19 March 20173 February 2023 Nikki Graham - Tranix Translation & Proof-Editing Services

The truth and nothing but: 2017 update on my stand-up desk set-up with treadmill and Steppie

It’s been over two years since I decided my bottom was going to spread no further and that it was high time I got off it and started being more active. Walking the dog (I’ve got a greyhound) just wasn’t enough to counteract the huge amount of time I was spending sitting down either at my desk or with the family on cold winter nights in front of the TV or playing board games.

Galvanised by all the New Year’s resolutions popping up on social media and after reading yet another article on the dangers of our current lifestyle, I decided to get a stand-up desk and a treadmill to go with it in 2015. You can read all about my purchases in my first post on the topic and more details in ‘Answers to Your Questions on the Pros and Cons of Using a Stand-Up Treadmill Desk’.

10 April 201627 April 2021 Nikki Graham - Tranix Translation & Proof-Editing Services

What I learned in March 2016

As I’m not the most tech-savvy of people, it usually takes me a while to pick up the basics, let alone the niceties, of any program. In March I finally learned a few more commands in DNS (Dragon NaturallySpeaking), specifically how to underline, put in italics and make bold. For example, in the previous sentence, if you want to put “specifically” in italics, you say “select specifically” followed by “italicise that”. If you want to underline it, you select it and then say “underline that” and (I’m sure you’ve got the idea by now) if you want it to be bold, you say “bold that”.

Made a mistake and want to reverse what you’ve done? Just select the word again and repeat the same commands. In other words, if specifically is already in italics and you say “select specifically, italicise that”, it will revert back to normal Roman type. I also tried this with “All caps that” (the command to capitalise a word or phrase you’ve previously selected), but unfortunately it didn’t work.

1 March 201612 February 2021 Nikki Graham - Tranix Translation & Proof-Editing Services

Bite-sized Tips No. 23: Spellings Part 18 – Disagreements with the Dragon

Red Dragon My apologies for taking so long to get around to writing another Bite-sized Tips post. This one has been on my to-do list for a while, as have many others. In fact I could quite happily spend my entire working life writing for my blog were it not for the need to earn a living!

Last time I looked at ten spellings that DNS gets right when I’m dictating. Today I’m focusing on ten that DNS does not get right according to the New Oxford Style Manual, which I base both my work and this series on. And if I can’t find what I’m looking for in the style manual, I turn to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED).

9 November 201511 February 2021 Nikki Graham - Tranix Translation & Proof-Editing Services

Bite-sized Tips No. 22: Spellings Part 17 – The Dragon Agrees

Green Dragon In no. 20 of this series, Watch out for the Dragon, I started highlighting some differences between what Dragon NaturallySpeaking (DNS) dictates and correct spellings according to the New Oxford Style Manual, which I base both my work and this series on. If I cannot find what I’m looking for in the style manual, I turn to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED).

5 October 201512 February 2021 Nikki Graham - Tranix Translation & Proof-Editing Services

Bite-sized Tips No. 21: Spellings Part 16 – Getting Trickier Every Time

Spellings Part 16 – Getting Trickier Every Time

Here are today’s ten words, which, as ever, are based on the spellings I find in the New Oxford Style Manual or the Oxford English Dictionary (OED). Regular readers will know that, in the absence of alternative instructions from my client, I base my translations into English on Oxford.

Given that we are bombarded with not only different versions but also varying levels of written English on a daily basis, my brain cells can get a trifle confused on occasion, so I look words up just to make sure that I’m being faithful to the style I have chosen to follow and can answer any queries (if any come my way) on why I have chosen to spell a word a certain way.

12 September 201511 February 2021 Nikki Graham - Tranix Translation & Proof-Editing Services

Bite-sized Tips No. 20: Watch out for the Dragon

If you use Dragon NaturallySpeaking (DNS) or another dictation software, you’ll probably have realised by now that it sometimes has a life of its own. That’s why you need to pay attention to spelling and that you are being faithful to whichever style manual you are following (either your own personal decision or dictated by the client), especially as the spellchecker in Word might not highlight spellings as wrong that are not consistent with your style guide. Regular readers will know that I base my work on the New Oxford Style Manual. From now on in this series I’ll be highlighting terms that DNS can get wrong.

Please read my post Why All the Fuss about Spellings and Style Guides? for an explanation of why I think it’s important to be consistent in our work and be aware of the types of details I focus on in the Bite-sized Tips series.

26 June 201530 January 2021 Nikki Graham - Tranix Translation & Proof-Editing Services

Answers to Your Questions on the Pros and Cons of Using a Stand-Up Treadmill Desk

It’s been four months since I wrote my first post on my treadmill desk set-up and so I now feel I have more insights to share, especially as I’ve gone from feeling ever so slightly dizzy after every session on the machine to being able to dance to rumba and salsa music (no, sorry, no videos available. You’ll just have to take my word for it that it is actually possible to groove on a 33-cm moving band).