Archive for the 'Productivity' Category

 

ExtJS befuddles me

Oct 09, 2008 in Creativity, Productivity, Technology

I have only one more week on my current contract. My final responsibility is to finish off this über cool web view of one of our documentation products, which will be integrated as an output stream from the newly-installed XDocs XML content management system. The best part about technical communication is that I get paid to write all day, and when I need a break, I can fix the CSS for an embedded help system or hack some JavaScript. My Technical Communication department manager gave me permission to showcase the web output with obfuscated text in my portfolio, so be on the lookout for samples in the near future.

For the last month I’ve been going nuts trying to hack the ExtJS javascript application framework, recommended by the Technical Adviser from the company’s Web Services department. I have no problem applying different plugins to my project. However, when I try to add custom behaviours to the objects, I get that little red Firebug that shows me the hand and says “not so fast, cowboy!”

Continue reading: ExtJS befuddles me

Virtual meetings can make a real-world difference

Sep 17, 2008 in Creativity, Productivity, Technology

On September 16, RJ Jácquez, Senior Product Evangelist for the Adobe Technical Communication Suite, presented a remote meeting for the Society for Technical Communication Canada West Coast chapter. His involvement actually went above and beyond a mere sales pitch. RJ hosted the entire meeting through Acrobat Connect Pro, which combined a live video feed from our meeting location, prerecorded audio and video files stored on the Connect server, and his own presentation about the enhancements to the Adobe Technical Communication Suite for version 1.3. As part of the A/V team I was stoked to try out this technology. I wrote an article about our rehearsal for Coast Lines, the newsletter of the STC Canada West Coast chapter.

Continue reading: Virtual meetings can make a real-world difference

Days like these

Jul 04, 2008 in Creativity, Productivity, Strategy, Technology

Some days it feels like I hit the ground running. Today it felt more like I lost my breath as I chased the ground as it ran off well ahead of me. I never did catch up; and you know, for the first time in my life, I felt like shutting down my computer, waving a white flag, and sitting on the beach sipping a triple venti soy peppermint macchiatto with extra caramel drizzle.

Continue reading: Days like these

Canada helps students to find summer jobs

Jun 28, 2008 in Philosophy, Productivity, Strategy

The Service Canada Centre for Youth (SCCY) program, under a different name, helped me find my first summer job in 1986. All my friends were working at McDonald’s; I was a junior “professional”. This job paid me enough to explore Expo 86 in Vancouver, buy new clothes, and date the receptionist. Job hunting had never been easier in my life.

Continue reading: Canada helps students to find summer jobs

I can’t believe I did it

Dec 06, 2007 in Productivity, Technology

My wife got sick of my whining about it for almost two years, and gave me the go-ahead and the debit card with her blessing. I am now the proud owner of an HTC TyTN II.

Continue reading: I can’t believe I did it

Standby for take-off

May 09, 2007 in Productivity, Strategy, Technology

While using Google to search the web for solutions to my Toshiba M400 Tablet PC stylus problem, I found new terms to use in the search. For the past week I’d been asking for results that included the words “Tablet PC”, “stylus”, “resume from”, “standby” and “hibernate”. After a few days with no success, The thought occurred to me that I should returning to the source: Wacom’s website.

Continue reading: Standby for take-off

Five months gone….

May 06, 2007 in Personality, Productivity, Technology

I was hoping to make my next entry the most glorious, pumped up, praiseworthy review of the Toshiba M400. I mean, what’s there not to like? Intel Core Duo T2400 processor, 512MB DDR2 667MHz RAM, built in sound, video, bluetooth, and fingerprint scanner… all in the tablet platform. Instead, my model #M400-TD10TE has been wrought with problems ever since I bought it, but the problems have been inconsistent, which makes me believe they’re more due to system software rather than hardware. At any rate, I thought I should at least post these out here on net-land, as I haven’t heard these problems nor resolutions in the past number of weeks.

Continue reading: Five months gone….

tonychung.ca