Unleash your creativity: it's the ultimate tool!Oh, the tools communicators have these days to excel in their craft. Do you get the same computer catalogs that I do? Mega MHz (MegaHertZ) One million cycles per second. It is used to measure the transmission speed of electronic devices, including channels, buses and the computer's internal clock. A one-megahertz clock (1 MHz) means some number of bits (16, 32, 64, etc. ! Stunning software! Extreme Internet Essential infrared connectivity! Computers that fit in your palm or pocket. Infinitely upgradable memory. Revolutionary camera, optical mouse, intelligent speakers, brilliant printer, trusted Zip drive See Zip disk. (hardware, storage) Zip Drive - A disk drive from Iomega Corporation which takes removable 100 megabyte hard disks. Both internal and external drives are manufactured, making the drive suitable for backup, mass storage or for moving files between computers. . Be your own accountant or movie director. Speed. Power. We'll beat any price! None of that outperforms the one tool communicators have needed for centuries: words. As you invest money in technology tools, balance that with time invested in words -- learning how they work, when they work, why they work. You can start at the Internet; here are just a few stops. When do you use farther instead of further? Is it ensure or insure? Do you need to look up the definition of principal one more time to make sure you don't really mean principle? And what's the call on who vs. whom? Bookmark A stored location for quick retrieval at a later date. Web browsers provide bookmarks that contain the addresses (URLs) of favorite sites. Most electronic references, large text databases and help systems provide bookmarks that mark a location users want to revisit in the future. "Common Errors in English" at http://www.wsu.edu:8080/-brians/errors/errors.html. It's as simple as click and read from an A to Z list. Visit www.commnet.edu/grammar for a tolerable grammar lesson. An English professor has made grammar and writing simple and fun. Figure out nouns by figuring out a crossword puzzle. Identify basic sentence parts by moving your cursor over words in a sentence. Click on color-coded adjectives or take a multiple-choice quiz to see if you really know a misplaced modifier mis·placed modifier n. A modifying clause or phrase placed so awkwardly as to create ambiguity or misunderstanding. For example, in Streaking through the sky, we watched the rocket reenter the atmosphere, the phrase from a dangling participle Noun 1. dangling participle - a participle (usually at the beginning of a sentence) apparently modifying a word other than the word intended: e.g., `flying across the country' in `flying across the country the Rockies came into view' . Scribulous - www.scribulous.com - is "a place for scrupulous scribes." You'll find resources, references and services. Best of all is the weekly writing tip. One recent week: the commonly confused that and which. You can sign up to have the weekly tip sent to you via e-mail. Roget's Thesaurus Roget's Thesaurus is a widely-used English thesaurus, created by Dr. Peter Mark Roget (1779–1869) in 1805 and was released to the public on 29 April, 1852. The original edition had 15,000 words, and each new edition has been larger. and Bartlett's Quotations, along with specialty and multilingual dictionaries and even a cliche finder - you'll never be stuck without the right word again. Start at www.freeality.com/phrasesx.htm or www.yourdictionary.com. The American Copy Editors This is a list of some notable current and former American copy editors.
English is English except when it's American. At www.personal.umich.edu/ -greglee/differences.html, you'll find a list that reminds you that English English has flavour but American has flavor. Or that in English it's spelled aluminium, but in American it is aluminum. Is it true that what Americans call a cafeteria, the English call a tuck-shop? But don't think Internet reference is limited to the English language. Use your favorite search engine to find help with Spanish, French - even Latin. It's out there. For a site with style and attitude dedicated to the language of the global village that technology introduced, stop at Wired Style. It's essentially a promo site for a book by that name. Like its parent print magazine Wired, which spawned much of the new vernacular that's a part of the Internet world, this doesn't look like much else that you're used to. You won't see blue, underlined text or an icon that screams "click here." When you learn to navigate without those pointers for neophytes, you'll find classy, readable guidance. There's actually a definition for "404 Error Not Found," as well as trendy words like "churn" and guidance on whether to italicize i·tal·i·cize tr.v. i·tal·i·cized, i·tal·i·ciz·ing, i·tal·i·ciz·es 1. To print in italic type. 2. To underscore (written matter) with a single line to indicate italics. 3. webzines. You'll find it at www.hotwired.lycos.com/hardwired/wiredstyle. Sheri Rosen, ABC ABC in full American Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. television network. It began when the expanding national radio network NBC split into the separate Red and Blue networks in 1928. , invites you to share your digital knowledge, sheri. rosen@usaa.com. She is assistant vice president, Employee Communication, at USAA, a leading financial services company based in San Antonio. |
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