path: root/2021/captions/emacsconf-2021-nangulator--introducing-n-angulator--kevin-haddock--main.vtt

WEBVTT

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Hello. This is Kevin Haddock 

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to announce the introduction of N-Angulator, 

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hereafter called NA.

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NA allows you, the user, to supply 

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the meaning to your data 

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in a concise, efficient way. 

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How does it work?

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Your files are stored on your hard disk

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in what technically is called 

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a hierarchical file system.

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What this means is that 

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the root of the directory tree can be

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not only files, or what we call leaves,

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but also other folders/branches

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that themselves contain other files, leaves, 

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and/or branches.

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This structure is supposed to 

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make it easy to locate your data, 

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but as anyone knows who has worked with this

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single-dimensional file system 

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for any length of time,

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it can get quite frustrating 

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when your file would fit equally well 

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on more than one branch of the tree.

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What are you to do?

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Create multiple copies everywhere

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it might appropriately fit.

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What if the file was something 

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people would occasionally modify,

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like a spreadsheet or a computer source file?

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You would have to hunt it down in every place 

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and apply those changes everywhere by hand.

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Also, let's say not only did you want 

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to put the file in multiple places, 

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but it was also more appropriate 

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to give it different names?

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Plus, let's say in different areas

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of the tree, there were files

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with the same name

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that had totally different content?

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Then updating all the different instances

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of the file you need 

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would become more and more of a nightmare.

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In addition, wouldn't it be great

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if we could all speed up 

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the actual searching for a particular file

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by selecting multiple branches in the tree

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and simply asking the computer 

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to tell us which branches under those

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contain the same file and which do not?

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This would be especially great 

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if it were instantaneous.

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Well, believe it or not, this is what NA

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brings to the table.

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In fact, this is how NA got its name.

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Your data is located by a process 

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very similar to the triangulation 

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used to locate radio signals, 

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only we are not limited 

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to just two or three angles, 

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but instead, many dozens can be used,

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this makes NA appear to be 

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what is known in computer lingo 

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as an n-dimensional sparse array.

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If that sounds complex, don't worry. 

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It will become clear when you see it 

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in operation in a couple of minutes.

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To start out, here we see the NA main screen.

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There are two vital aspects of mastering NA.

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First is the actual mechanics 

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of using the program,

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which should be second nature

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for most anyone familiar with

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either a Windows or Unix/apple file system.

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We have the same operations 

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as one might do with Windows Explorer

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or any number of other file tools, 

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but what we also do 

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that generally they do not

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is place a leaf on a branch, 

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then cruise around adding links to that leaf

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on a multitude of other branches, 

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which could include creating, renaming, 

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or restructuring more branches on the fly

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as needed. Plus, when we find ourselves 

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hunting for that file, 

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we can incrementally select 

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a stack of branches

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while seeking what the latter branches

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have in common with the earlier ones,

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to make putting one's finger on exactly

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the item they're looking for a snap.

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Secondly, you have the actual art 

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of organizing your data, 

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and NA doesn't really put

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any limitations on this, 

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other than the underlying limitations 

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of the file system.

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Let's get started, shall we?

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Right-clicking the mouse button here

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will bring up what we call 

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a branch navigation menu, 

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because it allows you 

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to move around the tree 

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or commence a new angle.

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We have chosen to organize our data

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with a hopper to put new items in,

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and the initial branches representing

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who, what, where, why, and how. 

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We right-click on the root 

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and select 0hopper,

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and that branch is added to the display.

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If we middle-click on the branch,

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we get what is called 

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the branch command menu,

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which gives us many options, 

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not the least of which 

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is to create a leaf here.

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Remember this item as we progress,

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because it will become important.

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Next we pick what we know is a leaf item,

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due to the fact that it does not have 

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a trailing slash.

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Now, when we right-click on it,

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notice the navigation menu is limited to

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the two items: New Angle

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and the leaf name itself.

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If we want to view or edit that leaf item,

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we can select that item.

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Now that we have selected a leaf, 

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let's middle-click on it

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to bring up what we call

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the leaf command menu.

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This shows us a bunch of standard options

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one might do in a typical file tool

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like Microsoft Explorer.

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Since we want to do what they cannot do,

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let's right-click the leaf 

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and select New Angle.

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Notice that another slash has appeared 

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below the displayed path of the leaf.

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Right-click on it, and you will see

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the root branch navigation menu appears again,

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but now 0hopper entry has a line 

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both above and below it.

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Items in between these two lines 

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are called members,

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and items below them are called others.

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What this is saying is that 

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the previously selected angle,

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which can be a single leaf

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as in this instance,

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or can be all of the leaves 

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under a particular branch 

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chosen to navigate new angle from,

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shares content with the items 

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under the member area of the menu,

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but items in the others area do not.

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Since the first angle is 0hopper,

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of course it shares content with itself,

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and so it appears in members.

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Now let's click the middle button 

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on the root branch, and see what 

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the branch command menu has to say.

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Notice that the entry that used to say

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Create a New Leaf now says Add a Link.

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This is because we have already selected

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a leaf, and now we want to add links 

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to it rather than create a new one.

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If you go back to the root 

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and reselect 0hopper,

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that option will revert back again.

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So let's add a link under person.

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We right-click the root, 

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select person, and let's add a link.

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Notice the bottom area (called the minibuffer) 

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gives us the proposed name of the link,

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and we choose to accept it by hitting enter, 

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or edit it to taste first.

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Now let's go back up to 

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the end of the prior angle,

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select New Angle again,

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and then click the resultant /, 

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and see what are members 

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and what are others.

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Notice that the 0hopper and person

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are members.

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NA knows you added content to the person,

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so it moves to members.

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Now let's add some more links 

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and perhaps a few subdirectories 

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for this item.

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Notice how we can even eliminate

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the file name extension.

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It will still know how to display the item

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as it actually analyzes the file 

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to determine its type.

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This greatly cleans up your metadata 

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and makes it more human.

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Now let's pick a branch 

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from one of the menus.

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For instance, let's look and see 

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where any events broadcast were done from.

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We select event, broadcast, then New Angle,

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and we can see California is in members.

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Now we can also do New Angle

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and select person,

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and we can see who did them.

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Another thing we can do is pick a leaf

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and quickly display 

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all angles or links for it,

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or if we are willing to wait a little longer,

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have NA construct all the display items

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with Edit All Angles,

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so we can manipulate them

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just as if we had entered 

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or selected them by hand.

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There are many more tools in NA 

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to handle sets of leaves 

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such as scanned pages of a book,

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promoting /, demoting nodes,

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and so forth.

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Thanks for watching.

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[captions by sachac]