Articles

This is a first attempt at collecting the articles that I’ve* written and that are available online. It’s not an exhaustive list and some articles may have been omitted by sheer shame oversight. This, like everything else in life, is a work in progress.

In no particular order, except in the order that they are listed, here goes:

Humour

Warning: Humour is known to be harmful to work environments.

• The curse of Valentine’s day: I wrote the first draft on a beach in Goa. In an unrelated note, thankfully, the curse has been lifted.
• What’s fiction got to do with it?My first humour column for Indus, an Indian magazine about technical communication.
• The God of technical writing: Second humour column for Indus about the religious influences in technical writing.
• I don’t know Frame: And I still don’t know (Adobe) Framemaker.
• A day in the life of a (software) technical writer: Honestly, this never happens.

Non-Fiction (Busted Halo)

I wrote a series of articles for BustedHalo.com and it was a fun experience. I also had a wonderful editor who really made these pieces so much better.

• Begging the question: About begging with a Lenten perspective.
• Conflicts on the clock: About dilemmas of conscience at work.
• Indiana accident: About a car accident and how strangers and friends helped me.
• You are what you don’t eat: About fasting (during Lent) and you have to try the burger at Thurman’s.
• The outsourcing thing: My perspective on the then-hot topic of outsourcing.
• God on the job: Finding the Divine through loving what you do.
• Shrine-Resistant: About prayer and whether it matters where you pray.
• Starry, Starry Night: About midnight mass at St. Mary’s in Hyderabad.
• Busted… in Bangalore:Short interviews with a few people about the tsunami’s effect on their faith in God.
• Dark season: About depression and its bleak perspectives.

Technology (Computers@Home/Living Digital)

I wrote these articles for Living Digital, way back when it was called Computers@Home. Another editor who improved my writing, especially since I was a newbie to the whole “article writing” thingamie.

Updated 04-Sep-2007: The links for this section seems to be broken, so you’ll have to trust me when I tell you that the magazine did publish these articles.

• Speed Demon: Way back when Opera was not that well-known.
• Get listed: About electronic mailing lists.
• PC Tomorrow: A somewhat futuristic look at the PC.
• New age radio: What else but Internet radio?
• The Xbox Uncovered: I wrote about this and I still haven’t touched an X-box. No, haven’t touched it.
• Faster, Better Word: Maybe some of these tips may help some of you.
• Artificial Intelligence: My first article for a magazine was nothing short of a disaster. Except that I had this nice editor who chopped and changed and made it readable.

Technology (I.T. Magazine)

I’ve recently started writing articles for I.T. magazine on technology (what else?). The articles are not available online but you can buy the magazine and read them.

• What’s Nanotechnology got to do with IT?: A look at the small, small, small world of nanotechnology, which actually is a huge field. Very interesting article to write especially because I learned so much about nanotechnology.
• Cryptography: How safe and secure are the underlying algorithms?: This was a tough article to write because crypto is a complex topic. Fortunately, a couple of researchers patiently answered my questions and the article came out pretty well. It did.
• The Changing Face of Human Computer Interaction: This was a an interesting article to write because HCI is a topic that I’m familiar with and enjoy.

CharityFocus Profiles

Profiles of a couple of Charity Focus volunteers. This was fun to do and I did the interviews over email.

• Redefining Volunteering
• The road less travelled

Writing-related

• Freelancing in India: My first article related to writing published on a website. This gave me worldwide (read: two people) acclaim.
• How to use Google Effectively: An article about Google with a decided slant towards writers with Lord of the Rings references.
• Seek and Ye Shall Find: About Google for technical writers–a tad dry if you ask me. (This article was the basis for the other article on Google.)
• Technical Writing Unraveled: Article for writers on how to get started in technical writing.

Th..Th..That’s all folks.

* — Some articles may be written under pseudonyms which may be confusing but that’s me in a nutshell–confusing. They’re my articles though.

PS: If you find any broken links, please let me know.

PPS: If you have come this far, you’re either related to me, or you’re slacking off at work–which in a roundabout way could mean that you’re related to me.

Updated: 26-Jan-2008