July 17 2015

Rules Of Grammar: What Is A Comma Splice?

A comma splice incorrectly connects independent clauses with a comma.

Here are some examples from the Purdue OWL Engagement website:

Comma Splice: My family bakes together nearly every night, we then get to enjoy everything we make together.
•Correction 1: My family bakes together nearly every night. We then get to enjoy everything we make together.

The comma splice has been corrected by breaking the sentence into two separate sentences.
•Correction 2: My family bakes together nearly every night, and we then get to enjoy everything we make together.

The comma splice has been corrected by adding a coordinating conjunction and a comma.
•Correction 3: After my family bakes together nearly every night, we get to enjoy everything we make together.

The comma splice has been corrected by adding a subordinating conjunction and a comma.

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July 17 2015

Friday Phrases

Friday Phrases Logo
center of= STR-F
center of the= STR-FT
center of this= STR-FTS
in and out= NOUT
in and out of the= NOUFT
in and out of this= NOUFTS
united states= *UNTS
United States= UNTS
United States of America= UMS
if the= F-T
if this= F-TS
would go= WOG
is that you should= STHAURBD

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July 15 2015

Stenspiration™

“Look at a stone cutter hammering away at his rock, perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred-and-first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not the last blow that did it, but all that had gone before.” -Jacob A. Riis

Love, Speed & Accuracy,

Elsie Villega

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July 14 2015

New Words: FLOTUS, SCOTUS, E-Cigarette, Texta and More

Steno New Word Logo CroppedThe following words are among the words that have been added to the Oxford Dictionary in June 2015: FLOTUS, SCOTUS, autotune, crowdfund, e-cigarette, vape, twitterati, Yooper, webisode, and texta. The definitions and briefs for the aforementioned words are below.

FLOTUS= First Lady of the United States
SCOTUS= Supreme Court of the United States
autotune= “A device or facility for tuning something automatically, especially a piece of computer software that enables the correction of an out-of-tune vocal performance.”
crowdfund= “The practice of funding a project or venture by raising monetary contributions from a large number of people, typically via the internet.”
e-cigarette= “Another term for electronic cigarette.”
Twitterati= “Avid or frequent users of the social media website Twitter.”
vape= “(1) An electronic cigarette or similar device. (2) Inhale and exhale the vapor produced by an electronic cigarette or similar device.”
texta= A felt-tip pen, often colored and usually wide-tipped for use by children.
Yooper= “A native or inhabitant of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.”
webisode= “An original episode derived from a television series, made for online viewing.”

Machine Briefs:

FLOTUS= FLOE/T*US or FLOET/*US or FLOET/T*US
SCOTUS= SKOE/T*US or SKOET/*US or SKOET/T*US
autotune= AOT/TAO*UN
crowdfund= KROUD/F*UND
e-cigarette= AOE/SGRET
vape= VAIP
Twitterati= TW*IRT/RAT/YI
texta= TEGT/A* or TEGT/TA*
webisode= WEB/A/SO*ED

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July 10 2015

Friday Phrases

Friday Phrases Logo
your side= YOURDZ
other side= OERDZ
better than= BERN
better than the= BERNT
as you can see= SUKZ
prior to impact= PRAO*IKT
prior to the impact= PRAOIKT
prior to this impact= PRAOIKTS
who this= WHOTS
which of them= KHFMT
is that this= STHATS
if you tell= FULT

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July 7 2015

I Love Steno The Student Edition: Practice Your Read Back From A Tablet, Smart Phone, etc.

With computer-aided transcription, gone are the days when court reporters have to read back from paper notes. When I first started court reporting school, I used an Stentura Protégé. In transit, I would read back from my paper notes for practice. More than a couple of times I dropped my accordion-like arrangements of notes. I won’t even get into the horrors of seeing my notes flying in the wind. LOL.

I still incorporate steno read back into my daily practice routine. However, I’ve found an easier way to carry my notes with me for my quick, in-transit study sessions.

I now save my steno notes as PDF files on my tablet for easier transport and manageability. If you save your files as PDFs you can drop them into any one of your devices that contain an PDF file reader.

Below are instructions for converting your steno files into PDFs.

Happy practicing.

How To Convert Steno Notes To PDF:
1. From the Manage Notes function, press Ctrl + p (or, the Print icon). The Print dialog box displays.

2. In the Printer Name field, select Stenograph PDF Printer.

3. Check the box Print to file. NOTE: If you don’t check this box, an error message will appear when you attempt to print the file.

4. Press Enter. The Print to File dialog box will display.

5. Select the location to where you want to save the PDF file. Then type a file name.

6. Press Enter (Save).

Love, Speed & Accuracy,

Elsie Villega

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