Briefs added to the repertoire in the past year!

While watching the Kentucky Derby, thought I'd share some one-stroker briefs... 

Derby TKAERB

victory SROEURBGT

championship KHOEUP

delivery TKHRAEFR

running R-G

winning W-G

spinning SP-G

Louisville HRAOUFL

unique TPHAOEBG

AND an important entry for your captioning dictionary, HA*G - defined as #~ -- hashtag with a delete space.

More dictionary building

Found on the left-hand side of the page is a list of Fortune 500 companies for inputting into the captioner's dictionary -  http://fortune.com/fortune500/#

How about weather terms?  Check out this site:  http://w1.weather.gov/glossary/ and other page on the site too:  http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutgloss.shtml

The Steno Wizard Captioning Studio

Here's a pic of the captioning studio in my home.  The office is as clean as it's ever been.  I was just getting started.  :-)

The desk has been more centrally located by the maps.   At the time I was waiting for the third phone line to be installed.

The maps were purchased at a local education store in the area. The purpose of the maps are for me to write location specific briefs directly on the maps with a black Sharpie pen.  I find it easier to locate a city, state, or country in this manner than a word list. 

The smaller U.S. map has each state's governor and two senators written inside the boundaries (if possible).  Governors are highlighted in yellow.  Senators are orange.  No significance as to the colors other than those were the two highlighters that were on hand.  Go to nationalatlas.gov to find yours.  You can pick your preferred format, i.e., with state names or not, colors, etc.  You will have to adjust the size it prints --  for ease of use.  I've found that getting it on an 11X17 paper works well.  I've not figured out how to attach the file itself.  

The atomic clock is really fantastic for making sure you know precisely what time it is.  It is down to the second.  Handy for when you know you're switching off to another captioner and you want to count the seconds -- not confessing anything about that!  You can buy an atomic clock at any local store pretty much.  I bought mine at Sam's Club.  It is supposed to face a certain direction so that it can reset itself with Denver.  It's always worked and takes batteries.  I realize computers have fairly accurate times on them, but it's nice to walk to the entrance of the office and know how many more minutes before you go on air without actually walking over to the computer screen.

The huge paperclip-looking things were purchased on clearance from Office Max.  Probably less than $2 each.

Maybe you have some inspiration (SPOEURGS) to go shopping!

Captioning office before 3rd phone line installation

An atomic clock that always knows the correct time!

Up close of World Map with Brief Forms

My method to keep rosters in line of sight while captioning

Up close U.S. Map with Brief Forms

Yesterday's News

While captioning yesterday's news, both on the East Coast and the West, many stories were similar in nature and shared with the viewers.  Here's some briefs that were used with success!

debate TK-BT
constitutional STAOURBL
marriage PHAEURPBLG
same-sex marriage SPHAEURPBLG
gay rights TKPWRAOEUGTS
Supreme Court SPROURT
justice JUFS
justices JUFSZ
Roberts ROBTS
Baltimore PWHROR
Annapolis AEPS
Maryland PHAEURLD
violence SROEULS
violent SROEUPBT
violate SROEULT
violation SROEULGS
incident STPHEPBT
media PHAED
magnitude PHAGTD
ABC A*BZ
NBC TPH*BS

Oh, those politicians!

Here's some great sites to help build a dictionary that's ready for American politics.

This is the link for the president's cabinet:  http://www.politics1.com/cabinet.htm, and one can explore for other info there.

Another fantastic site for past presidents and their first ladies is found at this link:  https://www.whitehouse.gov/1600/Presidents.  Think of how many school buildings are named after presidents and first ladies.

Next, you may need to have the U.S. Supreme Court Justices.  http://www.supremecourt.gov/about/biographies.aspx, and if you hunt around the site, you can find past justices to input into your dictionary.  The Supreme Court is sometimes referred to as SCOTUS (SKOE-TUS).

Need U.S. governors?  Try this site:  http://www.netstate.com/states/tables/st_governors.htm.

Don't forget those senators!  http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

Some briefs:

lawmaker LAURK
lawmakers LAURKZ
governor GOFR
government GOFT
governance GOFRNS
constituent KWAENT
incumbent BAENT
Washington, D.C. WA*UGDZ
Pentagon P*G
White House WHOUS
congressional GRERBL
President of the United States PO*ETS - Think POTUS (poe-tus) -- common nickname for the president.   ** I've taken to writing it PRO*ETS lately, and so I have both entries in the dix.
First Lady of the United States FLO*ETS - you guessed it!  FLOTUS  (Floe-tus)!
politics PHREUBGZ
political PHREUL
politically PHR*EUL
politician PHREUGS
Republican R*P
Democrat TK*M
Democratic TK*MT
candidate K*D - I think of a candidate wearing a bow tie.  It works for me!

Proper names

Steno Wizard has been trying to add to the SW personal dictionary loads of Hispanic (HEUPS) surnames and first names.   That was one thing that has been lacking for realtime captioning perfection. Yeah, there's no such thing, but I'm a work in progress and am continually striving!

Here's a site that SW used for common U.S. names and interestingly enough it has lists of Hispanic names.

http://names.mongabay.com/data/hispanic.html

It's fairly easy to navigate to the other lists.

SW is going to investigate the Asian names particularly since NHK is a common work assignment.

Here's the link for most common female first names.  SW input these into the dictionary years ago, and the site is still active!

http://names.mongabay.com/female_names.htm

Most common male first names can be found at this link.

http://names.mongabay.com/male_names_alpha.htm

Onward and upward!

Recent additions to the repertoire!

Steno Wizard has been a little remiss (well...maybe more than a little) in blog entries since making the leap into captioning, so this early morning before going on the air, Steno Wizard decided to look into that always growing personal dictionary to share recent additions.  Perhaps you have them, perhaps not. 

Some weather additions include some regions of the country that were unbeknownst to this Midwesterner.   No briefs for the following at this point in time.  Perhaps if the term were being brought up on the air more than occasionally...

Delmarva -- comprised of the general area of Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia.  There's even a Delmarva electric company.  This captioner has seen it also written as Del-Mar-Va and is currently trying to determine if it's with or without or if it's merely up to whimsy (another word for the dictionary).

Texlahoma - Texas and Oklahoma.  Supposedly at one point in time there was a proposal to create a 49th state comprised of some of the counties in Texas and Oklahoma.

Arklatex - Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas.

Arklatexhoma - Arkansas, Lousiana, Texas, and Oklahoma.

Shenandoah, Steno Wizard struggled with this word for a good solid day before a fellow coworker shared her brief from.  SH-D   -- of course, after getting the brief, the weather person didn't say it the next week on that station's broadcast.  Grrr!

Firenado!   Pretty interesting phenomenon (TPAOPB).  This was a term SW learned last year, and it is still in usage this year.  Maybe it's always been there?  No brief!   SW is thinking of maybe having a "nado" suffix.  Sometimes "sharknado" is popping up too.  Still pondering that...

Till next time!

Let's Celebrate!

Checking in!

Steno Wizard has been so busy with the captioning side of realtime!  Loads of work out there to be had from the comfort of your own home...just sayin'  

Steno Wizard is starting to feel more and more comfortable captioning television.  Last week, Steno Wizard got to caption -- get ready for it -- the State of the Union address.  Talk about a nerve-racking experience.  In my quest to not look a total fool, I spent 45 minutes prepping for a speech that was a little over an hour long!

How does one prep for the State of the Union?

You've got to make sure you have all those Congressional names in your dictionary just in case.  I had many from before the election, but I needed to update them with the newly elected people. 

I went to the whitehouse.gov and looked around in there for a bit.  Input the First Lady's guests names -- good thing because the President mentioned a few along the way.  Rebekah definitely had to be in there. 

Here's some briefs that were helpful--State of the Union STAOUPB
Michelle PHEURBL
Congress TKPWRES
Congressional TKPWRERBL

Now a word I wish I'd had in my dictionary that the President didn't say but the television reporters did say -- rotunda!   You can bet it's in there NOW. 

Anyway, Steno Wizard survived that particular journey.  

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.

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!

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!

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

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

Oh, my! Med-mal this week...

What a week!  Weeklong trial regarding the bladder and kidneys.  With the help of a few sources and Eclipse's Auto Brief feature, here's some new embraceable writing ideas!

Ibuprofen *EUB   -- WOW!  THIS ONE IS A DEFINITE KEEPER!

urology KWRAOURLG

urologist KWRAOURLGS

nephrology   TPHEFRLG

nephrologist TPHEFRLGS

nephritis TPHEFRTS

bladder PWHRARD

prostate PROTS

subjective S*UFPBLG

objective O*FB

assessment SAEFMT


Realtime looked beautiful (PWAOUFL)!

Put Words in Your Mouth

Steno Wizard got to thinking about a common phrase that definitely should be briefed.

"Put words in your mouth" comes up frequently enough.  A coworker gave me her brief, and I think I like it.  Kind of funny how an attorney doesn't want to put words in the mouth of the witness and then proceeds to do so. 

Put words in your mouth  PURMT
Putting words in your mouth PURMGT

Couple of new briefs worth trying out

Steno Wizard has really tried to embrace the "keep it simple" briefing methodology over the years and just recently came up with a couple of keepers.  In the interest of sharing...


TR-B   Transcribe
TR-BD Transcribed
TR-BZ Transcribes


PR-B  Prescribe
PR-BD  Prescribed
PR-BZ  Prescribing

STKR-B Describe
STKR-BD Described
STKR-BZ  Describes

SKR-B Subscribe
SKR-BD  Subscribed
SKR-BZ  Subscribes

Realtime Tips Article

Recently, Steno Wizard was contacted by NCRA to give some tips on realtime writing for the JCR.  When they'll appear, who knows!   You're reading them here first!

1.  Know your software.  Stay up-to-date with your software. Take advantage of the tips and tricks that are already built-in features of your software.  CAT vendors have done a lot to help reporters provide excellent realtime services.

2.  Be open to change.  Realtime writing is a journey towards excellence.  There are a plethora of realtime writing books and websites to explore ideas on how to improve steno theory.  You don't have to embrace every single idea.  You can pick and choose what you like and ignore what you don't like.  You're the person in control of your steno machine -- no one else! 

3.  Build your dictionary with prefixes, suffixes, root words. Input major cities, colors, flowers, trees, car models, common first and last names, etc.  If you know it, as Mark K. says, put it in your steno dictionary.  CAT software has dictionary building features to make it easier than ever to build your dictionary.

4.  My final suggestion:  A good starting point is review your common writing mistakes that you are fixing during the editing stage of transcript production.  

As an example, for over a decade, I kept fixing the word "and" (written APBD) during editing.  I would misstroke "and" and the words abdomen, apprehend, April, an, ab, everything but "and" would be the ultimate translation.  Obviously, a huge amount of time was involved in editing that simple 3-letter word.  Something had to change.  A student told me she was being taught SKP- in school.  I wasn't immediately enthralled with the idea, but I pondered it for a while and it grew on me.  My realtime writing improved tremendously once I made the SKP- change.  Of course, my production time improved along the way. 

Let's celebrate!

Lovely new brief of the day!

Steno Wizard just happened to have this little brief land right in her lap today.  Someone was looking for a brief for the word kidnap.  KEUP is what is in the book Brief Encounters, and SW thinks this is one of those woo-hoo, why didn't I think of that?! 

So kidnap KEUP
kidnapping KEUPG
kidnapper KEURP
kidnapped KEUPD

Now we're ready!