electro-textual

“language and literacy”

Oh the joy of writing those words!

i should say, the ease and simplicity of writing three words, with only three keystrokes. i write those words all the time, so i need a way to do it more easily.

I have found the magic of “Auto Text” …

1) i key in double-L, and then
2) the full stop / dot / period key.

My autotext program (AutoHotKey) does the rest.

Three keys, to write 21 characters. mmmmmmmmm

Surely you’ve used – or at least heard of – AutoText, the keyboard feature in ms word; that lets you program a range of your most-used vocabulary, and provide shortcuts for each? Well, if you haven’t you’re missing out, because it makes life easier especially when you’re writing long documents with enormous and frequently used phrases.

.. anyway; upgrading to ms word ‘03, i discovered i couldn’t import my word 2k autotext shortcuts. Infuriated, i turned to the web in search of greater autotext software.

After experimenting with a few, i dived into AutoHotKey. i found a script to provide autotext across all your writing software, not only ms word! At last, free to use new writing programs.

For another example, i write p- followed by a dot. Preston Reservoir Adult Community Education (PRACE) is what emerges onto the screen. How many times do i need to write those five words (+ acronym), every week? Many many times.

Now, no more.
mmmmmmm. i like AutoHotKey.

(Update: you may be able to use the script i’ve written: except that i can’t seem to upload it. Wordpress logs me out if i try. Hang on: Script Here in .ahk format. You’ll need to get the app to make it work. License unclear, but feel free to use it.)

• Reviewed in Lifehacker
• AutoHotKey on the Web

Other assorted programs / articles i found include:

• Texter, from LifeHacker (an app created via AutoHotkey)
• TextExpander (for mac, reviewed by usrbingeek)
• OpenOffice has the potential for AutoText as well (mentioned in this article from Linux.com)
• Adam Pash at LifeHacker explains AutoHotkey in more depth.
• Phrase Express .. which i found difficult to make portable, although it seemed a good program apart from that.
• How to make your ms Word autotext entries more portable.

A few weeks ago, we had the 15th anniversary of Preston Reservoir Adult Community Education (PRACE). Fifteen years !!

As “MC”, aiming to keep the crowd engaged, i asked who had been involved with PRACE for one year, two years, three years etc. The record holders were Kerry and Jo, at around 4-6 years. Until someone turned it back on me and asked how long i’d been working there.

Twelve years, yes 12. People seem surprised, as nobody works that long in the one place any more. These days most professionals trade in for a new model quite regularly.

But this was one of those nights when you remember why you’ve stayed. Adult learners in the community receiving their certificates, beaming with pride and pleasure. Even the Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL) players came along to receive their certificates – which is hard to imagine even after i’ve seen it with my own eyes.

A lovely evening, when you recognise the value that learning holds in the lives of these people .. who would be so unlikely to go to a big institution like a TAFE. When people stride up to gather their certificates with pride.

Big warm feeling in yr heart. Oh yeah.