I own a Visor handheld. I use graffiti to enter text (I don't have the
version with the keyboard), however, even though I'm quite proficient
using graffiti (I've been using devices like this for 5 years now) it
still takes too long to enter text especially when under time
pressure.

I've read that books about "Gregg Shorthand" are popular among people
who want to take notes quickly. I don't know what it looks like, but
from short descriptions on amazon.com it looks like it uses lots of
symbols instead of just abbreviations.

Is there a book or webpage where I can learn a form of shorthand
that's appropriate for handhelds which use graffiti? If Gregg
shorthand requires symbols that don't exist in the visor character
set, then it won't help.

For instance, instead of entering "doctor's visit with Bob Smith at
8pm" I'd like to be able to enter something like "dcvt w BS t 8p".
However, I don't want to make something like that up myself because I
probably wouldn't be able to stay consistent and I wouldn't understand
old notes that I wrote.

Optional bonus question: Is "Gregg Shorthand" actually the best
shorthand method or are there better methods for specific fields? I'm
a software engineer, so I wouldn't have any use for legal shorthand or
medical shorthand, etc.

Dear mxnmatch,

Ah, now that takes me back to high school and learning shorthand in
Miss Bowles' class - thanks! What fun. Gregg Shorthand is a series of
squiggles, loops, and curves, based on sounds and phrases, strung
together forming a series of fanciful drawings. There's a very nice
image of a Gregg transcription here:
http://www.geocities.com/shorthandshorthandshorthand/
along with other useful information. As you can see, it relies on
paper & pen, and to learn it requires long hours of practise. I
enjoyed the class, but found typing much easier to learn. I can still
write my name, though, along with a few phrases, such as "and the",
"to go", "you may want to", etc.  It doesn't really use symbols in the
way you might think, but each small line usually represents a sound,
which you then attach to another sound, again and again, until
eventually you have a complete phrase.

In regards to your Visor handheld, there aren't many alternatives to
Graffiti. Below are some links of interest regarding possible
alternatives.

1. WordComplete:
"WordComplete supports the most popular text entry systems including
the Graffiti®, Jot® and the pop-up and physical keyboard! WordComplete
is like shorthand for your Palm connected organizer! This utility
helps to speed text entry time and accuracy by offering a pop-up pick
list of words once you have entered a few letters. To complete your
word entry just tap on the word that you want and it is automatically
entered where your cursor is! WordComplete's dictionary provides a
quick and easy way to check the spelling of a word and can be
customized so that frequently used words appear at the top of the
pop-up list."
 © Copyright 1997-2001 - All Rights Reserved
PalmGear.com uses the PalmGear trademark under exclusive license from
Palm, Inc.
http://www.palmgear.com/software/showsoftware.cfm?prodID=3770

2. QuikWriting:
"Below are some demonstrations of a shorthand designed for use on
pen-based computers. Quikwriting is significantly faster and less
stressful to use than Graffiti, and lets you write very quickly
without ever picking your stylus up off the surface, although it has
the disadvantage that you need to learn a special alphabet."
Note: Clicking on the link "discussion thread on Slashdot" found on
this page will take you to quite a good discussion about QuikWriting.
 licensing@cat.nyu.edu. 
http://mrl.nyu.edu/projects/quikwriting/


Additional Links:

1. The Joy of Pitman Shorthand:
"Some have asked me if they can adapt their hand-held computers
(PDA's) to recognize Pitman outlines.  That would be ultra-tricky
pattern-recognition, but there is a speedwriting system for PDA's
too!"
[no copyright stated]
http://pitmanshorthand.homestead.com/


2. Handheld Keyboard Clip-ons:
Palm Handheld Central:
http://www.palmhandheldcentral.com/handaccsmn.htm

3. The GREGG Shorthand Manual Simplified by John Robert Gregg.
You can view about 20 pages of shorthand from this book at Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0070245487/ref=lib_rd_ss/103-5186336-6944652?v=glance&s=books&vi=slide-show

4. If you are interested in starting a new hobby, used books on Gregg
Shorthand can be found at the following site:
http://www.bookfinder.com  
Type "Gregg Shorthand" in the Title field and you'll come up with a
nice long list of books for sale from various book databases.


Search Strategy:

://www.google.ca/search?as_q=keyboard+clip+on&num=100&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&btnG=Google+Search&as_epq=Visor+handheld&as_oq=&as_eq=&lr=&as_ft=i&as_filetype=&as_qdr=all&as_occt=any&as_dt=i&as_sitesearch=&safe=images

://www.google.ca/search?as_q=&num=100&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&btnG=Google+Search&as_epq=gregg+shorthand&as_oq=&as_eq=&lr=&as_ft=i&as_filetype=&as_qdr=all&as_occt=any&as_dt=i&as_sitesearch=&safe=images


Terms Used:

Visor
Handheld
Keyboard
Shorthand
"Gregg Shorthand"


I hope you've found this helpful, but if you need more information,
please let me know. Thank you for the stroll down memory lane! (I'm
sorry I've taken so long in getting back to you but my first attempt
got deleted by mistake and so it has taken me time to try and recreate
my answer)

Sincerely,
hummer

---

Clarification of Answer by hummer-ga on 25 Oct 2002 14:18 PDT

Hi again,

I did leave something out the second time around. Gregg Shorthand is
like learning a language - one must first learn the basics which would
be ok for everyday living. But if someone were going to use it in a
speciality, I would imagine that person would have to take a shorthand
course in that field.

hummer

Sorry for taking so long to rate this question. Both WordComplete and
QuikWriting look very promising. Thanks!