Still another open letter to Mac

Forums: Ignore Button, Editing, Mac Are You Listening, What Have You Done To Google, Duplicates Ad Nauseum
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Mac my only present gripe about Google, which I dearly love in almost every other respect, is that after a recent rev you no longer spellcheck our entry to provide suggested corrections as with nearly all other Internet sites. Instead you now simply make a guess, which turns out to be wrong as often as right

For instance if I enter "fantastio r nea" for "fantastic or new", you immediately assume I mean either "fantastia or new," "Fantasia near" "fantastica a Rena" or "fantastico Enea," requiring me to laboriously correct by hunt-and-peck; God Lord what a nuisance

But I am wondering by trolling this OP of 100,000 participants whether anybody else anywhere at all has encountered this massive new deficiency or has even noticed. Perhaps it's because almost everyone types slower and more carefully than I. But Mac, or whoever's responsible, there must be many more like me who just simply won 't speak up using a facility such as this

Critics like myself, is it possibly because you're afraid you'll be mercilessly attacked by the participant seemingly angry at all times about nearly everything

So guys, don't fear registering your gripes, just ignore the inevitable static, let Mac know what you think about his editing routines. He does listen, I can testify, and however long it takes, sometimes does respond accordingly

Edited to remark to those unfamiliar with my rantings, by "Mac" I make reference to incompetent programming of all sorts but especially editing that cannot for instance even recognize "it;s" or "it s" as missp;ellings

-------much less "missp;ellings"

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Type: Question • Score: 0 • Views: 1,830 • Replies: 19

[+3] - Ticomaya - 12/19/2012Why don't you just type correctly?

@dalehileman,

Why don't you just type correctly?

1 Reply

@Ticomaya,

Alas Tico, alack

Guess too old to change my ways but thank you nonetheless

But technology is of little avail. For years each successive keyboard required more and more force to depress the keys so finally I appealed to my excellent No. 1 Son who found me one requiring minimal force, 'way less than any of the previous ones

Though by then I had become so heavy handed that now my typing has become even more ofx a mess than before, coincidentally accounting for the "x" where I had aimed for the spacebar. Now you'd suppose, wouldn't you, if Mac recognizes "xfor" as a misspelling of "for" then it would be obvious that "ofx" is one of "of"

But no, Mac for some reason doesn't attract very competent editing programmers. Perhaps he doesn't pay them as well and so few possess an IQ much over 14.7

So now a well-meaning participant in a remote Internet forum supposing the idea hadn't yet occurred to me suggests I merely change my habits of 82 years in the making, don't hit the keys so hard and maybe go slower

Yet thank you Tico agin for your concern in the matter

Edited to remark, why would anyone possessing a 2d-grade familiarity with The Mother Tongue assume I meant "agin" as a the Arkansas pronunciation of "aging" or "again" and therefore provide no suggested correction

Mac, is it that you recruit them only in the southern states

1 Reply

@dalehileman,

dalehileman wrote:

So now a well-meaning participant in a remote Internet forum supposing the idea hadn't yet occurred to me suggests I merely change my habits of 82 years in the making, don't hit the keys so hard and maybe go slower

Yet thank you Tico agin for your concern in the matter

You know what they say about when you "assume" ....?

No, I supposed you had already considered the option of typing better, and dismissed it out of hand, opting instead to complain on this forum that someone else needs to do something to make your life easier.

1 Reply

@dalehileman,

Why not just put yourself out of your misery and turn off the auto-correcting feature on your browser so all your typos show through in their naked finery rather than being guessed at by a computer program?

Of course, that would mean you would need to take time to review your typing before posting or run into the editing time limit here on A2K.

1 Reply

@Butrflynet,

Quote:

Why not…..turn off the auto-correcting feature…..so all your typos show…..rather than being guessed at by a computer program?

At any other typical site a misspelling in an entry is flagged and one or more corrections are suggested. Simply clicking on one replaces your misspelling

But in Google now, many if not most of its guesses are correct as represented by the outcome of the resulting search but when they're not, no additional suggestions are offered so you have to make the correction manually

Quote:

Of course, that would mean you would need to take time to review your typing before posting or run into the editing time limit here on A2K.

Yes But thanks, I'm familiar with the facility. Incidentally though, after a recent rev Mac now stops accepting your keystrokes when you misspell--without even flagging it or otherwise signaling--so when you glance up at the screen the entire remainder of your paragraph is missing

Every time Mac fields a rev to "improve" a routine it seems he inadvertently introduces at least one more glitch ad infinitum

1 Reply

@dalehileman,

I don't know if you are talking to McGentrix, McTag, or myself....but we don't know nuthin bout no google.

1 Reply

@2PacksAday,

Quote:

I don't know if you are talking to McGentrix, McTag, or myself

I use the term "Mac" to mean any sort of incompetent programer, esp so common in editing routines

Quote:

....but we don't know nuthin bout no google.

Surely when you Google you notice a diff now when you misspell, or maybe it's that you're such a so much better typist

0 Replies

@dalehileman,

Im not anal about my spelling errors. ****, if I onlyknew one way to spell a word itd not do my ADD any good.
Who is MAC? did I miss the memo?

1 Reply

@dalehileman,

PS, in mY world, I use a lot of technical words that take me only two times to have my DRAGON fairies learn to perfection.
When I was first using DRAGON (A voice -to- type recognition program-sells for under 100 bucks) I had trouble with it because itd try all kinds of options to try to please me. I once was doing a report on chemical caaryover in mining waste piles and I used PCB's in a sentence (PCB's are a class of organic chemicals called Polychlorinated -biphenyls).
ANYWAY, I was using PCBs as the proper short form and the program kept spitting back "Piece of Beef". The new version of Dragon is really good and it only takes two times to teach the little girl in there the proper spelling and word form.

I tried to use it once here but didnt get it past the format block. I always wanted to ask someone who knows, whether a voice rcognition program could be an aid at A2K.

Relax, dont worry-be happy.

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@farmerman,

Quote:

Who is MAC?

See my posting #….514 above

Quote:

did I miss the memo?

I'm not sure what you mean. Are you making reference to something in a different thread

If so, I apologize but my short-term mem isn't that good so you'll have to clarify

1 Reply

@dalehileman,

"did I miss the memo ?" is an attempt at a joke. Sorry. However, I have no idea what post no 514 is, why not just quote it and tell me who the hell MAC is? Im still in the dark

1 Reply

@dalehileman,

Mac World: How to enable/disable Auto-Correct

Quote:

Mac OS X Lion adds a new, more aggressive auto-correct function to Safari, Mail and more. While some may find this to be a godsend, others may find it rather annoying. For example, doing a search for Pat Metheny in Safari will auto-correct to Pat Methane. Not exactly what I was looking for. Fortunately, there are ways to control this behavior both as a system-wide default option and on an app by app basis. Here's what you need to do:

To set the default system-wide state for auto-correct, navigate to System Preferences/Language & Text. Click the Text tab at the top and then you can check or uncheck 'Correct spelling automatically.' In order for this to take effect, your apps must be quit and then relaunched. Upon relaunch, the correct default state for auto-correct will be set.

To enable or disable auto-correct on an app by app basis, you need to be in an active text field (for example, in Safari you could go to Google and click to put the cursor in the search field). From there, navigate to Edit/Spelling and Grammar and then check or uncheck 'Correct Spelling Automatically.'

This was a bit confusing to me at first, because it seemed like there were 2 ways to do the same thing, but they didn't always work. For example, if you aren't in an active text field, the option will be greyed out in the app's Edit menu. It also seemed like the system-wide option didn't work at all until I realized that apps need to be relaunched in order to reflect the change. What I finally concluded is that Apple is giving the user system-wide control over this feature's default state and app by app control to override the system default. Very handy. If, for example, you like this feature in everything but Safari, you would then turn on auto-correct as the system-wide default, then go to Safari and turn it off for just that application.

[crarko adds: I tested this, and it works as described. If you've disabled it, and do want to do a check, just select 'Check Document Now' from the Spelling and Grammar menu.]

2 Replies

@Butrflynet,

Here's the same instructions in a more user-friendly style.

http://macs.about.com/od/OSXLion107/qt/Os-X-Lion-Automatic-Spelling-Correction.htm

If you aren't able to do it with these instructions, perhaps your number one or number two son can walk you through it.

1 Reply

@farmerman,

Quote:

who the hell MAC is?

Abstractly, Macintosh, the source of all incompetent programming, esp in the realm of editing routines

Quote:

I have no idea what post no 514 is,

It's #8 but Mac doesn't count in quite the same way as the Average Clod (me)

0 Replies

@Butrflynet,

But thank you for that quote but it's all 'way beyond the Commonplace Dunce (me)

Why should I have to wade through hundreds or thousands of words about abstract concepts of PC programming to learn why "it;s" isn't recognized as a misspelling of "it's"

1 Reply

@dalehileman,

You don't have to wade through it. Contact one of your smart sons and ask them to tell you how to fix it.

It isn't an abstract concept, it is a toggle that turns on or turns off the automatic correction feature. It is an easy customization you can make on your computer so your computer functions the way you need it to.

With your impaired cognitive abilities, you probably will need to ask one of your sons to help you with it. Nothing to be ashamed of, my mother faces the same challenges and often needs help with these sorts of tasks.

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@Ticomaya,

Quote:

No, I supposed you had already considered the option of typing better,

No, yes, Tico, see my post #…o77 above

Quote:

and dismissed it out of hand,

Not at all. I'm striving to hit the keys more gently but as I explained above, it's hard to break an old habit

Quote:

opting instead to complain on this forum

….through which I hope to reach those who matter. However Tico please don't feel obliged to read my postings

Quote:

that someone else needs to do something to make your life easier.

The entire purpose of the editing routine is to make life easier

Much as one major purpose of the PC with keyboard is to make easier the transmission of info. Are you suggesting then because we're being pampered by the technological world that we should revert to pen and paper, sent in a stamped envelope through the mail system

No? Well then, that everything is just fine the way it is, that any improvements are unnecessary and superfluous

0 Replies

@Butrflynet,

Quote:

Here's the same instructions in a more user-friendly style.

http://macs.about.com/od/OSXLion107/qt/Os-X-Lion-Automatic-Spelling-Correction.htm

Thank you But for that link but my objection is precisely that autocorrection is done by guesswork and that it's often if not usually wrong

Sorry But if I wasn't clear. I was objecting specifically to that feature of Google's latest rev which apparently resides not in Apple but in Google's software; though in the course of discussion remarked about its disadvantage, especially where the correction isn't even flagged; but, But, doubly incensed by Mac's frustrating new habit: that when he thinks you've perpetrated a spelling error, with no warning of any sort he altogether quits recording your subsequent keystrokes

There's no possible excuse whatever for the latter feature

Edited to remark re

Quote:

It isn't an abstract concept, it is a toggle that turns on or turns off the automatic correction feature.

Aha, apparent what you're saying is that I can in effect alter the software of another site, eg such as Google, so that it no longer autocorrects by sheer guesswork but reverts to the former, default, system where several possible spelling corrections are suggested

Quote:

With your impaired cognitive abilities, you probably will need to ask one of your sons to help you with it.

Without a doubt

Quote:

Nothing to be ashamed of, my mother faces the same challenges and often needs help with these sorts of tasks.

Alas alack my sons are so fed up with my incompetence that I'm reluctant to solicit further help. Nonetheless after such a help session I fear the problem will prove one of Mac's incompetent software that no amount of juggling my PC can fix

As for the link, But, thank you most kindly and I will address it some day when I have several days or perhaps weeks to spend at the PC, much to the chagrin of my Better Half; but meantime ikt might as well be written in Janpanese. For instance,

Quote:

Launch System Preferences, either by clicking the System Preferences icon in the Dock

If by Dock they mean that strip of selections and icons across the very top, there simply isn't one so entitled. Under "Safari," however, there's one entirled "Preferences," and I wonder if tht might be the one to which tbey have reference

Next they advise me,

Quote:

2. Click the Language & Text preference pane.

Under Preferences there are indeed ten panes, but none of them is so labeled

..noting how Mac has his minions purposely make everything as difficult as possible. I understand he awards rsizes to his programmers fore the most keystrokes to obtain a routine that should have come up for instance by default

So if I spend several months learning and applying ikt, will Mac then come to realize for instance that "ikt" is a misspelling of "it"

Mac, can't you see the "k" next to the "i" or don't your programmers use a standard keyboard

Seems to me such rea;lly obvious stuff like that should be the default.

Really, Mac, rea;lly, you need to hire a

Oops you just cut off the rest of my entire para; you're listening and you're angry aren't you

…hire a few programmers with an IQ of at least 50. I realize they'll cost you a bit more, but, But, but…..

1 Reply

@dalehileman,

Oops Mac, you just cut me off agin, with several yet uncorrected typos

Mac, why do you hate us so; this edit package must be one you offered a2k at a special price doubtless because these earlier versions were proving so difficult to alter. Later versions of course now used in forums used throughout the Internet let you edit for hours if not indefinitely

But if you never do anything else to help a2k into the 21st Century please please provide an instant scroll bar in boxes such as this, over there to the right

Oh, and Mac, once agin, "agin " is a misspelling of "again"or "in repetition"
Oops I'm sorry, that was a 4-syllable word wasn't it; means "once more"

Oh and by the way Mac, while you're at it, sequential responses in a thread ought to be numbered sequentially. That means, in order, like 1, 2, 3, etc instead of 5,678,121; 5,687,132; 5,688,014; etc

…the reason being, Mac, that one often wishes to refer to another specific posting, most easily found if identified sequentially. For instance No. 1 could be the first, often called the OP, then the one following it No. 2, etc

Surely as they drop out through attrition you can acquire replacements at a higher salary level and of course IQ

0 Replies

Still another open letter to Mac

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