About Tips Unzipped

Tips Unzipped is about sharing tips to help you:

  • Make your business writing clearer
  • Build and improve your own websites and blogs
  • Improve your productivity and make your workflow more enjoyable

I hope you’ll enjoy clear, useful tips that keep you coming back for more.
Why not jump in and strike up a conversation? Simply add a comment to a post you find interesting. Let’s share and grow together.

Eric Weston

I’m a writer, coach, consultant, geek, webmaster and a community builder. Or at least, I am some of these things — I’m working on the rest.

I believe in achieving big dreams through small steps, that honesty is the best policy, and that everyone has a right to seek and create a fulfilling life.

I get a buzz out of learning, tinkering and experimenting. Still, I sometimes get called ‘Mr. Organised’ — I dislike wasteful processes, so I tend to refine and seek the most effective path to get stuff done. It’s my thing.
I am an experienced but ever-learning technical writer and I’m also finding my way as a small business owner — and as a blogger.

This is my first blog, and the second website I’ve built (I built my company website first, though I have since reworked it to use WordPress instead of Joomla CMS). I’m figuring it out, between other things.

Technical writing and blogging overlap in some ways (after all, both involve writing-related activities). But there are many differences, some of which I’m sure to explore on this site.

I’d like to help others, and learn some new tricks too. Maybe even foster a like-minded community. I hope you’ll join in.

Curious for more about me?

Really? I’m flattered.

Some assorted facts and quirks about me

  • 01

    I’m fascinated by castles and fortifications. As a kid I used to go camping most years with my Dad, and we’d always centre our trip around castles (particularly in Wales).

  • 02

    I love to read, but I lean more towards non-fiction. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good bit of fiction — I just lean more towards fascination with the workings of real things and real people. My favourites subjects are science, engineering, technology and history. Call me a geek, see if I care.

  • 03

    I don’t really understand people who are bored of life. Seriously — is it laziness, a lack of imagination, or what? I mean, you can get in a rut but you do something about it before it becomes your whole life, right?

  • 04

    I’m English, and I lived on a farm (dairy and arable) in Dorset between the ages of 8 and 14. That was a great age for a boy to live on a farm – such freedom to roam and play in the woods!

  • 05

    I despise conspicuous consumption. Rampant materialism is destroying our planet, and inequality is preventing social progress.

  • 06

    I love a good board game or card game. My favourite is Pandemic, the co-operative board game. Again, I have some geek genes — what of it? :-)

07

I don’t have any all-consuming passions, but I have varied interests and I am lucky enough to be quite handy and good at picking things up. I’ve renovated a severely run-down house, gotten a degree in geology, worked at sea, rebuilt a rusty old car, built desktop PCs to suit my preferences, set up my own home server and network… I like an interesting challenge. Oh, and I like cooking — why go to a restaurant when you can do just as well at home?