Search This Blog

Welcome to the Steno Wizard's Realtime Journey!






Remember when life was simple and all you had to do was make a selection on what your steno really meant? Those days are long gone.





Reporters must get themselves into top realtime form to compete in today's job market. This is my contribution toward ALL of us reaching the realtime goal.



My Steno Wizardry concept is based on the idea that writing realtime actually doesn't require magic -- just hard work, determination, and a little bit of FUN imagination.



My hope is my sharing of the ideas I've incorporated into my realtime journey will assist you in yours.



Monday, August 11, 2014

What a summer!

Steno Wizard has been busy with the captioning venture this summer. 

Captioning a shopping channel can be quite a challenge.  The hosts are selling, and this captioner is thinking...oh, I think I could use that!  Yikes! 

Here's some briefs for the challenge!

turquoise T*K  --- who knew?  Steno Wizard can't seem to hit the keys otherwise so this brief works!

Spectacular SPHRAR
Fabulous TPABLS
Gorgeous TKPWORPBLGS
Holiday HOEULD
Fourth of July TPOURPBLG
QVC KW-FBG
Unique TPHAOEBG

It is very helpful to have fingerspelling mastered for this channel.   Lots of unique and catchy spellings to be aware of!

Steno Wizard has also been busy captioning CNN, and here's some wonderful briefs to share for that endeavor...

Israel S-L
Israeli S*L
Nigeria TPHAERPBLG
Guinea  TKPWA*EPB
warfare W-FR
missile PHEUFL
soldier SOERLD

NHK World is a Japanese channel and can be highly challenging due to this captioner's unfamiliarity with Asian terms.  Oooh, boy!  The clips are uploaded onto their website, so check it out and see how you do!

Typhoon TAOFPB
Japanese  J-PS
Chinese KH-Z
India SPWAE
Indonesia SPWAERB
Korea KRAE

Lots of speaker IDs to be aware of too.

T-FRPBLGTS, >> Translator:
R-FRPBLGTS, >> Reporter:

Steno Wizard still has to really work on mastering those speaker ID changes for the translator and reporter.





Sunday, May 18, 2014

Batter Up! It's BASEBALL Season!!

This new captioner has been writing baseball games about once or twice a week.  Waaayyy slower than the news!   Thinking baseball just might be my thing...

In the interest of sharing, here's some lovely briefs for captioning my favorite sport.

baseball    BAEUBL
fastball      FABL
curveball   KURBL
breaking ball   BRAEUBL
foul ball     FOUBL
flyball        FLAOEUBL
ground ball   GROUBL
knuckleball   NUBL
screwball     SKRAOUBL

swing and a miss -  SW-MS

infield   EUFLD
outfield OUFLD
centerfield   SEUFLD
right field    RAOEUFLD

line-up   HR*UP
RBI  R*EUB

Don't forget those decimals!!
SP*T  is .~
P*T is ~.~

Easy-peasy!

Thursday, March 27, 2014

Some new strokes for this new captioner!

Steno Wizard is finally officially on the air!

One method that this captioner has learned for adding the word endings of con, ton, son, mon is instead of writing the "O" in the middle is to use AU.  It's certainly working.

So....

ending con is KAUPB
ton TAUPB
son SAUPB   (sawn, * -- sort of like those radial saw blades is how I'm picturing it)
mon PHAUPB


And not to be stingy, Steno Wizard has taken to writing:

visibility SREUFBLT
visible SREUFBL
outage OUPBLG
power outage POUPBLG
dangerous TK-RGS
local HROEBLG
widespread WAOEUPS
latest HRAEUFT
greatest TKPWRAEUFT
heavier HAEFR

Maybe there's a gem or two for you!

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

The Weather is Delightful!

As this former court reporter is transitioning into the captioning realm, there's been hours and hours of practicing -- as mentioned previously -- "The Weather Channel."  In the interest of sharing, here's some of the weather briefs the Wizard has cheerfully borrowed from others or came up with in the desperate struggle to keep up with the anchors!

atmosphere ATS
atmospheric A*TS
hemisphere HEPLS
hemispheric H*EPLS
bitter PWEURT
bitterly PWEURLT
temperature T-P
frostbite TPR*B
freezing TPRAOEFG
freezing rain   TPR*  (short and sweet)
jet stream SKWRAOEPL
lake-effect HREFBGT
lake-effect snow HREFBGTS
low pressure HR-P
high pressure H-P
north pole TPH*P
south pole S*P
radar RAEURD
Doppler TKORP
blizzard PWHREUFRD
tornado TORPBD
thunderstorm THURPL
snow band STPHOEBD
snow storm STPHORPL
snow shower STPHOUR
below zero -BZ
degree TK-G
degrees TK-GZ
dangerous TK-RGS
precipitation PR*EUPGS
forecast TPRAFT
Seven-Day Forecast STPRAFT
broadcast PWRAFT
severe weather SW*
severe weather threat SW*T
windchill W-FP
sunny SAEPB
windy WAEPB
whiteout WHOUT

La Guardia HR*G
JFK SKWR*FBG
L.A.X.  HRA*FPL
airport AEURPT

Check earlier postings on how to write the 20s, 30s, 40s, etc., in one stroke.  Well, here's the link: http://stenowizard.blogspot.com/2010/05/easy-way-to-write-decades.html

Thursday, January 2, 2014

2014 New Directions

Well, Steno Wizard took a big step last month and was hired into a position that transitions a court reporter to captioner -- the ultimate realtimer!  In the interest of ultimate realtime translation, this captioner-in-training is practicing like mad "The Weather Channel" and learning even more city/geographic briefs in addition to the ones in the Wizard repertoire.

Here's a few more to add to the list:

Winnipeg WEUPG

Saskatchewan SKAFP

Vancouver SRAOUFR

Quebec KWEB

Toronto TROPBT

Great Lakes GRAEUBGZ

Green Bay GRA*OEB

Grand Rapids GRAPDZ

Kansas City KOEUS

Nashville TPHARFBL

Appalachian PHRAEUGS

LaFayette HRAEFT -- least HRAOEFT

San Diego STKAEUG

Santa Barbara SPWAURB

Sacramento SKRAEPLT

Providence PROFDZ

From other news practice:

Syria SA*ER

Sierra Leone SAOERPBL

Australia  STRAEUL

British Isles BREURB/AOEUFLZ