3.143 divers comments (109)

Willard McCarty (MCCARTY@VM.EPAS.UTORONTO.CA)
Mon, 19 Jun 89 21:02:19 EDT


Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 3, No. 143. Monday, 19 Jun 1989.


(1) Date: Mon, 19 Jun 89 11:11 BST (9 lines)
From: Don Fowler <DPF@VAX.OXFORD.AC.UK>
Subject: Spellcheckers for non-alpha words

(2) Date: 19 June 1989 10:50:51 CDT (40 lines)
From: "M. R. Sperberg-McQueen " <U15440@UICVM>
Subject: German style ckers; syllabi; computer noise in libraries

(3) Date: Mon, 19 Jun 89 08:55:51 CDT (13 lines)
From: "Michael S. Hart" <HART@UIUCVME>
Subject: Re: 3.137 laptops, cont. (29)

(4) Date: Mon, 19 Jun 89 10:00:47 PLT (17 lines)
From: PACE@WSUVM1
Subject: braille texts

(1) --------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 19 Jun 89 11:11 BST
From: Don Fowler <DPF@VAX.OXFORD.AC.UK>
Subject: Spellcheckers for non-alpha words

A quick check suggests that the Wordperfect 5.00 spellchecker is
happy to add words like est/in* to its supplementart dictionary (which is
incidentally very easy to use - its easy to set up e.g. a latin spellchecker
with it).
Don Fowler, Jesus College, Oxford.
(2) --------------------------------------------------------------43----
Date: 19 June 1989 10:50:51 CDT
From: "M. R. Sperberg-McQueen " <U15440@UICVM>
Subject: German style ckers; syllabi; computer noise in libraries

A while back I inquired whether anyone knew of style checkers
for German. There's been no response, so this probably means
that they don't exist or aren't well known. But on the off
chance that someone's holding back because they think "Oh,
probably millions of others have already responded to that
query," I'd like to post it once again. (Also: I made the
inquiry not long before the Dynamic Text Conference, and I know
many of the best minds in the business were preoccupied with
that and perhaps not finding time to go through their humanist
mail....)

I think the idea of syllabi available through humanist is
terrific. I gather that the idea initially is to use it
for humanities courses with a computing component (or vice
versa). It would also be nice simply to have a data base of
courses on humanities topics so one could see, for example, how
other people teach the seventeenth century (in various national
literatures, comparatively, or in history....) Might cover too
much material to be feasible, but it sure would be nice.

I'm amused by the discussion of the "noise" made by computer
keyboards in libraries as a source of irritation. It seems to
me that whether or not a particular noise is irritating is as
much a function of how one is feeling, whether one's work is
going well, and one's attitude to particular human habits and
technology as it is something that can be measured objectively.
My personal pet peeve is loud phones--you would think that
libraries, for crying out loud, would want phones with a soft
ring, but such is not the case in a surprising number of
libraries. In any case, I hope the librarians and computer
users can come to an agreement--not being able to use one's
laptop while doing research somewhere where the material cannot
be borrowed represents a real obstacle. Half--but not
completely--in jest, may I propose that libraries consider
simply keeping a large supply of Flent's ear stopples on hand
for people with sensitive hearing?
(3) --------------------------------------------------------------22----
Date: Mon, 19 Jun 89 08:55:51 CDT
From: "Michael S. Hart" <HART@UIUCVME>
Subject: Re: 3.137 laptops, cont. (29)

Noise is noise is noise, and those of us who want to study would do so in
a battleship at war if that were the available environment. In fact, I have
noted in my travels that more studying seemed to occur in campi under
construction than those completed and covered with a layer of acoustic moss.

I find that one gets used to whatever environment one is exposed to, and any
changes, including increased quietude require some time for adjustment.

The only constant in life is change. No change = death (mental, physical, etc)
(4) --------------------------------------------------------------21----
Date: Mon, 19 Jun 89 10:00:47 PLT
From: PACE@WSUVM1

re: Jean-Claude Guedon's note on braille texts

There are articles in the July-August 1989 issue of -Micro Cornucopia-
magazine dealing with computers for the physically impaired. One by
a gentlebeing who types with a mouth stick, and two by Debee Norling, a
blind programmer. Debee discusses generally setting up the computer and
software for the blind in one article, and programming for the blind in
the other. Dallas Vordahl, the gentlebeing with the mouthstick, writes of
his exploration of the computer (quite a feat for him) and the specific
problems and solutions he discovered.

This is excellent reading and highly recommended for HUMANISTS interested
in democratic access to computers. The magazine should be available on
newsstands, if not in your local library.