English 421Y: Technical Writing Online

This week was spent revising our group’s rough draft. From the feedback received, it was apparent that we needed to include an executive summary. I’ve used these several times in engineering reports, so I volunteered to write one for the group.

Throughout the rest of the week I read and re-read each of the drafts that were sent out. Once I realized that the D-Link router had draft-n capabilities, I notified Kristin that the introduction and specification tables needed to be updated accordingly. I also revised the executive summary to reflect the changes.

This week, each group member worked to complete their own section of the report so that everything could be compiled before Friday. After reviewing our individual drafts from last week, we realized that some characteristics weren’t covered for all products. Also, our formats were not consistent with each other. During the first couple days, I revised my rough draft so that the information was adequate enough for the reader to make an informed decision from our paper.

This week our group has been working to complete the rough draft of our white paper. First, we completed our new thumbnail design over this past weekend. After reviewing each member’s thumbnails from last week, we were able to combine the best attributes into a new design template. We also decided to use Adobe InDesign to create a master template that could be used for the entire paper.

This past week was spent doing research, designing a thumbnail, and creating a draft of my section. During the first few days, I began taking notes from the sources I had found last week. I also searched for new sources as I came across topics that needed more explanation or enhanced credibility. I was then able to come up with an organized series of facts and opinions using Microsoft OneNote, and I also completed my three research blogs for Friday.

My third research blog covers information from the website http://hardwaretechreview.com/linksys-wrt54g2-wireless-g-router-review, which includes another tech review. It touches upon a few other features that my second research blog didn’t cover.

This research blog summarizes information from PC World, Australia (http://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/review/networking_wireless_voip/linksys/wi...). The website includes a comprehensive review of the Linksys WRT54G2 wireless router.

My first research blog summarizes information from the website http://www.linksysbycisco.com/US/en/products/WRT54G2, which is provided by the manufacturer of the Linksys WRT54G2. In my opinion, this website is the most reliable source of information for finding the features included with this product.

As students, we constantly hear about ethical situations. “Don’t download music illegally.” “Don’t copy your homework.” “Make sure to cite your sources.” We’re all expected to know Purdue’s policies on academic dishonesty and follow them accordingly. Furthermore, there are classes in our curriculums that cover professional ethics, so most of the information in this chapter wasn’t exactly new to me.

This week our group narrowed our topic choices down to a comparison of routers designed for home networking. After identifying our subject area and audience, I was able to find three popular router options in the $40 - $60 price range that our group will be researching. These include the D-Link DIR-615, the Netgear WGR614, and the Linksys WRT54G2.