Tom Risser

Technical Writer

{ Phone: 415.515.2999}

Some Recent Projects

1. For Tellme, a Microsoft subsidiary: Documented five Web Service software applications in the company's cloud computing product line.
   
   
2. For Tellme, a Microsoft subsidiary: Wrote a VoiceXML Tutorial that introduces programmers to VoiceXML, the XML language for creating Interactive Voice Recognition applications. The tutorial, which covers the functionality defined in the W3C standards for VoiceXML 2.0 and 2.1, is composed of an introduction, ten lessons, and three appendices. It is published on the Microsoft Developer Network at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff770014.aspx.
   
   
3. For Tellme, a Microsoft subsidiary: Wrote Tellme Speech Service Grammar Developer’s Guide, a guide to developing XML speech recognition grammars that are consistent with the W3C standards: Speech Recognition Grammar Specification 1.0 and Semantic Interpretation for Speech Recognition 1.0. The guide is published on the Microsoft Developer Network at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee800148.aspx.
   
   
4. For Sun Microsystems, X64 Systems Group: Wrote a complete set of documentation (including an Installation Guide, Configuration Guide, Administration Guide, Service Manual, and Product Notes for a storage blade that operates in a blade chassis with nine different server blades (including ones with Intel, AMD and SPARC processors).
   I was the sole author of this documentation, which can be found online at http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/E19045-01/blade.6000disk/index.html.
   
   
5. For Quova: Updated the Server Guide, Java API Guide, and .NET API Guide for Quova’s GeoDirectory 7 client server software. GeoDirectory 7 is used by Web servers to determine the geographic location of Web site visitors.
   
   
6. For Sun Microsystems, 64 Systems Group: Wrote and/or updated a number of Installation Guides, Service Manuals, User’s Guides, and Operating System Installation Guides for 64-bit servers and disk arrays (both rack-mounted and blade modules). The servers are based on AMD or Intel CPUs.
   
   
7. For Quova: Updated the Server Guide, Java API Guide, C/C++ API Guide, and Web Service Guide for Quova’s GeoDirectory 6 client server software. Also created a new .NET (C#) API Guide. GeoDirectory 6 is used by Web servers to determine the geographic location of Web site visitors.
   
   
8. For Sun Microsystems, Java Group: Wrote four chapters of the Learning the Java Language section of The Java Tutorial (Classes and Objects, Interfaces and Inheritance, Numbers and Strings, and Packages). This tutorial is available online (http://java.sun.com/docs/books/tutorial/java/index.html) and as a published book (search for Tom Risser on http://www.amazon.com).
   
   
9. For Spoken Translation: Wrote a User's Guide and Online Help for "Converser," a Windows-based translation program that assists English speaking medical personnel in communication with Spanish speaking patients. The program features voice and handwriting recognition on a tablet PC. The documentation is available in English and Spanish.
   
   
10. For NetIQ: Wrote Administrator's Guides and User's Guides for a succession of new .Net-based User Interfaces for NetIQ's flagship product, "AppManager." AppManager is a script-based system for monitoring the performance and availability of mission-critical servers and applications on networked Windows, UNIX, and Linux platforms.
    
    
11. For NetIQ: Wrote Developing Custom Application Modules, the documentation for an SDK to be used by NetIQ development partners who want to develop plug-in applications for NetIQ's "AppManager." The documentation includes sample applications, with source code, for Windows (VBScript scripts, calling C++ COM objects) and UNIX (Perl scripts, calling Perl modules or C++ objects).
    
    
12. For Hewlett-Packard: Wrote an Installation and Configuration Guide for the HP Server Remote Management Card--printed documentation for a PCI card and associated software that allows Web-based remote monitoring, inspection, and management of HP servers on a LAN. Also produced platform-independent, browser-independent, HTML-based help for this system.
    
    
13. For Hewlett-Packard: Wrote an Installation and Configuration Guide for the HP Rapid Auto-Deployment System, a command-line system for deployment of software images to install BIOS, firmware, operating systems, RAID configurations and application software onto computers on LANs and WANs.
    
    
14. For Sigaba: Wrote Installation & Configuration Guides for Sigaba's server products. These servers (a mail gateway, an encryption key server, and a Courier Mail server) are used to encrypt and decrypt e-mail in a variety of corporate settings.
    
    
15. For Inxight Software, Visualization Products Division: Wrote a complete set of documentation for Inxight's Star Tree SDK for Java, including printed manuals and HTML-based help for each of: a Product Orientation, a Programmer's Guide, a Programmer's Reference Manual, and a Guide to the Demonstration Software. The Star Tree is a next-generation user interface for Web sites, featuring a "hyperbolic tree" developed at Xerox PARC.
    
    
16. For Icarian: Wrote Functional Requirements & Specifications for all of the component pieces of a complex J2EE development framework for rapid customization of business-to-business Web software. Also wrote an architectural overview explaining how all the pieces worked together that was later used to educate newly hired software developers.
    
    
17. For Inxight Software, Visualization Products Division: Wrote a complete set of documentation for Inxight's Hyperbolic Tree SDK for ActiveX 2.1, including printed manuals and HTML Help for each of: a Product Orientation, a Programmer's Guide, a Programmer's Reference Manual, and a Guide to the Demonstration Software. This is a Microsoft COM version of the same product whose Java version was mentioned above. The Programmer's Guide and Reference Manuals each have two versions, one for MFC/C++ developers, and one for Visual Basic Developers.
    
    
18. For Hewlett-Packard: wrote a Deployment Guide for HP TopTools. TopTools is a hardware management tool that provides, using a Web browser: inventory, fault, asset, performance, and security management of all HP devices anywhere on a LAN.
    
    
19. For Oceania: Wrote an online Programmer's Guide and Reference Manual for OcNotes, a COM API for medical record-keeping software. Approximately 30 objects and 250 object members were documented. Wrote sample code for the entire API in Visual Basic.