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I'm more broken than you
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07-03-2023, 07:33 AM
Now, that CF has won this thread, should we retire it?
Of course I mean retire it until I need to moan about in ingrown toenail, right. Beware those hedges. They can be tricky.
As a matter of fact, my anger does keep me warm
07-03-2023, 07:41 AM
There's a bush trimmed into a small tree at the end of the street, and it's snagged my by the shoulder many times. And I never learn.
the hands that guide me are invisible
07-03-2023, 07:44 AM
(07-03-2023, 07:33 AM)Greg Wrote: Now, that CF has won this thread, should we retire it? Retire it? This is fated to become our most active thread of all…
Shadow boxing the apocalypse
07-03-2023, 09:43 AM
But also our most authentic…
Our saddest will be the next D00M death. Should we start a Deadpool?
Shadow boxing the apocalypse
07-03-2023, 02:35 PM
We*are* a deadpool.
Also, ingrown toenails are no joke.
In the Tudor Period, Fencing Masters were classified in the Vagrancy Laws along with Actors, Gypsys, Vagabonds, Sturdy Rogues, and the owners of performing bears.
07-06-2023, 09:42 AM
I go in on July 20 for an NRI with dye. Should know more after that.
DM, a lunch or something in August sounds good. In putting together my collection of stories, I realized 2 predate having a computer file. So I flatbed-scanned one story from a book with sufficiently flexible spine, and I took photos of the pages of another book with a stiff spine while LCF pried it open. The result of both was a series of jpgs, one per page. I cleaned and straightened them in photoshop (maybe optional step), then uploaded the jpgs to google drive. There the magic happens. I select one of jpgs, right-click, and from the dropdown there's an OPEN WITH submenu. From that I choose Google Docs. After a few seconds of grinding, the jpg opens. But because I used Google Docs, beneath the jpg is a translation of the text in the jpg as actual text. I can copy and paste that into a Word doc. As for voice to text, I've heard that for prose, Dragon isn't the best. Then again, I read that maybe 3 years ago, and I don't remember where. And this area is growing so fast. I tried using Microsoft's version 3 years ago, whatever it's called, and it kept bailing on me after a few words. Then I tried Google's version in Google docs, and it's nice--though it cuts out after a few paragaphs. My big problem at present is my handwriting. I'll jot paragaphs of revsisions in the margin of a story and decide it'd be faster to read it in than type it. But in voicing it, I'll hesitate a lot, because I can't read my own handwriting. Fiction poses its own special problems for voice to text. Lots of long or unfamiliar or made-up words. Or strrange names like Kabita. So I'll just say K, but it still translates it differently each time--as K, or Kay, or Cay, or Kate, or Gay. Still, fixing them is faster than typing it all in.
07-06-2023, 10:18 AM
Oh best of luck with that dye.
Yeah, I'm a bit bummed that I can't make the gathering this weekend. Too much going on, ya know? No rest for the...well you know. We'll definitely have to do something in August. I do a lot of interviews where there are accents or words in other languages and the transcribers make a mess of that. What I don't like about the MS Word transcriber is that it just bails on stuff sometimes, leaving huge gaps in the transcription which you'd never notice unless you read along while re-listening to the recording. I did like otter a lot.
Shadow boxing the apocalypse
I’ve got Dragon v. 16 and it works remarkably well with Windows 11. I had problems with some of their previous versions. There’s only so much you can do to train it to understand you, and the rest has to be corrected but it does get a good 90% for me. My company (Stenograph) has created its own ASR speech engine for “digital court reporting” (a development that’s massively pissing off our steno and voice reporters). It’s designed for the legal market and so far more accurate than most speech engines even at 250-300 words per minute (about 94-95% accurate). Unfortunately, it’s ridiculously expensive, so I really can’t in good conscience recommend it for someone who isn’t making serious legal reporting income. However, if you ever have a recording you’d like to process, I’d be happy to run it through our engine for you and export it to .rtf or .docx.
Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes.
07-12-2023, 06:45 AM
Thanks for the offer.
One thing about voice recognition software is that it's likely to be moot soon enough--at least with me voicing. I'm pretty clear as of yet, but beginning to slur some words. My cerebellum is taking a beating, with coordination and balance affected most so far. But included is nerve coordination going into the larynx. Right now I'm stymied by a bug in Draft2Digital's conversion algorithm. It messes up on a 2-page copyright. I need two pages because the collection itself needs a copyright and each of the 17 stories needs a copyright, with credit to the first appearance in the few reprints. I just want to tell them to fix it already; I'm on a deadline. I debugged and tracked down the problem, told them how to reproduce it, and told what the fix was. But no-o-o, it gets tossed into the bin of bug reports, and who knows when they'll get to it. Saturday’s Gettogether LCF go to Tai Chi Saturday morning. LCF does the set a couple times with everyone else. Carol is there. I explain that it’s not safe for me to do it anymore. Instead, I walk. The line. It’s a line in the expansive sidewalk. There are faint trowel marks to either side. Altogether, it defines a path a foot wide. I pretend the path is elevated. I mean, top of buildings elevated. I try to walk without too blatantly falling off. Forty-five steps. That’s how long it is. After I’ve done that a while and am warmed up, I try lengthening my steps. But when I lengthen a step, I often have to take a shorter compensatory step. The result? Forty-five steps. I keep at it, and get sloppy. I cheat. I get lucky. There’s times when I convince myself I do better, but probably not. I once get thirty-nine steps, and I have the urge to watch some Hitchcock. I take breaks to practice standing up and sitting down. It’s not natural for me anymore. I have to lean way forward in standing up. The same when sitting down. One time I forgot on the sit-down and did so with too much backward momentum. I went over backwards, because I was practicing on a retaining wall without back support. Fortunately, I landed in mulch. That surprised a lot of the Kung Fu gang. They had to help me up. Now they keep a bench with backrest cleared for my practice. In two hours’ time, while others have done Tai Chi twice and practiced a lot of other stuff, I’ve got my 10,000 steps. We go to visit Sifu’s gravesite. First we eat at Coconut Bay. Steve Chiu is associated with this place. We let him order everything. It works out great. At the end, LCF and I pass around two sacks of squash, if anyone wants some. There are a surprising number of takers. Jokes are made about the sacks, which are Taco Bell. Yeah, okay. Sometimes we go fast-food. Then we drive up to the cemetery. Everyone has dressed sensibly--except LCF and me. I’m just wearing a light t-shirt. It’s very windy, and frigid, and cloudy. Oliver brought incense sticks. He lights them in his Tesla, then distributes them. But before we can get organized, they go out. So he relights them in his car and we scramble to pay respects. But there’s a new problem--nothing to stick the incense sticks in afterward. Quick-thinking Carol thinks of the squash. Is anyone willing to give up a squash for the incense? Oliver gets his out of the trunk. It’s very small, a patty pan variety. LCF and I call them UFO squash. Only we’ve started calling them UAPs. Have to keep up with the times. I bow first because I’m the oldest. Then the others. The squash works like a charm. We stand around and chat afterwards. A car pulls up and Owen gets out. He’s an old-timer, a late invite at my suggestion. He didn’t think he could make it, but he did. Owen and I chat a while. Then another car pulls up and Keith gets out. He’s another old-timer, another late suggestion on my behalf. He also didn’t think he could make it, but he did. He comes lumbering down the embankment and I get nervous. Sure enough, he sweeps Owen and me into a group hug. He does so with considerable forward momentum. And Keith is big. He’s really big. I cannot emphasize how big he is. I get knocked back and start to fall. But Keith catches me with a Woah. Then we’re good. After we’ve talked a bit, Owen and I are alone again, and Owen points to his shoulder and says to support myself on him next time I’m unstable. Yeah, Owen, who suffered a stroke and most movements now give him pain. Still, he’s more stable than me these days. Soon after, I just have to leave. It’s so cold. Owen and Keith made such an effort to make it, and I feel guilty cutting the socializing so short. But we all sort of leave then. It's weird. I have absolutely no pain or discomfort. I know it’s coming though. Still, it’s a weird state I’m in. I’m certainly not in denial. I know what’s coming. But on some level I haven’t accepted it fully. LCF made me bring the hiking poles along, but I didn’t use them. I don’t want to start using them before I have to. I started Game of Thrones, just to see what it was like. Peter Dinklage is a marvel. He has such a commanding voice. But I quit after maybe 4 episodes, after grokking its appeal. I need to be more selective in how I spend my time. I keep thinking, “There’s things I should be doing right now.” But I’m not certain what they are. It’s a strange time. LCF says she asked Oliver, the architect, about building a ramp. Because that’s coming. He’s dealt with that before. Not that we intend to hire him. Just to gather information. As I mentioned before, I go in July 20 for an NRI with dye. That should give a clearer tale of the tape.
07-12-2023, 07:51 AM
Thank you for the update, CF.
As a matter of fact, my anger does keep me warm
CF, if you are losing your voice, you might be interested in this new Personal Voice feature that the fruit factory announced recently:
https://www.theverge.com/2023/5/16/23725...essibility Quote:iPhones will be able to speak in your voice with 15 minutes of training --tg "Later this year"...I wonder if you could get a beta version and train it now. --tg
07-14-2023, 12:22 AM
I was sad to miss this gathering. It would have been good to see everyone and recite some Tai Chi together. I’ll see Keith at SDCC next week.
Sorry to hear of your continued struggles, cf. We must get together soon, after this summer run I’m on now…
Shadow boxing the apocalypse
07-21-2023, 07:16 AM
Yesterday I got the NMRI with dye.
At 9:37 am I drank this little vial of liquid. It contrains tiny men (and women) armed mostly with Kwan Daos and spears. Their job is to reconnoiter at the thyroid and fight off any iodine that tries to congregate there. Iodine really likes the thyroid, but we really want it going to the brain. So that's the extent of my understanding of this. At 10:37 I get injected with iodine. I recall that Lucius Shepard had gotten iodine treatment as a kid and they totally fucked it up. That was probably early in their understanding of its dangers and before the large-scale use of Kwan Daos and spears. He was always having issues getting the medicine, which came by mail. I wait 3 three hours. Then they introduce me to Mr. Big. Mr. Big doesn't talk much, not like an MRI. The technician is either very inexperienced or overly cautious. To get the best image, you have to get Mr. Big to circle the head as close as possible. But you daren't let it make contact. I swear, he spent a half hour checking and rechecking. At one point, when he seemed ready to go, he unpacked me and had me go sit in a chair as he refussed with it. But eventually it is showtime. 35 minutes of silence. When I'd open my eyes a slit to look out, Mr. Big is looming close, but always in a new spot. A loud beep wakes me. Startled, I raise my head and hit Mr. Big. Oh, great. This is the reason you don't want to doze during one of these scans. Anyway, a few minutes later a woman comes out to tell me I'm done. She keeps assuring me I didn't move. I can only surmise that the beep signaled completion. LCF and I leave. I hear from Kaiser later in the day. It's all gobbleygook, and it warns as much, and says to have it explained by your physician. But I can understand it enough to see that it saw notable abormalities. I fully expect to have MSA confirmed. But maybe I'll learn more about the stage, what progression I can expect, etc. I expect to hear from my new neurologist today. |
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