• Intro
  
• Survey Results on Advertising Pricing on Website
  
• Interview - with Gale Gallagher: Advantages of Digital Transcription
  
• Feedback from Subscribers
  
• The Office Corner
  
• Giveaway Stuff - Books, Books, Books, and Natural Dog Treats
  
• Grammar Question - Helping Verbs
  
• Tech Tips by Terence Kierans - Sum The Values In A Filtered List
  
• Tech Corner
  
• Writing Corner
  
• Trivia
  
• Word of the Month - Coriolis Force
  
• Recommendations
  
• Judy's Corner
  

* Some of my subscribers are contacting me with special offers for other subscribers. If it's something ongoing, we can put it on http://www.ossweb.com/members-only.html. If it's one item per month, we can list it in the ezine, with an email address for those interested in winning whatever's being offered. Thanks for your generosity. It makes this publication more interesting.

* The finalist in last month's book drawing is Brenda of Seattle, Washington. She chose the Merriam-Webster's Dictionary. And the finalist in April was Theresa Coscia of Phoenix, Arizona. She chose Allan Wyatt's book, "Word 2002 Beginner's Guidebook."

* At last! I divided my website into two. One is for my business, and includes The Writing Center, and the other is for everything else. I did this because I found what I think is a great domain name that describes what I do quite well.

This is the first site totally designed by someone else. Jackie McCutcheon of http://www.webdesignandmore came up with the concept.

Do you like what I've done in tying the old and new sites together visually? Join in my latest survey: http://www.ossweb.com/survey7.html

Here are the two sites: http://www.editingandwritingservices.com - Business services http://www.ossweb.com - Ezine, surveys, Ask Judy, Ezine Template, articles, my blog, ezine pages and archives, and The Idiom Sisters Awards.

* One final tip: Chicago Manual of Style, 15th Edition, is out.

"Should I post pricing for my services on my website?" I asked. A resounding 80% of those taking my latest survey say "Yes." Excellent feedback. The pricing stays. If you didn't get in on the survey, click here.

Q. What are the advantages of digital transcription over the traditional methods? A. Typically, digital files are clearer than tape. For one thing, dictators can't use and use a tape until it becomes totally impossible to understand. And the biggest advantage is that a doctor in California can dictate tonight, upload it to my computer (in Texas), and it will be sitting here waiting for me in the morning. If s/he dictated on tape, it would mean using someone locally, or mailing it to me (delay of three to five days).

One other thing: I'm currently getting a portion of dictation from a medical practice. The lead transcriptionist I am working with lives about 10 miles from me. She gets tapes from the practice in the morning--she can't always tell how much is on each tape because sometimes the physician rewinds it--so she has to guess at how much she is sending me. So, I sometimes wind up with almost nothing and she is overwhelmed (a courier brings some of the tapes to me that same morning. Then we commiserate about wishing we had a method to send me additional work for the day.

There are other, more cumbersome methods of transferring additional work, but digital uploads/downloads would be a perfect, timesaving solution.

Q. What's the most efficient digital transcription method?

A. The ways to process digital files are multiplying rapidly, but for those who transcribe quantities of files, the most effective method is through the use of a foot pedal attached to the computer. Once a voice file has been located on a computer's hard drive--by download from e-mail, ftp site, or other method--there has to be a way to listen to the dictation. Though computer speakers are an effective listening device, speakers don't offer the start/stop option of a foot pedal. Today's foot pedals attach easily, usually with a USB or serial port connection. A simple software program, which allows the foot pedal to function and understand different file formats, is installed on the computer.

Q. Tell us about your digital transcription software.

A. My personal experience with the Bytescribe Wavplayer (www.bytescribe.com) has been nothing but positive. I purchased it about three years ago for $150, and initially it offered little more than translation of .wav files. However, once one buys a Wavplayer, the user can download updated software free, enabling the transcriptionist to stay current with new file formats. In addition, tech support is excellent, though seldom needed.

The software provides a popup window where the file can be opened. The sound speed can be increased/decreased and there is an auto backspace option available. One of the greatest benefits is the ability to see the actual length of the dictated file, as well as the amount of dictation time completed. This is a tremendous advantage over tapes, where transcriptionists often have to guess at the amount of dictation on a tape.

Q. What are the latest features of your (the Wavpedal) software program?

• Support for multiple file formats, now including .cda files audio CDs, .asf, and other video files. The most popular audio formats used in digigal dictation include .wav, .mp3, and .dss (Olympus) file formats.
• Ability to queue multiple files.
• Improved support for networked files, including streaming files from the Internet and support for local UNC paths.
• Wavplayer can be selected as the default player on the computer.
• Voice files can be chosen from Windows Explorer and dragged and dropped into the Wavplayer window.

Though Wavplayer can be purchased with a headset, most earphones that work with transcribers will fit into the computer's speaker and can be used to transcribe.

Q. What Bytescribe features impress you?

• It's a quality product. And Bytescribe maintains a leading- edge mentality in improving its product.
• They do not sell their software upgrades. Once a Wavpedal is purchased, the owner needs only to visit Bytescribe's website to download updated software: a very simple process.
• They offer phone and e-mail tech support. Both are outstanding.

Q. How can I fully understand the full mechanics of digital transcription?

A. Bytescribe has a FAQ page that explains it well: http://www.bytescribe.com/faqs1.htm

Digital transcription has been poking its head around the corner for the last five years. As with anything new, there is always a learning curve. It's nice to know that at least one piece of the puzzle fits easily and well.

Find Gale Gallagher, of Action Business Support, at http://www.actionbusinesssupport.com/

1. In my survey section, I ask for opinions on the merits of pop-up windows on websites. Here's a comment from someone with strong feelings: "They are the epitome of unprofessional. They waste the time of the consumer. They aim at the lowest possible denominator among potential customers. They insult the intelligence of customers. They are ugly and irritating."

Well spoken.

1. GET RID OF OLD DOCUMENT LISTINGS IN WORD: Let's say you work on a document, then save it and close Word. The next time you open Word, that document will be listed, along with others, at the end of the File menu. You can use that list to open documents. On the flip side, there may be a time when you want to remove an item from that list. Fortunately, it is easy to do.

In Word, hold down Ctrl and Alt, and press the hyphen key. A cursor appears that looks like a huge minus sign. Open File to get to the document list. Put that huge minus sign on the document name that you want to delete. Click the mouse. This deletes the document name from the list, but not the document itself.

(If you want to increase the number of documents in that listing, select Tools/Options. Select the tab marked "General" and look for "Recently Used File List". Change the number to a larger one.)

Patricia L. Johnson
Mid-Hudson Regional Information Center,
mailto:webmaster@mhric.org
www.mhric.org

2. THE SALES TAX CLEARING HOUSE: Need to know the sales tax rate in one or more states? Start here. (Contributed by Julia Flint.)
http://thestc.com/STrates.stm

3. HOMEOWNERS INSURANCE OR BUSINESS INSURANCE? Most people don't realize their home office equipment isn't covered by traditional home owner insurance. You need to ask your insurance agent if they offer an office in the home rider or endorsement for your homeowner policy. And if so, what EXACTLY it covers. Look at the total amount covered and whether it covers more than one computer if you have multiple computers you use for work.

An alternate - and often better, but more costly route - is to find a broker who can find you a business owner policy for a home business. Those typically run about $300-$350 a year, and will cover a lot more on the computer and also if client or someone comes to your home and trips or slips or gets hurt in some way.

Janet Attard
Author, The Home Office and Small Business Answer Book
Run, market, and grow your business with help from Business Know-How
http://www.businessknowhow.com

CALAMITY JAN: Internationally published author, Calamity Jan has generously offered to give away one autographed book from her latest History Mystery Ghostowner series for young readers. The THIRD person to send me an email will get to choose from "Goodbye God, I'm Going to Bodie" (Bodie, California), "Ghost of Nighthawk" (Nighthawk, Washington), and "Shadow of Shaniko" (Shaniko, Oregon). Jan, who also happens to be my sister, researches each ghost town thoroughly, photographing and gathering as much local history as possible.
To learn more about her, go to http://www.calamityjan.com.
To enter the drawing, click this link:
mailto:judyvorfeld@ossweb.com?subject=calamityjan_Office_Support_Services

UNDERSTANDINGDAD: Norman Lieberman recently published a journal called "UnderstandingDad," and he's giving away a copy to the FOURTH person to click on the link below:
mailto:judyvorfeld@ossweb.com?subject=understandingdad_Office_Support_Services

This book is designed to help readers move closer to their fathers while creating a legacy for the family. This workbook has 130 questions, each on its own lined page, that provide a foundation for readers to journey into the hearts and minds of their fathers. In addition, Norm has created a special page just for Communication Expressway subscribers who may want to buy one or more books at a discount. On your way to the discount page, take a few minutes to peruse the site and click on "fr^e tips". These are very helpful in opening up the paths of communication with one's dad. Here's the website: http://www.understandingdad.com, and here's the discount page: http://www.understandingdad.com/order_cesubscribers.html

GIVEAWAY BOOK! Subscribers are eligible to sign up to win a copy of "The Home Office and Small Business Answer Book: Solutions to the Most Frequently Asked Questions About Starting and Running Home Offices and Small Businesses" by Janet Attard, a Merriam-Webster's Dictionary, or Allan Wyatt's book, "Word 2002 Beginner's Guidebook."
Sign up once a month at http://www.ossweb.com/freebook.html

Q. The following two sentences appear to say the same thing to me.

He completed the race.
He has completed the race.

Why use 'has' with the verb?

A. "Has" is one of the "helping verbs." Here are a couple of sites that explain helping verbs:
http://webster.commnet.edu/grammar/auxiliary.htm
http://donnayoung.org/language/pos/helpingverbs.htm

Excel has a worksheet function named SUBTOTAL. If you click the AutoSum toolbar button, Excel will use this function to sum the values of only those rows visible in the filtered list. Change the filter parameters and the sum will be recalculated to display the sum of the currently visible rows.

To try it:

1. Enter the headings Class, Client, and Income in A1:C1.
2. Enter clients in B2:B10. Use classes Word Processing, Database Development and Editing for A2:A10. Enter incomes in C2:C10.
3. Select any cell in the list and choose Data | Filter | AutoFilter.
4. Use the AutoFilter drop-down list for Class to select Editing. Only those clients who used your Editing service will be displayedt
5. Select cell C12 and click the AutoSum toolbar button. Excel will use the SUBTOTAL function and that the incomes from only the currently visible clients are totaled. If you select another class by using the Class drop-down list, Excel will calculate a new total.

Terence Kierans
Cyberspace Virtual Services
tkierans@virtualservices.com.au
http://www.virtualservices.com.au/
We keep your project on the boil, while you sleep

1. HOW IMAGES AND WEBSITES APPEAR TO THE COLOR BLIND: Vischeck simulates colorblind vision. You can check images and Web pages from the site, or download software (if you use Windows) to let you see as the color blind see. VischeckPS is a plug-in for Adobe's Photoshop. It's also compatible with products such as Adobe Illustrator, JASC PaintShop Pro, and Macromedia Fireworks.
http://www.vischeck.com/vischeck/

2. THE MAD, MAD WORLD OF PIXELS PER INCH (PPI): Article by Andrew Starling. Trying to understand Pixels Per Inch is easier than spit- roasting jellyfish - but only marginally. When you've read this article, maybe you still won't fully understand ppi, but at least you'll feel confident that nobody else understands it either.
http://www.webdevelopersjournal.com/columns/ajs_ppi.html

3. OFFSETTING A GRAPHIC IMAGE FROM SURROUNDING TEXT: When you want to set a graphic apart from surrounding text or objects, use the horizontal and vertical space tags, choosing the amount of pixels needed. I used three to show how it's done: hspace=3 and vspace=3.

1. KA-BOOM: A Dictionary of Comicbook Words on Historical Principles Based on the Latest Conclusions of the Most Dubious Wordologists & Comprising Many Hundreds of New Words which Modern Literature, Science & Philosophy have Neglected to Acknowledge as True, Proper & Useful Terms & Which Have Never Before Been Published in Any Lexicon.
http://collection.nlc-bnc.ca/100/200/300/ktaylor/kaboom/index.htm

2. WEB WRITING WORKSHOP: How to Make Web Writing Come Alive, by Ron Scheer. Actually, it's for making any kind of writing come alive.
http://ronscheer.com/html/readingroom13.html

3. HOW TO WRITE A MYSTERY: A series of 12 articles on how to write a mystery by Gillian Roberts of Amanda Pepper Mysteries and Emma Howe Mysteries.
http://www.gillianroberts.com/write/lesson1.htm

1. AMC PACER.COM: If you don't remember this egg-shaped hoopty from the '70s, the Mirth Mobile from "Wayne's World" might help jog your memory. AMC Pacer aficionado Jeni Panhorst created this homage to the perky little Pacer after she took possession of a hand-me-down Hamster-Mobile. True fans will love the commercials and vintage news video, plus original songs dedicated to the beloved bubble car. And remember the old promo line: "You only ride like a Pacer if you're wide like a Pacer."
http://www.amcpacer.com/

2. DEGAS AND THE DANCE: Site for budding ballerinas and anyone who loves beautiful artwork. Philadelphia Museum of Art. Requires Flash.
http://www.philamuseum.org/exhibitions/exhibits/degas/flash/home2.html

3. CHICAGO UNCOMMON: Chicago Uncommon is the product of Dawn M. Mikulich. Passion for photography and web design crossed with an adoration of the Windy City developed into a massive collection of Chicagoland photography displayed categorically. There are 750 Chicagoland photographs presented at chicagouncommon.com and 320 additional photographs in the Postcards section with many more on the way. The site is refreshed at minimum once a week.
http://chicagouncommon.com/

Main Entry: Coriolis force
Pronunciation: "am-b&-'gyü-&-tE
Function: noun
Etymology: Gaspard G. Coriolis died 1843 French civil engineer
Date: 1923
: an apparent force that as a result of the earth's rotation deflects moving objects (as projectiles or air currents) to the right in the northern hemisphere and to the left in the southern hemisphere

*By permission. From Merriam-Webster's Collegiate(R) Dictionary at www.m-w.com by Merriam-Webster, Incorporated.

1. ON THE FLIP SIDE OF HOLLYWOOD: If you love old movies, this site has pictures and vignettes of patriotic movie stars, directors, writers, and producers and of the past. It's a trip down Memory Lane...and a bit beyond.
http://www.palletmastersworkshop.com/flipside.html

2. DOMAIN NAME OWNERSHIP AND AVAILABILITY: Want to see if a domain name is available, or discover who owns existing names?
http://www.networksolutions.com/en_US/index.jhtml

3. WHY SHOULD WEBMASTERS PUBLISH EZINES? Erum Zehra
http://www.biztalk4u.com/archives/2002/why-publish-ezines.html

* Need to keep your hands clean, but aren't stationed near a sink or wash basin? Or do you live in a drought area where water use is restricted? Look at one of the many new antibacterial hand gels with moisturizers that have recently come on the market. I have a large bottle of Prevacare, a Johnson & Johnson antimicrobial product my mother gave me last year. I also checked out the nearest drugstore, and it sells a number of such hand gels. I bought a little bottle to carry in my handbag.

Recently had to take my husband to the hospital Emergency Room, and we were there for some time. I roamed the halls to get exercise, and noticed containers around the area with dispensers of antibacterial gel. These are listed as 99.99% bacteria free. Spread the gel on your hands and it dries in seconds. At least it dries fast in the desert!

ARCHIVES FOR ALL COMMUNICATION EXPRESSWAY ISSUES
http://www.ossweb.com/ezine-archive-index.html

Questions, comments, recommendations?
Contact Judy Vorfeld at www.ossweb.com.contact.html

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go to http://www.ossweb.com/ezine.html