If you are a software developer, no one wants to delve further after hearing software, that what exactly that mean. But, technical writing, is whole new story altogether. Now, this is wat happened,

Uncle- What do you do beta

Me – (hmmm….should i tell him)? I work for xyz company…(this will buy me some time)

Uncle – as what?

Me – (dammit…I wanted more time) Well…(here goes nothing) I work as an Information developer

Uncle – (zonked…maybe she codes)so u are in software

Me – (the technical writer pride strikes again…I have to explain my identity) No…I write..i do technical writing

Uncle – (?…yes that was his expression) oh ok (not a convincing yes)

Me – I do technical writing….I write user manuals, install guide, development guide, so on

Uncle – as in?

Me – (lets get downright simple)Uncle…when you buy any syrup based medicine…a small pamphlet that comes with instructions..

Uncle – so u write that??

Me – (let me complete) No…i write sumthin like that….

Uncle – I don’t get it

Me – (thank u god I need to get off this rick)Uncle…basically I write (and the conversation ends)

So, moral of the story is that I am proud of my career choice and I am very happy to tell people that I am in this career by choice and not chance. Have you faced any such situation where the same question was asked to you by some non technical person and you had a hard time explaining, then please share

Methi is a very beautiful vegetable. I love the methi theplas that my gujrati friends used to get. Now, my brother likes paneer and so I though the only way to make him eat methi was to mix paneer with methi.

Here is the recipe –

Ingredients –

Paneer (cottage cheese) – 200 gm
Kasuri methi (dried form of methi) – 1 small cup
2 medium tomatoes – chopped finely
1 small onion – chopped
6 garlic pods – chopped
1 inch ginger – chopped
1 green chilly – chopped
Red chilly powder
Salt to taste
Oil
Turmeric
Jeera powder
Cumin seeds – 1 tsp

Procedure –
1) In a pan, fry the kasuri methi till it is crisp.
2) In a kadai, put some oil and cumin seeds.
3) Fry the chopped onions, till golden in color.
4) Put in the paneer pieces and fry for 1 min.
5) Throw in the chopped tomatoes, ginger, garlic, chilly, red chilly powder, turmeric, jeera powder.
6) Keep mixing till the tomatoes leave oil.
7) After this, put in the fried kasuri methi and mix well.
Fry for another 2 mins and garnish with chopped coriander.

This really tastes good even though the bitterness does not completely vanish. But the only disappointment that I have with this recipe is that I could not get the paneer to remain soft.
I will look out for a tip to keep the paneer soft no matter what.

After much of an effort I finally found a really nice and easy recipe here. I had got all the ingredients many days back. Now, the warrior had set her foot in the kitchen. I even bought a heart-shaped mould so that it has mercy and my first cake comes out great.

The recipe is really great and yes I will be giving it here. I set out with a lot of vigor but was really soon bogged down when I sieved the flour and the sugar together, when I was supposed to sieve the flour and the baking powder together. I was really nervous about the way the cake would turn out.

Here is the actual recipe and I will hint where I made a mistake.

Ingredients –
1 and ½ cup all purpose flour (maida)
1 and ¼ cup sugar (powdered)
1 cup butter
1 tsp baking powder
4 eggs

You might want to use baking soda instead of baking powder if you want ur cake not stiff and more light.

Procedure –
1) Sieve the flour and baking soda together.
2) Melt the butter in a double boiler and cool down.
3) Sieve the powdered sugar and mix it well with the butter to make a smooth paste.
4) Now, add the eggs one after another continuously beating it.
5) Now is the time you need to preheat your OTG or oven to 350 c for 10 mins.
6) Add the flour one spoon after another mixing it well with the mixture so that no lumps are formed.
7) At this point, you can add dry fruits or cherries dusted in flour.
Pour the mixture in a greased and flour dusted pan and bake at 350c for 40 mins. Keep looking at the cake if you are doing it for the first time.

I made a mistake at the first step and my cake came out a little bit hard. You can try this recipe, it is really easy and yummy.

The reasons I am using Camtasia is to understand this thing called screen video capturing. I have used snagit but only the screen capture part of it. I want to know what more does Camtasia offer in comparison with Snagit.

I have downloaded the Camtasia trial version from here. The installation wizard is pretty self explanatory. One beautiful thing about Camtasia is that it gives you an option of linking Camtasia with MS powerpoint to work with ease while creating presentations. The following screen is the first screen that opens up when you open the application.

The navigation is smooth and the welcome dialog box is great for a newbie like me. You can create recordings with or without voice narration. I tried creating and successfully created a small video of how to open Google and generate a search. It looks smooth and doesn’t have the blur effect which other tools generally give. Next, I tried editing the video created, which led to this screen.

Isnt it cool that you have options to save it as per the media it is going to be used in. This is amazing, I can create quizzes and that is something I dint know, even in the multiple tutorials I went through. I created a small quiz using the Add quiz and survey option.

You can create tutorials and coursed and add in the quizzes after each section. This was not difficult because of the menus that appear on the screen while you are editing your clip. You can customize your quiz to have objective questions, fields, or radio buttons. It has a nice interface and that is the need of the new generation.

I generated trying to accommodate most of the features that Camtasia.

Any average reader has the interest rate of 3-5 mins. If you are not able to get the readers attention, promising him that this will get better as you read, you have lost your potential reader. As a user, when I am visiting blogs, too much of text (content) deviates my attention to other things on the page.

I feel people like multimedia rich content. With the advent of new tools in the writing market, we have an array of products that let you, even with the slightest knowledge of any imaging software, create content that is actually beautiful and makes sense.

I am listing a few tools, some which I have used and some that due to shortage of funds, I am yet to use. I am though trying to download the trial versions. I hate trial versions, because once you start getting the hang of the tool, the trial period is over. This in no way means that I am a slow learner.


Tool1 – Adobe Framemaker

Though many won’t agree that Framemaker is a user friendly tool, I adore this product. I think if you give time to learning it, you will get to know the kind of flexibility it offers. I have used FM 7.2 and found it really good to work with. This tool lets you work with images and text easily. I amyet to work with Framemaker 8 but really would love to explore it. I would recommend Framemaker for the print media. Has anyone used it for online media creation?

Tool2 – Camtasia

I am yet to use this but have heard a lot of this tool. This one is great for the online medium, with its features like screen recording and easy to use interface. The interface for latest version Camtasia 6 is amazing and eye catching. On the feature ground, it lets you select the media where the video is going to be used to intuitively set the width and height. Read the full review here.

Tool3 – Flare

It is a complete authoring system. Now that the rates have dropped, you can have your own copy at 499 USD. This tool offers Mimic, Capture, and Echo provide multimedia publishing integration, localization friendly, X-edit review support to insert comments after review, and much more. It has a really user-friendly interface. I wont comment much till I review it myself.

Tool4 – Robohelp 7

The good old tool called robohelp. One more on my trial list. The lates version is supposed to boast of feature to give a tough match to Madcap Flare. You can read the hands on experience of some here.

It’s not that I am bored of Goa, but I have seen enough of Goa. I have certain places in my mind that I have listed down in my book that I want to visit before I turn 45. The places are small and big, but equally beautiful and scenic. The list can be never ending but maybe I can start it and then go on revising it.

Taj Mahal

It was created as a gift to a wife from a loving husband. Have to see it.

Nainital –

I am from Mumbai and I find snow amusing. There are many attractions here like snow view, Naina peak, Tiffin Top, ropeway, horse riding, and boating etc. There is a place called View Point’ which is another beautiful tourist spot, 5 kms away from Nainital where you can have a glimpse of mighty Himalayan range.

Kerala –

Even though kerala is much like Goa, it still boasts of the most scenic places, and of course who can miss Kerala backwaters.

Rajasthan –

I have never seen deserts and no other place with deserts is as beautiful as Rajasthan. With the Pink city under it, who would want to miss this must see place.

Kausani –

Many people are still unknown of such places. Actually, even I dint know that such a place existed. It was when one of my friends went for a small trip to this place that I got to see the beautiful sceneries. It is a hill station and you will notice my list has many hill stations, because I have an affinity towards cold places.

Arunachal Pradesh –

I just feel very religious and serene when I think of any place in the east. East is like the underdog, who attracts people because of its mystic charm.
I will keep adding more to the list as and when I see more pictures on the Internet on someone’s blog.

So here comes the recipe –

Ingredients –
Chicken – 500gms
Vindaloo masala (freshly made)
Oil to fry and for tadka (tempering)
Curry leaves – 5 in nos
Little bit of mustard seeds
Before you begin to make the actual chicken pickle, you need to prepare the vindaloo masala. For the masala, just grind together 12 kashmiri chillies + 2 green chillies(optional) + 1 inch ginger + 10 garlic buds + 1 tsp jeera + 7 peppercorns . The grinding has to be done with vinegar. You can also add a little bit of tamarind juice for extra tanginess.
Now for the actual recipe, fry the chiken strips in oil till half cooked and keep aside. In a pan, put some oil and let the mustard seeds splutter. After this, drop in the curry leaves. Now add the vindaloo masala, cook the masala. It’s ok if the masala is little watery, cause that will help cook the chicken. Oops, I forgot to mention, please drop in the chicken now.
Mix the chicken and masala and cook it covered (put some water on the covering lid so that the chicken doesn’t stick to the pan). Let the chicken cook. After it is done, dry up the gravy till the consistency you require. This is how it looks -

This can be eaten as is, like a starter or with chapatti. I am not a fan of rice so I prefer chapatti.

P.S: One variation is that if you do not manage to get the kashmiri chillies, add in your chilli powder. But please be cautious you don’t want to be constipated with extra spicy food.

Please leave your feedback if you have tried this recipe.

Just couple of days back I was under a very strict deadline and work thrown at me from all directions. I was coding in my editor, clarifying doubts from developers, sorting out my reviews, incorporating my review comments, and producing innumerable PDFs. All this at the same time. I was going crazy and really snapping at everyone on my way.

Now I did not have the time then to ponder over quick remedies to digest work pressure or pressure of deadlines. So now, I though I will list down a few things which you , sitting at your office desk, can do to release the tension off your shoulders.

Tip1 – Take a deep breath with closed eyes

I don’t know how it works but it works wonders. Whenever I have a writers block, I say “OK… (take a deep breath and close my eyes..release the breath and open my eyes). It works wonders, it’s as if the things get sorted out and I know the order in which I need to prioritize my work.

Tip2 – Sit straight

I don’t know if many people will agree, but even now when I am writing this article, my brains are unconsciously telling me to sit straight. I can think better, work faster, work clearly, and organize better. It works for me.
Tip3 – Take a short trip to the pantry

Walk. Go to the pantry and fill your water bottle. Deviate your thoughts just for few minutes to some thing nice that you plan to do in your vacation time.

Tip4 – Twist your neck
Ok not literally twist you neck. Do this simple exercise to make things better. Sit straight and move your neck to the right, back, left and back to original position. Do the same anticlockwise. This works great if you do it really slow. Another thing to do is to look down, till you feel the pressure or stretch in your back. Hold for a few seconds and then release.

These tips are just like a topical treatment you have for pimples. They might not work if you are having serious trouble adjusting to the work pressure. Consult your doctor for help if coping is becoming difficult.

I am new to the field of technical writing, relatively new. I would be wrong if I say that I am extremely good at writing. I have a cumulative experience of 2 years working as a Technical writer. How does a country produce good writers, isn’t it by encouraging the seasoned writers to give these writers a chance?

I read the opportunity for the TWIN e-book on one of baby forums. I was excited just to see and understand the lifecycle of this opportunity. I noticed the project on the 8th of December, and I think I was late in replying by the 10th. I am a part of the TWIN-India portal since 1 year but did not receive the mail and could not be a part of this beautiful project. I was disappointed not to be a part of this but excited that the aim of the project was to help combine a humongous collection of articles.

The project posted and the team was to produce this. The team has put in great efforts to get this product out in the open. It is a great read and nicely done. I really appreciate the patience and efforts put in by the team.

My disappointments though remain that not many young writers were involved in this project. This could have benefited many writers had they got an opportunity to participate. This would be a learning opportunity for many, meeting many experienced writers. Being among people like Guru, Anindita, Swaminathan Moorthy, and many more. They could have learned many writing tricks and tips.

I wish the team would have made this oppurtnity more visible and approachable. The only thing writers like me can expect is another golden opportunity like this where assistance is desired. I look forward to being part of the TWIN team in the future.

But the only thing that intrigued me was this small handy thing with just 3 buttons. Much to my amazement, it made me wonder how the whole world of a keyboard could be shattered and controlled. I loved it the moment I set my eyes on it. To cut this nostalgia short, today’s world has replaced the much adored gadget with touch screens.

I am not quite a fan of the touch pad on laptops and still bank on my mouse for navigation ease. I thought of strolling to the gadget store for a USB mouse, and was surprised to such limited options. I could see a large variety in Web cameras but the mouse was still black, still huge, and still boring.

That is when I though i need to research if there are really any good looking mice for this cat ( hmmm..dnt take the other meaning). The research found the following results -

1) Piggy mouse

Who wants a piggy surprise to click away to glory? This weird looking thing can work great -

2) Heart mouse

Well what more can an ailing heart ask for -

3) Insect embedded surprise

Do you want a kinky surprise every time you click ?

There are many such weird computer mouse that you can find here. See them and I wonder, when will I get one of those.