The Spell Checker is my Friend.

Lady Bee Design is mine, but the Bee Lady is from – M10tje

Thank goodness for Spell checkers! If I didn’t have them I would likely look like a blithering idiot when writing. It’s not that I am a poor speller, as I was a Spelling Bee kid early on. My problem is my fingers hitting the wrong keys. My brain knows how to spell, but my fingers don’t.

So to combat this issue, I found a handy checker to keep me from looking like that blithering fool I mentioned earlier. There are all kinds out there but I went with an add on for Firefox. I also use Microsoft office on one computer and on the other, it’s a lovely free program called Open-office which is just like MS Office.

When I am talking to folks in IM’s or PM’s, or what ever you call those little windows that pop up be it in AIM, Facebook and more, I don’t have any issues with them misspelling something because most Spell checkers don’t actually work for those. I am human and I make mistakes and I tend to think I am not alone in my struggle with fingers that have a mind of their own some nights.

Mind you, I have seen some text sent into chat rooms, MMO chats and more that makes my eyes bleed. A few misspelled words is one thing, but when you have big blocks of text that looks like my cat’s trying to type again, you will lose me. Not only are my fingers going, but with age, the eyes go to and they tend to be attached to my head which explodes into blinding agony seeing gibberish that I can’t even begin to decipher. This does include something called “Leet speak” that makes me want to gag when I see it. Having something that looks like “ThIs sTuPiD sORt oF WrItInG” is just plain DUMB.

Now, when it comes to profiles and posts, I am less forgiving. It’s simply to easy too check what you write. Not only that, but I would like to think many re-read the story they wrote. Proof read it you know. When I see a post or profile littered with numerous grammatical errors, from capitalization to spelling and more, I start to wonder if the one posting this really cares about what they are doing. If it looks that sloppy and careless I tend to feel they don’t, so why the heck should I waste my time reading them? That is often the lasting impression.

I am not at all ashamed of using spell checkers. They help me make myself clear for others to read. They aid me in certain communication skills and allow me to not look like an idiot in the process. Hurray for Spell Checkers!

Spellcheck by Doug Beekman

OpenOffice -This is a free writing software and it’s handy – http://www.openoffice.us.com/

Firefox addons – https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/spell-checker/?src=search

I could add more links but a simple Google search should do the trick and it will offer up a wide variety of different types of checkers. From spelling to grammar and more.

However, I will add one last link that I use and find it extremely helpful just as a stand alone tool. Dictionary.com – http://dictionary.reference.com/

Not only is this a dictionary, but there is also a Thesaurus here too. Mind you, I am not a fan of those that abuse the Thesaurus but that is a whole other blog on it’s own on just how much I loath Thesaurus Thumpers. So, I beg one and all to be kind when using the Thesaurus as often the words some select, don’t actually mean when they seem to think it does. I am a very visual sort of person and when some take liberties and use words incorrectly it can often leave me having nightmares.

Anyway, merry writing to one and all.