I recei...