[sw-l] Re: SignPuddle

[Barbara Pennacchi]

On 27.04.05 17:13, Valerie Sutton wrote:

>> I *still* prefer to have a workable and viable STAND-ALONE program,
>> since I'm not really much fond of (ab)using the mouse (I'm a keyboard
>> person) and not everybody in the group can stay connected 24/7... DSL
>> lines in Italy don't grow on trees and aren't really much reliable.
>
> Ok. But our stand-alone programs have a lot of bugs right now...and have
> you ever even looked at SignPuddle?...

If you go to the italian dictionary you'll see that I've already entered 2
different spellings of the sign "RIBS" (in italian, is "COSTOLE") just to
show you the point I was trying to make. And to get a feeling for the
thing.

I'm sorry, I still prefer using a keyboard than to wait for the signpuddle
to load all images and then to drag and push all symbols. It seems easy to
use, except for all these new symbols (I'm waiting for you to continue
your lesson on the new finger-movement symbols, remember?).

But, still, using signpuddle across the ocean feels to me a bit slower and
sluggish than to fire up SW-Java, switch from "IT" keyboard to "EN" kbd
(under winXP), and start typing the sign.

>> Yes, you told us already. But, as far as I know, our project is a bit
>> different from Boyes-Braem's.
>
> People use SignWriting for many different things, but to be able to drag
> and drop lots of signs into Microsoft Word or other documents is such a
> blessing, that not to even look at it is a shame...

Even using only the keyboard is such a blessing, IMHO -- especially when
one doesn't like RSI :-) Mind you, I'd rather have both means of input
available, but you have to concede that signpuddle can't be used as a SW
version of Word, whereas SW-Java can be used to type a narrative or to
transcribe a signed text.

> I am happy to pay for the phone call to Italy. If Elena and you can be

I don't think it is necessary, I've found its usage intuitive enough,
though I have to agree with honza that it would be nice if we could have
more fields for every sign, like name of sign in our language and in
english, definition of sign in both languages... source? what is it
actually for? I've used it to enter my name when I entered the 2 different
signspellings.

> access our larger symbolset, which is called the International Movement
> Writing Alphabet (IMWA)...this will give you more symbols for handshapes
> that may exist in Italian Sign Language...that are not available in
> SignWriter at this time...

What really would be necessary is to put in SignPuddle some sort of help
on-line explaining the larger symbolset (I'm in a hurry right NOW, so I'm
not really sure it's already in it....)

--
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| Barbara Pennacchi               barbara.pennacchi (at) istc.cnr.it |
|                 Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche                 |
|         Istituto di Scienze e Tecnologie della Cognizione          |
|                  V.le Marx 15, 00137 Roma, Italia                  |
|                      http://www.istc.cnr.it/                       |
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