Robot Typist (Safari -- Correct Spelling Automatically)

[Danger]

Okay... enough is enough, already! How can I shut off whatever idiotic part of this program keeps replacing the things that I type with things that I don't want to type? I have to spend more time backing up and re-entering things than I do typing in the first place, and if I happen to miss one it makes me look like an idiot because a nonsensical word is there in place of what I typed. It's become far more than just annoying.

 

[Borek]

Danger, are you sure it is part of the forum software, and not some "feature" of whatever browser you use?

Can you give a more detailed example of what is happening, and list your browser/OS combination?

 

[Ryan_m_b]

This isn't a feature of the forum that I am aware of. What browser and device are you using? A lot of tablets/phones have an autocorrect feature that can cause this sort of problem.

 

[Danger]

Thanks, guys.
I'm on a MacBook Pro Retina running Mavericks (OS 10.9.3) with Safari as my browser. This is what I had before the change in PF, and have never before encountered this problem here or anywhere else. There was a display malfunction which required me to send it to the shop for repair while PF was still in the old format. When I got it back, this is what I came to. Unless they did something really rude to it at the Apple store, I can't see any way that it isn't related to the site software. The only other thing that comes even close is that Google always puts up options when I'm part-way through entering something... but it has always done that and doesn't actually over-ride what I've typed.

 

[Jimmy]

In Safari, make sure Correct Spelling Automatically is not checked:

Edit > Spelling and Grammar >

 

[Ryan_m_b]

I don't think it's the forum as it doesn't have that functionality (though perhaps @Greg Bernhardt can confirm). Do you get it at other sites? I suggest trying this to check if it is your mac:
http://osxdaily.com/2011/07/28/turn-off-auto-correct-in-mac-os-x-lion/

 

[RonL]

Sounds like trouble without having to use your "Truck Costume":w:)

 

[Borek]

required me to send it to the shop for repair while PF was still in the old format. When I got it back

I wonder if they have not upgraded the software/changed defaults when fixing the computer. I have seen it with other devices.

 

[Danger]

Jimmy! I do believe that you got it! I didn't even know that the bloody setting existed, and it obviously wasn't activated when I bought the computer. They must have buggered it up while replacing the display driver.
In fact, now I know that you got it because I deselected it and then deliberately made mistakes while typing this post. They were flagged by the software, but not altered. Thank you, thank you, thank you! I will name my first-born after you. (Unless it's a girl, in which case she will be named Murgatroyd.)

edit: Oh, more posts since I started. Yes, Borek, same thing and you're right. It's fixed now. Thank you.
Ron... I'm still planning to use that truck costume. I'm just trying to make sure that I have the exhaust pipe positioned just exactly right...

 

[jedishrfu]

I think this is just user error and the poor innocent computer is being blamed for the misuse of grammar.

 

[jtbell]

I don't think it's the forum as it doesn't have that functionality (though perhaps @Greg Bernhardt can confirm). Do you get it at other sites? I suggest trying this to check if it is your mac:
http://osxdaily.com/2011/07/28/turn-off-auto-correct-in-mac-os-x-lion/

Also check your browser settings. In the Mac OS version of Firefox, under Preferences --> Advanced, there's a "Check my spelling as I type" option which appears to be enabled by default. I just turned it off now.

I've had similar problems in other applications. For example, I use a MySQL database to keep track of my CD collection, and have a text file containing various SQL queries that I copy and paste into the MySQL command line in the Mac OS Terminal. After I upgraded to Mac OS 10.9, some of these queries started to fail. It turned out that the new version of the TextEdit application was using "smart quotes" instead of "plain quotes" whenever I edited an existing query and inserted quote marks; and MySQL doesn't recognize smart quotes. I had to go into the TextEdit preferences to turn this off.

 

[PAllen]

It isn't just Apple tablets. I had to find and turn off the equivalent tablet setting for my two android tablets (by two different manufacturers). It seems someone decided this should be 'standard behavior' for tablets.

 

[Danger]

It isn't just Apple tablets.

A MacBook Pro Retina isn't a tablet; it's a $2,000 laptop. And Jimmy had it nailed; I deselected spell correction in Safari Preferences and now it's all good.
(I hope that didn't sound snarky. I do appreciate the input even though it isn't applicable in this instance.)

Jt, what are "smart quotes"? I've heard the term before, but don't know what it means. The closest that I know of is back when Word Perfect would make sure to put a second quote input as a closing quote rather than the normal opening one. The only difference was in which direction the little tails faced.

edit: And in fact, since you're a Mentor, would you please close this thread after responding? (Or close it right away and respond by PM, or close it and don't respond if it suits you.) There's no point in pursuing this further since it has been resolved to my satisfaction.

 

[jedishrfu]

Not to be too smart here's something on smart quotes the sixes and nines of quoting:

http://www.fonts.com/content/learning/fyti/typographic-tips/smart-quotes

and a song for Danger:

 

[jtbell]

Jt, what are "smart quotes"? I've heard the term before, but don't know what it means. The closest that I know of is back when Word Perfect would make sure to put a second quote input as a closing quote rather than the normal opening one. The only difference was in which direction the little tails faced.

That's exactly what it is. Hitting single-quote or double-quote (shift-quote) on a US keyboard normally gives you "straight" quote marks: vertical, with no tails. Proper opening quotes curl one way, and closing quotes curl the other way. The "smart quotes" feature automatically gives you the correct one depending on context. For normal text, I like this, but for programming code, I don't. The programming languages I use recognize only the straight quotes.

 

[jedishrfu]

Don't mention programming, I taught a C class once (my first one) and someone quoted some text using the single quote and the back quote to match the programming book which used smart quotes.

Of course the compiler bitterly complained about it, and I just didn't see it right away until fear coursed thru my veins then bingo I spotted the error.

The student even did the other unthinkable error of doing double quotes via two sequential single quotes and two sequential back quotes

char *s = ``hello world'';

-- vs --

char *s = "hello world";

Quoting can be a real killer in bash scripts too where double quotes will accept and expand shell variables (the $xxx variables) whereas single quotes will not (' $xxx ' is ' $xxx ' when printed) and back quotes do command execution as in:

echo `date`

 

[Danger]

and a song for Danger:

Holy crap! I love that song! I also loved the show. Did you know that the series "The Prisoner" was about the same character in an amnesic state who didn't realize that he had been a spy until the series finale episode? (That closing episode, by the bye, is one of the best things ever recorded. Even if you've never seen the series, you'll love that show without understanding why it's happening.) Oh, dem bones, dem bones going to walk away. Dem bones... Well, I can't sing worth crap, so I'll leave you to Google it.

Jt, I remember specifically that we were taught in school to make our opening quotes like 6's and our closing quotes like 9's. This was back in '62. When I finally got my mitts on a typewriter in school, in '70, I was dismayed that it had only "generic" quotes. Since publishers and script supervisors accepted it, though, I got over it quickly. When writing or printing by hand, though, I still put the tails on them.

 

[jedishrfu]

Yeah, I loved that show too. We anxiously awaited each episode in the summer and then it was over after 17 episodes never to surface again. I didn't know he had amnesia I always thought he was kidnapped and didn't by whom until the end revealed it was his own agency trying to find out why he really resigned.



We were also crazy about The Avengers, The Champions, Man from Uncle and the Wild Wild West... and a ton of other shows now long gone...



I guess we should start another thread...

 

[Borek]

I remember specifically that we were taught in school to make our opening quotes like 6's and our closing quotes like 9's.

Problem with quotes is that in different parts of the world different things are considered correct.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_variation_in_quotation_marks

 

[Jimmy]

Jimmy!..Thank you, thank you, thank you! I will name my first-born after you. (Unless it's a girl, in which case she will be named Murgatroyd.)

You're welcome. Glad that sorted it for you. I don't use Safari but I remember someone else on another forum having the same problem.

 

[Danger]

We were also crazy about The Avengers, The Champions, Man from Uncle and the Wild Wild West... and a ton of other shows now long gone...

oo)
I think that you and I might be the only people on the planet who remember The Champions, which I consider to be one of my all-time favourite shows. From that title sequence where Stuart Damon (or his stunt double) does that backflip off of the stairway without spilling a drop from the tray of drinks that he's holding up until the finish of each episode had me absolutely enthralled. (And, I had such a chubby for Alexandra Bastedo that I had trouble standing up during my last 3 years of public school.)
You're right, man... we need a new thread for this. Wanna start with Fireball XL5? :D (To be technically correct, however, I can take this thread wherever I want to without derailing it because I started it. I did already, in fact request that it be closed, but that was ignored and I'm glad because that was also before it became interesting.)
Here's the best part of the finale of The Prisoner, and I defy anyone to not love it. Even though it's basically a JF song and I'm an Atheist, I love it and I think that the singer/actor should be immortalized in marble (or at least chocolate).

Well, actually, it just gets better from there, but I'll leave it up to the crowd to continue exploring it. The only thing that bothers me about it is that the singer (Alexis Kenner) who I've always considered to be a sprightly young sprout, was actually 14 years older than me. I don't know whether that makes me feel young or just pathetic.

By the bye, I bet that no one other than us knows how Diana Rigg's character name in "The Avengers" came about. For the youngsters... The producers wanted someone to attract a male audience (and man, did they succeed!) so they code-named her Male Appeal, which was then distilled down to M. Appeal and finally Emma Peel.

 

[PAllen]

Yeah, I loved that show too. We anxiously awaited each episode in the summer and then it was over after 17 episodes never to surface again. I didn't know he had amnesia I always thought he was kidnapped and didn't by whom until the end revealed it was his own agency trying to find out why he really resigned.



We were also crazy about The Avengers, The Champions, Man from Uncle and the Wild Wild West... and a ton of other shows now long gone...



I guess we should start another thread...

I agree with you - I interpreted as kidnapping by ones own agency for spies too dangerous to be allowed to retire or quit.

I liked all these shows as well (except The Champions, not familiar with that one).

 

[Danger]

I liked all these shows as well (except The Champions, not familiar with that one).

Get familiar with it. You'll be glad that you did.

 

[jedishrfu]

The Champions is a campy kind of action show and pretty tame by today's standards. It's the story of three international agents that get stranded in Tibet while trying to steal something secret (virus?) From a Chinese lab. Their plane crashes in the mountains and they are rescued and their injuries are treated by some mysterious people (ala the Shangrli La of Lost Horizon) and acquire subtle super powers like increased strength, endurance, senses and telepathy. Episodes hi light one or more of these powers sometimes

Some or all episodes are on YouTube

 

[jedishrfu]

Wow didn't know about the Emma Peel name, pretty interesting an yeah she attracted a lot of attention like Alexandra Bastedo.

 

[Danger]

Wow didn't know about the Emma Peel name, pretty interesting an yeah she attracted a lot of attention like Alexandra Bastedo.

Try to get hold of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" where she's topless. :D I still regret that we had only black-and-white TV and VCR's hadn't been invented back when the CBC aired that one.

 

[jedishrfu]

A Midsummer Night's Dream

still available on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0007CNXV4/?tag=pfamazon01-20

 

[Borek]

And youtube.

 

[jtbell]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_variation_in_quotation_marks

Ha ha, now I have a new favorite German word, the colloquial term for quotation marks: Gänsefüßchen (little goose feet).

 

[RonL]

And youtube.

HaHa! We might not hear from Danger for a few more days:D

 

[Danger]

HaHa! We might not hear from Danger for a few more days:D

Ambidextrous, remember? I can type and do other things at the same time.
Jed, I don't know whether I love you or hate you. I thank you for providing me access to one of my favourite childhood memories, and simultaneously curse you for revealing that it was in actuality a horrendous piece of dreck on a par with "Lost in Space". In my defence, this was a point in my unsophisticated youth when some other of my other favourite shows were Astro Boy and Gilligan's Island...

 

[Danger]

I have a new favorite German word, the colloquial term for quotation marks: Gänsefüßchen

My favourite German word remains the colloquial term for a bra: Stoptwofrumfloppen.

 

[jedishrfu]

Danger don't feel bad. We had a similar experience in upstate NY where the local tv station had a late night movie called Firecracker that to me was an instant classic cheap kungfu pic filmed in the Philipines with a racy scene that got accidentally broadcast one night. We cheered but alas had no vcr to record it or even to rewind it. However, you can still find it on the Internet tucked away somewhere.