Readers and writers on your list? How about some recommendations of gizmos, gadgets, and gifts galore from a professional writer?
Books have long been the perfect holiday gift. You can buy physical books, audio books (CD, DVD, and cassette tapes) and digital books. So before you shop, profile your reader. If he or she spends a lot of time commuting, check their car to see if they have a cassette player or CD player. If their laptop is always nearby, consider Amazon Kindle books that can be downloaded and read on a PC, Mac, iPad, Blackberry or Android phone. And if you select the wrong book, the recipient can exchange it for a different book or a gift card.
Maybe your budget includes the hardware on which to read a book. If you are buying for someone who will just read, then the comparison list at http://ebook-reader-review.toptenreviews.com/ might help you make a good decision based on the unit’s memory, screen size, resolution, cost and whether or not the recipient reads regular books (get black and white) or graphic novels (get color). Where books are read can make a difference, too. Black and white units use eInk which is great in sunlight but can’t be seen in dimly lit areas. Color units have LCD screens with back-lighting which are useless in sunlight but great in dark areas. Book availability is also important. Just because a company says it has thousands of books doesn’t mean a thing—they might not be the books your user would want to download. Last but not least, some digital readers, like the low-end of the Sony line need the user to download the book to a PC or Mac first and then move it over using a USB cable or thumb drive.
Bargain-priced readers like the Aluratek Libre, Kobo eReader, Amazon Kindle and Sharper Image Literati all start around $100 or just over. However, if your reader also falls into the category of web-surfer, artist, photographer, Facebook fan, or chat room aficionado then a bigger piggy bank is going to be needed. There are tablets like the full-size iPad from Apple, which can run over $800 for the 16GB, Wi-Fi/3G version. Handhelds like the Huawei, Samsung Galaxy Tab and Nook Color (with Android apps) are mini-meccas of reading wonder that cost between $250 and $300. While the Lenovo tablet, en Tourage eDGe and Dell Streak, all in the area of $500, are mini laptops with digital reading capability.
For writers on your list, a smart pen might be the way to go. These amazing bits of technology turn your handwritten notes into editable text on your computer. Some smart pens require smart paper that can be purchased as notebooks and/or printed out on your computer. The Pulse Smartpen remembers every movement you make and every sound it hears. The Echo translates your notes from one language to the next as fast as you can scribble. Irisnotes and LogiPen both work on any kind of paper but require special ink refills to make the magic happen. The latter of the two also works on your tablet screen. All smart pens connect to your computer either by USB or wirelessly to transcribe your notes and messages. They start around $50 for the Dane-Elec Zpen or the HP Digital Pen with eraser and can run as high as $250 for the 8GB Echo Smartpen Pro-Pack. Just remember, the word “smart” is a generic word. There are also smart pens with no digital correlation whatsoever; so make sure the smart pen you purchase is as smart as you think it is.
Give someone the gift of knowledge, like a $22 a month subscription to Safari Books Online . Safari has over 10,000 books and videos for technology, creative and business professional. For the more budget-oriented gift-giver, Google has a super-easy, fill-in-the-blank Techie Care Package to email friends and parents. Show them how to change their desktop background, track an airline flight or make a blog. Attach as many of Google’s 40 free computer training videos as you like and voila, you have helped to educate the world…for FREE!
This holiday season of 2010 is a digital wonderland of gizmos and gadgets for everyone from novice to hi-tech adventurers and shopping for the perfect techno-gift can be almost as much fun as receiving it! Good luck and enjoy!
Guest blogger and Southern Californian, Pamela Coca of Write-On Communications says she has been writing professionally since dinosaurs roamed the earth. Penned items include magazine articles, news editorials, tech manuals, web content, medical curriculum, and anything else that allows ink to be placed on paper. She believes that writers live to write as well as write to live. She is well-known in local circles for creating the award-winning Escoe Bliss Professional Resources website.
Showing posts with label lavacon; technical writing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lavacon; technical writing. Show all posts
Monday, December 20, 2010
Monday, October 25, 2010
LavaCon 2.0: The Conference on Digital Media and Content Strategies
Review by Pamela Coca
To delve deeply into social media is an understatement when explaining the underlying theme of this year’s LavaCon conference in San Diego, CA, September 29 through October 2, 2010. Technical writers and social media gurus flew in from all over the world. It was, to say the least, absolutely phenomenal! There were nearly 60 sessions and pre- and post-conference workshops on content development, project management and social media marketing.
LavaCon creator and Executive Director, Jack Molisani, must have cloned himself for the conference because he was omnipresent—Jack was everywhere, all the time.
Prior to the conference, my perception of social media was that it was a way for teens to stay in touch and perverts to find new victims. By the end of the first day I had completely changed my mind and gained new respect for the subject.
LavaCon opened with Jolynn Atkins of Escoe Bliss Professional Resources helping attendees get acquainted before starting her talk, Introduction to Social Media. By the end of Jolynn’s presentation everyone in the audience had LinkedIn and Twitter accounts—yes, even me.
Social media guru and Escoe Bliss manager, Jolynn Atkins got LavaCon off to a great start by making sure attendees knew each other (in person and on line).
DK from MediaSnackers flew in from Wales in the UK to present on Social Media for Executives, Business Owners and Entrepreneurs and the excitement built. When DK was finished, we had been introduced to Animoto, Audioboo, bubbl.us, capzles, coveritlive, slideshare, ustream and of course, facebook, just to name a few. Our heads were spinning! So suffice to say, LavaCon was off to a great start.
Over the next three days our brains turned quickly to mush as we rushed from one session to the next, trying to absorb everything that was being offered to us. I could go on and on telling you about each and every presenter that I heard and saw, but I’d need to write a novel instead of a blog. The best way you can catch up on what you missed is to visit the LavaCon wall. Besides slide presentations of almost every presenter, you will find news, recaps, tweets, and much more.
LavaCon events cater to the experienced technical writer who already knows the basics and who wants more and more and more. They are certainly not for the meek. By noon on the last day everyone was better educated, well-connected, and totally exhausted. We had been entertained, amused, and over-whelmed. We learned about re-tweets, mash-ups, pipes, and aggregators. We picked up acronyms like UX and UA and RIM. And as we waved goodbye to friends, old and new, we all swore to ourselves that we would type up our hand-scribbled notes and document our takeaways so that when LavaCon rolls around next year, we will remember why we loved it so much and why we have to return.
Southern Californian, Pamela Coca of Write-On Communications says she has been writing professionally since dinosaurs roamed the earth. Penned items include magazine articles, news editorials, tech manuals, web content, medical curriculum, and anything else that allows ink to be placed on paper. She believes that writers live to write as well as write to live. She is well-known in local circles for creating the award-winning Escoe Bliss Professional Resources website.
To delve deeply into social media is an understatement when explaining the underlying theme of this year’s LavaCon conference in San Diego, CA, September 29 through October 2, 2010. Technical writers and social media gurus flew in from all over the world. It was, to say the least, absolutely phenomenal! There were nearly 60 sessions and pre- and post-conference workshops on content development, project management and social media marketing.
LavaCon creator and Executive Director, Jack Molisani, must have cloned himself for the conference because he was omnipresent—Jack was everywhere, all the time.
Prior to the conference, my perception of social media was that it was a way for teens to stay in touch and perverts to find new victims. By the end of the first day I had completely changed my mind and gained new respect for the subject.
LavaCon opened with Jolynn Atkins of Escoe Bliss Professional Resources helping attendees get acquainted before starting her talk, Introduction to Social Media. By the end of Jolynn’s presentation everyone in the audience had LinkedIn and Twitter accounts—yes, even me.
Social media guru and Escoe Bliss manager, Jolynn Atkins got LavaCon off to a great start by making sure attendees knew each other (in person and on line).
DK from MediaSnackers flew in from Wales in the UK to present on Social Media for Executives, Business Owners and Entrepreneurs and the excitement built. When DK was finished, we had been introduced to Animoto, Audioboo, bubbl.us, capzles, coveritlive, slideshare, ustream and of course, facebook, just to name a few. Our heads were spinning! So suffice to say, LavaCon was off to a great start.
Over the next three days our brains turned quickly to mush as we rushed from one session to the next, trying to absorb everything that was being offered to us. I could go on and on telling you about each and every presenter that I heard and saw, but I’d need to write a novel instead of a blog. The best way you can catch up on what you missed is to visit the LavaCon wall. Besides slide presentations of almost every presenter, you will find news, recaps, tweets, and much more.
LavaCon events cater to the experienced technical writer who already knows the basics and who wants more and more and more. They are certainly not for the meek. By noon on the last day everyone was better educated, well-connected, and totally exhausted. We had been entertained, amused, and over-whelmed. We learned about re-tweets, mash-ups, pipes, and aggregators. We picked up acronyms like UX and UA and RIM. And as we waved goodbye to friends, old and new, we all swore to ourselves that we would type up our hand-scribbled notes and document our takeaways so that when LavaCon rolls around next year, we will remember why we loved it so much and why we have to return.
Southern Californian, Pamela Coca of Write-On Communications says she has been writing professionally since dinosaurs roamed the earth. Penned items include magazine articles, news editorials, tech manuals, web content, medical curriculum, and anything else that allows ink to be placed on paper. She believes that writers live to write as well as write to live. She is well-known in local circles for creating the award-winning Escoe Bliss Professional Resources website.
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