Viacorp site guide

You may have arrived at the Viacorp site from a search engine, found what you wanted, then wondered what the rest of the site is about. Not too obvious, if you came in from an angle. Quick answer: we're non-fiction writers and researchers, and we've archived some articles and books here for anyone to look at. The topics vary all over the place. But if one part of the site helped you or entertained you, or both -- there may be other things you'd like.

Viacorp.com

The home page. There are 28 stories about projects we've done -- including A park for lazy crocodiles and Thou shalt not (an unusual legal contract). A few of the stories may make you slap your forehead.

Best & worst websites

Described in Netsurfer Digest #37 as a "no-nonsense page, put together by a group of professional copywriters, with links to sites with features that work and others that don't, with commentary on the why and how of it." It also explains why we have so little graphics anywhere on the Viacorp website.

Free books and articles

• How to collect business debts -- the lowdown on what debt-collection methods there are, how well they work and how to choose which to use.
• How electronic encryption works -- A survey on secure email and private electronic data, in plain English.
• The fly in your eye -- An Australian best-seller about bush flies and dung beetles.
• All about the water supply in Perth, Australia -- chapter from a planned book.
• The Benefits of Zen Meditation in Addiction and Recovery, by Mary Heath. Notes for a meditation course for people recovering from drug and alcohol addiction.
• How to write a non-fiction book -- tips for people who want to write a non-fiction book and don't know how to start, or get stuck.
• How to write things people will read -- professional writing tricks. Ways to get people to read and remember your memo, manual, letter, resume, brochure, report, thesis, or anything else. A PDF, with a few cartoons.
• The security of petrol and diesel supplies in Western Australia. Where the petrol and diesel come from, and what will happen if Middle East crude oil stops coming in.
• Tips on choosing a suburb in Perth. Including how to find a neighbourhood you'll like, and which suburbs you'll find horrible.
• Why it's hard to have a good-looking lawn in Perth. Rock, sand and climate. Plus understandable human failings.
• Dead Fish and Fat Cats. How Canada lost most of its fishing industry. One of the non-fiction books we have ghost-written. It's now a free PDF download.

Much older articles, written as PR for a consultancy

• What happened when Jim Heath put up a windmill on a 40-foot tower next to his house on the Isle of Man. The windmill experience.
• Street lights that once worked on sewer gas, pig manure that powered a farm's lights, and far-seeing proposals for the gas that nature puffs out free of charge. How about bio-gas?
• A water wheel big enough for a Walt Disney fantasy prompts open-minded citizens and Manx politicians to consider down-to-earth plans for their electricity supply. Water power

Who we are

How the two directors of Viacorp got into the writing business. With links to the articles listed in Free Books, as well as our articles hosted on other people's sites.

• Jim Heath.
• Mary Heath.

Also:

• PGP key
• secure-message form

FAQ: how we charge

Questions that people have asked us, while we were discussing projects we might do for them.

Viacorp Migration

A migration service run by Mary Heath, an Australian Registered Immigration Consultant with years of experience.

Dogs

Your dog is watching you. Jim Heath finds out about dog psychology.

How to roll up your sleeves so that they don't come down

A no-droop sleeve rolling method.

Laughs from classics

Tolstoy describing opera as if it had just been invented, the Mark Twain character who was sure he could remember Hamlet's soliloquy, Dr Johnson's dejected introduction to the world's first English Dictionary....

Guest humour