What's Here
While I have updated the main page with a different navigational scheme, I have sorely ignored this page (sorry about that) ... so, time for an update --!
"Got Fear" shows the reader a few (cheap and sleazy) tricks on the computer to make their computing lives a little easier.
"Good Stuff" (a.k.a. "Writers and Software and Laptops -- Oh, My!") guides the reader through the process of selecting a writer, a laptop, and CAT software.
"Erin Duncan, Captioner" contains notes I took when captioner Erin Duncan spoke at our school.
"Technolust" is a piece on all the new writers. It has to be updated every so often ...
"Homestudy" shows the reader how to do speed building when in a self-study program.
"Save a Buncha Money" shows the reader how to conserve their steno pads.
"Symbols" shows you how to get symbols like ° and ÷ into your document.
"Gemini" is a hands-on review of the Gemini Writer by one of my classmates, Charity Chainus.
"Gemini Revisited" is a second look at the Gemini -- or rather, the PDA that came with it -- a year later.
"Gemini Redux a Trois" is a final look at the Gemini and its accompanying PDA.
"Steno Stuff" teaches the reader how to clean his or her steno machine using about $20 worth of supplies.
"Doing it eBay" is a basic piece on the pros and cons of buying steno machines through eBay.
"digitalCAT File Managment" shows my fellow DC using students how to avoid filling up the Transcripts folder with unneeded transcripts (do you really need to save that practice session from three weeks ago?).
"digitalCAT Chat" is a transcript from StenoLife.com with some DC users and DC trainer extrordinaire, Greta Duckett.
"Gold" tells you why that odd box of old JCRs reporters sometimes drop off at schools are so valuable, and why you should look through those old JCRs.
"Got Newt?" tells you how you can put a (relatively) cheap Apple PDA (say "personal digital assistant") to use in school and after.
"Different Dictation" tells you how you can use a cheap cable, a radio, and a VCR to record some very interesting dictation.
"A Look at the ProCAT Stylus" is the story of reporter April Davis' experiences with the new ProCAT Stylus.
"Cheap and Sleazy Mocha" shows the reader how to use a few commonly available items to make their own mocha (did I mention one of my classmates drank a few of these and, after being stuck in her 80s for a while, passed not one, but *two* of her three 80s tests in one week?). If you're a starving student who still spends too much time at your local Starbucks, you might want to check this one out.
"DigitalCAT: By the Numbas" shows digitalCAT users how to make their strokes for dates, money, and Social Security Numbas -- er, Numbers -- come out correctly using the Command Editor.
"Dictionaries 'r' Us" is a look at dictionaries: What they are, how to search them, and how to build your own -- specifically for Q&A.
"Life's a Peach!" teaches a rather elaborate method to make iced tea -- or more specifically, the Cheap and Sleazy Peach Iced Tea (as mentioned in the Cheap and Sleazy Mocha article).
"On the Cool Side" shows you a Cheap and Sleazy method to keep your laptop cool ... with about $5.00 worth of supplies.
"The ProCAT Flash: Cooler Than Ice Cream!" tells the Student o' Steno why a refurbished ProCAT Flash is a better deal than a new Stentura 400.
"Push Back!, by guest writer Mary Ann Payonk, CRR, RDR, gives the reader a more realistic view of the state of court reporting than that given by the schools ... and is well worth your time!
"The Search for the Perfect Bag" is a review of the ultimate steno bag, by Charles "Chuck" Motter. While this bag is not cheap, it does have some good qualities ... and Chuck was nice enough to put his experience with his bag together along with some pictures for your edification and delight.
What good is a website without any "Links"?
"The Plateau" is a book-in-progress from the guys over at courtreportinghelp.com given the (cheap and sleazy) once over. It's a downloadable zip file, all about that nasty point in every steno student's studies where the student gets stuck at a certain speed -- or, in short, reaches a plateau. I'll update it as soon as new chapters become available.
Some time back, I raided several early versions of courtreportinghelp.com (thanks to the Way Back Machine)and got a bunch of really interesting articles. I also saw a note that courtreportinghelp.com regular contributor Barb DeWitt had a website (now defunct), barbdewitt.com, and (of course) I raided that, too.
What that means for you is that I have taken all those interesting bits of court reporting student goodness, converted them to the universal RTF file format, and put them all into a compressed archive for your reading pleasure. You can get that archive here.