Do anyone know how to practice with a metromone?

My understanding of metronome practice is to look at a sheet of finger combinations, like SPR, STR SFR, SKR, et cetera, and as the metronome ticks, you follow the letter combos on the page and hit one combo for each tick. Then you read it back and when you have it perfectly, you speed up the metronome.

I have tried this and it didn't help me. Is someone recommending this for you, or are you just curious?

Hi, Rebecca, that sounds good I am going to try that. I am really trying to get into a good rythym. I am in the 200 hundred speed class, and I think if I get into a good rythym I will pass the rest of my tests. Thank You.

You're welcome! I wish you well.

One suggestion for speed building. Super high-speed practice. I would recommend getting some 240-260 tapes or better yet, get a subscription to Magnum Steno. I passed two tests this year, CRR and CSR, with flying colors based on super high-speed practice.

I would be happy to share my experiences with you, or you can read a testimonial I wrote on the Magnum Steno website.

Good luck!

A metranome has a steady beat, usually adjustable to different rates.

Any measurable (or measured material) can be practiced to a metranome's beats. Hear a beat, do the word/phrase, and so on.

Now the rubs...

Everyone varies there rate of speaking, even during the same event. Yes, you may stuff that is "canned," that is pretty standardized and whomever reads or says it at a very high rate of speed, with one overall rate of beat for themselves on that material.

But overall, the beat varies, both with an individual speaker, and amongst several or many speakers.

By working with a metranome, you get used to one or beats it generates. But people may not speak at those rates, and most don't speak in steady beats.

So, one school of thought is to use a metranome to get used to a steady beat, a rhythem.

The other school of thought is that given the way people actually speak, don't use a metranome. It gets you used to something that doesn't really happen, and messes you up for the real world.

Personally, I'm in the very rare group of people who does not have a natural sense of beat, rhythem. For me, trying to stroke to a beat is very difficult, if not impossible. For someone like me, I definetly would not recommend it; in general, I would not recommend it.

If you should decide to try a metranome, go to the Phoenix Theory web site. They have material specific to this as well as instructions. And a forum where you can ask questions.

INTERPRETER HOOKING UP FOR REAL TIME

Has anyone ever had an interpreter hook up? I had this Japanese interpreter recently hook up to me at a videotaped depo. No big deal since the two attorneys were hooking up.

The strange thing was he seemed to rely soley on my real time for his translation to the witness, but then he'd take notes when the witness answered.

I've had Japanese interpreters before and seen them take notes, but I've never had one rely on my real-time translation.

So when I had a misstroke, he would interrupt the proceedings to clarify the misstroke.

Has anyone else had this happen?

If the attorneys see them relying on it and they don't stop it and you have mistakes/untrans in there, it's not your fault. They should police the depo, not you.
I'm sure it's very helpful to the interpreter when the questions get long, and maybe at a break, maybe just mention to the attorneys that it's not going to be perfect and that maybe they shouldn't rely on it for the entire depo.
Then if they still let it continue, they get what they get for a transcript.

I've had interpreters ask if it's okay if they look at my screen too, and I've never had a problem with it. But this interpreter was using only my real-time translation rather than just glancing at it occasionally to fill in any holes he had.

For example, we'd been talking about the same three companies for two days. Once I misstroked one of the companies on a relatively short question and it came up as "Braille." So he questions it out loud on the record, forcing the attorney to correct it.

Another time, a Japanese name came up as "electrocution," so it said "Mr. Electrocution." He starts chuckling (rightly so), then points it out to the witness, and they talk about it briefly in Japanese. Then the atty asks what they're talking about, so then the interpreter has to explain on the videotaped record how the reporter wrote "electrocution" instead of the guy's name.

Him translating soley from my translation brought too much attention to my errors and was distracting on the record. I'm not perfect, of course. And anyone who has experience seeing a reporter's real-time translation knows that none of us are perfect.

I'm not worried about people seeing my errors. It just seemed strange to me that he wouldn't take notes during the questions and just solely relied on my translation. I couldn't have been his first hook-up, so he has to know we don't write perfectly.

It's funny, but it made me more nervous knowing he was relying on me than knowing attorneys were watching.

Did you mention it to the interpreter that things aren't coming "clean" bec. you've got briefs and things that might translate funny?

Although it sounds it's something he does regularly in which case he should know better. If he doesn't, maybe you should have set him straight.

I'd be kind of annoyed by this guy.

So did he have his own laptop?

Hi, all,

I will be doing a realtime dep next week using LiveNote Stream. I have never used this product before and I was just wondering if anyone here has had any experience using it.

Does it connect easily? Does it apply edits? Do you have to give permission for the attorney to receive the ascii, or do they just get it?

I would appreciate your comments and feedback, or just general information you would like to share about any personal experiences.

Thanks!

Thanks, Jeanese,

I've got everything all set to go, download, userid, password, setup information for the actual job. I was just looking for some feedback from some folks that have already used it. I appreciate the tip on the older thread. I'll be looking that up.

It seems like I had to do lot of set up and legwork to do something I've done many times before with just the a couple clicks of the mouse.

I will report back next week on how things went.

Update on LiveNote Stream. After downloading and setting up my laptop following the instructions for LiveNote Stream, setting up the stream at the job was pretty simple. You need to run the LNS before you start your realtime job, and then continue on as you normally would. You have the choice of watching the LN screen or your own CAT, as the stream runs in a separate window on your computer. On the LNS window, there is also a list of who has access to the stream and who is logged in.

One caveat, though. No one can log into the stream unless they have registered and gotten an invitation from LiveNote. Huge drawback. I had people who wanted to use the stream the first day but were not able to because of this reason. They did not get their invitations until the next day, which by that time I had set up my spare running Bridge instead.

I do not care for these types of viewers like LiveNote and CaseView that are not reciprocal, as they do not refresh. One attorney made a comment on the record about something that showed on his LN screen that he thought was incorrect, which I had corrected on mine, which kind of made him look like an idiot because no one knew what he was talking about.

I push Bridge, Teleview or any court reporter-friendly viewer program I can, just for the refresh that we get and the attorneys can get an accurate transcript from their realtime feed.

Rebecca,
Are you on Eclipse? What operating system do you have on your computer? Is it Vista or XP?
Is "Bridge" something that is unique to Eclipse?
Thanks,
Janiece

Hi, Janiese,
Yes, I'm on Eclipse with Vista Home Premium. Bridge is Advantage Software's open source viewer program that has "refresh" It can be used by any CAT software and it's Free!!

Follow this link to the page with all the information. There are video clips and the Bridge download. Let me know if you have any more questions!

http://eclipsecat.com/?q=node/2167

Rebecca,
Thanks for the info. I see people talking about Bridge and I wasn't sure if I could use it b/c I'm on CASECatylst. I'm on Vista too at least on the computer I take to depositions.
Thank you for the link. I will check it out as soon as I get done with this huge rush I am working on right now.
Again, thanks,
Janiece

You're very welcome!!
Let me know if you have any oother questions.

Barb,
I don't know a lot so if someone can help me, I have the older version of CaseView and I'm not aware that it can be refreshed. If someone knows that it can, I would love that information.
Stenograph has a newer version of Caseview but I think I would have to pay for it and also pay for maintenance on it every year. I don't do enough realtime for attorneys to pay for it right now so I'm sticking with the older version.
Thanks for your input, Barb.
I appreciate it.
Janiece

Thanks
Janiece

You're right, Barb. CaseViewNet is the new realtime program that has the refresh feature, and you do have to have your support current.

The auto-refresh protocol for Bridge is available to other software companies. I think Jeremy said that there are a couple of companies that are going to use the protocol so that they will also be able to refresh, but I know Stenograph is not one of them.

Also, if you using caseview net. , don't the attorneys have to have caseview net too? Meaning they cannot for instance hookup if they are on livenote and you are trying to run caseview net with refresh?

Hi, I think we need to have a little clarification of products here.

CaseView Net is an internet protocol program where the attorney does not need to load anything on their computer except an internet browser. The connection is made over the internet or an intranet. You have to output to CaseView Net for the attorney to connect to CaseView Net. The output is not interchangable between CaseView and CaseView Net.

CaseView Net and TeleView from Eclipse operate in the same fashion.

CaseView and LiveNote are proprietary attorney viewer programs that have to be purchased, licensed and loaded onto the attorney's computer. They do not offer refresh. You also have to output to these respective programs for the attorneys to be able to hook up to them.

Bridge is a an open source attorney viewer program provided by Advantage Software, the makers of Eclipse. It does have to be loaded on the computer, but it is free and requires no licensing, just a quick registration. It does provide refresh to Eclipse, but I think there is some question about whether it provides refresh to other CAT software.

HTH

I'm a little confused. My understanding is that CaseView Net "does" off refresh, but the attorney has to have purchased caseview net. And how many attys have purchased it???? Not many, I imagine.
Also my understanding is that with most other softwares, you can use bridge and the refresh feature - just not with Case - without having the atty purchase anything except whatever internet protocol they have, be it livenote or whatever.
Which is a bummer because I have cc and would love to have the refresh feature instead of updating the atty's ascii at the end.

CaseViewNet does refresh. The download is free to the attorneys, but the reporter needs to buy.

http://www.caseviewnet.com/

CaseViewNet runs over the internet in a browser. The attorney does not have to purchase anything. They load the free viewer, connect to the internet, type in the IP address the reporter gives them and they have the realtime feed.

Teleview, the Eclipse product, connects through a browser window in the same fashion and DOES offer refresh. The attorney does not need to buy or load anything on their computer. They only need an internet browser.

Follow this link for a movie to see how TeleView works.
http://www.kvincent.com/html/teleview.html

That's interesting. I was told by Case Cat that it does refresh. Otherwise why would anyone buy it?

Bridge does work with case cat - it just doesn't refresh.

Also, if caseviewnet doesn't refresh, what's out there for case cat users to refresh? bridge does not refresh with case cat.

Just checked the stenograph website. Caseviewnet "does refresh," but it's called "Rapid Refresh."
So my question is: What if you get to a job and you have caseviewnet, but the atty is using livenote?

Sorry Rebecca, I see that you said it does refresh. When I first read your response, I thought you said doesn't refresh.

So what do you do if atty has caseview?

Unfortunately, you can't output to CVN if the attorney is running CV or LN. You will have to output to whatever program the attorney has. If Catalyst allows simultaneous multiple output formats, like Eclipse does, then you can output one to CVN, one to CV, one to LN, et cetera. Don't know if that's possible with Catalyst, though.

I switched to Eclipse ten years ago, so I am clueless about the SG products and how they interact with each other.

I am curious how many of your all's scheduled realtime jobs actually go forward as a realtime, i.e., with the attorney hooking up? I have had attorneys request a real time reporter, only to arrive at the job to find they really just want a good, clean rough draft. Most of the attys haven't even shown up with their computers. Are some attorneys misinformed about what realtime actually is?

I've had it happen too. Couple times they requested realtime, and a different atty actually showed up. I was told at the livenote seminar that if this happens where they've requested a realtime reporter, that you should still get paid for realtime.

That happens to me sometimes as well. I've been thinking that they have to notify all counsel through the depo notice that they might be receiving realtime at the depo so that opposing counsel is aware and can decide if he wants it and bring his laptop, etc. I think sometimes they change their mind and decide they don't need it at the last minute or maybe because of cost. Who knows? But I do think some attorneys don't fully understand what realtime is. I've had attorneys not even realize they needed a program on their computer to receive realtime.

I've only worked for one agency that would pay realtime rates even if I didn't do realtime.

It's nice if they do, cause you may have turned down another realtime job.

I usually get paid a per diem if realtime is requested and not used.

I was just at a Stenocat seminar and the ethics portion all related to realtime. They said that COPE says we have to inform all counsel before the depo takes place of any realtime feeds; cable, wireless, internet streaming, so that we can provide it to them if they want it. It's all part of the "offering the same services to everyone" thing we're supposed to comply with.
And I would think you should still be able to charge something if they don't want realtime. That happened to my firm before and they still wanted a rough at the end of the day, just not realtime, and so we charged the $1 per page extra instead of the $1.50 that we would have been able to charge.
If they hadn't of wanted a rough, we still probably would have charged at least $1 because I had to find a certain reporter to cover it, a CLR, and, like you say, she might have missed out on another realtime hookup(s) job.

We also charge for realtime if they ask for it when they book it. When we network with another firm and they request realtime, I always inform them upfront that they will be charged for realtime even if the attorneys do not hook up.

I know one attorney who told me they ordered the realtime bec. the rough is included, so for them it's like getting a freebie.

Yes I charge too if RT is requested and they don't hook up. I lol'd at Jeanese's comment it's a big "Sheeeww!" on my part when they start of a million miles a minute.
Me = "Thank God they didn't bring their laptop."

If they request RT and don't hook up, I always offer to send a rough draft. No extra charge for roughs if they're already paying for RT.

Jeanese,
I just noticed you said you take a "mini" computer w/ you on all your jobs. What a great idea. What kind do you have? How much was it? Do you now the specs on it???
I hate tearing down my editing computer and taking it jobs when the attorney requests an extra computer.

the Acer laptops are about 9 inch screens and are under $300. You can get a Dell for about the same price, too. I was going to get one to run my realtime on for my screen, but have been told they don't have enough RAM, etc. to run all the stuff we need. Darn! Still have to lug my big one around!

I have a question for any CASEcatalyst users.
I use the ini file to help me with my number translations. Most of the time it works just great. The problem I can't figure out how to fix is when I have two numbers together it combines them.

Example

There were three cars that respectively cost: $1,000, $2,000 and $3,000.

My software will probably combine the $1,000 and the $2,000 and come up w/ an incorrect number.
I have a stroke to put in a space "SPA*EUS" and I tried putting that in between the numbers but it still gave me a bad number. Is there a way to fix this?
Thanks,
Janiece

Janiece, you might want to try the Case CATalyst group. Click here.

Christy, I've been using an ACER netbook, which I got at Costco for $350, as my main laptop for a couple months now, and it's been great. I have noticed it is a little slower than my big Dell laptop, but I've had no trouble running my Eclipse, Excel, and the Internet during a job. And I've even hooked up up to three people for realtime using the Acer. It's such a big relief not having to carry my old 50-pound laptop anymore to jobs. I'm going to go buy another one in case an atty wants to hook up at a job. They're so lightweight, you could carry two or three on you without too much trouble! I'm a fan; can you tell?

I wanted to switch over but just haven't yet. I just ordered the Revoluion Grand writer that comes with the laptop-type screen that you can run your CAT software on and it now has the ability to run my Sprint 3G internet on it, too. We'll see how it goes. Then I won't have to carry anything but my machine and a couple of spare Acer laptops for attorney browsing when/if I need to. I already carry one every day and don't notice it except it's just more CRAP to have in the bag.

Thanks everybody. As soon as I get a little extra cash I think i'm going to get one of mini computers.
Janiece

Thanks, Jeanese,
I will check and see how I have that set up. They are working really well except for that one little thing. I know there is a way to fix it.
Janiece

No, I will check it out when I look at my settings.
Are you using the "Brief it" feature? I really love that. It saves my hands on those long days. It's so great.
Janiece

Jeanese,
The "Brief It" feature gives you the option to write even a series of words they keep saying in a very short way. For instance, when the attorney kept saying, "hand you what's been marked", I could chose to write it H* and the computer would bring up all those words for me. It's pretty sweet.
Janiece

Marla,
Thanks for the link to the CATALYST group. I joined.
Janiece

Hi, I am on Stenocat software, and want to purchase one of the wireless transmitters through Stenocast. I was looking at the red for up to 14 and the other one for up to 7 connections. Now I've heard that routers are available, but wonder if that is just through Case Catalyst. Would love to hear recommendations and thoughts before I buy.

Definitely go with the RED. If you buy the red USB receivers for the attorneys using Bridge, it will refresh on their transcript when you do steno globals, etc. The blue receivers that you buy are for all other browing software like LiveNote, etc. and does not refresh. Just call Stenocat/Stenocast to get your settings correct on your realtime output and it will work.
I have the old one and so I don't have personal experience with this but know someone else on Stenocat that uses it and loves it. I will upgrade as soon as I can to the RED (refresh enabled device).

I highly recommend the StenoCast RED. I just recently bought it and love it. Super easy to hook up. I haven't used it in a depo yet but have tried it out with laptops at home using Bridge, which is a free real-time viewing software from the makers of Eclipse. Click here to check it out.

Oh, and if you buy RED, feel free to give Steve at StenoCast my name. They give a free receiver if someone you recommended buys it. ;-) I like free stuff. His email address is steve@stenocast.com.