Chapter 15

In this chapter, Burnett discusses technical descriptions and how they can be used. We worked with technical descriptions in one of our in-class assignments. A technical description should included details such as what it is, its propose, characteristics like size, shape, color, and its parts. Burnett also discussed how we can use technical descriptions in our careers. If you were doing first-hand research, you would need to write down your observations and data to compose a technical description of the research. Another area where we might come across technical descriptions is in training materials for a new job. When we get our first jobs after graduating, our employers will us with documents describing the tools and systems that we will be working with. They will contain the necessary details to acquaint with our new job.

Intro for Tony Bowe

My name is Tony Bowe, and my major is Computer Science. I am taking Tech Com because it's a required class for my major. I've lived in the area near Mankato for my entire life. I could have gone away from here for college, but I like it here so much because I think it's a perfect blend of urban and rural.

Intro for Jon H.

I am Jon Homan, from Madison, Wisconsin. I spent two years at Bethany Lutheran College to get my general education credits done. Now I get to take classes that I am actually interested in. Over the summer, I had an internship through a small startup company located in Mountain View, California. This startup is developing a web browser, Flock, for the social web. I worked as a support intern and was responsible for responding to support requests.

I am an open-source advocate. I believe in a free, open computer software. I am a big fan of Ubuntu, Firefox, Thunderbird and Flock. My blog has several articles on my personal interests along with my thoughts on random pieces of technology.

Chapter 1

Sorry about the lateness, but I got EXTREMELY busy last night and today.

I have experience some of the constraints that were talked about in chapter 1. I work at a car dealership, and I update the website’s inventory. I have to deal with constraints in data collection a whole lot. For example, the sales associates are supposed to fill out information sheets about cars they get on trade in, however they are not always complete, and I have to deal with the fact that there is very little information provided for me to put online. Also, I have to learn all the features of the new models we get in and make sure that I list them accurately on the web site. That can be very tough because we sell Chevy, Nissan, and Volkswagen, and they all have different features on all of their vehicles. Finally, I have to deal with time constraints in collecting data on used cars because I always have a lot of cars to add on the site, and I don’t have time to get every little feature they have.

Test

TESTING!!!

Welcome!

Welcome to the Engl 271-05 Fall 2006 Burnett blog. In this blog we are going to discuss each chapter in Rebecca Burnett's textbook, Technical Communication, as one of the main assignments for English 271-05 at Minnesota State University, Mankato. The way it works is that each student blogs a chapter in Burnett. Every other student leaves a comment on that blog each week. By the end of the semester, we will have blogged the entire book.

What are you going to write in your blog entry? Here's the topic: How does my life (at work, at university, at home) connect with the content in this particular chapte? For example, you might be a long distance runner. That means that you might keep very detailed records about your training runs: distance, weather, time, and conditions. In this case you would make connections with chapter content and your record keeping (as a kind of technical document.)