The Golden 80s

I was left wondering with this question as I read the following articles: Finding the name behind the gmail address A Question of Programming Ethics

Cloud computing is nothing but utilizing supercomputer power to perform complicated tasks over the Internet. (I understood this much thanks to Business Week . The article says “Cloud computing aims to apply that kind of power—measured in the tens of trillions of computations per second—to problems like analyzing risk in financial portfolios, delivering personalized medical information, even powering immersive computer games, in a way that users can tap through the Web. It does that by networking large groups of servers that often use low-cost consumer PC technology, with specialized connections to spread data-processing chores across them.” Express Computer throws more light by saying that “The key feature of cloud computing is that both the software and the information held in it live on centrally located servers rather than on a end-user’s computer.” “…The architecture behind cloud computing is a massive network of ‘cloud servers’ interconnected as if in a grid running in parallel, ...

Like the greatest practitioner of the art, Thomas Mann, Daniel Kehlmann is a master of irony, deftly subverting the expectations of the reader, writes Daniel Johnson about Kehlman's novel Measuring the World. Read the article in The Telegraph .

While reading an STC newsletter, I found that folks at Oracle use a tool called Qarbon ViewletBuilder. This was a piece of news for me. After a bit of browsing, I found that the tool can be used to create online presentations, demos, and e-learning modules. Callouts, notes, and audio content can also be added to online presentations created with this tool. My favourite tech blog Labnol (http://labnol.blogspot.com/2005/06/qarbon-viewletbuilder-imagine-power-of.html) says that technical writers untrained in Macromedia Flash authoring environment will find this tool very easy to create Flash presentations. With the ViewletBuilder, all you have to do is to simply move the cursor over the screen captured. The Flash tutorials or simulations created with this tool can be easily previewed. The tool enables your presentations and demos to reach a wider audience than before. ViewletBuilder works only with Windows and Linux.

Adobe FrameMaker – Adobe FrameMaker 8 software is a powerful authoring and publishing solution for technical communicators and an essential upgrade for existing FrameMaker users who want to author and publish technical documentation in multiple languages, says Adobe. It supports Unicode, rich media, DITA and single sourcing. RoboHelp - The most sought after Help authoring tool (HAT). RoboHelp 7 now supports Unicode, translational workflow, importing Word files, importing FrameMaker files and styles, user defined variables, and powerful collaboration. Microsoft Word – Needs no explanation. Unstable for big documents. Interleaf – Competitor of FrameMaker. Wikipedia says Interleaf provides an integrated set of tools for creating compound documents: word processing, graphics, data-driven business charts, tables, equations, image editing, automated page layout, book building-- including automatic index and table of contents, and conditional document assembly. Arbortext - XML-based publi...

Many people think that proofreading is just another word for editing. Some believe that it can be classified as another type of editing. They will argue that both essentially mean the same. It is unfortunate to see people from the publishing as well as the media industry holding the same opinion about the topic. The only answer to the controversy is to put the facts straight. The word “proof” in printing means a kind of a test sheet or draft that is checked for text and graphics and colors before going to the press or publishing. This proof is created after all the editing has been completed. The proof created is also checked for grammar, punctuation, and corrections are marked with standard proofreading marks. This “proof reading” can be termed as the last stage of the editing process. It is never a part of the actual editing process or copy editing. Editing, on the other hand, starts the moment you receive the first draft or manuscript. If it is a document, it is checked for the cont...