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Teacher’s Tip

Hey guys.. check out this cool program that helps me with my grammar :-)

It’s called WhiteSmoke and it is really cool!

WhiteSmoke

I have set up a page that gives you DIRECT ACCESS to Zach over at WhiteSmoke who is very important over there. Just click this link and send him a message if you have any questions about anything!

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75 Comments and 11 threads

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  1. leonard says: 44

    I wonder how bad my writing skills be? Just to brag…I’d get all answers right in grammar test(100%) and profs had hard time understanding my compositions…geography and economics sometimes is not literal…gota fire-up,i’m modern burning wood for heat…bloody work :mad: :lol: Do you still use white smoke?

  2. divelty says: 42

    Comments for :arrow: purpose=goaf :oops: add an shanel :?: Recust : : :arrow:

  3. Well i appologise for not having the correct grammar. i am not really the best student in the world but good at drill and being an 19th century soldier for my hobby. i get to learn a lot from you thank you.

    mike

  4. While using the recent WhiteSmoke free trial download for the few days it was free, this was the Good, the Bad and the Annoying. I used it in my web email editor (AOL), with Word with RTF (Rich Text Format), and in FrontPage.

    WhiteSmoke provided a helpful set of synonyms in a number of cases. This I liked a lot to facilitate choice of the terms with the most appropriate connotations. It was part of the grammar check. Some of the suggested alternative words were irrelevant to the context of the term I entered, no big deal. 

    In my web email AOL Draft Folder and in FrontPage, applying any of Whitesmoke’s changes resulted in removal of the blank lines between paragraphs. I had to reinsert the line feeds manually to space the paragraphs. This was unacceptable for me with these editors. The problem did not occur in Word with RTF.

    Annoyances included automatic insertion of the WhiteSmoke toolbar in IE (Internet Explorer) during WhiteSmoke installation. This was removable with the IE Toolbox and Windows Software Removal in Control Panel. Other annoyances occurred. And some features I expected to get in the WhiteSmoke User Guide or Help where not there. However, these are not deemed to be significant enough to discuss in this brief comment.

  5. getwajid says: 39

    cool offer !!! but can’t be download that white somke marina :( ..
    but i am still happy to hear u would inform us when there is new up coming any offers regarding english grammer …

  6. tedt says: 37

    My English still is fabuluos, seems like there was a huge baby on the way, it was a pain to get on your HP.

  7. Free download? I couldn’t find it on the WhiteSmoke web site. Not even a free trial was to be found. That was the result last week and this. My email address received a couple spams from WhiteSmoke in between to buy or subscribe like the web site.

    This looks like a bait and switch. I suppose that Marina is honest but her website management …..

    • Marina says: 36.1

      They had a free download the past couple weeks.. but that offer may be gone now. “My bad” for not removing that info. I do think they are coming up with some more specials. I will post them as soon as I hear more.

      • protac6 says: 36.1.1

        Yeah I was looking for that too. Use more slang in your everyday language Marina! “On the real!” :cool:

      • OK, fine. Somebody was just asleep at the wheel and it looks like HotForWords.com has a little work to do to be more trustworthy. About WhiteSmoke, shouldn’t they have informed HotForWords.com rather than continue to have you misrepresent their offer, i.e. be the bait?
        While you are reviewing your relationships with partners like WhiteSmoke, please be tolerant of less than perfect grammar. Although that is desirable, isn’t it more important to get meaningful comments that may provoke thought? For intelligence (is sexy?), its substance over form.

  8. Johnny-7 says: 33

    Marina: sometimes I don’t like all the vids but this one is really great.
    Vids like these make you worth keeping.

    Johnny-7

  9. okay4now says: 31

    WhiteSmoke actually looks good, but the site is not working completely or something. I thought I’d just buy it, but I’ll wait to see a little more…I guess.

  10. sniperskaya says: 30

    Marina, I would like you to give the meaning of the word “coldcocked”. I know what it means, I’d just love to hear you say it! Your accent is truly captivating! English never sounds so good as when it is spoken by a beautiful young Russian girl!

  11. spelcheck says: 29

    I have no need for Whitesmoke.Poor John :roll:

  12. Charles says: 28

    hay marina, i just took yer advise and bout that ther whight smoke you talked about. i think its done me alotta good so far. i used to make alotta speling erers before i got it. thanx fer the tip.

  13. Gosh! I seem to be lost.
    I think this is supposed to
    be a sidebar for Cocomments
    to this page, but apparently
    the blog also loads,,,hmmm.
    Unanticipated. This one has
    no flatness to the learning
    curve at all. Try, try, try…

  14. pat_the_dog says: 26

    Hi Marina,

    When it comes to sound advice on English grammar, may I also recommend the hugely informative:

    http://www.grammar-monster.com.

    Hope you find it useful,

    Pat

  15. the_prophet says: 25

    Nice advertisement Marina!

  16. Hi Marina, look I really don’t mean to be a bitch about this ’cause English isn’t mz first language either, BUT since you’re advertising a grammar programme can I ask you something please? Use the ‘the/a/an’ things before you say ‘English language. In most of your videos you say “it came to English language from the…..”

    No offense, I’m not perfect either…..or mabe I am?

  17. roadrunrnch says: 23

    Teach, You a funny girl. I am too old and set in my ways to change now. What you seeread is what you get. My horse and my Wife understand Me , that’s good enough. Good commercial thou. The new camera is great. hey, where is the mop? [dog] Out where I live we call them, Coyote chow.

  18. I certainly like the advertisement. :mrgreen:
    A oicture saves a googol of words.
    The product is nifty looking, too.
    They found their niche with Marina.

  19. errin says: 21

    The perfect product for HotForWords to endorse. What an adorable little crosspromoter in her baby doll dress and pigtails… :twisted: And all in the service of better grammar, diction, and word use… :!: Kudos to your productivity and connectivity, teach! Well done.

  20. rreppy says: 20

    It is so refreshing to see someone take a stand for good grammar! I am often frustrated to see what passes for writing skills in my children and their peers, and I despair at what their teachers are letting them get away with! I am very glad you expressed your disapproval of such sloppy practices. I’m sure my teenage son will listen to criticism from you more than from myself; I am several orders of magnitude less cute than you, for sure.
    Appreciatively Yours,
    Rob
    P.S. Thanks for showing that intelligence is sexy.

  21. I usually tip 20% at establishments I frequent. If the cheque is less than $10, I still leave $2, as long as I’ve had good service. This practice usually ensures that I get excellent service upon my return visits.

    On initial visits, I tip 10% to 15% if the service is adequate, more if it is excellent.

    In situations where I have received bad service, I leave no tip. In extreme cases, I have been known to leave two cents, which is much more effective in alerting the server that I was much less than pleased. This is rare and so far has only been done for what I call repeat offenders.

  22. capman911 says: 17

    Is there something wrong with the whitesmoke video. I can’t seem to get it to show up on my computer. I watched it earlier but now I can’t get it to come up just a blank space. I can comment but no video. I checked all of my fash players and Quicktime but they are all working ok.

  23. orion_ss1 says: 16

    I was a little disappointed when I went to the whitesmoke.com website and found that they want you to register before they give the price. I agree that many mistakes I read are indicative of the writer’s lack of knowledge, and I certainly would not like to be perceived as being ignorant because of a typo or two, but I’d rather make my mistake or two and not get zapped by an unknown fee.

    They could be a little more upfront about the price. I do not think it unreasonable to know the price before beginning to register.

    • So they even want your credit card number and stuff BEFORE you get the price? That might get you an “unknown fee” but just registration worst case scenario they spam you.

      • Ok, you register with just your email and you get the prices right away. That is kinda wonky that they can’t just tell you the prices then you register if you are interested.

        Plus, I don’t know… You guys think I need it? :)

      • BillyB says: 16.1.2

        I like reading the comments from you… the way you think & how it comes out. When I first started posting comments, I would read the next day & wonder what the heck I meant. I hope I’m getting a little better with practice. I do see however that the products would be very handy for professional use. Legal, medical or business writing, for slick professional prescentation. l don’t know how the creative writing one would help except spelling & punctuation, I haven’t tried creative writing for many years (except on client invoices).
        I remember in school doing creative writing, that had to be read in front of the class. I didn’t care what the teacher thought… it was only succesful (in my eyes) if I got a laugh out of the class.
        Could also see the products being useful to new english learners, speech writers & students, as long as it doesn’t make them boring & too standardized, like traction control in a car (turning it off makes for fun)
        To answer your question & I don’t mean to take commision away from Marina, No, you don’t need it to post here… but if a few of us chipped in we could get a gift copy or two to hand out to some of the folks that post here so we can decifer a few of the unreadable postings. I name no names though, I’m not that brave :-{)

  24. buzzword says: 15

    so, is the name of the product, “white smoke” related to, “smoke screen” as in the association of smoke with “deception, deliberate obscurity?

  25. capman911 says: 14

    I like the new camera Marina. I am going to miss looking into those big blue eyes. Please don’t forget to do some closeups. Also another great video even if it is a commercial 5 stars for you maam. :cool:

  26. Bob says: 12

    :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
    I typed, “I wont to rite english like what it is spoke.” and White Smoke replied, “change spoke to speaking and did you mean English?”

    Intelligence is sexy.
    Artificial Intelligence is Artificial Sex (i.e. wanking) :lol:

  27. flabio14 says: 11

    :mrgreen: This sound like me :lol: but I do my best :lol: so what scair you about John is it when he said Ilike to take you out or when he said when I get pay :?:

  28. pagedoll says: 10

    Something yellow, something blue, something old and something new. My dear professor, it is so true, both these hues look great on you!

  29. hutchiee says: 9

    You have the best of intentions Marina, but we both know the YouTube comments are a lost cause – unless this software can create content. A comment that says “boobs” or “ur hot” will only become “boobs” or “you’re hot”.

    That said, I can already think of four people that work with me that should have a grammar checker in an always-on mode.

  30. annuddermale says: 8

    perhaps this is a good place to request the word shill:mrgreen:

  31. Warren says: 7

    Hello Marina, you’re making into commercials. Yeah!
    I always use good grammer.
    Rules is Rules.

  32. BillyB says: 6

    The new camera looks nice Marina, and lighting is close to perfect.
    In your new place :?:
    Grammar thing question, it would probably help me, as I think a syntax is something our government is nailing us with next,(for the seven deadly syns) I digress too much… but will it allow different styles of writing without hastling one (me) too much. Can it be turned off, (like traction control on a sports car) so you can have some fun.

  33. flomotion says: 5

    PROOFREAD before you hit, “Send”.

  34. captainjack says: 4

    Ok I use spell checkers like more than I blink my eyes. :roll: Apples Mac OS X 10.3.9 is horrible spell check. So I use Google’s tool bar to check my spelling. As for grammar. I yet to see a program that does the job more than get into my way. I use a lot of nautical terminology which grammar checkers just choke on.

    Ok Marina! Did my sister put you up to making this video? My sister is always on my case about spelling and grammar. AAAuuuuggg. The both of you don’t know what the heck I go through just to type what you see now. For example. I have a hard time spelling the work “License”. Big word for me as its a common word in my profession. This is how I spell it. I know how to spell “Lice” and then I add the first letter of North, South, and East to complete the spelling. I do something similar for many words that I just can’t get strait into my head.

    So since Im typing much more I think its my obligation to remedy this once and for all. I always try to improve myself through my friends suggestions. I plan to get the program and hopefully I can learn something from it and improve my writing skills before I write my next book. :mrgreen:

    Marina, I wish you where teaching a English writing/grammar/etc. class and I lived close enough to you to take the class. I would be signing up today! :mrgreen:

    P.S. Great promotional video you did there my dear! I’ve seen highly paid experts not able to do what you just did. This comment is coming from someone that has 22 years in the business. Good job Marina! :mrgreen:

    __/)__

  35. I think the firefox internet browser even has a spell check feature in it. But alas..most people don’t give a shit. and I started a sentence with “But”. Also, I started the next sentence with an uncapitalized “and”.

    Isn’t that cool? is not that cool….

  36. koalabear says: 2

    OMG.
    Now Marina wants comments with correct grammar.
    How much can a Koala bear? :wink:

  37. I don’t need a spell checker, most of the time. I’m no perfect speller, and I never ask for anyone to type perfectly — just give it some effort at least.

    I always make typos, mostly due to the fact that I type with 2 fingers and try to keep up with chats.

    I don’t mind “lol” and even things like “ttyl” but I hate “wat” and “ya i no”

    I also correct most people in chats on “your” and “you’re”

    It’s just funny to me for someone to say “Your Stupid!”

    • When people say, “Your nuts!” it always prompts me to ask, “What about them?”

      • Sing this little tune pennslytucky9. Do your balls hang low , can you toss them to and fro, can you throw them over your shoulder like a contienetal solder, do your balls hang low., :razz: :razz: :razz: :razz:

      • Sung to the tune of “Turkey in the Straw,” I’ll bet. But in my neighborhood it was worded: “Do your tits hang low, do they wobble to and fro, can you tie ‘em in a knot, can you tie ‘em in a bow… etc.” instead of calling unnecessary attention to our massive testicular endowment (or the lack thereof). Of course, that was before pants were even invented, so a little discretion was called for.

Author: HotForWords