I'm not sure if "dead" is the correct word; maybe "sound asleep"? So I can't tell you one way or another. I thought he had posted his progress and one could access his work.

I don't think a French Gregg database has ever been created. (Ce serait super !) There have been attempts to creating a Gregg font, but one of the challenges is that the shape of the characters in Gregg can change with words. For example, the "a" in "dad" looks different from the "a" in "dame" and from the "a" in "dash." So specific joinings would need to be programmed within the font.

Thanks for the link to the Yahoo group. I'll check it out.

I don't worry about perfection when I write because shorthand plates in books were not written with the goal of being perfect: we are not perfect and our writing instruments aren’t either. They were written to be legible enough to be transcribed and to have a good writing model for a student to follow. In fact, the teaching of shorthand penmanship was relegated to a second plane starting with the Simplified books, and the goal became to have the student write shorthand as fast as they can, in the less amount of time as possible. Does this trend sound familiar? Quantity over quality.

I have found mistakes in Gregg Shorthand plates with off proportions and with a less-than uniform application of theoretical principles to outline building. In those cases I could see the benefit of automating parts of the writing process, and it would be definitely a quicker way to "mass produce" shorthand texts. However, I’m not so sure that producing perfect shorthand plates in a computer would improve the learning process that much. In fact, one can argue that by seeing imperfections in the writing it will show you how “real-life” shorthand would look like, and that would be beneficial as to what to expect when writing.

What is the point of learning pen shorthand in the first place? It's either because you are looking for a way to take notes fast without any technology other than pen or paper, or because you like the artistic aspect of it, or both. Does the computer have a place in the actual process of shorthand note-taking? Should pen and paper be tossed away in favor of a computer? Other than in the reporting profession (legal, congressional reporting, etc.), I’m not so sure. If so, why bother learning pen shorthand? Just click record and you’re all set!

Writing legible shorthand takes time, yes, but sitting down and writing is part of the fun. If I wouldn't like writing with pen and paper, I wouldn't be writing, trust me. Nor I would be taking time in studying the shorthand models carefully by paying attention to angles, slants, the proportions and spacing of the characters, and other penmanship aspects to improve and become an even better writer. Would I ever get the same satisfaction by typing absolutely perfect shorthand characters on a computer? More than likely not.

Modern society relies on technology in such a way that most are unable to function without some sort of gadget. “Music” nowadays is mostly produced by computers. Performance “artists” either sound like machines or have their performances “cleaned up” electronically. We over-communicate with devices. You see it at the dinner table — each guest in their own world, texting away in their little machines. The art of conversation is practically lost. Moreover, some cannot take a writing instrument and write a legible sentence, and kids are not taught how to write script anymore. But boy, can they surely type and google stuff! Everything needs to be done fast, and if something takes time to master, it’s not worth pursuing it; instead, let’s program the computer to do the same thing. At this rate, pretty soon, we will be forgetting how to speak and how to think because a machine will do it for us.

Just my 2 cents.