Douglas Dow's Page

Douglas Dow: 22navifb4i7zg; Share

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Tech Writers View (107 members)
Simplified Technical English / Controlled English (48 members)

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Profile

Job Title:: Technical Writer and Editor

Company Name:: Document Generation Dynamics

About Me:: An Associate Fellow of STC, I've developed documentation in the fields of military electronics, nuclear power, time and attendance software, and avionics support software. I 've used RoboHelp, Author-IT, and Flare to produce hardcopy and online documentation. I developed a single-sourcing solution with Author-IT, and proposed another that can save a client $1 Million in annual savings.

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Douglas Dow's Blog

Blog post, to E-mail, to Chat, to Skype, to Encounter!

That's the progression that Wrangler member Galina Kuklenko and I made since becoming friends on the content Wrangler Community blog a few weeks ago. Our occasional posts evolved into e-mails, then quickly to chat on Live Messenger. The 8-hour difference means I start my day with her chat, ju… Continue

Posted on May 19th, 2008 at 8:11pm — 2 Comments (Add)

Pretty Darn Stupid

It's strange when you'd set out to bite the hand that feeds you, but that's what my former shop PDS Technical Services (aka Dallas Technology Group) seems to want to do. Adding insult to insult, they've sought to block unemployment benefits from the Texas Workforce Commission. And, to be up front about it, it's right there in the contract: call them within 24 hours of a layoff, or you're considered delinquent, AWOL, or abandoned, or some such thing. Right there in fine print on page two. But, t… Continue

Posted on April 17th, 2008 at 6:00pm — No Comments (Add)

Soliloquy for the Semicolon

Blessings on thee, little one, But you've left the job half-done. Hard to see and oft misused, No wonder you are so abused. While literati sing your praises, In tech writers it simply raises Questions whether you'd be missed In preference to a bulleted list. And as to independent clauses - I don't care how long the pause is - Cut it off, make sentences short! Technical writers, this I exhort: Rather than semis, few or myriad, Make two sentences - each with a period.

Posted on March 21st, 2008 at 10:58pm — No Comments (Add)

This is a Re-do

Sorry for the inconvenience to my friends.... I've exchanged my be-rosed tuxedo for an earlier version of me. My account would not open at home, and with my company soon to leave me, time is of the essence!

Posted on March 21st, 2008 at 10:25pm — No Comments (Add)

Comment Wall (11 comments)

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At 8:21am on May 20th, 2008, Scott Abel said…: Doug:

See the home page of The Content Wrangler Community today. Scroll down to see your blog post is featured!

Scott

At 7:59pm on May 19th, 2008, Rachel Houghton said…: Hi Doug! :)

At 4:05pm on May 2nd, 2008, Janie Payne said…: Hi Doug,

I do remember the "exchange" of articles when we were newsletter editors. STC Montana abandoned its newsletter a few years ago, and replaced it with a monthly news brief authoried by a different officer each month. We also resorted to a blog to get news and information out to everyone. I don't miss begging for articles every month.

Enjoy your trip to Berlin!

At 10:11pm on March 27th, 2008, Leslie Bateman said…: Lots happening in Austin. Come on down! Our next STC meeting is Tues. April 1. For details, see the Austin STC site http://www.stc-austin.org/

At 10:08pm on March 27th, 2008, Leslie Bateman said…: Love the pic, Doug! Thanks for the invite!

At 12:21pm on March 27th, 2008, Arroxane said…: The former would mean it's been raining which is no fun; the latter implies whiskers belong somewhere off of felines--and that's pretty disturbing!

At 11:27am on March 26th, 2008, Jan Shelton said…: That is such a great picture of you!

At 12:08pm on March 22nd, 2008, Anindita Basu said…: I declined the request from the tuxedo-ed guy :).

At 9:54am on March 22nd, 2008, Tamara Dwyer said…: I love the picture!

At 7:34am on March 22nd, 2008, Scott Abel said…: Welcome to The Content Wrangler Community! I'm glad to see you joined us and hope you find this community a great place to locate and share information among peers. As the network grows, so too will the services offered. So, keep an eye out for new ways to interact with each other. And, if you need help, just ask. We'll do our best to assist.

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