DavidRM Software's The Journal Newsletter

February 2008
Volume 9, Issue 2

INTRODUCTION

February 2008 is now almost over. Do you know where your month went? (And could you help me find *mine*?)

The Journal 4.1 Build #253 was released on 5 February. Check out "The Journal News" section for what's new and what's changed or fixed.

In the "Tips & Tricks" I explain how to type international characters in your entries and Susan provides a new set of writing exercises.

Thank you for choosing DavidRM Software's The Journal!

Download the latest update of The Journal from here:
http://www.davidrm.com/download/jnl4setup.exe

Check to see if you have the most recent update of The Journal by clicking on the Help menu (in The Journal) and choosing Check for Update of The Journal.

Add-on Packages Available for The Journal

MemoryGrabber - Start your autobiography or help your loved ones start theirs.
Learn more about MemoryGrabber for The Journal.

Writing Prompts 1 - Improve your writing skills!
Learn more about Writing Prompts 1.

Writing Prompts 2 - Prose Challenges by Mike Hommel - Stretch your mind and your writing skills!!
Learn more about Writing Prompts 2.

Devotional Prompts 1 - Keep a record of your reflections about God, yourself, and others!
Learn more about Devotional Prompts 1.

Extended Security - Do you need a higher level of security?
Learn more about Extended Security for The Journal.

Steve Pavlina's Templates - 20 journaling exercises to help you discover your life purpose, assess your relationships, solve your problems, and more!
Learn more about Steve Pavlina's Templates for The Journal.

To order the add-on packages for The Journal, or to order The Journal on CDROM:
1. Click on the Help menu in The Journal.
2. Choose "Upgrade The Journal".

TIPS & TRICKS

TIP: Typing International Characters

Have you ever wanted to type "résumé" or "café" and been stymied by that acute accented e? Or maybe you need to type "curaçao" (because it goes great with orange juice) and weren't sure how you could type the cedilla (I only learned that was the name for the "c-with-a-tail" a few weeks ago).

To type these characters--and many more--The Journal uses a multi-keystroke approach. There are two keystrokes:
1. a Ctrl (or Ctrl+Shift) keystroke
2. the letter to be accented (or slashed)

The first keystroke will not type anything. However, it's necessary to tell The Journal that the next character will receive the accent.

For example, to type the acute accented e (é), you would type:
1. Ctrl+' (single quote/apostrophe)
2. e

The first keystroke (Ctrl+') tells The Journal that the next character should receive an acute accent. Then you type "e" and you get "é".

Here is the full list of international characters supported by The Journal:

Acute accent: Acute accent: Á, É, Í, Ó, Ú, Ý, á, é, í, ó, ú, ý
Ctrl+<apostrophe> <letter>

Circumflex: Â, Ê, Î, Ô, Û, â, ê, î, ô, û
Ctrl+Shift+^ <letter>

Grave accent: À, È, Ì, Ò, Ù, à, è, ì, ò, ù
Ctrl+` <letter>

Tilde accent: Ã, Ñ, Õ, ã, ñ, õ
Ctrl+Shift+~ <letter>

Umlaut accent: Ä, Ë, Ï, Ö, Ü, Ÿ, ä, ë, ï, ö, ü, ÿ
Ctrl+Shift+<colon> <letter>

Slashed characters: Ø, ø
Ctrl+/ <letter>

Cedilla: Ç, ç
Ctrl+<comma> <letter>

NOTE: MS Word also supports these characters in the same way. Just an FYI, in case you didn't know. It's a handy feature.

WRITING EXERCISES

Free Writing Prompt - Write for 20 minutes using the following as your starter: "If you are reading this..."

Prose Prompt - Write a short story based on the parable of the grasshopper and the ant.

Journaling Prompt - What can you do to nurture your important relationships?

Memoir Prompt - Do you have any friends you've known since elementary school? High school? College? Previous jobs? Have you stayed in touch all that time? Or did you have some periods "off and on"?

SUBMISSION INFORMATION

If you would like to contribute to the "How I Use The Journal", "Writing Exercises", or "Tips & Tricks" sections, or would like to submit an article about journaling or another The Journal-related topic, we would love to hear from you.

Submissions for the newsletter should be sent to: davidrm@davidrm.com

If you are submitting for a particulare section, please indicate which one. Try to limit your submissions to 500-1000 words. Submissions may be edited for length and content.

If you prefer to remain anonymous, please state this in the email. Otherwise your name (but not your email) will be used in the article heading.

As always, if you have any suggestions for, or bug reports about, The Journal, please feel free to email them. Both are always welcome.

Editor: David Michael (davidrm@davidrm.com)
Copyright © 2008 by David Michael.