tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8354936664675691071.comments2023-11-28T14:41:18.671-07:00Kat MellonKathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18199931219768023093noreply@blogger.comBlogger243125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8354936664675691071.post-21639789770536437652019-05-29T12:05:44.430-06:002019-05-29T12:05:44.430-06:00I don't use my Dana very often these days, but...I don't use my Dana very often these days, but it's because I haven't been writing like I used to! I do bring it out for NaNoWriMo every year and still enjoy using it (and would still recommend it!).Kathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18199931219768023093noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8354936664675691071.post-49182537335456834782019-05-22T10:28:05.501-06:002019-05-22T10:28:05.501-06:00I had a Dana from around 2003 to maybe 2015 or so....I had a Dana from around 2003 to maybe 2015 or so. I used it heavily during a period when I had retired from the computer industry and taught in a small rural private school (2005-2007). My current writing tool is a Samsung Chromebook 3. Pretty good battery life and when you use it with Google Docs or (or Office 365 in the Android subsystem it now supports) its matte screen is about as paper-like as you are going to find. Your article brought great nostalgia and I am sorely tempted to go to eBay, pick one up, and stop at the local store for a bunch of AA alkaline batteries! Do you still use your Dana much? They were really great when laptops weighed 7-10 pounds and had 3-hour battery life at best. Still the best keyboard of any laptop device!IWriteTheSongshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17325278048847354949noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8354936664675691071.post-9306378717448176802019-01-10T21:01:07.570-07:002019-01-10T21:01:07.570-07:00These really are amazing. I'm looking for a c...These really are amazing. I'm looking for a community to learn how to do this with. Arachnophilehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07410631872057592006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8354936664675691071.post-83075422598473474732018-10-30T19:59:36.623-06:002018-10-30T19:59:36.623-06:00Thank you for making and sharing these. :)Thank you for making and sharing these. :)Audra Mariehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15520409864345551851noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8354936664675691071.post-29773813115511509082018-07-10T15:36:10.460-06:002018-07-10T15:36:10.460-06:00Unlike today, Non-volatile ram in mobile devices w...Unlike today, Non-volatile ram in mobile devices wasn't common at the time of the Dana's release. It was much more expensive. It wasn't stupidity or even a design flaw as such. SD card slots and some backup software were pretty standard fare throughout the industry. Only the last few devices from Palm had NV ram.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17781557524676845243noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8354936664675691071.post-50812616380900716172018-06-29T17:41:50.242-06:002018-06-29T17:41:50.242-06:00So frustrating! my blood boils when I read this......So frustrating! my blood boils when I read this...I had a similar experience - well not really..but my design was reported by other designers in the pool for not containing links to stock imagery - I rebutted the violation, but my design was still removed by 99designs. It was even more frustrating because every other design in the contest was using some form of stock imagery, but they are ok? <br />Geez, its frustrating when your case isn't heard by the support team, and I'm very sorry for your loss to a cheap, dirty, plagiarizer...Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07064489320267568700noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8354936664675691071.post-57757493045943772152017-07-20T21:05:34.157-06:002017-07-20T21:05:34.157-06:00I enjoyed your post on the Dana. I own three Alpha...I enjoyed your post on the Dana. I own three Alphasmarts and it's my favorite, also. I recently purchased a Freewrite and I'm so unimpressed, I'm getting ready to sell the big chunk of metal on eBay. It's been a few years since I've had a novel published and was having a hard time getting back in the game and thought the Freewrite might inspire me...NOT. Pulled the Dana out of its storage spot in my file cabinet today and now have 6,000'words. K. Dawn Byrdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17794345260605025953noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8354936664675691071.post-30287974152225707802017-07-12T22:09:47.542-06:002017-07-12T22:09:47.542-06:00wow this is terrible! i randomly got here from goo...wow this is terrible! i randomly got here from google... looking or tips on how to give feedback as a contest holder. i clicked on this because i thought maybe it helps to see a designers perspective on 99designs. Although its not at all what I was looking for, it seemed like an interesting read. Yikes, id never think it was okay to show (not even tell) one designer what the other one did. I was thinking of showing one a tiny snippet of an entry which i had instantly declined to help me explain something. its a mascot logo design contest and its about a mouth that is basically just a wavy black line, i didnt even mean to have the designer copy it, it was just to help me explain what i mean. I didnt do it, i decided its wrong and went on google to find something similar to it. Wish there was a way to financially punish the contest holder too if they "break the rules". talk2foodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04054715315270543459noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8354936664675691071.post-35966188119264147702017-01-17T17:51:53.135-07:002017-01-17T17:51:53.135-07:0099designs support is getting worst as years pass. ...99designs support is getting worst as years pass. I've been designing there for 5 years now. Recently I went back to locked contest I've been. To my shock, one of these contest used my entry for their public site solid2fa.com. The prize total was around $1800. What's worst about 99design support, the one who was attending the issue is clueless, doesn't know about what a public website is. But after some exchange of messages, the site was taken down. No compensation or whatsoever. The contest was made last year and I don't know how many months it went up after this.<br /><br />Anyway, I'm glad you got paid. You deserve it. As for me, I don't know where else to go, so 99designs is still my go-to right now. funcdesignshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18214879762852971733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8354936664675691071.post-27113404298540527922016-12-11T11:18:03.270-07:002016-12-11T11:18:03.270-07:00The battery life of the Dana has always been a big...The battery life of the Dana has always been a big issue for me. I like the Neo2 because it seems to last forever. I back up every few weeks using the alphasmart software (much faster than sending each file one at a time). The more I use it, the more I find clever things the software writers included. Great device and cheap enough that I bought a bunch of them in case my main one died as well, as to have several available in different locations in case ideas come to me and I left my main one home. JPMhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04331209533799940138noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8354936664675691071.post-88993319810812695262016-07-27T21:01:00.781-06:002016-07-27T21:01:00.781-06:00Thanks for the info and link, Bill—will definitely...Thanks for the info and link, Bill—will definitely check this out! (Fingers crossed it works with Mac computers...)Kathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18199931219768023093noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8354936664675691071.post-35617054966164777962016-07-23T09:12:30.032-06:002016-07-23T09:12:30.032-06:00Kat:
Long-time Dana user -- if you want to move f...Kat:<br /><br />Long-time Dana user -- if you want to move files back and forth without relying on special Windows software, there is an option:<br /><br />CardTXT widescreen, placed on your SD card. It is a program for writing plain text files only (you can't do bold, italic, chapter heads, not much in the way of fonts, but you can use Markdown formatting *for italics* **for bold** #for Chapter Heading 1, or using Microsoft Word's formatting _for italic_ *for bold*<br /><br />You can write and save files in plain .txt format (plain text), then pop the memory card into a card reader on your PC and move plain text files back and forth at your leisure.<br /><br />As always with a Dana, save your files frequently to your memory card so if the batteries die out, you still have the files saved.<br /><br />I have used this solution for several years with no data loss and the benefits of a portable word processor -- while I prefer the AlphaSmart neo because of better battery life and the more readable screen, the advantage of CardTXT on the Dana is that you can move plain text files back and forth without needing to rely on a software solution.<br /><br />You can get the CardTXT widescreen software at:<br /><br />www.technfun.com/software/cardtxt-dana.prc<br /><br /> BillSmithBookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17416767836260252793noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8354936664675691071.post-30545555695911724412016-05-11T12:52:38.519-06:002016-05-11T12:52:38.519-06:00Thank you so much, Tari—I'm glad to hear you f...Thank you so much, Tari—I'm glad to hear you found it useful! :-)Kathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18199931219768023093noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8354936664675691071.post-24081966212057426052016-05-09T19:24:32.637-06:002016-05-09T19:24:32.637-06:00this is a great article!
thanks for the specific d...this is a great article!<br />thanks for the specific details. Tari Akpodietehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03450521271482667974noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8354936664675691071.post-58499694552733780472016-04-27T23:45:28.624-06:002016-04-27T23:45:28.624-06:00That's so cool (and I hope you're enjoying...That's so cool (and I hope you're enjoying your Dana)! It's too bad they don't have a Mac version...I'd use the hell out of it.Kathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18199931219768023093noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8354936664675691071.post-39309675500816396932016-04-20T03:42:15.448-06:002016-04-20T03:42:15.448-06:00Hey! Thank you for your review of the Dana which l...Hey! Thank you for your review of the Dana which led to my purchase of the very same model. Regarding the conversion problem I found this little tool which batch converts pdb into both txt and rtf and seems to work quite well:<br />http://www.desiquintans.com/danatxtAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08512980849489201579noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8354936664675691071.post-22350880308127548962016-04-15T13:33:50.905-06:002016-04-15T13:33:50.905-06:00Right?! (Worse yet is that the Dana is the only Al...Right?! (Worse yet is that the Dana is the only Alphasmart model with an SD card slot—you're even <i>more</i> out of luck when the batteries on one of those die!)<br /><br />Someone suggested a PalmOS application (Wordsmith?) for transferring writing from the Dana, but I wasn't ever able to successfully install it. My current process is to save everything I'm working on to the SD cards, change the batteries as necessary, and use the printer cable/"send" button combo to move the text stored on the SD card to my computer. <br /><br />As neat as the Dana is, though, it's been gathering dust—out of all the antique writing devices I own, my 1999 Apple iBook Clamshell gets the most use because the internet browser is next to useless and <i>can even run Scrivener</i> when upgraded to OS 10! (The clamshell definitely deserves its own post. I should probably get on that, shouldn't I?)Kathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18199931219768023093noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8354936664675691071.post-76204669723845740912016-04-08T22:01:50.912-06:002016-04-08T22:01:50.912-06:00These are SO COOL—thank you, Jill!These are SO COOL—thank you, Jill!Kathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18199931219768023093noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8354936664675691071.post-47472638737976062782016-04-08T17:03:05.831-06:002016-04-08T17:03:05.831-06:00Hi, I have another couple painted alphasmarts for ...Hi, I have another couple painted alphasmarts for your collection:<br /><br />https://www.flickr.com/photos/deekay07/25603519493/in/pool-alphasmart/<br /><br />https://www.flickr.com/photos/damonw/albums/72157666657186415Jillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09175547838534071166noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8354936664675691071.post-29259948221082173382016-03-10T22:24:57.238-07:002016-03-10T22:24:57.238-07:00Hi there! I did enjoy your Dana Shakedown! My main...Hi there! I did enjoy your Dana Shakedown! My main worry was confirmed, that all data was lost when the battery ran out. I swear to all that is holy, that that has got to be the absolutely STUPIDEST design flaw OF ALL TIME!! I had a Clie and when I found out that it was the case, I nearly had a fit. Makes you wonder who on earth heard this during the first product presentation within the company and said, well, who needs to keep their data? Keep the flaw, focus on something else! Anyway. I also appreciate your listing power supply specs and maximum memory card size. Very useful. Now that you have used it for a while, what do you think of it now? I'd love to hear a follow up with suggested software (especially a backup system, since everything is going to be lost...)<br />Take care, LouisLouishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07883162298201239777noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8354936664675691071.post-71423681033348070042016-01-31T15:39:49.417-07:002016-01-31T15:39:49.417-07:00Hey, I really like your blog! I love redbubble too...Hey, I really like your blog! I love redbubble too! It would be great if you could check out my blog and maybe we could support and follow each other? <br /><br />http://swingsandcarousels.blogspot.co.uk/Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14346402891302015145noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8354936664675691071.post-24291698951447743232015-11-27T13:45:10.904-07:002015-11-27T13:45:10.904-07:00Thank you for the heads up about CardTXT!
(I fee...Thank you for the heads up about CardTXT! <br /><br />(I feel dumb for asking this, but how did you install the program on your Dana? I have yet to find any helpful instructions for this online!)Kathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18199931219768023093noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8354936664675691071.post-41572727799714096542015-11-09T10:26:11.426-07:002015-11-09T10:26:11.426-07:00Oh, I have to add, it has a limit of 4 mb it can h...Oh, I have to add, it has a limit of 4 mb it can handle. CardTXT is a free option, but you could also consider looking up old commercial applications, like Documents To Go, QuickOffice or TealDoc.Melchiorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01398589046374285805noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8354936664675691071.post-50961196466416944422015-11-09T10:21:43.528-07:002015-11-09T10:21:43.528-07:00Hey Kat! How nice to see some other Dana lovers st...Hey Kat! How nice to see some other Dana lovers still out there.<br />There is an application alled CardTXT, which I use to store text as .txt on my SD card. Try it, it's still available on the internet. Good luck!Melchiorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01398589046374285805noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8354936664675691071.post-7203314273104508842015-04-06T15:27:58.035-06:002015-04-06T15:27:58.035-06:00Thanks for this! Hadn't used the Dana in years...Thanks for this! Hadn't used the Dana in years...frankweirhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02369850153796844205noreply@blogger.com