In the past two years I learned two different, but related, tools for creating technical documentation. The first was GitBook, while the second was MKDocs (Material for MKDocs). In this post I provide my analysis of using both tools and which of the two I consider a better choice.

I use Visual Source Code (VSC) with my GitHub account. You'd think this was a straightforward process but you would be wrong. Learn how to integrate VSC with your GitHub account with these instructions. I decided to add this to my account because I needed a handy reference and why not share it with others at the same time.

This is the beginning of a more useful cheatsheet of Markdown tags. It also includes links to online Markdown cheatsheets that I have discovered.

I've lost dialogs dragging them around and then putting my PC in sleep mode and then not turning on my attached monitor. This explains how to find them again.

I had some challenges trying to run Jekyll on my Mac. I thought it best to document how I did it in case it needed to be done again should I buy another Macbook Pro. These set of instructions shows how to get a Jekyll setup on a MAC.

I spent some years learning and writing about mobile technology, specifically 3GPP 2G/3G/4G technologies. Part of the problem with learning about mobile technology is understanding at least some of the terms used. This is comprehensive list of terms, although probably not complete list.

Some companies require their employees to secure access to the computers whenever they leave their desks. If you are using a Windows machines, here are some quick keyboard shortcuts for Windows 10 to lock your screen when taking a break or grabbing that cup of coffee.

After many years innovating page layout software such as FrameMaker and Word, we have come full circle to the simplicity of writing words and not thinking of text styles. The connection between pen on paper to plain text writing is shorter than we think.

Greed, money, riches, power and increasing poverty define our age. This was an attempt to poke fun at this using Illustrator.

This was one of my first attempts at creating complex images with Adobe Illustrator. I came up with the idea by looking at what was sitting on my desk in the studio.

As an online reference, I listed the basic git commands that I frequently use in no particular order. I update this list as required.

If there is one place where we face the importance of the design of everyday things every day, it is the traffic intersection. Designed right they are entirely safe but designed wrong and they become Dead Zones. Software designed wrong can also lead to Dead Zones where users have no idea what to do next.

I know when a kitchen utensil is poorly designed. I like simple, usable tools. The same applies to software development and documentation development. Using the example of OXO kitchen products, I demonstrate that good product design employees three basic principles - simplicity, usability and quality.

Consumer technology is littered with hundreds of products that people are expected to use, despite little or no sense of usability. John Karlin of Bell Labs almost single-handedly invented Human Factors with his brilliant design of the telephone dial and number pads. This is his story.

Good design ensures the users are always informed about the current status while using the product.

SAP has developed some well thought-out design principles in their company-wide standard called SAP Flori.

The Quonset Hut is a genius invention and shows what can be done when you combine a pressing need with good, sound engineering and documentation. It was used with great effect during World War II for military housing, storage, and general use. It was the greatest assemble-yourself product long before IKEA came up with the idea. And it had better documentation.

The University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Canada redesigned the south entrance to the university based on plans submitted by the student body and staff. Imagine that! It is a brilliant example of Human Factors engineering research and development.

I discovered this little poem tucked away in a folder on my old computer backup disk. Seemed useful enough to share.

During a period of sixteen months - April 1878 to September 1879 - the famous American author Mark Twain made a journey through Europe. In his book "A Tramp Abroad" (1880) there is a very funny appendix called "The Awful German Language". After twenty years living in Germany I can empathize with the insights Mark Twain expressed so eloquently - and humorously - in this brilliant essay.

Did you know technical writing had its origin in the ancient city of Babylon. The primary documentation tool for Babylonian technical writers was a device known as the the *iClay™* tablet. And if their libraries burnt down their documentation was baked even harder and would be preserved for millennia. Would that our profession today had such a long shelf-life. Would anyone several millenia from now have a clue what we did today? Could they read the bits stored in memory on a thousand data farms uncovered in the sands of once prosperous San Francisco?

Pivot and The Prof G Pod Co-host Scott Galloway Full Interview | Code 2021

If I had a donut with my coffee, I'd eat it. Why wouldn't I? If my home had a driveway, I'd use it. So why then do some people who have driveways here in Berlin not use them? I try to answer this question using the example of a donut.

Mrs. Whitney's cookies is named after a very kind woman who used to hand them out to children on their way back home after school in 1930s Uxbridge, Ontario Canada. My mother inherited the recipe from Mrs. Whitney and now so have I. This recipe is now available for the world to enjoy.

I little poem I found about being overly self-important. Not that I am overly self-important to be so full of myself that I would build a website to publish my own self-important thoughts.

The Canon is a term which represents the accepted list of documents of a specific genre. In English Literature, there is an accepted list of stories, poems and plays which are considered required reading if you want to understand the arts of Western culture and civilization.

Soon after getting my driver's license, my first priority was buying a car. But which one? It wasn't a simple choice. The question I had was determining which muscle car to buy. Should I buy a Ford, a Chevrolet/Pontiac or a Plymouth/Dodge? We were a Chrysler family so it made sense to buy a Plymouth or a Dodge. And that is what I did. Soon after my 17th birthday I drove home with a 1968 Plymouth GTX. Tt was a great car, an unsung hero of the muscle car era and I had several years of fun driving it. This is the story of Plymouth's gentleman's muscle car, the GTX.

Canada has has produced some world renowned authors. Think Margaret Atwood, Alice Munroe, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Yann Martel, Leonard Cohen, Northrop Frye, Malcolm Gladwell. So, what is it about Canada that produces good writers?