E-readers are portable, low-power, high-resolution devices that display digital versions of written material from books, magazines, newspapers, and other printed sources. They typically use e-ink, a display technology designed to simulate printed paper that offers similar resolution as newsprint and, relative to an LCD screen, eliminates glare and reduces eyestrain. Digital texts can be updated easily and often include advanced features such as annotation, hyperlinking, cross-linking, saved views, interactive quizzes for individual study, analyses, and shared commentary. E-readers are changing the economics of text-based intellectual property, including educational materials, and a move to digital texts would have broad implications both for the traditional campus bookstore and for an institution’s library.

In the TREAD Act of November 1, 2000, Congress required the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to develop a rule requiring all new light vehicles to be equipped with a warning system to indicate to the driver when a tire is significantly underinflated. Research was conducted to assess the ability of two existing ISO symbols and 13 proposed alternative symbols to communicate the message of tire underinflation. An existing dashboard icon representing an engine was included as a baseline. A comprehension test was conducted in which each of 120 subjects was asked to report the meaning of one tire pressure icon and the engine icon. Results showed 25 and 37.5% comprehension for the ISO tire icons. All of the 13 alternative icons had better comprehension: 6 of 13 had 100%; 2 of 13 had 87.5% comprehension. The type of wheel pictured in tire image based icons was found to affect comprehension. Results suggest that alternatives to the ISO icons should be considered for use in alerting drivers to tire inflation problems. Mazzae, Elizabeth N. and Thomas A. Ranney

Getting close to your microphone usually results in something called “the proximity effect.” As you get close, most microphones amplify your voice in a rich, deep way. The proximity effect can make you sound like a late-night DJ. Some microphones give you the best proximity effect when you’re practically kissing the mic. Unfortunately, as you get closer to a microphone, the microphone starts to pick up more sounds from your mouth. Johnson, Tom H.

Whether magician or crook, the ability to manipulate the contents of a deck of cards, making the right card appear at the right moment, is the key to their success and takes a long time and a lot of practice to perfect. The obvious take away here is that hard work will take you far, but what of working smarter? McLean, Gordon

Come to think of it, technical writers are pretty weird individuals. And proud of it. You’d have to be, um, unusual, to actually enjoy writing. What goes into the making of someone who does technical writing all day? Rumours are that we’re intensely interested in the exact placement of a semicolon. Well, that’s true of course. But there’s more. Nesbitt, Scott

Most questions have been asked before. This isn’t a profound statement; most of us would consider it obvious. Just ask anyone on your Product Support team. Chances are the majority of calls they receive are fielded with canned answers. Why? Because we all seem to ask the same questions. By providing answers to those questions, you can help the majority of your users get back on track quickly. Haiss, Craig

Carliner tells a history in two parallel strands, first how TC evolved in a large IT company (IBM), and then how technological developments changed the TC workplace. Telling the histories one after the other makes for some redundancy; I’ll merge the strands into one in my summary. Weber, Kai

Since its inception in 1996, CSS has provided a way of displaying these other weights through use a numerical scale with the font-weight property. This is still almost entirely broken in every current browser except Firefox 3 on Mac.

When you write a script for a video (or when you create a general outline), you can avoid the problem of the eternal video — which I refer to as a sense of rambling — by simply keeping the video short. Don’t try to cover too much ground. You can generally speak about 100 words a minute, so keep that in mind with your script. 200 words is a good length. If you don’t believe me, when you watch videos, look at the video’s time counter and note when you start losing your attention. My patience times out at about three minutes. So I always try to keep my videos at three minutes or less. Johnson, Tom H.

Wondering how to improve your chances of getting that ideal next (or first) job as a technical communicator? This article explains some of our views on one of the most important elements of your job search.

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You’ve probably heard that Apple recently released the iPad. The absence of Flash Player on the device seems to have awakened the HTML5 vs. Flash debate. Apparently, it’s the final nail in the coffin for Flash. The arguments run wide, strong, and legitimate on both sides. However, the issue is larger than which one is better. It’s about preference and politics. It’s an arms race. This is the Cold War of the Web. Mall, Dan

The internet did not replace television, which did not replace cinema, which did not replace books. E-books aren’t going to replace books either. E-books are books, merely with a different form. The electronic book is the latest example of how HTML continues to win out over competing, often nonstandardized, formats. E-books aren’t websites, but E-books are distributed electronically. Now the dominant E-book format is XHTML. Clark, Joe

"Should everybody write?" That's the question to ask when looking at the cyberjunk permeating the World Wide Web. Some critics find the glut of internet prose obnoxious, scary, even dangerous. They see too many people, with too little talent, writing about too many things. Baron, Denis

As the publishing industry wobbles and Kindle sales jump, book romanticists cry themselves to sleep. But really, what are we shedding tears over? We’re losing the dregs of the publishing world: disposable books. The book printed without consideration of form or sustainability or longevity. The book produced to be consumed once and then tossed. The book you bin when you’re moving and you need to clean out the closet. These are the first books to go. And I say it again, good riddance. Mod, Craig

A recent blog post by Craig Mod, a self-titled computer programmer, book designer and book publisher, offers a thoughtful and distinctive perspective on the move of books from paper to interactive devices like Apple’s iPad. Mr. Mod summarizes his argument in the subtitle of his post: “Print is dying. Digital is surging. Everyone is confused. Good riddance.” Bilton, Nick

Given the disconnections between technical communication classroom assessment and professional workplace assessment, the author suggests that technical communication programs learn from workplaces’ best practices to develop authentic classroom assessment and better prepare students for workplace performance. Authentic classroom assessment also generates meaningful student learning evidence, which can be used in outcome-based program reviews for us to reach more comprehensive and accurate assessment of programs’ education success. The article details how this integrated, two-tier framework can be carried out at both the classroom and program levels and discusses its programmatic benefits. Yu, Han

The last decade has seen a surge in the number of professional communication doctoral programs. This sudden growth has led to new program administrators around the country rethinking how best to approach graduate study in professional communication. One area is the status of courses taken outside the home department, also known as cognate courses. This article explores the rationale for the various approaches to the cognate course by PhD programs in technical and professional communication. We explain reasons for discouraging, allowing, or requiring the cognate course. And though there are good reasons for each stance, we conclude by arguing for an interdisciplinary approach to doctoral professional communication programs of study that requires cognate courses. Christiansen, David, Keith Gibson and Laura Vernon

This article analyzes how and why technical communication programs can and should integrate courses within general education curricula, discussing relevant scholarship and our own case study. We address the rationale for positioning a course among traditional liberal arts offerings, the cultural challenges that pose obstacles to doing so, and the potential benefits. We also describe our process proposing a technical communication course for general education, the design of that course, lessons learned, the successful outcome, and the encouraging implications for other technical communication programs and for our field, especially at a time when undergraduate curriculum reform is prevalent. Rehling, Louise and Neil Lindeman