Booking out trip to Edinburgh has put me in the frame of mine to think about our big trip next year. It’s out 10th wedding anniversary, so really time to lay on a really big trip. We’re thinking about a cruise with maybe a stop over at Disney world, but still not 100% on that. There are other memorable places to go to, maybe a canal cruise in Egypt or getting one of those Las Vegas suites for a luxury holiday. Or maybe even a sports bonanza in the US with lots of sports paraphernalia (I’ve got a thing for NFL jerseys) to remember the trip with.
Anyway, whatever we decide to do, we need to make sure it’s memorable!
You might have spotted the blog post I made on my other blog when I gave Dragon NaturallySpeaking a whirl. I was pretty impressed by the speech recognition capabilities, and I wasn’t the only one. Brett, the person who introduced me to the product had a write-up where he talks about the package and how it worked for him and for our mutual friend Drew.
Hello my name is Brett Bumeter and I write about Dragon Naturally Speaking at Softduit.com (Tip if you are looking for the details on the coupon codes scroll to the bottom of this article). I wanted to share this video with you showing a fellow blogger named Drew who is using Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 for the first time. There are some interesting things that you will see in this video that I wanted to point out to help you get a sense of how Dragon NaturallySpeaking works and how it could potentially work for you.
I think it’s important to see Dragon NaturallySpeaking, when people are using it and videos definitely help show you how well the software works these days. It’s extremely fast and can help you to type at 150 words per minute. You can see this in the demonstration that Drew has created as he is basically talking at a relatively normal speed. You will notice that he tends to look with his eyes to the right and up just a little bit.
I mention this not because Drew is looking in some strange direction, but instead because Dragon NaturallySpeaking does use your brain in a slightly different way than what you may be used to. You have to think of the words you will say in your head and then speak it out loud. That’s a little different than when you think of a composition and type it out with your fingers or even more different than when you attempt to write with your hands using a pen and paper. All three activities use different sections of our brains.
There used to be a time a decade ago when using Dragon NaturallySpeaking was more difficult because it would take a significant amounts of time to train the software. These days, the software can be trained in as little as seven minutes. The out-of- the-box experience with Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 is flat-out amazing. That said, it will take you a little bit of time to train your brain or compose messages or articles or e-mails by speaking them out loud.
You can type 150 words a minute using Dragon NaturallySpeaking and that’s typically 2 to 3 times faster than your average person can type. 2 to 3 times faster can save you a great deal of time and a great deal of money. This can enable you to spend more time with your family or be more productive at work and get more done and possibly a promotion or raise. Possibly the biggest benefit that you can experience is just staying on top of your workload with less effort.
If you consider also that Drew is looking off to the right a little bit as he’s composing, I will share with you a hidden benefit of Dragon NaturallySpeaking. When you use Dragon NaturallySpeaking, you are not locked into a position physically, where you have to stare at your computer monitor all of the time. When you don’t have the light on your computer screen glaring in your face all the time, you experience a great deal less eye strain. The muscles in your eyes can relax more, as you look around the room and change your focal point. You would be amazed at how much extra energy this will give you as your eyes, and the muscles in your eyes don’t get worn out as fast as they would if you sit at a computer and type all day long.
We often associate sore hands and fingers and wrists with typing, but typing also creates very sore eyes and can even lead to migraine headaches. Plus, it basically just makes you tired sitting in front of your computer. Using Dragon NaturallySpeaking, you can save a great deal of time and effort and keep your energy level high, because you’re not wearing out your eyes. With a wireless microphone headset like the one I’m using, you can even pace around your desk or exercise on a treadmill or bike machine while you write your emails!
Best regards,
Brett Bumeter
www.softduit.com
PS I wrote this article with Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 preferred. It took me about five minutes to write the words above, which are proximally 670 in length. That’s about 130 words per minute typing, and it only took me another minute or two to edit, which is still approximately 95 words per minute with editing included!
We’re off to Edinburgh next week for my graduation, pretty excited. Looking forward to seeing the castle and all sorts of other sights and sounds.
As I was saying in my other post, I’d like to stay away from the commercialised areas of the town. Last thing I want to do is to spend my holiday looks at shop windows sporting adverts for polaris suspension or Orlando vacations. I’m sure there’s loads to see and lots to try out.
Looking forward to it! Have you ever been to Edinburgh?
I’m going to have to get a new pair of specs soon. Not that I’m having problems seeing; I’m pretty sure my lens prescription hasn’t really changed. However, for some reasons my specs start getting a green thing where sweat builds up. It almost looks like moss, but I’m pretty sure it’s just sweat reacting with metal that causes it. The problem was that glasses here in the UK aren’t cheap at all.
I was looking at a website of a company called ZenniOptical, who supply eyeglasses in the US at some excellent prices. Just imagine, the prices start at $8, and I was thinking that even with shipping, the cost would be lower than getting a pair here in the Isle of Man. I do quite like the ones in the picture here; though I’m not quite sure about the lines at the side. I’m a bit fan of rimless frames though (if they are still called “frames”) so I would probably go for something in that line. The reason the specs are so cheap at ZenniOptical is that they offer a no-frills service, no marketing, no after-sales service etc, but this enables them to have the cheapest glasses around.
Anyone out there ever bought from ZenniOptical? What sort of feedback can you give me about them?
I got my hands on an Azor blade the other day which looks like an interesting product to be playing with. The blade is supposed to last for ages so I’m looking forward to giving it a whirl. I know they’re running a campaign here in the UK where they’re visiting different places and giving people free shaves with the blade, but I don’t know if they’re doing anything in the UK (sorry Paul from Outer Banks). But I’ll keep you posted about how the shaving goes and how long the blade will stay sharp.
Jules did ask whether I’d be taking a video of myself shaving, but I think I might skip on that one. Not that it would be hard to sign up to live video streaming services and do a live show, but I’m pretty sure you all have better things to do than watch me shave. Especially as I’m not the prettiest sight in the morning!
We’re off to watch The Big Ballet tonight which should be lots of fun; at least more fun than CDL training. We did take Arthur to the theatre last week (and watched Orpheus in the Underworld) and he’s been asking to go back to the theatre ever since.
So, it’s time to head home, get changed and head out to the theatre. I don’t think I’ll be asking for any autographs for this one though
I’ve been playing with Dragon NaturallySpeaking for a couple of days now and came across a post by SuperZ a fellow blogger who actually had to teach Dragon to spell his name. Here’s his experience:
I couldn’t write that name before using Dragon NaturallySpeaking until I trained Dragon NaturallySpeaking to recognize the name SuperZ. I mention that because I’m using Dragon NaturallySpeaking right now to write this article (notice Dragon new when I said the words right now that I meant the word right and not the word to write).
I’ve been writing articles and reviews about Dragon NaturallySpeaking for close to two years. I’ve had a lot of experience with the software, and I wanted to reach out to other bloggers and see what they thought of the software.
SuperZ tried out the software and as you can see from his own video, the results that he’s getting after having used the software for just a week are pretty amazing. His computer is keeping up with just about every word that he says, and typing those words out for him in text.
Well frankly that’s exactly what Dragon NaturallySpeaking is supposed to do these days and it lives up to its claim of achieving 99% accuracy and I’ve clocked it typing faster than its claims of 150 words per minute.
That’s right you can type 150 words a minute with Dragon NaturallySpeaking. You do have to spend a little time editing from time to time, but you type so fast that editing doesn’t take that long. You get the typing done faster and the editing is a breeze because you only have to look at the way that you phrased words. Dragon NaturallySpeaking almost never makes a spelling mistake. It types out the entire word based on the vocabulary that has stored in the machine. So it really can’t misspell a word it’s pulling the word straight out of a dictionary.
The only exception might be the case when you run into a name like SuperZ, which is not in your dictionary yet. When you run across a name like that, all you have to do is add it into your dictionary and train the software to recognize that new word or name. It just takes a second and after that you’ll be able to say SuperZ all you like and Dragon NaturallySpeaking will know exactly what you are talking about.
It’s pretty interesting to see the successes and problems other people have had with software I’m using too. Personally I found it easy to train BUT you need to have a decent microphone. Mine is a headset I bought for £3 at Tesco, and while it works perfectly in a silent room, it wasn’t up to scratch to use in an office environment.
So I spent a few days in Malta and the net effect was a gain of 2kg, which wasn’t too bad considering how much I actually ate. It’s funny how your body stocks up on food and how it uses it. Anyway, I’ve found that using TweetWhatYouEat is useful, but it hasn’t really helped me lose any weight. It probably boils down to the fact that everything is submitted in free-format and there’s no downside to missing any slots. I’m switching back to My Calorie Counter, which held me in good stead through the 10kg loss I managed at the beginning of my diet.
It’s funny how different people use the internet for different things; you could be searching for ways to make money, looking for that acne treatment or, in my case, using it to help lose weight. It’s truly the most versatile thing ever invented!
I was looking online for somewhere we could go on holiday early next year. This thing is, the UK is on our doorstep and we really haven’t explored it all that much. So I was thinking that maybe a trip to Wales might be an interesting idea. There are many options around, Edinburgh, Stratford etc, but I hear that if you’re after a short break Wales is the place to go.
One interesting destination seems to be Tenby which is a place close to the sea. I found an interesting resort called Celtic Haven that seems to be a really great place to stay. They have a spa, leisure club and lots of facilities for kids too.
They even have a golf academy, but to tell you the truth golf isn’t something that I ever really got into. I do have a couple of friends who seem to spend all their time on the course and will talk about nothing else, but I’m not really one for that sort of sport (erm .. almost said for that active a sport). Still, it’s nice to have that option available as I have promised that one day I will take some time out and learn how to play properly.
Anyway, nothing planned yet, just lots of options …
I was looking at a website of a company called 
We’re off to watch 
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