Happy New Year

Hello everyone (or anyone),

2013 is upon us. I'm a senior now and I've had quite a blast this last semester. I have not posted at all since September, I noticed, so I'm posting now to make sure someone knows I'm alive. Anyway, I'm now 22 and on the verge of graduation this coming spring.

This fact begs the question of what I'll be doing after graduation. My parents and a few others have suggested I complete a Master's, although the financial burden is a turnoff for me. I don't think it would be appropriate to get a Master's in Technical Communication, since the courses in my undergraduate program are designed to accommodate undergrads and grads in the same class (the only difference being grads complete a bit more coursework).
I do have an interest in business, specifically marketing, and an MBA seems attractive. However, the financial burden weighs heavily on my career options. I have the same considerations about the prospect of completing a Ph.D. (which is attractive in theory, but might not be the right thing for me).
Anyway, I'm extremely money conscious in a country where employment prospects are terrible in general. I guess the cynic in me is always yelling through the door when I want to lock him in a closet for his own good. Optimism is the solution but I have a sinking feeling that reality will come around when I don't want it to.

I know, too, that I don't post much even though I asked that this blog be on the Technical Communication page on the MNSU website. Schoolwork takes so much of my time, beginning from about 8am in the morning to noon, where I take an hour for lunch, then use the next four hours for more homework or other important things. I should devote more time to this blog, and my apparent neglect isn't winning me any points for whomever reads my blog (if that's anyone anymore).

Luckily, events will give me ideas for posts so wish me luck.

Internship Over: New Year Begins

Hey, everyone! I know it's been awhile, but I finished my internship. I learned more in three months than I think I learned in all my time at any other job. The financial world is more complicated than it seems, I guess. Anyway, a new semester has begun and I'm already swamped. Don't know when I'll post again. Don't fret, though, as I do have something to discuss. More specifically, I'm curious about whether technical communication as a field will expand or contract in the coming years. I find it appealing as a profession, but the job description for many professions can fit into this field. Writing has been a passion (you wouldn't guess from how infrequent I've been posting here, but you know, I do write away from the internet) and I wonder how writing as a profession will fare when it comes down to me going out into the world, looking for a job. I know, I know. The economy has been flushed down the toilet, and we're still trying to fish it out with a bent wire hanger and a wad of chewing gum. Nonetheless, I still have to try! What use is it to take a job I will never like and let it eat at my soul like mental cancer?

Okay, discuss away (if anyone is reading this!)

Internship for the Summer

Hey everyone, if anyone reads this.

I got an internship for the summer at a marketing firm that wholesales financial products. I admit it's very different from the writing side of things in TC, as I must use my verbal skills instead. I am getting used to the financial concepts associated with the field, and the requirements of my job necessitate the correct knowledge on my part in order to answer an agent's questions about the product.

I'm about half-way done, but they've hinted at a future position after the internship is over. I'm excited about that, but I am not entirely sure if I want to do that particular job the rest of my life. As with many things, I learn to live with it and then get infatuated on some level. We'll see.

Anyway, I'd love to hear about some internships that my readers have done. Did you get paid? What did you do on the job?

Busy, busy, busy

I've been so busy with schoolwork and other things that my blogging has fizzled. Not enough time in the world for anything, apparently.

I'm not going to give up writing in this blog, but my posts won't be all that frequent I guess. College is a full-time commitment, and so is work.

Time, time, time.

Yet again, finding no time to post on here. I'm mentioning my blog among my classmates, and I feel obligated to keep up with it and post on a regular basis (like 3 times a week).

Hopefully I'll be able to get going on this.

You can do it! You can do it!

Relevancy of Information: Correlation does equal Causation

When presenting information, it's important to stay on topic. This is especially true for when you are creating documentation that is supposed to be short, about a specific thing, or when someone expects you to keep focused. Too many times have I fallen victim to what I thought was 'on topic,' only to have it fall against me. Then nobody knows what I'm talking about. Tangents and digressions that stray from the topic at hand are dangerous, and when someone else does it, it's frustrating. A pragmatic approach to this is as follows:

Keep things simple
I like to keep simple. What works, works. A chair is a chair. Sometimes I go off into tangents about the philosophical implications of why we call chairs chairs, but I try not to delve too deeply for fear of losing my mind. Don't make things complicated if the person who is going to be subjected to it won't understand.

Try to understand what is going on
Too many times communication falls out because what the first person communicates to another is not universally understood or too vague. More often than not, it's too vague. When you ask a generic, all-encompassing, broad question, you invite freedom on behalf of the respondent, so please, limit what you ask to produce results, not nonsense. Also, writing about something and then expecting everyone to understand is the height of hubris.

Be logical
I like logic. It means the world has a soundness to it. Doing things that are illogical make no sense. Illogical actions have created many wonderful things, but doing illogical things where logic must prevail is rather foolish.

Like all things, make sure what you're doing actually relates to what you want to do. Don't be deceptive.

Happy Valentine's Day

Where is this all going?

Recently, a perplexing discussion came up in one of my classes: for what, why, or whom, is technology created? Are our needs fulfilled by advancements in technology? Does technology shape our culture, or does our culture shape technology?

Steve Jobs said that "people don't know what they want until you show it to them." I find this true, because without showing someone the benefit of an invention, no one will use it. However, humans have needs and wants; to fulfill these needs and wants, we must find ways to fulfill them. Mathematics does not exist without some purpose; people do not count for the sake of counting.

Neither, then, does technology exist without purpose. As we are primates, we use tools. Yes, tools. Whether the tool is to fulfill a physical need or emotional need, they are all tools. Technology is a series of tools. Technology has existed since the ancient days of sharpened flint tied to the ends of stripped wood branches. As humans progress in their pursuit of advancing technology to fit needs and wants, the technology branches out in its scope, creating new needs and wants, new areas for improvement and fulfillment. Now we can communicate vast distances with each other, share opinions, become more connected. These are all emotional, social needs. They are fulfilled by communication technology. This is at the heart of technical communication. I say our culture shapes technology, but technology, as our culture shapes it, shapes culture just as much.

Oscar Nominations: Superfluous

Oscar season is in full swing, and I always, or typically, catch them when they're on. After all the nominations were announced, I was a bit surprised to find out that nine movies made the Best Picture category, which, in my opinion, isn't really all that necessary. Nine pictures is superfluous, much like how information in technical documents can be superfluous. I guess in the entertainment industry, they're a bit nominating happy to get nine of them in a single category.
When they describe the films for best picture, I like to see how short and sweet the synopses or premises are for them. Whomever has to do it presents a scant glimpse of the picture. It's a mental exercise in shortening language to optimize the language/meaning ratio.

Minnesota Weather: Wacky Seasons

I know this post isn't exactly about tech. comm., but I just wanted to give attention to the awfully strange weather round my hometown in Minnesota. Last week we had highs of fifty degrees, and for most of December we had nothing but somewhat chilly air and snow-less ground. For someone who has grown up here, this is incredibly strange, a first. Never has there been a completely green Christmas in all my life living here, let alone an entire December. Now that January has rolled around, it looks much more normal, but we have at least a foot of snow in my backyard you can't walk in except with boots. It's just thrown me off completely. Is this an indication of a polarized winter season, with unseasonably warm days until the new year and then unseasonably cold days right after?

Weekly Friday Fudging: Engrish Transrations

Hey, there, I was surfing a website about bad English translations in foreign countries, and came across this:

THE TEMPLE EXPLODES THE CHICKEN CUBE

Capslock on my part aside, this picture irritates me because of how terrible the translation truly is. It is a hilarious piece of imagery that deserves to be rewritten. If the rewrite is not out of pity, then it's from a sense that any decent, English speaking citizen of whatever country this sign appears in would correct the designers so that any tourist might not laugh at how ridiculous it is. I'm not even sure what dish they're advertising. It looks like corn and cranberries from a distance, or beans, but the name says there's chicken in it...