I don't remember how I found the source for the AHD over ten years ago, but
I do recall that I was not granted permission to copy and distribute the
files.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Josh Kennedy" <jkenn337@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <bookport@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, November 10, 2005 6:43 PM
Subject: [bookport] Re: Notes, Dictionary, Bible
Hi,
Could you send me the dictionary as an attachment? I'd like to have it. Send it to jkenn337@xxxxxxxxxxxxx I'd like the american heritage dictionary.
Josh
----- Original Message ----- From: "Mike Justice" <m.d.justice@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <bookport@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, November 10, 2005 6:09 PM
Subject: [bookport] Re: Notes, Dictionary, Bible
1) NOTES:
Using grade one Braille in the notes facility on the bookPort is very much like typing individual characters on a regular keyboard, but by using Braille writer key configuration, it is possible to have comfortable size keys and key separation on a very compact unit. this would not be a very practical feature for a customer base that is unfamiliar with Braille. The synchronization feature for Notes between Book Port and the host computer is similar to the old Microsoft Briefcase feature for floppy disk and hard drive file synchronization. The various additional functions in the Notes facility are great enhancements for producing, searching, and editing plain text files.
[3 cheers for the APH design team!]
2) DICTIONARY:
I still have my American Heritage Dictionary files (from the 1990's) on floppy disks. The files edited as supplied, have <REF> inserted in front of word entries to facilitate more accurate searches for entries, not just random occurrences of a word. I placed an AHD folder on my desktop computer and on the BookPort. The file names are simply A.txt, B.txt, etc., and the additional front.txt file. It is very easy to move between files to search, and BookPort will even hold the place in individual files for easy cross referencing. BookPort also remembers the last letter file I used when I was in the dictionary folder (as with all folders).
3) BIBLE:
I have the free Online Bible software (slight misnomer, it is downloadable to your hard drive - www.onlinebible.net for North America), and free downloaded modules for many public domain Bible versions, Bible dictionaries and lexicons, commentaries, and other related Books (such as selections from Answers in Genesis). There is some time involved in transferring the material to text files, but I have placed the entire KJV Bible on the BookPort. First I made a KJV folder, then sub folders for New Testament, Books of Moses, History, Prophecy, and Poetry-Wisdom. Each book is a single file in the appropriate folder. It is not difficult to set chapter book marks during reading, and search is always available. I added files gradually until all transfers were complete, and I did some reading along the way.
Mike Justice, www.MPNHome.net
----- Original Message ----- From: "Kevin Jones" <kevin@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <bookport@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, November 10, 2005 4:22 PM
Subject: [bookport] Re: operating system
The other bonus to grade 1 Braille only is you can throw the file on a pc
and immediately access it there also.
I also love the idea of a dictionary, there was a copy of the American
Heritage Dictionary used by some back in the early 90s. It was about 12mb
and although not the definitive dictionary did provide nice definitions, I
still have it on my hd. It may be possible to put it on a card say in a dic
folder the files could be specifically named say ahd-a.txt ahd-b.txt and
then some code could be added to access it.
I'd already kind of thought of adding it and just using the search feature
for looking up words, let's see what Rob thinks.
-----Original Message-----
From: bookport-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:bookport-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of David Allen
Sent: Thursday, November 10, 2005 2:19 PM
To: bookport@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [bookport] Re: operating system
Hi Megan and list:
Like you, I like contracted Braille. But I have been surprised by how easily
I've adapted to using computer Braille in my book port notes. Remember
contracted Braille was designed as a space saving measure. One particular
unfortunate result of it has been less literate blind people because they
spent so much time agonising over contractions that they can't spell beyond
elementary school level. In the book port context, the amount of space it
would save would not be significant. This is only my opinion.
Cheers, Dave
