Roger Hart

Roger is a Technical Author at Red Gate, currently working on SQL Compare 8. He also enjoys literary modernism, RPGs and beer festivals.

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21 December 2010
21 December 2010

Tron: Legacy, 3D goggles, and embedded UA

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The 3D edition of Tron: Legacy opens with embedded user assistance. The film starts with an iconic white-on-black command-prompt message exhorting viewers to keep their 3D glasses on throughout. I can’t quote it verbatim, and at the time of writing nor could anybody findable with 5 minutes of googling. But it was something like: “Although … Read more
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08 November 2010
08 November 2010

Stop using Paper.li

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Or at least find a way to use it right. Last week, a blog I read went off on a bit of a rant about Instagram. The post seems to be suffering from a little data vs information befuddlement, and a slight miss-location of the value of photographs. But its perspective is one that had … Read more
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14 April 2010
14 April 2010

Video games, content strategy, and failure – oh my.

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Last night was the CS London group’s event Content Strategy, Manhattan Style. Yes, it’s a terrible title, feeling like a self-conscious grasp for chic, something sadly commensurate with the venue. Fortunately, this was not commensurate with the event itself, which was lively, relevant, and engaging. Although mostly if you’re a consultant. This is a strong … Read more
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17 March 2010
17 March 2010

Ad-hoc taxonomy: owning the chess set doesn’t mean you decide how the little horsey moves

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There was one of those little laugh-or-cry moments recently when I heard an anecdote about content strategy failings at a major online retailer. The story goes a bit like this: successful company in a highly commoditized marketplace succeeds on price and largely ignores its content team. Being relatively entrepreneurial, the founders are still knocking around, … Read more
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23 November 2009
23 November 2009

What if bad documentation gets there first?

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I read an interesting blog snippet a while ago about information visualizations and their capacity to set change our view of the world. It asks whether we as information designers have a moral responsibility to our users that governs how we model their worlds (“First, do no mimetic harm.”). I feel like that about documentation … Read more
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23 July 2009
23 July 2009

Continuous Integration with SQL Toolbelt

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Sometimes, you wish you had a tool to run a software development process exactly the way you need it to run. You click your heels together and then realise that you already have the means to do it. By combining tools that can work in command-line mode, or can be automated in other ways, you can sometimes save a great deal of time and tedium. Roger Hart rummages into the SQL Toolbelt and comes up with some practical examples for providing Continuous Integration, along with the code!… Read more
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09 April 2009
09 April 2009

Words like things

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<p>Did anybody go to the Information Design Conference last week? If not, you missed a fascinating presentation by <a href=”http://www.infodesign.org.uk/2009-conference/speakers/wong.php”>Michèle Wong</a> on semantic, mimetic, typography. I’m not really able to do it justice here – it was a dense, detailed presentation on some pretty big ideas. This, unfortunately, is rather more whistle-stop. In fact, when … Read more
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24 March 2009
24 March 2009

Video for user assistance, a few questions

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Working on SQL Compare 8, I spent some time thinking about video. It’s a bit different, it’s fun, and it’s a good excuse to watch things on YouTube and call it “research”. As a way we communicate (technically) with our users, it’s also an area that rather interests the Technical Communications team. Surprising, that. We’re … Read more
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