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TNPC Observations on the data in your life…
By DanB | October 31, 2006
Drawing, typing, writing, researching…
TNPC Newsletter
by Dan Butler
30 October 2006
Hello
Halloween hit early at the TNPC labs. Last night had me taking
Tigger, a sock hopper, Captain Jack, Jeff Gordon, and the Disney
Princess’ to a party. Great fun.
This issue you will find how to enter the drawing, clarification
on speeding up your computer, some thoughts on online and
offline data storage, and a review of a helpful book. So let’s
get started.
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First go read last weeks issue at the blog:
http://clicks.aweber.com/z/ct/?0AWBYmwIINy3X3TavdAqpQ
*Enter the Drawing*
We are starting another drawing for free stuff. This time the
entry requires an answer to a question. To enter the drawing
simply go here and make your entry:
http://clicks.aweber.com/z/ct/?aMKuVgyKefUE2LFxKFYeFA
It does ask for you mailing address. I am the only one who sees
this and I use it to send the prizes out. I am also testing a
new way to do this so let me know if everything goes smooth.
Finally I’ve been playing with the format of the newsletter a
bit. Specifically the headers are formatted to make them bold in
most email programs. Last year I sent the letter out in HTML
email but the delivery rates were lower and I had complaints. I
might revisit that in the future but for now it is text.
*New Mozilla Firefox*
Version 2 of Mozilla Firefox was released this week. I have not
downloaded yet. Standard practice here is to wait a week or so
when updates to any software are released before upgrading. Even
then I prefer to wait until there is a feature or bug fix that
makes upgrading necessary for me. I do plan to upgrade to
version 2 but I want to give the extension authors time to
update. I will have more on this later.
*Typing versus Keyboarding*
A little confusion over last week’s issue. I said the article
would be on how to speed up your computer and it was - but - it
was the second article not the first. If you missed it be sure
to go read the blog.
An interesting thing happened after putting the last issue
together. The original Typing Tutor I used - and still use today
- was written by Ainsworth & Partners, Inc. The version on my
computer is the old DOS based version copyrighted 1989. It came
with a bundle of software I purchased from DAK Industries. DAK
was offering an update of WordStar and that came with the Typing
Tutor and several other useful programs.
Just to date myself I had learned WordStar on my Osborne O1 with
the smashingly beautiful 4″ diagonal screen. I used that machine
for many years. Wrote several books, many letters, and ran
customer follow-up mailings for local businesses with it. It was
a work horse.
I continued using DOS based programs for some time after
Windows. Why? you ask? I could type and work faster in DOS
programs than the Windows based programs.
With today’s computer speeds most people can’t type faster than
the computer can process. So typing faster is the only speed
gain for tasks that involve typing. Like email, word processing,
spreadsheets, and Quicken entries. The tasks most people use a
computer for.
I went online to see if the Ainsworth program was still around
and if so, had it been updated, It was. Ainsworth turns out to
be Dick Ainsworth. His website has some interesting history and
opinions on keyboarding versus typing which I agree with.
The main thing the Ainsworth Keyboard Trainer does versus some
other typing trainers is take into account the use of the
backspace key to correct errors as you go. Other programs count
those corrections as errors. In actual practice the program
mirrors what you will really be doing when entering your
thoughts with a computer. You learn to write with a keyboard
versus typing. It sounds like a small difference but the
difference in output is significant. You can find Ainsworth and
Associates at:
http://clicks.aweber.com/z/ct/?MSTXmQnc.okleCBcy1F9Pg
I still prefer to write my thoughts on paper much of the time.
My preferred tools for that are a nice fountain pen and a
Moleskine journal with a new ink I have found. Why does that
work better? I don’t know. The difference in hand prepared
materials and computer generated materials is significant. Here
is an article I wrote some time back about the differences:
http://clicks.aweber.com/z/ct/?nZUkpQ5KI7ZwI32Lov3jWA
This point was driven home to us just last week. My wife was
going through an address book of her mother’s. My wife found
many of her own old addresses in the hand updated address book.
She looked up the entries her mother had made saw the path she
had kept of her throughout her life. We lose much of that with
digital information.
The review below involves records like the address book. Take a
look around this week and see where technology might be hiding
the details of your life.
*Review of 7 Day Family Tree by Chris Simeral*
My oldest daughter has recently enjoyed doing genealogy
research. She had a look at the 7 Day Family Tree package and
enjoyed it very much:
http://clicks.aweber.com/z/ct/?J1jsiDmvAWGjYLFp3QHulQ
The package consists of an ebook, genealogy charts, letter
templates, and some genealogy software.
The book gives you a simple to follow, seven day plan for
getting started with genealogy. You start with yourself and
branch out. Part of the seven day process is getting comfortable
with the tools, sources, and databases you will be using.
The resources are a good mix of online and offline resources.
You learn what to take with you to each data source so you will
be prepared. There are brief reviews of the available genealogy
software with pros and cons of each. Best of all you will find
lots of practical tips.
Chris doesn’t just tell you to send mail somewhere for
information. He tells you exactly what to put in your letter and
how to format it for results. You even get sample letters to get
you started.
The way to look at this is a seven day quick start that will get
you off to a very good start. If you have been doing genealogy
for very long you probably have some data you trust and some
data you aren’t too sure about. Follow the steps in this book
and you will be off and running with a clear direction to
continue.
Chris explains the various online databases and when to use
each. More importantly he steps you through how to use them. You
will be directed to a good mix of free and for databases. There
is a great tip telling how to gain access to some of the for fee
databases for free.
There is a special section detailing how to find your ancestors
in England and Ireland. Another section covers common
frustrations and roadblocks you will run into.
The back of the book has an interesting section on discovering
and/or designing your own family coat of arms.
If you have an interest in genealogy or need to research
ancestry records for other purposes you should find this book
useful. I found this is a good value for the $27. Read more
about the package here:
http://clicks.aweber.com/z/ct/?J1jsiDmvAWGjYLFp3QHulQ
–
© 2006 Dan Butler
Dan Butler is the Editor-in-Chief of TNPCNewsletter.com and the
author of the amazing new book that shows you how to save your
identity, get your email read, and put more time into the things
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Copyright 2006 Dan Butler
All Rights Reserved.
ISSN: 1522-4422
Popularity: 7%
Topics: TNPC News |
4 Responses to “TNPC Observations on the data in your life…”
Comments
« TNPC speed up your computer… | Home | How much time will these five tips save you?… »
October 31st, 2006 at 2:50 am
Hi Dan,
In her book \”The Artist\’s Way\” Julia Cameron insists that what she calls \”morning papers\” –the beginning of the day journal–should
be done longhand instead of on a computer. She and others claim that there there is a direct connection between the brain and your
hand when you write longhand, a connection which is missing when you type. Her website http://www.theartistsway.com/ has a forum
where you can read endless comments pro and con about this.
I taught myself to type on a Royal Standard (no portables for me!) way back in high school because my handwriting has always been
totally illegible. I am also a pianist, so typing, now called keyboarding, comes more naturally and far easier for me than writing
by hand. I have a ton of journal stuff written in longhand from past years, and I can barely read most of it. By contrast, my
computer journal is always totally legible. And if there is any brain/hand connection missing, I can\’t tell.
It also helps to have a GOOD keyboard, which almost all of those today are not. I fell in love with the Northgate Omnikey, and
A keyboard like this
wondered what in the world I would ever do when mine died, because Northgate went belly-up. Fortunately, Avant Stellar picked up the
design and now markets essentially the same unit for an exhorbitant price which IMHO is worth every penny. Not only does it have the
firm \”click clack\” feeling, but the function keys are on the LEFT, where the gods intended them to be
makes a big difference in speed and accuracy. As John Dvorak wrote about it, \”you will pry it from my cold dead hand.\”
Dick Bellin
October 31st, 2006 at 2:52 am
I have read The Artist\’s Way. She had a quote about the cause of procrastination that caught my eye. I tried the morning pages for a bit but didn\’t get far. I wake up later than most and the house is abuzz. I have no place to go away from everybody.
Have you tried using a fountain pen? I only started a few years back and it made a world of difference in my writing. I always had reasonably legible writing but this helped a lot. Writing with the pen slows down the writing and changes the way you think.
For reference I type around 70 wpm with 99% accuracy. I do believe there is a connection between the brain and hand. Could demonstrate such if we were sitting across from each other. I have studied Graphology a bit and that relates.
The other benefit I gain is the visual appearance of my thinking. When I type it all looks the same. With the writing it looks different, different colors, lines, directions, forward and back references, etc.
Just some thoughts.
I agree with you on keyboards.
~ Dan
November 2nd, 2006 at 1:33 pm
Among most of my family and friends, I’m a pretty tech-savvy person, but there are still things I prefer using the old-fashioned way for, such as my address book and calendar.
Journaling, too! You’re very right, in that the visual appearance of handwriting can offer so much more than typing. One day I was experiencing a great deal of frustration that I could not express through typing, and a journal entry of merely scribbling on the page with a lot of pressure (it was a ballpoint pen) got my emotions out a lot better than “*#(@&!^#*$” would’ve.
What ink are you using for your fountain pen? I have a Waterman Phileas fountain pen that’s been neglected too long. Some new ink would be fun to try.
November 13th, 2006 at 12:08 pm
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