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Subject:Re: general topic of spelling From:Michele <michele -at- krautgrrl -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Wed, 15 Jun 2005 18:32:19 -0500
James Jones wrote:
1 What specific spelling errors have you found to be common to
technical documentation
Everything under the sun, including incorrect mathematical formulas from a scientist in a technical paper.
2 What do you think of spell-checking technology and how do you use
it
In a word, spell-checking technology stinks. Word especially. I spell-check everything, emails, and all doco. But it is not a replacement for a good read looking for errors on your own.
3 How does current search technology perform vis a vis spelling
errors
In a word, Search and Replace fields stink too. Say you do an universal replacement because the original author of the document used two spaces after a period and you want to use one, which is correct. I've had Word replace the period on a web address or email address when I do this, which it shouldn't. But look at some of the MS Word suggestions on tense and other words that you know are correct. Bill Gates and his crew of programmers think their application knows English better than I do. How insulting. Do your programmers have a PhD in English? Are they writers? NO! Then don't put those damn squiggly lines under words I know are right!!!
4 Your opinion on the topic of spelling difficulties
A good proofread. If that fails, b/c perhaps there is a flow issue, like in the current book I'm writing, I read it out loud. It's time consuming, but royalties are involved, so it's time well-spent. No need for errors in a book readily available in bookstores! Programmers, IMO, are intolerably bad spellers.
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Michele E. Davis, Writer
Kraut Companies
612-824-3516
612-309-6903 (cell)
www.krautgrrl.com
www.krautboy.com
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