Omega Reporting | Memphis Court Reporters -
Reporter Corner
November 2011 Web Tip
A member recently sent me an email wondering how to protect your address book from viruses and/or from being hacked. The first step to protecting your address book is to ensure that you're following proper safety measures to protect your email account. Below are some guidelines to safeguard your email account.
- Use a great password. Passwords should include a combination of alpha and numeric characters. Using over ten characters is recommended.
- Do not share your password with anyone.
- Do not trust public computers when logging in to your email accounts.
- Use only trusted WiFi connections.
- Be skeptical of incoming email messages. It could be a phishing email, which is a trick spammers use to try gain access to your personal information.
- Do not divulge personal information on your social profiles that may be related to your password.
- Do not use the same password for your online accounts.
- Do not click on suspicious links.
I personally use 1Password to create strong, unique passwords, remember them, and restore them, all directly within my web browser. I never have to worry about forgetting a password again, while at the same time I am secure in knowing my passwords are protected. You may take your information with you so that it's always on hand. Mobile versions of 1Password are available for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad as separate purchases through the iTunes App Store. Apps for Android and Windows Phone 7 are currently in beta.
October 2011 Web Tip
Working more efficiently is every person's number-one priority. All
court reporters have their favorite shortcut keys within their specific
CAT software. Keyboard shortcuts are combinations of two or more keys
that, when
pressed,
can be used to perform a task that would typically require a mouse or
other pointing device. Keyboard shortcuts can make it easier to interact
with your computer while saving time and effort.
Below is a list of my top ten shortcut keys to use on your computer and/or within Windows.
- Control + C - copy the selected item
- Control + V - paste the selected item
- Control + Z - undo the last action
- Control + Y - redo an action
- Control + X - cut the selected item
- Control + A - select all items in a document or window
- Control + right arrow - move cursor to beginning of next word
- Control + left arrow - move cursor to beginning of previous word
- Control + Esc - open Start menu
September 2011 Web Tip
Court reporters are always searching for ways to produce transcripts faster and more efficiently. How technology has changed since my first days out of reporting school! Remember having your library stocked with dictionaries, Roget's Thesaurus, medical phrase books, maps, telephone books, and much more? Talk about time-consuming research in our quest for the correct spellings of specialized terms and proper names in order to produce the best transcript possible!
Below is a list of my top ten ways that you can be a Google "Search Ninja" for those spellings so you can get your transcripts out the door faster, easier, and more efficiently. 
- Type the word "define" before the word you want to look up in the search bar. Example: define ninja
- Type in a word followed by "~glossary" to find glossaries, term lists, and dictionary entries for that word. Example: ninja ~glossary
- To find the weather in a particular city, type "weather" followed by the name of your city or zipcode.
- To find the geographical location for any U.S. telephone area code, type in the three-digit area code and then hit Enter.
- Put double quotes around a set of words to alert Google to consider the exact words in the exact order without any change. Keep in mind, though, that you may miss some good results by using this search method. Example: "John Kennedy" will miss pages that refer to John F. Kennedy.
- The wildcard, *, is a powerful tool. When you include * within your search query, Google uses that as a placeholder for any unknown terms and then finds the best match. Note that the * works only on whole words, not parts of words.
- Type in the + sign before your search query to eliminate synonyms and use your words only.
- To see flight status for arriving and departing U.S. flights, type in the name of the airline and the flight number into the search box.
- You can use Google to convert between many different units of measurement of height, weight, and volume. Just enter your desired conversion into the search box. Example: 1/2 cup to tablespoons
- Google Scholar provides a simple way to broadly search for scholarly literature. From one place, you can search across many disciplines and sources: articles, theses, books, abstracts and court opinions, from academic publishers, professional societies, online repositories, universities and other web sites. You can limit search to legal opinions and journals in several ways. From the Homepage, you can select the option marked legal opinions and journals. From search results pages, you can use the first dropdown menu, which allows you to select collections to search, to make this choice.
August 2011 Web Tip
Today it seems like social media is everywhere! Many of you know that TCRA is active in social media and has been for the past two years. Your board and committee members strive to provide and deliver to our members current information regarding court reporting in our state and nationwide by different methods.
- email communication
- tweeting (Twitter)
- our website
- annual convention and other seminars
- Facebook page
The August Web Tip of the Month will be focused on Facebook. The TCRA Facebook page was set up to deliver up-to-date news and information for all reporters who wish to "fan" our page. Currently, we have 284 users of that medium -- many of those from states other than Tennessee. We encourage everyone to "Like" our page and participate and join in the conversation.
Our Facebook Page has several great features/tabs for our users:
- Wall - news provided by TCRA (feel free to comment any time)
- Photos - see great pics of past seminars
- Info about TCRA - learn a little bit more about your organization
- Discussions - post here for information like writers or software for sale, maybe you have a procedural questio to ask other court reporters
So now you want to know: How do I become a fan and "Like" the TCRA Facebook Page? There are a couple easy ways to accomplish this task. First, you do need to have your ownFacebook account. Once you have done that, you may do one of the following to join in the conversation with court reporters and legal professionals on our TCRA Facebook Page.
Click the "Like" button on TCRA's Facebook Page next to our page name. When you are on our homepage, you may click the "Like" button in the Facebook module and become a fan instantly (see image below).
July 2011 Web Tip
Bookmarking websites on your iPhone and iPad are super simple to do. The home screen isn't just for those all-important and "cool" apps. There are several reasons why it's important to bookmark a site, too.- Easy access -- at your fingertips
- Time-saving
- Stay organized
Below is a quick step-by-step guide on how to add the TCRA icon to your home screen.
- Type in www.tncra.com in Safari.
- At the bottom of the screen, there is an open rectangle with an arrow. Tap on that icon.
- Next tap on "Add to Home Screen".
- You will then be prompted to create a name for the bookmark. I'd suggest "TCRA".
- Then click "Add" at the top right of the screen.
That's it!
You may use the above guide to add additional bookmarks to pages of the site; such as, Jobs, Find a Reporter, Student Corner, and Contact Us. Simply navigate to the pages most important to you and follow the above steps. Remember to be sure to create a relevant name for each module for easy access later on. Suggested names may be: CR Jobs, FindCR, TCRAStudent, or TCRAContact.