Solano County,green homes,green homebuilding,energy efficiency,sip,structural insulated panel

Here are a few pictures from today’s work. We had 20% of the first wall completed earlier this week and after taking Tuesday and Wednesday off, we hit it hard today, getting an entire wall done before lunch and then taking on the tallest peak of the second story…

How cool is this view?

The hills in the background are from the ‘mountains’ separating Solano County from Napa.

Today’s progress:

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adobe,technical support,customer service,web 2.0,adobe robohelp,corporate authenticity

mmm-kay?

Another one for the Corporate Authenticity files… More irate Adobe users who loathe their support staff.

Mark7190 wasn’t very happy with his Adobe experience.

…I asked how I will know the money was credited back to my account, and I was told that I don’t have a way! After all the lies and misleading information I have received up to this point, I don’t trust what I’ve been told.

Does this process seem ethical to you? Is this how Adobe now operates? Does management know about this?

fluxon, after 72 hours waiting for a serial number, has compiled some user tips for Adobe users:

…Anyone going the new volume licensing route beware:

If you are gonna download your stuff, get an FTP client. Regular browser downloads will not cut it, Adobe cuts off and on, you will lose your place.

Be prepared to wait for your software to run while they circle the globe looking for the mystic who devines your serial numbers for you.

Don’t call looking for help, they have no answers for you, that is assuming you can get through the accent and they can actually figure out what you are telling them.

By the way, I’m doing a segment on Technical Support usage of Web 2.0, or in this case, non-usage. This is part of the segment and contains some verbage from an irate Adobe user. Here’s the hard copy in case the links get wiped.

Beef in Brief: Short Sells for Adobe FY2008?

I see this getting interesting in the next six months. How will ADBE respond to a public who are not thrilled to upgrade and feel entitled to a point release or two before being approached again with a hand out asking for money for an upgrade?

My analysis of Adobe (ADBE) stock position indicates:

Without Microsoft making a move such as the migration to Vista, they’re not likely to pull off the hat trick from last quarter. Adobe didn’t provide free point releases to their products to work with Vista, rather they leveraged the Vista and Office 2007 upgrade in order to push the upgrade onto their users.

Anyone wanting to use Office 2007 with RoboHelp? Better buy that upgrade.

They are facing increasing pressure from competition from smaller companies who are focusing on their weaknesses like Customer Service and Technical Support. Industry experts mention this even while applauding ADBE for their performance.

What would happen if Adobe clients decided to upgrade every three years?

Could Adobe, normally used to getting upgrades from their captive audience, still compete with half or a third of the revenue?

What will it take to have them lead the markets into the directions they are developing into? What is compelling enough, except for another competing software manufacturer’s product, to force them to change??

parenting,school violence,common sense

I thought this bore repeating. See the original context within Bill’s site waxing techcomm:

First, teach your children how to mind their own business.

Second, teach your children not to spread rumors.

Third, teach your children to listen to authority.

I’ve got to say that this common sense is sorely missing in a lot of kids / young adults that I know. Bill had mentioned this in reference to a ‘gun rumor’ that had affected one of his kids attending a middle school dance.

His summary is simple and bears repeating:

You can’t expect teachers to keep order among the kids when it’s the kids (in bulk) themselves who are causing the disorder. This problem needs to be fixed at home and fortified at school, not vice versa. But by blaming the school for what happened, I know you don’t feel the same, and that itself is a pity since you’re just continuing to contribute to the problem.

Shame on you, parents.

solano county,green building,SIP Construction,structural insulated panel,construction,green homebuilding,energystar,energy star

Rain, rain, and more rain

The construction for the third phase of the 21st Century Project is running into a few delays with the monsoon season hitting NorCal.

No worries but it has kept me busy jumping through hoops since the traditional building materials we’re using for the conventional framing are composite and need to be covered against saturation by rain.

While the SIP panels are also composite, they’re treated for outdoor exposure while the glulam materials have to be gently tucked in nightly with a tarp covering, then awakened just as gently by removing the tarp so the ground moisture doesn’t evaporate and condense like a solar still and drip onto those composites.

That’s to explain this week’s delay in posting…

I haven’t worked this hard since…

I’ve been pulling 14 to 18 hour days to hammer this project into the ground. We are three weeks past our initial September scheduled start and the weather is becoming a factor.

I’ve lost two and a half inches off my waist and put on three pounds of muscle. I haven’t worked this hard in twenty years since I was 17 going through Naval Aircrew training. Here’s that aircrew comparison framed properly thanks to this site:

Aircrew graduates leave knowing drown-proofing techniques like treading water, floating and making it to that life raft, even if it’s a mile swim away while wearing between 45 and 50 lbs. of flight gear.

…The air crew warfare designation is one of the toughest pins to earn. The Navy plans to keep it that way because of the reputation that the air crew wings have earned in the aviation community.

“The air crew training program’s reputation has allowed pilots to trust air crews without question,” said Ellenburg. “The pilots never second guess the enlisted air crew’s decisions.”…

The marines (and Jamie Foxx) aren’t the only ones who say… Ooh-rah…

The hard part was Friday when I decided to do a full day and then come back to overnight since the surprise rainstorm had interrupted us prior to locking everything up. Driving back to the site I was very tired, and two lane roads are no joke when there is fog and so forth.

Not so jovial section

This morning there was a serious reminder to me about driving tired I passed by a fatal single-car accident about a mile away from the project site.

The guy departed the highway into a field and evidently wasn’t wearing his seatbelt as he was ejected from the car, a red SUV that was obviously traveling a high rate of speed as it flipped and was airborne (no mud marks) for about fifty feet. The coroner’s van was just pulling up. From what I could see as I passed by (recounting my Private Investigation background) lividity hadn’t set in yet, therefore it was recent. And very very unfortunate.

It was a reminder to me to put safety once again first. No more driving tired, crew rest is back on the books for me.

My thoughts and prayers were, and still are, with the man’s family. Up until today I would have easily said I’m going to finish this project by the end of the month unless I’m dead. Not after seeing that. I’ve got far too much to live for.

Saturday two of my workers left early because of a death in their family. Sunday morning I see a guy stretched out in the middle of a field. There’s always that old superstition about bad news / deaths occurring in threes.

I’m not looking forward to Monday all that much. I think I’ll fly home to San Diego rather than drive.

online collaboration,workflow collaboration,madcap feedback,madcap flare,web 2.0,technical support,technical writing,technical communication

First impressions: MadCap Feedback Service

Continuing with the Web 2.0 MadCap Feedback review, I opened up the small, 17meg download for the Feedback Server today and scanned through the help file and the Getting Started Guide (PDF). Seemed pretty simple so I decided to jump right into it.

Simple workflow diagram which explains how it works conceptually. What really grabbed my attention was the External and Internal Feedback models. I’m going to have to check out how this works in detail… The Getting Started Guide has a matrix / section I’ll analyze later.

Where’s the Web 2.0?

How about how to moderate comments? How easy is this for say… the Technical Writer to use? Well, if you’re used to the original Flare interface, it’s pretty intuitive.

A link from within the Feedback Explorer from File | Help | Comments (Recent or Topic) brings up the Comments Explorer (my term).

Still pretty intuitive. I like how it was underneath Help – as I was hitting the high spots of the software it jumped at me.

Next we’ll look into how to link this into an existing project. I’m working on a real world review of a client’s file (confidential of course) but I’m going to try and plan on implementing Feedback Service to help me in my Workflow Collaboration for the review process and see how this works.

** Note: This is if it will work in my specific limited case of Apache Server with root level password access. I’m not sure the security layer will allow Feedback Service to work with it in this version. OF course if this is true it will give me a chance to put in a request with MadCap to add accessibility as a feature.

By the way, according to the Forums there are several people using the Feedback Service rather than the Server for supporting Apache.

Additionally, there is a firewall mod for those using it through a corporate firewall.

Update: As I was looking through the Feedback Service user to user support forums I found this icon, giving me a valuable clue to the KB skinner’s identity.

Seems like the mystery of who reskinned the Knowledge Base is well afoot! Or solved.

blogging

I would love to stop quoting so much from this post, however I just can’t say it any better.This is one instance where my analysis would only muddy the clarity of the emotion.

Quoted from News Posts versus Thought Posts:

We can only drink so much from the firehose of information before it turns us into information-downloading robots. We need analysts to opinionate. We need real people to emote, take sides. Blog posts that merely deliver facts, news, tips, or information bore me.

Wow. Revolutionary and very Cluetrain. Obviously we all share some bit of expertise, mine happens to be analyzing certain market trends in technical communication, along with other varied projects I’m working on in the Disruptive Technology vein.

I’m not saying I don’t want tech news. Sure, but I saw about 6 separate posts announcing Google launched a presentation tool, and another half a dozen explaining that Adobe launched its technical communication suite. I prefer to read opinion. For example, Ann Gentle, who is a tech savvy writer/blogger, begins with the news, but then adds her own real thoughts about it.

Throwing out opinions can be dangerous. I’m always restraining myself. What if I make an opinion that offends, or that turns out to be wrong, or that makes me sound uninformed? And why throw out opinions without more research, evidence, and thought? It’s much easier to just deliver the news.

… We are drowning in news. We need more thought.

I can’t say it any better. I did post in the comments section, however you should visit Tom’s site and read the entire post.

construction,energy efficiency,structural insulated panel,sip building,energy star,green construction,green homebuilding

I’m just so excited about this. We have put up 80% of the first floor as of Saturday night. It’s a race against weather, so we’ll be putting four hard days in this week starting on Thursday.

For my normal readers: don’t worry, this is a short segment I will return to my analysis of the Technical Communication space shortly. I’ll be posting up a help file regarding the inside story for this job later this year.

From Thursday you can see the bare concrete. We did about four hours work on the lumber connecting to the concrete Thursday afternoon…

After eight hours on Friday things looked like this:

And this…

At this point the walls are about 40% up on the bottom section.We finished up another 40% on Friday, and the walls are plumb and looking set. We have one small corner to finish – about ten feet on the last two walls and then we start on the second story.

SIP,construction,Energy Efficiency

Some pictures of the job site… In NorCal.

Nothing about Tech Comm today, I’m just having a great time putting up the SIP panel construction. Saves about 60% on energy, and is part of the Vets2Vines project.

Measure once… Wait, measure twice, cut once…

Before the pour…

They just trucked it in, we offloaded it in three hours.

They look like oreos on the side. OSB on both sides, EPS foam in the middle. For those construction or energy geeks out there, R40 is a good thing, and this is true R40, less breaks in between meaning you don’t lose insulation in the framing.

Job site chaos… We are about to start erecting the panels today, and should save a month or so in framing and other chaos.

More later as we finish. I guess you’d say we’re doing our part, social responsibility and all that.

Vista,microsoft vista,adobe,adobe cs2,software,forced upgrade,microsoft office,office 2007

I just realized that, although I purchased a laptop in December 2006 with a free Vista upgrade, I’ve yet to complete it because it was not compatible with the Adobe software I owned from 2006.

After all, my free Vista upgrade held/holds a strong chance of endangering the CS2-era software that I own, and it would cost me about $2k to upgrade all of my Adobe programs simply to perform with Vista.

Why not upgrade to Vista and see what happens?

When the upgrade comes, I’ll have to not only slick the laptop and do a raw install, requiring hours of downloading updates, formatting, and rearranging the seventeen other programs I use, but I’ll have to also fret about the potential for the worst-case scenario of an out of town program crash which might require a reload from CD. OF course I don’t intend to tote those around with me everywhere, they’re like gold.

Although Adobe stated that they would probably work in compatibility mode, because I use some of these (Captivate 2, RoboHelp X5, Contribute, CS2, DreamWeaver for my industry (Technical Communication) I didn’t adopt Office 2007 on all of my systems and also Vista on my laptop because my stuff might break down at the worst possible time.

I was also on the wire for a little bird or three to tell me that they (Adobe staffers) weren’t upgrading their own systems because of the same issue.

Why not access your industry roots?

I’m trying to approach this problem from the average user’s perspective about how they might deal with it. I can just as well get one of my contacts to get me on the inside, but it seems a bit more honorable to try and work through the dilemma as anyone else would.

Best Vista Upgrade Practices for Adobe Software?

Ideas about best upgrade practices for last year’s Adobe products if I don’t want to actually spend the additional $2k? Contact me at ideas (at) 3nw (dot) com or post them in the comments.

I feel somewhat less in control and a bit cheated. Other software vendors have compatibility built in, for the most part. They’ll release a patch or… is the trend nowadays to strongarm the customers into paying for the upgrade? Even if it’s between release cycles?

Forced upgrades. Nice tactic. Wins friends and influences people.

I feel that I might have easily figured out how Adobe had a record quarter in software sales…

I feel more loyal already.

online collaboration,workflow collaboration,web 2.0,technical support,technical writing,technical communication,madcap flare,madcap feedback server,robohelp server,adobe robohelp,blogging

Update: Feedback Review Part 2 is now available

First looks for the MadCap Feedback Server: Front-end

Wow. In a nutshell, MadCap has managed to streamline their Feedback Server and in doing so, they win my personal 2007 KISS software award.

How simple can you keep everything? Don’t overcomplicate what you know to be core, and develop based off of what the users want.

In this reference KISS has nothing to do with Gene Simmons, by the way. It’s more like the Staples Office Supply Easy Button: "That was easy".

How Madcap is MadCap?

You must understand, a visit to MadCap is like going to Seaworld; you know there’s going to be a show and even if you miss it, there is plenty to see. If you want a taste of innovation, arrange for a tour.

While waiting in their lobby I even ran into the model for their recent Tech Support ad campaign. She’s not so uptight in real life, but can really play it for the cameras.

I was actually running a bit late but that worked to my benefit. I was able to also meet Sharon Burton, key influencer and Product Manager for the new Blaze product which is in the works from MadCap.

This is a bit off topic, but apparently MadCap has big things in store for FrameMaker users, an area I seldom delve into strictly out of personal prejudice against the FM UI. Sharon made it sound compelling enough for me to think I might want to look into implementation of this product.

Oh yeah, another thing about Sharon – while she’s been around the industry for years it hasn’t dulled her sharp wit. She’ll fit right in with the MadCap crew. She even gave me her two cents about corporate wikis, compelling enough that I asked her for a sit down chat in a few weeks to talk about some industry stuff.

MadCap’s Technical Support: Eating Their Own Dog Food

I stole ten minutes of company time from Var Galpchian, MadCap’s Support Manager who told me the easiest way to see the Feedback Server was to check out their Knowledge Base. After all, all companies should dogfood whenever possible. From Wikipedia:

To say that a company "eats its own dog food" means that it uses the products that it makes. For example, Microsoft emphasizes the use of its own software products inside the company. "Dogfooding" is a means of conveying the company’s confidence in its own products.

Var’s a savvy support veteran who knows the value of eating ones own dog food. I would expect ASPOnline judges to be checking her team out this year for the small business category of online support.

Of course I was there to see her laugh out loud when she brought up the Feedback Server example on their Zombie Avoidance System a/k/a the Knowledge Base:

I always enjoy a good joke and clearly so does MadCap’s Tech Support staff. I think it’s refreshing to trust one’s employees in today’s corporate fortresses.

They’re a cheeky lot, to steal a term from the Brits, as the above title combined with the October pumpkin color theme for the Knowledge Base shows:

By the way, that’s the rating system for their Feedback Server. Users can rate the articles. Comes in handy when people use it.

Check the Feedback Server out yourself!

Var told me about their online presentation but I couldn’t make it because I’m doing my SIP Panel construction today and tomorrow up in NorCal as part of the 21st Century Farm Project, which is why I stopped by MadCap’s corporate office (late, I was supposed to go in September) to get the scoop before I got out of town.

If you have time tomorrow, check out their online presentation. Here’s the url to their Friday, October 5 10:00 am PST invite. Click the link, it should, at the very least, be entertaining – after all, you can ask about how the Zombie Avoidance System can help your documentation.

Why Use Server Based Help?

Of course the magic behind any server based help file all happens behind the scenes in the user statistics just like Adobe RoboHelp Server, you get to know what people are looking at so you can focus your resources on restructuring those hot spots.

Additionally, your engineering team knows where best to look at fixing the GUI issues they may be guessing at.

The problems that eHelp started having were in keeping the server going, and supporting all the Enterprise installations which had issues. Adobe inherited those problems and fixed them by axing the Natural Language Search component in their Adobe RoboHelp Server. My beef was that Adobe didn’t tell anyone this for weeks until there were complaints.

KISS principle defined

I first became acquainted with the KISS principle through my grandmother, a woman whose organizational abilities were legendary in my family. Definition from Wikipedia:

The term KISS is an acronym of the phrase "Keep It Simple, Stupid", and the KISS principle states that design simplicity should be a key goal and unnecessary complexity avoided. It serves as a useful and frequent verbal exhortation (or even dedicated policy) in software development, animation, engineering, and in strategic planning (especially military operations).

Later on, the Navy had a great deal to do with my adoption of this quite obviously, I still follow it with my rules of planning. If I can make something simpler I will do it to avoid complications. Climbing has this rule in making knots, you keep it simple because less can break.

KISS in Online Documentation

How simple can you keep everything? Use the KISS principle:

• Don’t overcomplicate what you know to be core, and develop your help based off of what the users really need.
• Crush the workflow logjams. Show people that you really need their subject matter expertise.
• Find out what’s broken from analyzing where people are going within your help documentation.

What I found at MadCap by talking to Var and looking at the Server in action exemplified the KISS principle. It also goes a great deal towards revolutionizing workflow collaboration, my primary focus for this blog.

Quick Look: Web 2.0 Meeting Technical Support

Unobtrusive.Yet compelling when users are used to the Blogging sort of Web 2.0 interface. This is why I enjoy the simple aspects of this server technology:

What happens within the Topic Comments area will be revealed in my continuation of the review.