Came in the mail this afternoon, and I spent most of the rest of the day doing the work of setting it up, transferring programs, re-setting defaults like the font and size of type on Word, and a bunch of other stuff.
Heh. I usually use TNR or Bookman Old Style at 12 point, but my view is set to 125%. That way I can read it onscreen but it looks normal when printed out.
WOW! What a setup! And that image! It looks like a back table at the Five Spot. And...wait...the woman looks like Bette Davis, or, is that sculptor Annita Huffington? Wow! How cool! I want a new great laptop too! Okay, someday! LOL! I'll keep writing my novels on this one. It works! Do great work as always, Mr. Truscott!
Thanks for this, I somehow missed it yesterday. What I would be using DNS for is two or three purposes, none of them likely to be drafting a legal document. First, the papers required to finish a M.A. in philosophy at the U. of Minnesota-Twin Cities, which was practically done when I left off and went to law school, as being over age 62 and Minnesota legal resident, I qualify for the astonishing rate of $10 a credit, so for the usual 5 credit course costing nearly $600 last time I checked, it's a huge saving. Along with some nominal student fees, that's it. Then a couple of lengthy works of creative fiction (both of which are about 2/3-3/4 finished) , both mysteries, one the Sherlock Holmes pastiche. Also whatever other creative writing might ensue. Anyway I will definitely check it out and in particular, the version you mention, so thanks again!
Love that picture--what a serene room. Your move seems such a good (and beautiful ) idea. Keep us entertained and enlightened with your new laptop. Best headlines: reading something "so that you don't have to." True...and now we depend on it.
I got a fairly top of the line Lenovo Thinkbook 15G41AP. I had been buying discontinued models in years past with slower chips, but I just let it rip this time. It's working great. Just did my first two podcasts with a separate fifine USB mic. Sounds good, even without sound-deadening around the mic. Let me know what you think. You should do your Gowanus stories.
Right hand operates the mouse; left hand does whatever else is needed to do. You also get to kick back, close your eyes, and riff. You get to steer the tiller instead of straining to pull an oar. Penguins walk, but eagles fly. Think about it.
Writing at a keyword makes me think differently, more slowly. The problem for me with one of these speech to text things is, as you put it "riffing." Talking off the top of my head isn't the, for me anyway, Writing, which is what I do with this column and everything else I have written for the last 5us years. But thanks for the tip.
You might want to give Dragon Naturally Speaking a try. Dictating documents certainly beats typing and frees up your mind. Work becomes almost fun. It works exceptionally well with KnowBrainer command system so that you work almost hands free. Try it. I've been using it since 2007.
I sometimes do that too; but I find myself practicing italic calligraphy, and my original thoughts drop by the wayside. It's fun, writing something original, and doing a piece of artwork at the same time.
I should probably add a budget ("whatever it takes" is the budget) and the fact that this is a 16GB RAM PC with Windows 10 Pro and plenty of HD memory etc. I don't want the least expensive version of DNS, I want whatever works.
The Yeti Pro microphone should capture my resonant, expressive, theatrically trained voice (thanks, Prof. Mary Gwen Owen! --- She studied with Stanislavski/Moscow Art Players in the 1920s, years later, at Macalester, the same RWNJs operating now stigmatized her as "The Red Lady" --- so, she, being naturally tough as nails and flamboyant, started dressing in all shades of scarlet red crimson, the works!) so the issue is more software compatibility.
"Radical self-knowledge" in an "Etiquette Book"? But that was the prof I encountered in the early 1970s, who for example immeditately understood (and you can always tell when it is genuine understanding) why I thought some poems from Crow, by Ted Hughes, would fit in the Mac Drama Choros show. Verified when we were the only non-UK based invitees to the National Student Drama Festival of the British Isles --- starting the show with "Fixin' to Die Rag" adapted from Country Joe and the Fish, mind you...when the over 50 members of the Drama Choros started in on those poems, in Bradford, the audience was also immediately deeply engaged.
It looks to me that you're a gung ho user of DNS. Have you checked out the KnowBrainer website (KnowBrainer.com) which augments the DNS command structure with a cornucopia of new DNS commands, plus programming language to write your own. It's the ultimate 'Lego set' for language composition and document editing. Give it a try!
Oh, and by the way, DNS comes in a law-flavored edition designed for legal eagles like you and me.
Hey! That might be exactly correct, I am not too enthusiastic about some of the effects of modern tech, but it's here, deal with it. Other effects I think are great, and this might repeat might be one of them.
Thing is I really do also feel as if when a highly skilled writer figures out his or her own way of writing, not myself, but published writers who have sold books (or written for years for publications etc) and the whole nine yards, I understand not wanting to deal with a change.
Glad I could help. You say, when you find something that works for you, you're loathe to change what works. I'm reminded that Ernest Hemingway would sometimes write as little as a single sentence in a writing session. The gears of creation ground very slowly, and very fine.
Most work isn't done at such a languid pace. Brevity may be the soul of wit, but getting there frequently requires a mountain of work. I've had the experience of participating in extended brief drafting and editing sessions aimed at paring down, honing down and sharpening my arguments. The parallel analogue is refining oral argument down to as few minutes as possible. Preparing for a fifteen minute argument could consume most of a work day, with my mental image of beings that able to argue my entire case while standing on one leg. I'm confident that many other competent advocates work in similar fashion.
You, this recommendation I mean, may end up being very indirectly responsible for me FINALLY finishing a Sherlock Holmes pastiche, oddly enough with one central theme being a kind of satirical attack on cults and cult thinking, I began years ago, before the MAGA nonsense. There are plenty of ways to get a finished or nearly finished book of all kinds published so that's not the issue, more my own hestance about it being good enough etc. etc.
What version of DNS? One google search shows the range out there.
I have been considering trying that out, serious question! But I am also perhaps biased in favor vis-a-vis Lucian's explanation about the habit(s) of focus he developed over the years.
There's also a surfeit of really really bad literature available, bestselling literature, which seems to always be the case, so producing more wpm is not the real goal, is it?
On the other hand, being able to "riff" with a sense of the total ensemble is appealing. By total ensemble I mean everything a writer in any given situation might want to include, even if including it by means of sub rosa trickeration, so as to avoid riffing until the riff is worn out.
So tell me, if you would help me out on this: what version of Dragon Naturally Speaking? I have a Yeti Pro microphone ready for use, I just have no use for some speech-to-text software which will require so much additional edits that I might as well just type and then edit, or edit sort of as I type, or whatever works etc. etc.
That Olivetti reference is also worth considering, it's surprising how fast complete sentences with meaningful content can be produced, isn't it?
I use DNS 15.61.200.010; and I've been a full-time user for the past 15 years. I mentioned elsewhere that I am a big fan of KnowBrainer.com, which is also self-programmable, meaning that you can write your own custom commands in an algorithm that allows for any number of data point inputs. I haven't done much of that; but if your law practice encourages you to develop and utilize machine-fillable forms, I say, GO FOR IT!
I was even able to persuade my former employer to put DNS on my office machine, and I was banging out work at a rate volumetricly at a rate two to three times faster than the other people in my shop; and most of the work involved in drafting complicated business contracts.
I completed law school and was admitted to practice a decade before the advent of the personal business computer; and over the 52 years I was in law practice, I ended up doing most of my own typing. Composing on a keyboard is time-consuming, and much slower before the advent of automatic spellchecking. Most of the time, I can get a paragraph's-worth of compositional ideas in my head, and sort them through as I'm dictating; and was relatively easy to do because law related work is so utterly formulaic. Sometimes though, it takes three or four iterations to get to the point where the narrative and argumentation begin to write themselves. I remember back to the early days were a bunch of law associates and I would be arguing over word selection and nuance in putting together a Memorandum of Points and Authorities in support of a Motion to Dismiss, or some such thing like that. Most days, we don't have the time to do that. And if we have to do it, it's hard to justify billing for it. DNS helps move things along, assembly line fashion, and so I get it done and over with. Let me know how it works for you.
Looks good. Wear it out, bro. Keep punching!
Congratulations! I still like the picture of your old Olivetti at https://luciantruscott.substack.com/p/words-and-me
What font and size do you use?
Times New Roman, size 16 in Word
BIG, for us old guys!
Heh. I usually use TNR or Bookman Old Style at 12 point, but my view is set to 125%. That way I can read it onscreen but it looks normal when printed out.
Ooooo baby!!! New toyz!!! 😃👍🏻👍🏻
WOW! What a setup! And that image! It looks like a back table at the Five Spot. And...wait...the woman looks like Bette Davis, or, is that sculptor Annita Huffington? Wow! How cool! I want a new great laptop too! Okay, someday! LOL! I'll keep writing my novels on this one. It works! Do great work as always, Mr. Truscott!
Very exciting! I'm expecting one in the next week. Can't wait.
Looks very new! And rarin’ to go. Congrats.
Thanks for this, I somehow missed it yesterday. What I would be using DNS for is two or three purposes, none of them likely to be drafting a legal document. First, the papers required to finish a M.A. in philosophy at the U. of Minnesota-Twin Cities, which was practically done when I left off and went to law school, as being over age 62 and Minnesota legal resident, I qualify for the astonishing rate of $10 a credit, so for the usual 5 credit course costing nearly $600 last time I checked, it's a huge saving. Along with some nominal student fees, that's it. Then a couple of lengthy works of creative fiction (both of which are about 2/3-3/4 finished) , both mysteries, one the Sherlock Holmes pastiche. Also whatever other creative writing might ensue. Anyway I will definitely check it out and in particular, the version you mention, so thanks again!
Love that picture--what a serene room. Your move seems such a good (and beautiful ) idea. Keep us entertained and enlightened with your new laptop. Best headlines: reading something "so that you don't have to." True...and now we depend on it.
Hey buddy, I'm in the market for one. Let me know how your new one works. I do mostly Word stuff.
I got a fairly top of the line Lenovo Thinkbook 15G41AP. I had been buying discontinued models in years past with slower chips, but I just let it rip this time. It's working great. Just did my first two podcasts with a separate fifine USB mic. Sounds good, even without sound-deadening around the mic. Let me know what you think. You should do your Gowanus stories.
Thanks buddy. I've shied away from podcasts because of my enduring Brooklyn accent, but now that you mention,, it's ideal for a Gowanus mope!
Yeah, but think how that Brooklyn accent will work reading the Gowanus stories on a podcast! Epic!
Ive been in Georgia 35 years and it's still going strong!
Right hand operates the mouse; left hand does whatever else is needed to do. You also get to kick back, close your eyes, and riff. You get to steer the tiller instead of straining to pull an oar. Penguins walk, but eagles fly. Think about it.
Writing at a keyword makes me think differently, more slowly. The problem for me with one of these speech to text things is, as you put it "riffing." Talking off the top of my head isn't the, for me anyway, Writing, which is what I do with this column and everything else I have written for the last 5us years. But thanks for the tip.
I can't argue with you about that.
With a big head of steam on Affidavit Day!
You might want to give Dragon Naturally Speaking a try. Dictating documents certainly beats typing and frees up your mind. Work becomes almost fun. It works exceptionally well with KnowBrainer command system so that you work almost hands free. Try it. I've been using it since 2007.
But what would I do with my fingers?
I think through my fingers. I do my best first-drafting with a pen, but most of the time it's a keyboard.
I sometimes do that too; but I find myself practicing italic calligraphy, and my original thoughts drop by the wayside. It's fun, writing something original, and doing a piece of artwork at the same time.
I should probably add a budget ("whatever it takes" is the budget) and the fact that this is a 16GB RAM PC with Windows 10 Pro and plenty of HD memory etc. I don't want the least expensive version of DNS, I want whatever works.
The Yeti Pro microphone should capture my resonant, expressive, theatrically trained voice (thanks, Prof. Mary Gwen Owen! --- She studied with Stanislavski/Moscow Art Players in the 1920s, years later, at Macalester, the same RWNJs operating now stigmatized her as "The Red Lady" --- so, she, being naturally tough as nails and flamboyant, started dressing in all shades of scarlet red crimson, the works!) so the issue is more software compatibility.
www.macalester.edu/news/2021/11/nine-timeless-lessons-from-macdo/#/0
"Radical self-knowledge" in an "Etiquette Book"? But that was the prof I encountered in the early 1970s, who for example immeditately understood (and you can always tell when it is genuine understanding) why I thought some poems from Crow, by Ted Hughes, would fit in the Mac Drama Choros show. Verified when we were the only non-UK based invitees to the National Student Drama Festival of the British Isles --- starting the show with "Fixin' to Die Rag" adapted from Country Joe and the Fish, mind you...when the over 50 members of the Drama Choros started in on those poems, in Bradford, the audience was also immediately deeply engaged.
She was one of a kind.
www.macalester.edu/news/2021/11/nine-timeless-lessons-from-macdo/#/0
It looks to me that you're a gung ho user of DNS. Have you checked out the KnowBrainer website (KnowBrainer.com) which augments the DNS command structure with a cornucopia of new DNS commands, plus programming language to write your own. It's the ultimate 'Lego set' for language composition and document editing. Give it a try!
Oh, and by the way, DNS comes in a law-flavored edition designed for legal eagles like you and me.
Hey! That might be exactly correct, I am not too enthusiastic about some of the effects of modern tech, but it's here, deal with it. Other effects I think are great, and this might repeat might be one of them.
Thing is I really do also feel as if when a highly skilled writer figures out his or her own way of writing, not myself, but published writers who have sold books (or written for years for publications etc) and the whole nine yards, I understand not wanting to deal with a change.
So I will explore further, thanks!
Glad I could help. You say, when you find something that works for you, you're loathe to change what works. I'm reminded that Ernest Hemingway would sometimes write as little as a single sentence in a writing session. The gears of creation ground very slowly, and very fine.
Most work isn't done at such a languid pace. Brevity may be the soul of wit, but getting there frequently requires a mountain of work. I've had the experience of participating in extended brief drafting and editing sessions aimed at paring down, honing down and sharpening my arguments. The parallel analogue is refining oral argument down to as few minutes as possible. Preparing for a fifteen minute argument could consume most of a work day, with my mental image of beings that able to argue my entire case while standing on one leg. I'm confident that many other competent advocates work in similar fashion.
You, this recommendation I mean, may end up being very indirectly responsible for me FINALLY finishing a Sherlock Holmes pastiche, oddly enough with one central theme being a kind of satirical attack on cults and cult thinking, I began years ago, before the MAGA nonsense. There are plenty of ways to get a finished or nearly finished book of all kinds published so that's not the issue, more my own hestance about it being good enough etc. etc.
What version of DNS? One google search shows the range out there.
I have been considering trying that out, serious question! But I am also perhaps biased in favor vis-a-vis Lucian's explanation about the habit(s) of focus he developed over the years.
There's also a surfeit of really really bad literature available, bestselling literature, which seems to always be the case, so producing more wpm is not the real goal, is it?
On the other hand, being able to "riff" with a sense of the total ensemble is appealing. By total ensemble I mean everything a writer in any given situation might want to include, even if including it by means of sub rosa trickeration, so as to avoid riffing until the riff is worn out.
So tell me, if you would help me out on this: what version of Dragon Naturally Speaking? I have a Yeti Pro microphone ready for use, I just have no use for some speech-to-text software which will require so much additional edits that I might as well just type and then edit, or edit sort of as I type, or whatever works etc. etc.
That Olivetti reference is also worth considering, it's surprising how fast complete sentences with meaningful content can be produced, isn't it?
digital.lib.uiowa.edu/islandora/object/ui%3Ajoh_68
^^^^ I don't think my own father ever used another typewriter at home, at least that I saw, and he got away with it for 41 years.
I use DNS 15.61.200.010; and I've been a full-time user for the past 15 years. I mentioned elsewhere that I am a big fan of KnowBrainer.com, which is also self-programmable, meaning that you can write your own custom commands in an algorithm that allows for any number of data point inputs. I haven't done much of that; but if your law practice encourages you to develop and utilize machine-fillable forms, I say, GO FOR IT!
I was even able to persuade my former employer to put DNS on my office machine, and I was banging out work at a rate volumetricly at a rate two to three times faster than the other people in my shop; and most of the work involved in drafting complicated business contracts.
I completed law school and was admitted to practice a decade before the advent of the personal business computer; and over the 52 years I was in law practice, I ended up doing most of my own typing. Composing on a keyboard is time-consuming, and much slower before the advent of automatic spellchecking. Most of the time, I can get a paragraph's-worth of compositional ideas in my head, and sort them through as I'm dictating; and was relatively easy to do because law related work is so utterly formulaic. Sometimes though, it takes three or four iterations to get to the point where the narrative and argumentation begin to write themselves. I remember back to the early days were a bunch of law associates and I would be arguing over word selection and nuance in putting together a Memorandum of Points and Authorities in support of a Motion to Dismiss, or some such thing like that. Most days, we don't have the time to do that. And if we have to do it, it's hard to justify billing for it. DNS helps move things along, assembly line fashion, and so I get it done and over with. Let me know how it works for you.
X-L-ENT. Nice setup.
Since you are the uber research maven, what make and model?
I am ready to shift from my desktop, thx.
I got a Lenovo Thinkbook 15G41AP Type 21DJ, whatever the hell all that means. Works good, however.