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Hi Valerie, Charles and
friends,
is it true that you
recommend to install the DOS Box in order to type documents with the good old
SignWriter Dos Programm –
I do not understand.
There will still be problems with printing and compared to our new software it
is pretty diificult for newcomers...
I would like to invite
all of you to use the given database of the SignPuddle that are already compatible
with our Delegs-Software –
Within seconds you can do
all the things you are dreaming of – write a “searchword” look for the
alternatives in your SignPuddle – dictionary, write sentences, documents, -
write ASL or signed English, add a translation – create a PDF, offer to the
learner PDF – prints – save these PDF documents on your computer...
In order to create bilingual
documents there is no better tool at the moment. Well some of you would prefer writing
in columns. For the porpose to bridge spoken language and Sign Language – to improve
literacy in deaf children - I prefer very much the horizontal way... smile. That
should not be a big problem for a person who really wants to express his
concepts in Sign Language and Spoken Language.
Within my lessons it is a
blessing and a big difference compared with the time before “Delegs”. Hopfefully
we will be able in the future to improve our Editor so that the writer should
be able to change, rewrite a given sign within “delegs” or to create a new
sign starting from the beginning....
But so far you can add
your entries to the SignPuddle dictionary and over night you will be able to
write your new document with these new signs.
Feel free to play around
and to get a feeling ... it is really a wonderful program. Thank you so much to
our software-team - ;-))) It is amazing to see what they are able to do in
order to support all the people who are interested to bridge the two worlds...
Any questions... do not
hesitate to ask...
All best and a good start
for the coming week
Stefan
Von:
SignWriting List: Read and Write Sign Languages
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] Im
Auftrag von Valerie Sutton
Gesendet: Sonntag, 5. Mai 2013
20:15
An:
[log in to unmask]
Betreff: Re: typing program
SignWriting List
May 5, 2013
To use SignWriter DOS on any computer, download this program:
Download DOSBox
Install it. Then, download SignWriter DOS:
Download SignWriter DOS:
Install SignWriter DOS inside DOSBox. If you need help, ask questions
here on the SignWriting List, and I will help you.
I use SignWriter DOS several times a week - did you all know that? Why?
To access old documents and dictionaries - why not?
So the world has not stopped - we can still use old software!!
The reason I do not use SignWriter DOS for new documents however, is
because I want to use the ISWA 2010, and I want to write in vertical columns,
and I want to use SVG etc etc etc - so that is why I use SignPuddle for my own
new documents -
But SignWriter DOS is very much alive and well today in 2013 thanks to
DOSBox!
Val ;-)
------
On May 5, 2013, at 10:59 AM, Valerie Sutton <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
SignWriting List
May 5, 2013
Hello everyone -
All your points are well taken and no arguments with anything - And
thank you to Claudia and Italy for developing your own software - that is
terrific!
And I LOVE your work, Claudia, and wish we could see you this summer….
Meanwhile I guess you may not realize that the PocketPuddle is
available as desktop software called the PersonalPuddle, that can be downloaded
and you can work WITHOUT the internet in your own private SignPuddle database…
Then, after you have created your own private Puddle files without any
connection to the internet, later, you can connect to the internet and upload
your files into SignPuddle Online. We have had that software for years now, and
you can read about it here:
PersonalPuddle
Now, I realize you probably do not have the money to purchase
it…Because we also have the free SignPuddle Online I was hoping to help pay
Steve a little, for all his hard work, and I am an unpaid volunteer to our
non-profit organization, however, recently I started getting Disability
payments, so I could donate your payment for the PersonalPuddle, Charles, to
our non-profit, which can then help Steve, and I will donate the copy to you so
you can work with the PersonalPuddle offline…
And if other people want a donated copy of the PersonalPuddle I will do
my best to help you - Please write to tell me...
Meanwhile it helps the world if you can write online, because then we
all benefit from your online databases…
Regarding keystrokes and software…you can still use SignWriter DOS if
you want to…on modern computers…both Windows and Macintosh can use SignWriter
DOS right now, using another program called DOSBox. If you prefer that, I can
help you do that.
Also, Jonathan Duncan's SignWriterStudio software has keystrokes of a
different kind - I like SignWriter Studio for Windows. It is Desktop software
and also online…
And then there is the Italian software - so we really are blessed - and
then DELEGS in Germany…we are so lucky!
Regarding SignPuddle, Steve is coming out with a new version in time
that will have a new way of handling databases and will also have a typing
program specifically for fingerspelling which is sorely needed - and it has a
way to highlight SignWriting text, and copy and paste it elsewhere etc...
And why is Steve's encoding good? Because we will soon have a seamless
way of writing Wikipedia articles that will move us onto the official Wikipedia
site … it is all coming in around 6 months -
So much more to tell you - smile -
Meanwhile, bravo to all those who write by hand! That is the way
SignWriting started - for ten years we did not have any computerization -
everything was by hand - and proud of it!
I get frustrated when I hear people say that we can only do SignWriting
by computer - they think we cannot write by hand - obviously that is not the
case… smile…
Thanks to everyone for all you are doing -
Val ;-)
---------
On May 5, 2013, at 10:39 AM, Charles Butler <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Thank both you and Kim for
underlining how strongly we need to go back before we go forward. When I was in
Brazil in 2000 I was able to enter a sign with a typing program, save it to the
dictionary and retrieve it later with a few keystrokes. There were pages on
pages of keystrokes that the project put together to aid in entry and
retrieval. I'm sure that there are plenty of people who preferred the system
created for their own languages and interactive with others. Although the ASCII
breakthrough is great, what does that mean practically. Will I be able to go
back to "highlighting an English alphabet word", "changing that
to fingerspelling" and "finding and replacing with a chosen
sign" a given English phrase with ASL or LIBRAS or any other sign language?
Right now, I see the "save the code into an interactive database".
Well, what happens if that database is NOT on my computer, is only available on
a netserver which on that day happens to be down and I'm teaching in a public
school.
That is a critical need, and it is very frustrating. We
need a PocketPuddle that is retrievable as a database.
Charles Butler
[log in to unmask]
240-764-5748
Clear writing moves business forward.
From: Claudia S.
Bianchini <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Sunday, May 5, 2013 1:35 PM
Subject: Re: typing program
In Italy, Fabrizio Borgia (univ.
"Sapienza" of Rome 1), one of my "favorites collaborators",
is working on an OCR system for SW for his PhD Thesis. When he will finish we
can handwrite SW, scan it and obtain a digital version unloadable in the puddle.
With Fabrizio we also develop new software (called SWift) for typing SW,
in my opinion is really faster than SignMaker. I have to ask him when our SWift
will be available for everyone. But you can have an overview in the last
chapter of my PhD thesis and in some of our articles (available here: http://www.csbianchini.com/index.php/liste-commentee-des-publications)
Claudia
2013/5/5 Kimberley Shaw <[log in to unmask]>
You said it, Charles!
That's why so many of my SW texts exist in handwritten -- but not yet
"typeset" -- drafts.
Best,
Kim from Boston
On 5/5/13, Charles Butler <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:
> Having been a part of the SignWriting community for more than 30 years, i
am
> somewhat concerned that the usefulness of a typing program has been lost.
>
> When computers were first introduced to signwriting, I went to New York
City
> for a demonstration of program on the AppleIIe which worked almost
> magically.
>
>
> I could start with an English sentence, with a highlight of a mouse change
> that sentence to ASL fingerspelling, and then go through and word by word
> replace English words with ASL signs and then begin moving them around to
> show the changes into ASL grammar.
>
>
> I can't do that now. Entry into the SW puddle is slow, painstaking, and is
> not given to the speed of typing which is going to be needed if SW is ever
> going to be an everyday writing system on a computer.
>
>
> What ever happened to the approach of typing, not moving a mouse, to
> retrieve a handshape, rotate it, add facial expressions, and think like a
> signer not digging through a mouse-retrieval system to a shape buried
under
> 5 layers of clicking?
>
>
> With the change to your new coding system, that becomes even less
> transparent. It may be great for programmers but for the layperson it has
> become frustrating and trying to demo a program in a public school system
is
> not one I would want to do now.
>
>
> SignWriting as handwriting is still very useful, but even with my
dictionary
> program, I can't just "retrieve" an entry. A relational database
would have
> to be tied to every piece of writing, and that gets very cumbersome. What
> happens if the net goes down, there goes the writing.
>
>
> Charles Butler
> [log in to unmask]
> 240-764-5748
> Clear writing moves business forward.
--
Claudia S. Bianchini, PhD
A.T.E.R. Licence SDL-LSF @ Univ. Poitiers (France)