Shaun, this may have been an uclear explaination on my part, but you
are still concerned with formatting to some extent when using latex.
But it is true that as long as you tell Latex what you want, and as
long as you have specified it correctly, then you can trust taht it
will be done.
I do however agree with James Jolley that sometimes, it does feel oke
you are jumping through hoops to get something done, but thankfully,
in my experience, this is a rare occurance, and the reards are well
worth the time spent to learn the benefits of Latex.
As i have said, as a Blind student in my final year, Latex lets me
control every aspect of my document as far as i can tell. If it says
"this will be in bold", then I know that it will be in bold. etc.
James
On 20 Sep 2007, at 19:26, VaShaun Jones wrote:
Better being grammatically correct, formatted correctly, and
informative is just a few. I am thinking that if the software that
Gregg proposed allows you to format it based on what is needed up
front then that is less to worry about on the back in. Let me ask
you this. Do you think as a blind person you can learn to use the
computer better than a sighted person. Do you know how many people
talk down on Mac's because they are scared of them not because they
are die hard Windows fans? So give me the formatting upfront and
the content can be my only focus.
----- Original Message ----- From: "Dane Trethowan" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]
trethowan.net>
To: "General discussions on all topics relating to the use of Mac
OS X by theblind" <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, September 20, 2007 2:16 PM
Subject: Re: MS Word alternative
Well, I used an Ibook and a Power PC Mac Mini up until 4 weeks
ago, used Nisus and every other damn thing on it <smile>. I must
say though and I hope people don't take any offense at this as I
don't mean to be offensive but how could a blind person produce a
document better than a sighted person can if he cannot see the
documents sighted people produce? Sure, you do the best you can
but the claim made here I think is.... well at best... a little odd.
On 21/09/2007, at 12:50 AM, James Jolley wrote:
To a point but it comes over slightly arrogant.
Just because you can use a word processor or write well doesn't
make you any better than anyone else. Actually, you didn't really
need a mac book pro for VO, I only have the standard mac book and
I am doing perfectly fine.
----- Original Message ----- From: "VaShaun Jones" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]
llc.com>
To: "General discussions on all topics relating to the use of Mac
OS Xby theblind" <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, September 20, 2007 2:58 PM
Subject: Re: MS Word alternative
What I do is bid on government contracts for local and state
scripting and training work for blind or low vision companies.
MS Word has been great but like I said I spend most of my time
formatting documents, as every bid is different. It is my
determination to create documents better than a sighted person.
I don't use word processors to type text I use it as a vehicle
to ensure that we have jobs as blind. I do this by being the
best example through my work. If they looked at my documents
usually about 75 pages and said it was OK to turn in shoddy work
because he is blind. That would infuriate me and make us as a
whole go back a few notches. I am willing to learn whatever is
needed to get ahead. I walked into Micro Center and said give me
that big bad Mac Book Pro, the guy asked if I was doing graphics
design or something. I smiled and told him nope just VO. He said
then you don't need that much computer for that. I said I will
master it in two months and come back and teach you a few
things. I say all of that because I asked for a perfect word
processor and it sounds like Latex is just that. I don't take
the easy way out. I hope you understand what I do and why I do it.
----- Original Message ----- From: "James Jolley"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "General discussions on all topics relating to the use of
Mac OS X by theblind" <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, September 20, 2007 4:10 AM
Subject: Re: MS Word alternative
Hi Dane,
Yeah it seems odd to me. After all, if Tex is all its cracked
up to be wich it is in it's proper circle, why have screen
reader folks spent all this blody time getting office and
other things doable? Why not have everyone learn tex? After
all, this guy who is working for the government, surely they
they should train him on using it then?
On 20 Sep 2007, at 05:20, Dane Trethowan wrote:
Ok, well my only further comment is to go and try these
things, I've made my points as have others, see what you
think but again I will state as others have that it sees odd
to me at least that you have to "learn" how to use a word
processor, formatting or no formatting, reports or no reports
etc. I'm curious to know exactly what you would do that
anyone else wouldn't, that is to say what you would do that
any good word processor wouldn't handle.
On 20/09/2007, at 8:52 AM, VaShaun Jones wrote:
Fine for you unfortunately for me. I use every aspect of
Windows imaginable for government reports and contracts and
they have to be perfect. I spend the majority of my time
formatting.
----- Original Message ----- From: "James Jolley"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "General discussions on all topics relating to the use of
Mac OS X by theblind" <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, September 19, 2007 6:45 PM
Subject: Re: MS Word alternative
Well, using TEX for it's intended purpose laying out formulas
is ideal. I still don't see the point in using it to write
standard texts though. Any good word processer will do the
job ust as well to be honest. It's up to yourselves though
if you want to jump through a thousand hoops to write
anything I am happy with word or whatever for standard work.
On 19 Sep 2007, at 21:56, James Austin wrote:
Wow! I have looked at that side of it, and I'm pleased I
don't study maths
On 19 Sep 2007, at 19:59, James Jolley wrote:
It's not that steep I use it all the time for mathematics
On 19 Sep 2007, at 18:18, Greg Kearney wrote:
That's right the learning curve is steep with TeX, the
rewards are well worth it however.
Greg
On Sep 19, 2007, at 11:05 AM, James Austin wrote:
It is free, but please get in touch if you've not used it
before, it is not simply a case of typing as with a word
processor
On 19 Sep 2007, at 17:23, VaShaun Jones wrote:
I think I will be getting Latex . Is it totally
accessible and how much does it cost?
----- Original Message ----- From: "James Austin"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "General discussions on all topics relating to the
use of Mac OS X by theblind" <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, September 19, 2007 10:19 AM
Subject: Re: MS Word alternative
Hi,
Okay, well there is IText Express, a small free word
processing application, similar to Text Edit, which
provides the ability to add footnotes. There is also
Nisus Writer Express, or Nisus Writer Pro, you can
find these at
www.nisus.com
Neither Express or Pro are currently 100% usable with
VO, but very nearly. If you were thinking of
purchasing Nisus Writer, I would recommend the Pro
version, as that seems more accessible.
There is also Latex (pronouned Laytech), which is a
type- setin tool. It is extremely powerful and
versitle, but does require time to learn. Although,
the benefits are rewarding, especially for Blind
users in my personal opinion, as I use it exclusively
for my University assignments. I don't want to clutter
the list with discussions about Latex, so please feel
free to E Mail me off list, if you'd like to know more.
Hope this helps
James
On 19 Sep 2007, at 08:55, VaShaun Jones wrote:
Listers somewhere before I got familiar with my Mac
their was a discussion about a professional word
processor. I wanted to know what it was and how can I
get it? Note: one of its liked features is that you
don't have to worry about formatting (a lister reported).
******************************
Dane Trethowan
From Melton Victoria Australia
Email [EMAIL PROTECTED]
phone uk 0121 288 4976
Phone/tty (+61 3) 9747 975
Fax +61 3 9743 7954
mobile/sms: +61425 777 508
Skype: callto:grtdane12
MSN: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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Dane Trethowan
From Melton Victoria Australia
Email [EMAIL PROTECTED]
phone uk 0121 288 4976
Phone/tty (+61 3) 9747 975
Fax +61 3 9743 7954
mobile/sms: +61425 777 508
Skype: callto:grtdane12
MSN: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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