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Save Text snippets into library with DocBuilder November 17, 2006

Posted by iawalsh in : Misc , add a comment

This week we reviewed DocBuilder, a writing tool for Microsoft Word that lets you save snippets into library, and get them out when he want to write same kind of words in other files. It’s very useful for users who often write similar documents, such as reports, proposals, SLAs and business documents.

It uses a doc-tree to describe the structure of document. The final document is generated according to the structure of doc-tree, and document titles can be automatically numbered in unified style.

Key features
 Integrated with Microsoft Word, compatible with Microsoft Word 2000/XP/2003
 Represent document structure clearly in tree view
 Generate document quickly in unified style
 Generate Table of Contents automatically
 Heading titles can be numbered automatically in outline style
 Evidently speed up document writing by using snippets and templates
 Evidently speed up document formatting by using style definitions
 Import/Export support, useful for cooperated writing
Free download at: http://www.wordaddin.com/

 

Technical writer gets ranked 13 of 50 best jobs. Average pay: $57,841 November 17, 2006

Posted by iawalsh in : Misc , add a comment

MONEY Magazine and Salary.com rate careers on salary and job prospects. 

Technical writer gets ranked 13 of 50 best jobs.

Average pay: $57,841

75% in this career make more than: $48,856
50% in this career make more than: $56,217
25% in this career make more than: $63,979

Read the full report:

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bestjobs/snapshots/13.html

MS Word Zero-Day Attack November 17, 2006

Posted by iawalsh in : Misc , add a comment

EWeek report that “A zero-day flaw in the Microsoft Word is being used in an active exploit by sophisticated hackers in China and Taiwan, according to warnings from anti-virus researchers.

The SANS ISC (Internet Storm Center) said in a diary entry that it received reports of the exploit from an unnamed organization that was targeted. “The e-mail was written to look like an internal e-mail, including signature. It was addressed by name to the intended victim and not detected by the anti-virus software,” said Chris Carboni, an ISC incident handler tracking the attack.”

Read the complete article over here http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1965042,00.asp
 

How to Write a Report? November 16, 2006

Posted by iawalsh in : How do I ?, Writing, Style, Templates, Recommended, Troubleshooting, Tips , add a comment

To succeed as a report writer, you need to appreciate the mindset of your readers. Report writing is very specific. It’s there to help people make decisions. When you understand this, your approach to writing repots becomes much simpler. Instead of writing reams and reams of pages, you focus on the reader’s needs.

Report writing in a nutshell:

• Start with a specific purpose.
• Describe the problem.
• Provide facts, figures and data that relate to the topic.
• Draw conclusions.
• Recommend a course of action.
• Reports are highly-structured. They rely on headings, and sub-headings, to introduce topics while also providing direction to readers. Tables, charts, and diagrams also enhance the findings. 

7 Step Plan On How To Write A Report

1. Consider the aim of the report and its intended audience.
2. Planning - Decide how you will gather information, for example, interviews, surveys, and questionnaires. 
3. Information - Gather the information, then organize it and start analyzing it. 
4. Conclusions - Decide your conclusions based on the information you have read.  
5. Recommendations - Decide your recommendations and, where appropriate, the best course of action for the readers to take.
6. Start the writing phase. Refine the report through a series of drafts. 
7. Edit and publish the final copy. 

As you write your report, keep an eye on the following areas:

• Check the accuracy of the facts, figures, and other research data.
• Check cross-references and links to other sources of data.
• Check that links to websites are ‘live’ as broken links will reflect poorly on your report.
• Check that your conclusion and recommendations align with the data you have presented.
• Avoid using industry terms or jargon. Provide a glossary where necessary.
• Put charts, diagrams and statistics in context by providing some supporting text.
• Use a consistent writing style throughout the document. Choose a positive language, write in the present tense, and prefer simple rather than complex words. 

Basic report format:

• Title Page
  Give prominence to the official name of the report. Underneath this enter the name of the author, the publication date and copyright notices.
• Table of Contents
  Enter the table of contents, using heading 1 only. In some cases you can also use headings 2 entries, though it’s best to avoid going any deeper than this level for most reports. Keep the reader focused on the main points.
• Executive Summary
  In the opening paragraph introduce the main topic or issue that you’re about to discuss. If relevant, explain why this report has been commissioned. Avoid clichés, jargon or archaic words at all costs. It sets the wrong tone and you’ll lose all credibility with the reader.
• Next, put the report in context by informing the reader of the methodologies you used when gathering data, research you performed, interviews and surveys carried out and so forth. 

  Your ability to demonstrate a commitment to the topic in question may significantly influence the reader’s opinion. Alternately, if the reader feels that you lack interest in the subject matter they will hardly be encouraged to turn the next page. Would you?

• Finally, summarize your main findings and outline the key recommendations. Keep this succinct. Providing too much detail will discourage the reader from continuing. Stimulate their interest.  

  Keep this to one page!

  Tip: the Executive Summary is like a standalone document. People should be able to read this as it stands and understand the essence of your report.  
  

1. Introduction
   You’re now into the document proper.
   Outline what you’re going to cover in this report. For larger reports, you may want to list the main chapters and describe what each one will cover. However, for most reports you can stick to:
   -Background. Does this follow from previous reports? It this part of a larger project? Will additional reports follow?
   -Role. Outline its value to the reader and why they should study its findings. What does this report discuss that other reports have overlooked? Does it break new ground? Are its authors uniquely qualified?
   -Objectives. Describe your objectives in writing this report, for example, to investigate the success of online banking in Asia. Describe how successful you were to achieving this and obstacles you encountered, such as data protection, legislation, or language issues.
   -Scope. Clarify the boundaries of this report by defining what’s within scope and also, most critically, areas that are out of scope. This is important to address as the reader may have expectations or assumptions that could color their thinking. By defining the scope, you reduce the likelihood that your report will be mis-interpreted and remove any ambiguity that may exist in the reader’s mind.
   -Limitations. Similar to the point above only. Highlight areas that were not covered, or not covered in sufficient depth, due to restrictions placed on the report’s authors. Examples of this could include financial restrictions, lack of technical resources, time constraints, access to data sources, or legal issues.
2. Heading
   This is where you start the main discussion. In the following chapters, use headings and subheadings to organize your data. Provide data in tabular format (tables) where appropriate. Label and number all tables, figures, diagrams, charts, and other such pieces of information. 

   2.1 Subheading
   2.2 Subheading
   2.3 Subheading 

3. Heading 

   3.1 Subheading
   3.2 Subheading
   3.3 Subheading 

4. Conclusion
   After presenting your case to the reader in the previous chapters, draw your own conclusions by interpreting the data as you see fit. Explain to the reader why you have come to these conclusions while also acknowledging any limitations or concerns you may have with the research findings, sources of data, or validity of information.
   But, don’t mince your words. The reader has made the effort to get this far. They deserve to know where you stand on the matter.
5. Recommendations
   This chapter dovetails from your conclusions. Recommendations outline the course of action based on data you’ve analyzed. When making recommendations, give consideration to the following areas:
   Actions that are required
   Individuals who will perform these actions
   Guidelines to quantify the success or failure of the proposed actions
   Warnings, threats, or dangers that may arise if these recommendations are not implemented.
   References
   Provide a list of all resources, (individuals, companies, books, websites etc) mentioned in the document.
   Appendices
   Attach supporting documentation to the report where appropriate. This could range from datasheets, technical specifications, to surveys, statistics, market research, or charts, diagrams, and other types of illustrations.   
   

Sticking to a Schedule; Time Management Tips November 16, 2006

Posted by iawalsh in : How do I ?, Writing, Recommended, Troubleshooting, Tips , add a comment

Here are some tips for managing your schedule, especially if run your own business:

Create a Schedule – if you run a small business, chances are that you have an endless to-do list. It can be very stressful, and unproductive, to manage these unless you have a plan.

Here’s a suggestion. Don’t try to keep everything in your head. Open up Excel, create five columns for each day of the week, and give each day a specific task. You can use the template at this url to get you started. Once you have this in place, print it out and keep it on your desk. Stick to this schedule as close as possible. The more consistent you are, the more productive you’ll become!

PS – refine the schedule every now and then based on your overall workload.

Make your aims smaller – most of us don’t achieve our aims as they are too large. Create small bit-size aims. You will achieve more in the long run by using this approach instead of tacking massive 5 year plans. 

Make your aims even smaller – try to create 1 minute aims. That’s an aim you can achieve in 1 minute. For example, delete all the newsletters, ezines, and promotions from your inbox. A clean inbox will help you focus and concentrate on what needs attention. Get rid of the clutter. Print out the schedule. Keep it on the wall where you can see it. Don’t make appointments or arrange meetings without first checking your schedule. This will help give your business more structure. It will also make you feel more professional as you are working in a more structured and organized environment.

Clean Desk policy – throw out all magazines, newspapers, printouts, bits of paper, post-it notes that clutter your desk. Scan in those you MUST keep. Otherwise, get rid of the rubbish. You deserve to work in a clean, organized environment. A clean desk may seem difficult at first, but once you get into the habit, you will be amazed others don’t the same!

Evaluating Proposals November 16, 2006

Posted by iawalsh in : How do I ?, Writing, Templates, Recommended, Troubleshooting, Tips , add a comment

I was asked recently how to evaluate a proposal that had been sent to over 200 bidders. The Proposal Writer was thinking of developing a checklist and using this to score the bids. While this does make some sense, in reality such as checklist should have been prepared long before the RFP was published. Writing proposals in one thing; knowing how to evaluate them is another. Let’s look at how this process works. 

My first question when I spoke to the writer was if the RFP had included a scoring matrix. It hadn’t. The second was how the bidders could tell which of the requirements was the most important. While the Executive Summary alluded to these, it was couched and vague terms. 

From a neutral’s point of view, it was hard to know exactly what the government agency (i.e. those who issued the proposal) wanted to achieve. Vague requirements create vague proposals. How could it be otherwise? 

How to evaluate proposals ?

What we did in this case was: Reviewed the RFP and made a list of all the requirements. 40 requirements were found. 

Created an Excel file, made three columns, and divided the requirements into three groups: Must Have, Would Like To Have, and Not Necessary. Divided the total points to be awarded into three sections: 70% for must have, 20% for would like to have, and 10% for not necessary. 

Once we had this nailed down, we started to examine the bids. It became clear that some bids had totally missed the mark. Their proposals focussed on technologies and services that had little value for the agency, though in the bidder’s defence, the RFP hadn’t provided much direction. With 200 documents to read, we had to weed out the weaker bids fast. This allowed us to concentrate on the better ones. Several days later, we had boiled down the list to 4 bids. 

Next, we prepared a second checklist. This checklist had five columns: Understanding of Requirements, Proposed Solutions, Pricing, CVs, and Track Record. 

In reality, this second checklist should have been used when evaluating all proposals. However, with over 200 bids to work though this was not going to happen. Instead, we focused on the better bids and read these line by line several times. 

Who Evaluates the Proposals? 

I’ve worked on small projects where it was possible to write, publish, and evaluate each bids. This is not practical on large-scale proposals where you need a broader range of skills and industry knowledge to evaluate the bids. For a recent project, the evaluation team was made of five individuals. Each was an expert in their own field and could be trusted to analyse their portion of the bid accurately. 

The team members were: Project manager – studied the project plan, looked for risks and issues that would impact the deliverables. Necessary for interviewing bidder’s pm at presentations. 

Finance Officer – checked the final bid prince, daily rates, breakdown of costs, company financial background, soundness etc. Necessary for negotiating, especially costs associated with change control. 2 x Technology Experts – examined the solution proposed by the bidder. Having two experts allows you to get contrasting opinions, especially when the solution is very complex. It also protects you from scenarios whereby one reviewer has an inclination towards a particular software technology. 

Bid manager – reviews the bid against the original RFP. Ensures it addresses all requirements and that no (mandatory) requirements have been overlooked or misinterpreted. Drives the project, coordinates reviewers, and schedules the final presentations. As mentioned above, the first set of activities in the evaluation process include: 

Using checklists and scoring matrices to assess bids, i.e. define how close the proposals match the requirements  Compiling the scores from all evaluators. Preparing a final evaluation report. Outline the strength and weakness of each bid. 

After you’ve completed this first phase, you then need to:  Schedule presentations with bidders who have been short-listed. Bring in 3-5 at the most. 

Allocate 5% approx for presentations. Update the proposal’s scores based on the presentations. Award the bid. 

Inform the successful (and unsuccessful) bidders of your decision. Hold debriefing sessions with the unsuccessful bidders. 

The final step is very useful as it helps these bidders understand your reasoning, improve their bids and increase competition by setting the standard for all future proposals. If you don’t provide feedback to the bidders, they’re doomed to repeat the same mistakes in the next round of proposals. 

Is Microsoft Office Live A Twisted Form of Hell? November 14, 2006

Posted by iawalsh in : Microsoft Office News , add a comment

Before you sign up for a free Microsoft Office Live account, you might want to read these folks experience: 

  “the number of things that simply don’t work or work in a counter-intuitive way is astonishing. It’s like people who have never created or managed a web site are designing it.”

http://www.codeproject.com/lounge.asp?msg=1755090#xx1755090xx

How Fast Can You Type With One Hand? November 14, 2006

Posted by iawalsh in : Cool Tricks , add a comment

Lilly Walters offers some great tips for one-handed computer users:

“Computer Keyboard Shortcuts for one hand typists. Resources for vocational, occupational, rehabilitation therapists, and their clients, who have lost full, or partial use of one hand, with a special emphasis on learning to type with a standard keyboard.”

Get more tips at: http://www.klippert.com/TCC/Blog/2006/11/type-with-one-hand.html

You can see her video at: http://www.klippert.com/tcc/blog/pics/onehand.jpg

 

XML Notepad 2006 - Free Download November 14, 2006

Posted by iawalsh in : Misc, Microsoft Office News , add a comment