Robert Delwood Article Review: Unpacking Null vs. Empty for Technical Writers

Welcome to episode 130 of the Technical Writing Success podcast from Curt Robbins. This podcast is targeted at IT professionals, technical writers, and documentation specialists. Subscribe today to never miss a single daily episode!Today’s episode reviews a new article this show's producer, senior technical writer Curt Robbins. In this piece, Robbins reviews the popular documentation tool Adobe FrameMaker.The Robbins article highlights the software's strengths in structured authoring, handling complex documents, and multi-channel publishing. These characteristics make FrameMaker ideal for large enterprises in regulated industries. In addition, the Robbins review addresses the cons of FrameMaker, including a steep learning curve, high cost, and limited real-time collaboration features. Ultimately, the article helps readers determine if FrameMaker is a suitable choice based on their specific needs as a large organization, small business, or individual consultant.Hosts Daphne and Fred share their spirited unpacking of this informative article from Robbins, going even deeper into the pros and cons of this pinnacle documentation application that is so popular with enterprise organizations. _________________________I'm currently taking on new clients. I enjoy helping companies with their documentation and communications strategy and implementation. Contact me to learn about my reasonable rates and fast turnaround.>> View the original "Tool Review: Adobe FrameMaker" article by Robbins: https://tinyurl.com/5dj3b8tp>> Read the Robbins article "Helping Junior Technical Writers": https://tinyurl.com/yc82h4j7>> Read the Robbins article "10 Famous Technical Writers": https://tinyurl.com/5ejznknw>> Read the Robbins article "Tech Writers: Embrace Structured Content": https://tinyurl.com/32ysxm3v>> Read the Robbins article "Role of User Experience in Tech Writing": https://tinyurl.com/mrdtenbb>> Join the Technical Writing Success group on LinkedIn: https://tinyurl.com/mr28u7td>> Subscribe to the weekly Tech Writing Success newsletter: https://tinyurl.com/yc7dbfy3>> Subscribe to the AI for Technical Writers podcast: https://tinyurl.com/mppehxtn

Welcome to episode 129 of the Technical Writing Success podcast from Curt Robbins. This podcast is targeted at IT professionals, technical writers, and documentation specialists. Subscribe today to never miss a single daily episode!Today’s episode reviews a new article this show's producer, senior technical writer Curt Robbins. In this piece, he explains why disgraced actor Will Smith's recent comeback attempt is backfiring due to his use of AI to make his audiences appear larger than they truly are.Hosts Daphne and Fred share their spirited unpacking of this informative article from Robbins. The IT professional argues that Smith's actions demonstrate a poor understanding of AI ethics, which ultimately led to a further decline in his public trust and reputation. The article serves as a cautionary tale for all professionals, including technical writers, to carefully consider the ethical implications and potential negative consequences of employing AI in their work, emphasizing the paramount importance of maintaining audience trust. _________________________I'm currently taking on new clients. I enjoy helping companies with their documentation and communications strategy and implementation. Contact me to learn about my reasonable rates and fast turnaround.>> View the original "Will Smith: How Not to Use AI" article by Robbins: https://tinyurl.com/2v24nfwk>> Read the Robbins article "Helping Junior Technical Writers": https://tinyurl.com/yc82h4j7>> Read the Robbins article "10 Famous Technical Writers": https://tinyurl.com/5ejznknw>> Read the Robbins article "Tech Writers: Embrace Structured Content": https://tinyurl.com/32ysxm3v>> Read the Robbins article "Role of User Experience in Tech Writing": https://tinyurl.com/mrdtenbb>> Join the Technical Writing Success group on LinkedIn: https://tinyurl.com/mr28u7td>> Subscribe to the weekly Tech Writing Success newsletter: https://tinyurl.com/yc7dbfy3>> Subscribe to the AI for Technical Writers podcast: https://tinyurl.com/mppehxtn

Welcome to episode 128 of the Technical Writing Success podcast from Curt Robbins. This podcast is targeted at IT professionals, technical writers, and documentation specialists. Subscribe today to never miss a single daily episode!Today’s bonus episode reviews a new article this show's producer, senior technical writer Curt Robbins. In what he calls his most controversial article to date, he explains why he resigned from a project involving a Chinese end client. Hosts Daphne and Fred share their spirited unpacking of this informative article from Robbins that explores the nuanced complexities of living up to one's core values and respecting one's conscience in the realm of their career._________________________I'm currently taking on new clients. I enjoy helping companies with their documentation and communications strategy and implementation. Contact me to learn about my reasonable rates and fast turnaround.>> View the original "Technical Writers: Respect Your Core Values" article by Robbins: https://tinyurl.com/34s2bw3d>> Read the Curt Robbins article "Helping Junior Technical Writers": https://tinyurl.com/yc82h4j7>> Read the Robbins article "10 Famous Technical Writers": https://tinyurl.com/5ejznknw>> Read the Robbins article "Tech Writers: Embrace Structured Content": https://tinyurl.com/32ysxm3v>> Read the Robbins article "Role of User Experience in Tech Writing": https://tinyurl.com/mrdtenbb>> Join the Technical Writing Success group on LinkedIn: https://tinyurl.com/mr28u7td>> Subscribe to the weekly Tech Writing Success newsletter: https://tinyurl.com/yc7dbfy3>> Subscribe to the AI for Technical Writers podcast: https://tinyurl.com/mppehxtn

Welcome to episode 127 of the Technical Writing Success podcast from Curt Robbins. This podcast is targeted at IT professionals, technical writers, and documentation specialists. Subscribe today to never miss a single daily episode!Today’s episode reviews a new article about the powerful Component Content Management System (CCMS) tool called Author-it. The article highlights the core functionalities of Author-it, including component-based authoring, single-sourcing, and content reuse, all of which are crucial for managing large volumes of enterprise documentation. It further examines Author-it's strengths in collaboration and multi-channel publishing, including its ability to efficiently handle localization. While acknowledging benefits, the review also discusses potential drawbacks such as the learning curve, initial setup complexity, and its significant financial investment. Author-it is a powerful solution for medium to large organizations seeking to enhance documentation efficiency and consistency.Hosts Daphne and Fred share their spirited unpacking of this informative article from Robbins that explores the pros and cons of Author-it._________________________I'm currently taking on new clients. I enjoy helping companies with their documentation and communications strategy and implementation. Contact me to learn about my reasonable rates and fast turnaround.>> View the original "Tool Review: Author-it" article by Robbins: https://tinyurl.com/3t2tsbny>> Ohio's Best Wildlife Videos YouTube channel: https://tinyurl.com/2bdbm444>> Read the Curt Robbins article "Helping Junior Technical Writers": https://tinyurl.com/yc82h4j7>> Read the Robbins article "10 Famous Technical Writers": https://tinyurl.com/5ejznknw>> Read the Robbins article "Tech Writers: Embrace Structured Content": https://tinyurl.com/32ysxm3v>> Read the Robbins article "Role of User Experience in Tech Writing": https://tinyurl.com/mrdtenbb>> Join the Technical Writing Success group on LinkedIn: https://tinyurl.com/mr28u7td>> Subscribe to the weekly Tech Writing Success newsletter: https://tinyurl.com/yc7dbfy3>> Subscribe to the AI for Technical Writers podcast: https://tinyurl.com/mppehxtn

Welcome to episode 126 of the Technical Writing Success podcast from Curt Robbins. This podcast is targeted at IT professionals, technical writers, and documentation specialists. Subscribe today to never miss a single daily episode!Today’s episode reviews an article from programmer and lead API documentation writer Robert Delwood that was published on Medium.Hosts Daphne and Fred share their spirited unpacking of this informative article from Delwood that explores his insights into API documentation and, in this case, the important differences between null and empty in software code. _________________________I'm currently taking on new clients. I enjoy helping companies with their documentation and communications strategy and implementation. Contact me to learn about my reasonable rates and fast turnaround.>> View the original "Thinking Like a Programmer: Understanding Null" article by Robert Delwood: https://tinyurl.com/y6pdrh9b>> Ohio's Best Wildlife Videos YouTube channel: https://tinyurl.com/2bdbm444>> Read the Curt Robbins article "Helping Junior Technical Writers": https://tinyurl.com/yc82h4j7>> Read the Robbins article "10 Famous Technical Writers": https://tinyurl.com/5ejznknw>> Read the Robbins article "Tech Writers: Embrace Structured Content": https://tinyurl.com/32ysxm3v>> Read the Robbins article "Role of User Experience in Tech Writing": https://tinyurl.com/mrdtenbb>> Join the Technical Writing Success group on LinkedIn: https://tinyurl.com/mr28u7td>> Subscribe to the weekly Tech Writing Success newsletter: https://tinyurl.com/yc7dbfy3>> Subscribe to the AI for Technical Writers podcast: https://tinyurl.com/mppehxtn

Welcome to episode 125 of the Technical Writing Success podcast from Curt Robbins. This podcast is targeted at IT professionals, technical writers, and documentation specialists. Subscribe today to never miss a single daily episode!Today’s episode reviews an article from senior technical editor Tanja Lorber in Germany that was published on LinkedIn.Hosts Daphne and Fred share their spirited unpacking of this informative article from Lorber that explores her belief that, for technical writers, a lack of feedback, or "crickets," often indicates successful documentation. They explore how this silence signifies that users are finding what they need and completing tasks without issues, in contrast to the immediate complaints that arise from poor documentation. Lorber suggests that technical writers should view this absence of negative feedback as a positive sign, representing "quiet wins." The article defines what constitutes positive feedback for content creators in a technical field._________________________I'm currently taking on new clients. I enjoy helping companies with their documentation and communications strategy and implementation. Contact me to learn about my reasonable rates and fast turnaround.>> View the original "Why Hearing Crickets as a Technical Writer Can Be a Good Thing" article by Tanja Lorber: https://tinyurl.com/4c87mjrr>> Ohio's Best Wildlife Videos YouTube channel: https://tinyurl.com/2bdbm444>> Read the Curt Robbins article "Helping Junior Technical Writers": https://tinyurl.com/yc82h4j7>> Read the Robbins article "10 Famous Technical Writers": https://tinyurl.com/5ejznknw>> Read the Robbins article "Tech Writers: Embrace Structured Content": https://tinyurl.com/32ysxm3v>> Read the Robbins article "Role of User Experience in Tech Writing": https://tinyurl.com/mrdtenbb>> Join the Technical Writing Success group on LinkedIn: https://tinyurl.com/mr28u7td>> Subscribe to the weekly Tech Writing Success newsletter: https://tinyurl.com/yc7dbfy3>> Subscribe to the AI for Technical Writers podcast: https://tinyurl.com/mppehxtn

Welcome to episode 124 (bonus) of the Technical Writing Success podcast from Curt Robbins. This podcast is targeted at IT professionals, technical writers, and documentation specialists. Subscribe today to never miss a single daily episode!Today’s episode reviews a article from Curt Robbins that he published on LinkedIn in July that describes how a $100 trail camera helped him overcome the grief of losing his wife to cancer. Hosts Daphne and Fred share their spirited unpacking of this unique article from Robbins, citing how he brought out his inner nerd with the stunning tech featured in affordable modern trail cams while simultaneously creating his own therapy sessions when he examined the videos he captured. Modern social media allows Robbins to share these amazing videos via social media. Subscribers to his YouTube channel, Ohio's Best Wildlife Videos (link below), get a new video every day. I'm currently taking on new clients. I enjoy helping companies with their documentation and communications strategy and implementation. Contact me to learn about my reasonable rates and fast turnaround.>> View the original Work-Life Balance: Trail Cam Therapy article: https://tinyurl.com/yess5uby>> Ohio's Best Wildlife Videos YouTube channel: https://tinyurl.com/2bdbm444>> Read the Curt Robbins article "Helping Junior Technical Writers": https://tinyurl.com/yc82h4j7>> Read the Robbins article "10 Famous Technical Writers": https://tinyurl.com/5ejznknw>> Read the Robbins article "Tech Writers: Embrace Structured Content": https://tinyurl.com/32ysxm3v>> Read the Robbins article "Role of User Experience in Tech Writing": https://tinyurl.com/mrdtenbb>> Join the Technical Writing Success group on LinkedIn: https://tinyurl.com/mr28u7td>> Subscribe to the weekly Tech Writing Success newsletter: https://tinyurl.com/yc7dbfy3>> Subscribe to the AI for Technical Writers podcast: https://tinyurl.com/mppehxtn

Welcome to episode 123 of the Technical Writing Success podcast from Curt Robbins. This podcast is targeted at IT professionals, technical writers, and documentation specialists. Subscribe today to never miss a single daily episode!Today’s episode reviews a video from July 22 that was published on the LiveNOW from FOX YouTube channel entitled "Destroy the Web": Sam Altman on AI Concerns for Economy and Finance." Hosts Daphne and Fred share their spirited unpacking of this video interview with one of the world's most respected names in artificial intelligence (AI), OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Altman discusses the current and future role of AI in society, including the downside of fraud and exploitation. I'm currently taking on new clients. I enjoy helping companies with their documentation and communications strategy and implementation. Contact me to learn about my reasonable rates and fast turnaround.>> View the original Destroy the Web video interview with OpenAI's Sam Altman: https://tinyurl.com/y67k662v>> Read the Curt Robbins article "Helping Junior Technical Writers": https://tinyurl.com/yc82h4j7>> Read the Robbins article "10 Famous Technical Writers": https://tinyurl.com/5ejznknw>> Read the Robbins article "Tech Writers: Embrace Structured Content": https://tinyurl.com/32ysxm3v>> Read the Robbins article "Role of User Experience in Tech Writing": https://tinyurl.com/mrdtenbb>> Join the Technical Writing Success group on LinkedIn: https://tinyurl.com/mr28u7td>> Subscribe to the weekly Tech Writing Success newsletter: https://tinyurl.com/yc7dbfy3>> Subscribe to the AI for Technical Writers podcast: https://tinyurl.com/mppehxtn

Welcome to episode 122 of the Technical Writing Success podcast from the Curt Robbins & Associates Technical Writing Agency.This podcast is targeted at IT professionals, technical writers, and documentation specialists. Subscribe today to never miss a single daily episode!Today’s episode reviews an article from Politico that was published on July 23 regarding the new AI regulatory structure that has been proposed by the Trump Administration. During a press conference, Trump signed three executive orders intended to boost American AI infrastructure, including an embrace of nuclear power.Hosts Daphne and Fred share their spirited unpacking of this article from Politico regarding how Donald Trump wants to regulate AI at the federal level and do away with state-level AI regs. The hosts also share some criticisms of the Trump plan and industry feedback, exploring where things could go wrong. The Curt Robbins & Associates Technical Writing Agency is currently taking on new clients. We enjoy helping companies with their documentation and communications strategy and implementation. Contact us to learn about our reasonable rates and fast turnaround.>> Read the original Politico article: https://tinyurl.com/5n8j6v3v>> Read the Curt Robbins article "Helping Junior Technical Writers": https://tinyurl.com/yc82h4j7>> Read the Robbins article "10 Famous Technical Writers": https://tinyurl.com/5ejznknw>> Read the Robbins article "Tech Writers: Embrace Structured Content": https://tinyurl.com/32ysxm3v>> Read the Robbins article "Role of User Experience in Tech Writing": https://tinyurl.com/mrdtenbb>> Join the Technical Writing Success group on LinkedIn: https://tinyurl.com/mr28u7td>> Subscribe to the weekly Tech Writing Success newsletter: https://tinyurl.com/yc7dbfy3>> Subscribe to the AI for Technical Writers podcast: https://tinyurl.com/mppehxtn

Welcome to episode 121 of the Technical Writing Success podcast from the Curt Robbins & Associates Technical Writing Agency.This podcast is targeted at IT professionals, technical writers, and documentation specialists. Subscribe today to never miss a single daily episode!Today’s episode reviews an article from The Old Tech Writer (Steve Arrants) that is entitled "When the Docs Are an Afterthought" and was published on Medium on August 22, 2024.Hosts Daphne and Fred share their spirited unpacking of this educational article from Arrants and his seven signs that you're working in an environment where documentation is an afterthought. These signs include a lack of standards, no collaboration, and no planning or project management. Writes Arrants: " Documentation has changed since I started in the 1980s. From print to online to interactive aids, the delivery has changed, but the need hasn't. Good documentation is critical to make your product successful, no matter how intuitive and friendly the software, hardware, or service is."Working for a company that treats documentation as an integral, crucial part of the product is great. But I’ve also worked at big and small companies that treated documentation as an afterthought. How do you tell you're in that environment? Here are some signs."The Curt Robbins & Associates Technical Writing Agency is currently taking on new clients. We enjoy helping companies with their documentation and communications strategy and implementation. Contact us to learn about our reasonable rates and fast turnaround.>> Read the original Arrants article: https://tinyurl.com/5n6ke5d6>> Read the Curt Robbins article "Helping Junior Technical Writers": https://tinyurl.com/yc82h4j7>> Read the Robbins article "10 Famous Technical Writers": https://tinyurl.com/5ejznknw>> Read the Robbins article "Tech Writers: Embrace Structured Content": https://tinyurl.com/32ysxm3v>> Read the Robbins article "Role of User Experience in Tech Writing": https://tinyurl.com/mrdtenbb>> Join the Technical Writing Success group on LinkedIn: https://tinyurl.com/mr28u7td>> Subscribe to the weekly Tech Writing Success newsletter: https://tinyurl.com/yc7dbfy3>> Subscribe to the AI for Technical Writers podcast: https://tinyurl.com/mppehxtn