Communications

"There is a secret to whatever success I have had in this field [writing]. When pressed, I can write a simple declarative sentence. This has given me an advantage over many college graduates of English and journalism courses."
Karl Hess, Mostly on the Edge 83 (1999)

What I Offer

Technical writing:

Manuals, HOWTOs, software documentation, technical editing, studies.

Corporate Communications:

Technical articles.

Teaching/Speaking:

Linux, Unix, Networking, Programming, Computer Maintenance and related subjects.

Travel

Rocky Mountains, Wyoming.

I specialize in Open Source Software (OSS) such as Linux, OpenOffice.org and Emacs which I use daily.

After 30 years in the computer industry and more than 30 years of published writing, I offer professional writing and editing, as a technical writer, and in corporate communications. I can take a general concept and bring it to finished copy, ready for editing and typesetting. I can prepare copy for web and print publication using SGML, XML, TeX and selected word processors. I can also speak, having lectured, taught classes, engaged in politics and been a member of Toastmasters.

As someone who has developed both Open Source Software projects and proprietary projects, I can represent your product to the world. I can do it clearly, concisely and with a lively approach.

Selected Communications

• Technical documentation such as user manuals, programmer manuals, etc. for Millenigence.

• Marketing material, such as white papers, for Millenigence.

• "Emacs: the Free Software IDE", Linux Journal #98, June 2002. This article prompted Linux Journal to give Emacs their Editors' Choice in the Development Tool category. "For those unaccustomed to the Free Software world, it's hard to believe it's free -- and it's been there all along."

• I have taught three classes, Linux, Computer Hardware Maintenance, and Network Documentation, at Northwest College, Powell, Wyoming.

• Wrote the Linux Documentation Project's Linux Complete Backup and Recovery HOWTO. I also keep a local copy.

• Wrote the entire first edition (2002) of the Thermopolis/Hot Springs Tourism Directory, except for one article, for The Wyoming Advertiser. This is an advertiser-funded tourist guide featuring local attractions like our world class dinosaur museum and dig site and tourist infrastructure like motels and campgrounds. I did the entire project in a month, while also teaching classes. One of my innovations was a page of URLs of local businesses and agencies, which helps travelers to plan their trips. This tourist guide helped The Wyoming Advertiser to compete with the local newspaper.

• "Prime Time Linux, Part I", Datamation, March 5, 2001, and Part II, March 6, 2001.

• "Bare Metal Recovery", a "how-to" article on disaster recovery. It was the "eyebrow" article of Linux Journal for November 2000 and the basis for a HOWTO on the subject.

• Review of four backup products, another "eyebrow" article for Linux Journal for October, 2000.

• Contributed the Windows NT/95/98 chapter to Sams Teach Yourself Emacs in 24 Hours (ISBN: 0-672-31594-7), and Windows-specific commentary throughout the book. This is the first book on Emacs which deals with the NT Emacs port of GNU Emacs.

• Product review of Arkeia backup software, Linux Journal, April 1999. The vendor liked the review enough to quote it in its entirety on their web site.

• I documented Microsoft SDK low level operating system function calls for Windows 2000. While contracting to Microsoft, I was responsible for extending and maintaining the documentation on file system and file I/O, memory mapping, virtual memory and other areas. I also wrote new material for the SDK, covering reparse points, volume mount points, Addressing Windows Extensions (AWE), Very Large Memory (VLM) (now defunct due to Compaq's withdrawal of support for Windows 2000), and other features new to Windows 2000. I added many new code fragments to the SDK, and updated many of those in my area of responsibility. The work was done on Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000 using MS Word, NT Emacs, MS Visual C++ and the Windows SDK.

• I have had numerous articles in Forth Dimensions, a technical journal for the Forth programming environment.

• The Coming Profit in Gold, Bantam, 1974

• Member and former webmaster, Wyoming Writers, Inc.

Writing Samples

The Complete Backup and Recovery HOWTO documents how to back up a Linux system for total disaster recovery. Written in DocBook/SGML, it is an example of single source documents delivered in multiple formats. It is intended for the mid-level Linux administrator.

One problem with HTML frames is that one should provide content both for frames-capable browsers and for frames-challenged browsers. At first look, this appears to mean two separate source files, making maintenance difficult. Single Source Frames shows how to use the same source file for both the frames and non-frames versions of a web page.

Notes.crc is documentation on some programs I made available to friends, on BBSs, etc. The programs are all simple tools for use on MS-DOS®.

Bug Notice is a memo I sent out to other software engineers describing a bug I had found in a compiler routine. The names have been changed to protect the guilty.

An article describing how to implement atexit:, the Forth equivalent of C's atexit() function.

Wyoming Travel shows how I write for a more general audience.

Writing Tools

I select the tools necessary to get the job done. I don't have a "favorite" tool, so I don't create a problem with incompatible files.

I can deliver product in HTML, XML, DocBook/SGML/XML, RTF, plain ASCII, Open Document Format (ODF) and Microsoft Word formats. I can provide output in PDF, Postscript, HTML, XHTML and plain ASCII. I can adopt other tools as needed for the project.

Word Processors

All of the word processors I currently use will import and export Microsoft Word compatible files. I am expert in the use of character, page and paragraph styles, templates, auto-numbering and other advanced word processing tools.

• OpenOffice.org {Expert} 1.1 to 3.x.
• Vistasource's Applix {Proficient} 5.0
• Sun'sOracle's Star Office {Proficient} 5.2 and up.
• WordPerfect {Expert, but rusty} versions 4.1 through 6.
• Microsoft Word {Expert} versions through Office XP. After working for Microsoft for two and a half years, I know how to use Word.
• Adobe Framemaker {Proficient, but rusty} on Windows, Mac and HP-UX.

Editors

• GNU Emacs {Proficient} I maintain this web page using Nelson Minar's HTML Helper Mode for Emacs. I have contributed to NT Emacs and FAQ page. I use or have used Emacs on Linux, Windows NT and 95, and on HP-UX. I have written articles on Emacs and contributed to Sams Teach Yourself Emacs in 24 Hours by Jesper S. Pedersen, Jeff Koch et al. I use psgml mode for SGML, such as DocBook.
• vi {Rusty}
• Forth Editors I have written two editors for Forth, one a full screen editor. I know the PolyForth editor and Leo Brodie variants.

Document Preparation Systems

• SGML/DocBook DTD {Proficient}: Also, DocBook on XML.
• Lyx {Competent}

Comments

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Copyright © 1996 through 2011 by Charles Curley Last Modified: 28 Oct, 2011