I saw this sign above a loo in Starbucks last week. I’m sure they don’t actually want people to put toilet tissue and nothing else down the loo but I did feel like I was breaking the rules when I had a pee. 

It’s a bit like the ‘wet paint’ signs one sees around.  It always looks like an instruction rather than a warning to me.

I just came across this when signing up for flickr on Yahoo!

I really liked the way they say “capitalisation matters.” It had never occurred to me that the usual phrase “Passwords are case sensitive” might not be obvious to most users. But of course, it’s really obscure when you think about it.

Bravo Yahoo!

Technorati Tags: Yahoo!, flickr, passwords, clarity

Shameless plug.  My wife is directing a new play, One Night Stand, at the Hen & Chickens Theatre, Islington.  It opens on April 17th.  It’s the first production of her new outfit, C Company.  Website by yours truly.

There’s a great article on Slate about a writer who uses earplugs to block the noise of construction workers and ends up using them all the time. I’m a light sleeper and use them to block out party noise and things like that.

For writing, though, I prefer Bose noise cancelling headphones. They’re like the ones in the plane I fly and they really block out unwanted noise and help me concentrate on writing.

Technorati Tags: Quiet, writing, sleep, earplugs, slate, concentrate

Why I like Vista and Office 2007 for writing.

• Word count. I like Word 2007. In particular, I like the continuously updated word count in the status bar at the bottom of the window. This is probably the best single feature for professional writers. You can also drag a selection of text and it shows you the word count for that too.
• Document templates. I also like the new document templates which mean that I can make my documents look good without really thinking too much about it.
• I used Document Map a lot in Word 2003 and it works the same here. It’s a good way to navigate large documents using a hierarchy of headings. It makes structuring documents much easier - I haven’t used outliners for a while because I think this works better. I think Thumbnails are new - they give you a PowerPoint style visual overview.
• File compatibility. At first I couldn’t get anyone to open my files. The new .docx stuff only opens on Word 2003 if people install the compatibility pack. However, I discovered an option that automatically saved everything in the old Word format.
  
• Easy screengrabs. I haven’t got into OneNote 2007 (yet?) but I like the way it does screen grabs. Previously, if I wanted to clip a bit of the screen, I’d use Ctrl + PrtScn and then edit the image. Now I can use Windows + S and draw round the bit I want and paste it straight into a Word document. A small detail, but a big timesaver.
• Search in Outlook. I’m an Outlook addict. I have been using tasks since Schedule+ in the pre-Cambrian era and I have all my contacts and diary in it so it syncs up with my Smartphone. The main thing about Outlook 2007 for me is the integrated search. It’s much quicker to look up a contact or an email. I also like the way it puts the next three diary events and my to-do list up on the screen alongside my email.
• Desktop search. Vista is useful too. Desktop search isn’t new for me - I used Google search on my old PC, but it’s nicely integrated into the start menu now. I’ve downloaded the add-on that searches my server files as well so I can search across the network and locally. Very nice. It’s helpful for me when I’m on the phone to a client or interviewee and I need to find a file quickly.

It’s not really a writing thing but Flight Simulator X and Vista plus my shiny new nVidia graphics card and monster screen totally rock!

I’m not sure I would upgrade an old computer just to get these features but I would certainly miss them if they were taken away.

Full disclosure: I wrote four case studies for the UK launch of Windows Vista and the 2007 Microsoft Office system (apparently, that is the ‘official’ name for Office 2007 - they’re good at software but lousy at product names). However, I use both products daily of my own volition and not because Uncle Bill made me do it.

Technorati Tags: Vista, Office 2007, Word 2007, writing, productivity, search

My new baby has just been launched. I was project manager (but not copywriter) for RiskCare’s new website. I’ve been working with Goose, an interactive design consultancy, and Mark Taylor, a marketing expert who also wrote the copy.

The project involved a detailed critique of their existing site, selecting and briefing a design agency and then project managing the various agencies through to completion. I’ve done similar projects for the Cabinet Office and other government agencies.

Although the vast majority of my work is copyrighting, it’s fun to deploy my project management and techie skills from time to time. Since so much of my work ends up online, things like accessibility, usability, design, web readability and web development play a big part in shaping my work.

Technorati Tags: Riskcare, Goose, Mark Taylor, project management

YouGov, the polling company, carried out a survey of 1,200 businesses in the UK and reports that unnecessary face-to-face meetings cost UK businesses £17 billion annually.

The survey was carried out on behalf of Polycom, a video and phone conferencing company, so the spin is obvious.

I am sceptical of PR-driven market research. (See my previous post on Surveys: uses and abuses for writers and PRs). Still, I think this particular pieces reflects something that most people feel intuitively about working life today.

The results in more detail:

• 23 percent said that they could save 1-2 hours a week by not attending off-site meetings. 21 percent claimed 3-4 hours and 11 percent believing that 5-6 hours were at stake.
• Half of respondents said that they have to plan their work around external meetings.
• 67 percent traveled at least once a week for meetings.
• 82 percent believed that many of these meetings were unnecessary and could have been accomplished over the phone.
• Two thirds travel by car with obvious implications for carbon emissions.

There is some interesting information on flexible working on the WorkWiseUK website.

I’m still wrestling with how I can change my working practices to become more efficient and focus more on productive work and less on meetings. I think the answer lies in making my communications outside meetings more effective.

The next paragraph is a rant about PR agencies. You don’t need to read it!

This information came from a press release issued by Bite PR on behalf of Polycom. I couldn’t find anything on Bite’s website or blog. I called Bite to get a link to the original report or an online precis but no-one was available to help me. I also called Polycom’s marketing department but got voicemail. In the age of instant information, it seems to me that both companies are missing an opportunity to make journalists’ lives easier - why not put the report and the press release online somewhere and link to it clearly. What’s the point of a BitePR blog if it doesn’t actually contain the information people need?

Technorati Tags: Meetings, PR, efficiency, flexible, mobile, working, YouGov

HookJab has a great illustration of the benefits of editing. As I was telling a client yesterday, sometimes the art of writing is not what you write but what you leave out.

And good content has a painful insight into the way that education has been corrupted by lazy writing. Here’s one example:

“The headteacher and the senior leaders share a clear vision and passion for providing the best education for the students.”

I was a school governor for five years and my wife still is and we constantly came across the same problem. Here is one example of something I had to sign when I was a governor:

“The Governing Body are agreeing this budget as the financial mechanism to support the education priorities of the school as identified in the School Development Plan and will adhere to the best value principles in spending its school funding allocation.”

In English this means “The Governors approve this plan.” Unbelievable.

Technorati Tags: Bad writing, education, advertising, copywriting, editing, short and sweet

I do a lot of work with Microsoft UK and this is a group of bloggers that I know as friends. Their blogs are really very interesting insights into the world of technology in general and Microsoft in particular (without being ra-ra about it).

• Dave Overton’s UK SBS People (Guys and Gals). Dave is the epitome of a friendly geek. What he doesn’t know and blog about Microsoft small business technology isn’t worth knowing.
• Steve Clayton’s Geek in Disguise. The ‘disguise’ is pretty transparent and that’s a good thing. Steve knows his stuff.
• Darren Strange’s Office Rocker. Sometimes about Office, sometimes about the life of a Microsoft manager.
• Mike Pallot on Search and High Performance Computing. Does exactly what it says on the tin.

Technorati Tags: Dave Overton, Steve Clayton, Darren Strange, Mike Pallot, Microsoft

I’m just writing a report and I typed the heading “Executive summary” and realised what a ridiculous phrase it is.  What does it mean?  For executives only? No. It’s just a plain old regular summary with airs and graces. So, it’s just a ‘Summary’ from now on! Together we will stop word inflation.