Welcome to Lantastik Consulting

Hello!!! My name is Patricia Perlo. I am a self-employed technical writer and Lantastik Consulting, Inc. is my corporation. I specialize in documentation for IT environments and cover every phase of documentation production from template design, writing, distribution, and security. I spent a year at New York University studying networking technology. I have extensive coursework in graphic arts, print production, and web tools at both the New School University and the School of Visual Arts. Over the past two years, I have become interested in wireless technology, the evolving 802.11 standards and Bluetooth.

I have a broad range of technical writing experience covering server, workstation, and laptop build instructions for large scale corporate rollouts and accompanying user documentation. In addition to Novell and Microsoft Operating systems, my background includes UNIX, Solaris, Mainframe Operations Procedures, Telecommunications, patch and update instructions and proprietary software. For one of my clients, I wrote and taught two in-house course on Basic Networking and Windows 95. I am a technicians technical writer because part of my career involved high level desktop support, building workstations and servers, and computer training.

I received my BA from New York University and an MA from Columbia University Teachers College. A partial list of my clients include: JPMorgan/Chase, Deutchebank, Societe Generale, White and Case, LLP, and Finlay Fine Jewelers.

Professionally, I am a member of the New York PC Users Group. Within NYPC, I am a co-founder of the Special Interest Group (SIG) on Palm Computing and a member of the Enterprise Windows SIG.

I have taught Windows NT/95 as a seminar series for NYPC have received media requests from TAP Magazine and Paris L'Express.

I have done presentations on Palm Pilot and the Wireless World at the New School University, the Long Island PC Users Group and the Amateur Computer User Group of New Jersey. I also gave a talk to the Palm SIG on Bluetooth technology.

None of the technical writing sites I have seen tell anything about what the writers know. I'll tell you a bit of what I know and about some of my other interests and hobbies.

This site is organized into five sections.

Writing is a online portfolio of the work I have done. It is not everything, but it gives the viewer a comprehensive overview of the breadth and depth of my experience. I used Adobe Acrobat with 40 bit encryption so that those of you with Acrobat Reader 4 will be able to view the files. For some parts of the portfolio, I used custom defined compressions in Acrobat to make the files small enough to fit on the website. Permissions are set in Acrobat so the files can be viewed, however you will be unable to print, extract images, or change content. Click here to download the Acrobat Reader. I strongly urge everyone to upgrade to Acrobat Reader version 6. It enables you to do more with photographs.

FrameMaker - Templates for correct formating are essential to repurpose individual documents for multiple publication formats. Writing fits a template not the other way around. Proofreading for the position of elements on a page is simply wrong. Technical writing focuses on content - consistently created content. With Adobe FrameMaker 7 and its add on Quadralay, I am able to create documents from ONE source and translate them to multiple formats. The Telecommunications Administration Manual is ONE source file to FOUR different outputs - .pdf for print, html for web, dhtml that's basically with a navigation bar to individual pages and xml. The Video Card Replacement Instruction is ONE source file to TWO different outputs. The training CD from Quadralay that comes bundled with FrameMaker was excellent. I am currently evaluating another product for converting documents called MIF2Go.

Wireless covers my ongoing interest in Palm Computing, Bluetooth, 802.11 and its alphabet soup of standards. There is no doubt in my mind that 802.11 will be the next great technological wave. It is an inexpensive way to build new networks and expand existing wired networks. There are whole areas of the world, notably Africa, where a wired infrastructure either does not exist or, at best, provides marginal service. This technology will know no limits.

Adobe is hands down the graphics king of world and their products and support are superb. Adobe's Acrobat provides interactivity, forms creation, data collection, online collaboration capability with full document security. Over 80% of the world's graphics are created with Adobe's Photoshop and even with the market lead in its pocket, Adobe hammers at Photoshop making each version better and more compelling than the one before.

My Hobbies are the things that I love to do...swim at one of the NYU Sports Centers, run in East River Park, ride my Cannondale, listen to WBGO, and go to the Metropolitan Museum of art.

My Stuff is what I own, what makes my career move forward, and the intangible stuff that made me what I am. I talk about my computers, my software and why I like and recommend certain software packages. My web photo album Brooklyn in Bloom can be accessed here or on the My Stuff page. Click on the first thumbnail to view the photos.

I could not post this site without giving credit to those who made technology as we know it today. In July, 1970, the Xerox Corporation opened the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) and gathered a world class team of information and physical science researchers to create the 'architecture of information.' From 1970 to 1975, these were just a fraction of the achievements of Xerox Parc: the world's first laser printer, the invention of personal distributed computing, the invention of client/server architecture, the first personal computer with a WYSIWG editor, the first networking system to use the word 'Ethernet' as a protocol for multiple computers communicating over a single cable, the first word processing system, the invention of postscript printing - a description language for type, the GUI interface, and the world's first wireless transmission via laser.

While Xerox PARC was innovating, there was a selfless confluence of private industry, government, and international organizations working toward standardizing all the specifications for wired networks. In 1977, the Open System Reference Model (OSI) was developed by the International Organization for Standards. Three years later, the IEEE formed project 802 to define LAN standards. The published 802 standards were developed simultaneously and and in cooperation with the OSI so the two work well together. Also involved in the 802 were the EIA - Electronic Industries Association, the IEEE - Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers. The IEEE was involved in the electrical specifications for wired and now wireless networks. The CCITT - Consultative Committee for International Telegraphy and Telephone is the parent organization of the ISO. This paved the way for standards hardware architectures and software designs.

This site is created with Macromedia Dreamweaver, Adobe FrameMaker and Quadralay, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Acrobat, Adobe InDesign 2.0, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop Album, Visio, PowerPoint and three versions of Microsoft Word. All of the graphics and photography except where stated, are mine. The entire site is copyrighted by Lantastik Consulting, Inc.

© Lantastik Consulting, Inc.