If you own a projector portable or regular, you might wonder sometimes how you can use those expensive business tools on the weekend.  Traveling too much and too many meetings can sometimes keep you away from friends and family, and a projector can be a great way to bring people together on the weekend just like they attract people like mosquitoes to a light for meetings during the week.

I mean that mosquitoes to the light analogy in the nicest possible way. 

Instead of spending $20 - $30 per person to get into a movie theater (not counting gas), you can have your friends and family over for an outdoor movie this summer.

Its relatively cheap and easy to setup with most of the things you might already have, if you have the key ingredient of a projector.

Here’s a few shots of our last party.  This was actually put together for my Son’s 8th birthday party.  We had lots of chairs and a few people brought some of their own.  (lots of soccer parents)

Rear view of screen. note the cargo net and the dark sheet behind the main screen sheet do not have to be perfect, they just help the white sheet to reflect the images from the projector as opposed to allowing the light to pass straight through the sheet.

What you will need for a Backyard Movie with a Projector

• Very Large (bigger the better) white bed sheet (thread count doesn’t matter much)
• Very large (same size as the white sheet) dark bed sheet (blue or black are best)
• A come along ratchet or pull tie down strap set (possibly a couple of these.
• Clothes pins(20- 40)
• Clothes line or some other tip of rope thin enough for a clothespin to hold
• Surround sound system
• DVD Player
• extension cords, and surge protectors
• A Hand full of rugs (to be used to cover cords so people do not trip)
• Some sort of candles, oil lamps, etc for light and for repelling bugs
• bug spray
• blankets
• lots of chairs
• A Movie
• Bonus Items
• A flexible cargo net (this is for helping to hold the sheet if the wind picks up
• a ladder with a platform step on the top large enough to hold the dvd player and projector
• popcorn
• drinks of your choice (alcohol or not depending on your parties preferences or tastes.  We’re not talking a knock down drag out boozer of a party sending half the party to the klink or drug rehab after, but a beer or glass of wine while watching a movie under the moon and stars can be a nice touch. )

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I’m still working to transform the rest of the Softduit website.  Plans and templates are pretty much wrapped up at this point.  Now, I need to convert the existing text on the site into the new system and weed out the text that is outdate or no longer applies.

There’s a lot of good information on the site, but there is some information that is now a bit dated from the days when Softduit focused on selling software and providing direct Business Development services.

The software sales business could not continue when we could no longer offer the best buy on software with MindManager products.  We were priced out of that market.  Fortunately, in the Business Development area we evolved very quickly and specialized in a number of areas that rapidly filled the void.

It was fun working with MindManager as a trainer when development was still speeding along with the product, but as its evolution has slowed down, the need for training on the products seems to have decreased.

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Great Buy on 1 Terabyte Hard Drive at Buy.com

Last week I mentioned my plan to pick up a 1 terabyte Western Digital MyBook external hard drive.

Well they are on special right now at Buy.com.

I’m still holding out for the device that I can connect to my network through the ethernet and then connect to 1 terabyte of space via my wireless router from anywhere in the house or login from the internet while traveling.

The drive I’m referring to is the World Edition MyBook.

That said, paying $199 for a 1 terabyte Western Digital MyBook is a steal compared to the rates I’ve seen at office stores and even online.  I think that price is good until Friday, the 16th if I understand Buy.com’s weekly specials correctly.

Voice Transcription with MP3 Player Voice Recorders

Next up, I’m also going to be testing out Creative Zen MP3 players and their ability to record voice notes which can be transcribed with Dragon Naturally Speaking 9.  I’ve been working with a Creative Zen V this evening, trying to figure out the file conversions first.  It records in 32 bit WAV and it needs to be 16 bit WAV I believe, but there’s something else that I’m not getting quite right.  I think maybe I need to also convert Stereo to Mono and something else.

Then this weekend I will be test driving a regular Creative Zen (the video, picture and MP3 player).  This is a 4gb and newer than the Creative Zen V.  I looked originally at Wally World where they were $120 in the store ($10 cheaper online) but only $90.99 at Buy.com plus they give you a $10 rebate that was not available at Wal-mart, so you can get a 4GB Video MP3 Player Creative Zen at Buy.com (technically better than a 4gb IPod if you follow CEA reviews and awards) for about half the price of an IPod and $40 less than you would pay at Wally world.

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In Perusing through several new social networking concepts I came across a social networking talent site called Gonnabe (www.gonnabe.com).

They offer talented individuals or parents of talented kids the opportunity to network together at a professional level, develop their skills and build out their portfolios and offerings.  Think of it as a LinkedIn for entertainers or parents of future entertainers.

Now, I like the concept that Gonnabe offers up for a couple of reasons. 

1. They facilitate people to work together and grow together.  Too often creative types are pitted against each other in a zero sum game that does not benefit consumers.
2. They are utilizing web 2.0 concepts of bringing people together to reduce costs and increase speed and efficiency.  Instead of say parents having to cart their kids off to LA, they can conceivably make forward progress without having to relocate or travel.
3. This encourages the masses to improve their skill sets. 

That last point is very important.  In an American Idol type of contest, they essentially weed out creativity and originality as they race to identify a single person that can win a popularity contest, so that a record company can then control a limited resource in a single artist.

Under this methodology, many artists can network together, improve themselves, their skill sets and offer up more very good content without people being subjected to a monopoly on the artist or their performances.  This increases both the quantity and quality of entertainment and media and that is a philosophy that I tack after as well.

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I learned a new thing about Dragon Naturally Speaking 9 when I transcribed multiple MP3 files into text this evening. 

I had 6 documents (recordings) that I needed to have transcribed.  I opened up Dragon Pad (the Word Pad like program that comes with Dragon Naturally Speaking).  I then used the Transcribe Recording program to select MP3 sound files of my voice one at a time and have them transcribed into text within the same document.

It was a slightly repetitive process as I do not have a batch transcription capability with my version of Dragon Naturally Speaking 9.  (this may come with the mobile version, but I can not attest to that).

The interesting thing that I learned

After completing 6 transcriptions, with the text transcribed onto the same document, I was able to go back and select text from any of the 6 transcriptions and play back the voice file that went with the transcription. 

Plus, I could even correct that text to help train my computer for greater accuracy.

Finally, the original MP3 files did not have to remain on my computer.  I was able to play back the voice with the text, even after I had removed the original MP3 file from my computer.

The MP3 file was actually on my pocket recorder stored in flash.  I disconnected the card from the USB and could still play the file back.  This signified that the transcription process actually copied the sound file into or with the dragon pad document.

How Long does the Sound File stick with the Document?

The sound file and ability to listen to the voice with the play back function remained until I closed the document. I tried saving the document, closing the document and then re-opening the document in Dragon Pad.

Once it was reopened, I could no longer listen to the voice file that went with the transcribed text.

All in all I was impressed with this functionality as I tested it and learned some of the new boundaries.  Its not a deal maker or breaker for this software, but under certain circumstances it is useful to understand.  Its not so great that I’m going to call up my futures broker in the middle of the night and go long on Nuance stock or something.

However, if you ever run into a situation where your computer crashes and a document gets closed down prematurely, it would be my advice to simply run the original voice file through the transcription again and start over again if you need the ability to go back and compare the text to the original voice file.

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