Today, Nuance is launching Dragon Naturally Speaking 10.  When Dragon Naturally Speaking 9 was created, the program delivered on the promise and expectation of rapid digital transcription.  Dragon Naturally Speaking 10 is striving to surpass transcription and enable writers to tackle written composition.

There is a difference in reciting or transcribing words as compared to composing them.  With the older versions of Dragon Naturally Speaking (8 & 9), a user had to pretty much know in their head what they intended to say or write.  The feedback they received on the screen came too slow and too late to help guide their composition.

When we type on a keyboard, the words appear on the screen as fast as we can push a button or series of buttons.  With DNS9 the words would appear in batches several seconds after the words were spoken.  They were ‘transcribed’ very very accurately and in total it was possible for the computer and the program to keep up with a speech rate of up to about 150 words per minute (I’ve clocked it faster, but 150 words per minute is what they advertise.)

With Dragon Naturally Speaking 10, Nuance has increased both the recognition or transcription speed, and they have cut the speed from the time a word is spoken until that word shows up on the screen by almost 50%.  That means the feedback of the word reaching the screen has increased significantly, enabling users of Dragon Naturally Speaking 10 to potentially utilize DNS 10 as a composition tool and not just a transcription tool.

As I write this Nuance is pushing out the new pages on their website for the launch of the product.  One of those pages helps to emphasize the speed benefits that a person gains by leaving their keyboard behind and moving to Dragon Naturally Speaking 10.  Its a very useful comparison that lets you see how much faster you could type with DNS10 versus how quickly you type now.

That’s very cool, but even cooler, for writers, creative writers, business writers and even Dragon Naturally Speaking users from past versions is the promise of being able to SEE a composition unfold before your eyes at speeds that are starting to match the speed of your own brain. 

For existing Dragon Naturally Speaking users, they do offer an upgrade rate for the software.

I sure enjoy working with this product, much more than my days spent at Motorola working with 2 way radios. 

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Andrew Smith, from the Tech blog of the Dallas Morning News added a few important points about the imminent release of Dragon Naturally Speaking 10, in addition to our own article on the topic earlier today titled, “Wait Until August 7th- Dragon Naturally Speaking 10 Here in 8 days!“

Andrew writes,

It starts shipping on August 7 and has support for Bluetooth headsets. Here are some of the other promised improvements:

• 20% more accurate than Version 9.
• Significantly improved speed. Words now appear on screen in less than half the time.
• New Dragon Voice Shortcuts. Now you can collapse common tasks into simple voice commands so you can quickly search the Web and your desktop.

TECHNOLOGY Blog | The Dallas Morning News

We got so caught up in giving everyone the heads up about the product and when it will be available that we forgot to mention one of the coolest things about Dragon Naturally Speaking 10.  Its going to support BlueTooth.

Even as I write this article my own old fashioned wired noise cancellation headset wires have gotten tangled up again in the wheels on my office chair. 

One of these days those wheels are going to cut the chord in a bad way, but with the new version, I’ll be able to go wireless.  That means I’ll be able to relax that much more, without getting myself all tangled up.  On more than one occasion I have just about jerked my laptop off my desk when I pulled, turned or twisted the wrong way.  Soon that will just be a funny memory of the past with Dragon Naturally Speaking 10.

I’m starting to get excited about this new product launch. Haven’t looked forward to something like this since I was in high school awaiting the latest and greatest acne treatments to hit the shelves. OK, well maybe that is an exaggeration, but I am definitely looking forward to an easier to use and faster program!

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In about 8 days (as I write this, it is July 30th if you are reading this on August 7th or later, Buy! Buy! Buy!  :)  )  Nuance will release Dragon Naturally Speaking 10.  I just spoke with Nuance corporate offices.  They will not currently promise a free upgrade if you purchase Dragon Naturally Speaking 9 today.  They will give you your money back within 30 days of purchase.

In theory you could buy Dragon Naturally Speaking 9 today, get your money back on August 7th, and buy Dragon Naturally Speaking 10 on the 7th.  That seems like a lot of hassle, but then again DNS fans like myself are almost as nutty as Apple iPhone fans.

Seriously, the wisest move is to wait until Dragon Naturally Speaking Version 10 comes out in just 8 days and make your purchase then.  If you are one of my readers, I would not want you to have to go through any red tape or hassle unless you just have to have it today.  In which case, I do understand!

I would have loved to see Nuance offer some type of download certificate or free upgrade promise to recent Version 9 buyers.  To my knowledge they have not done that yet. I’m hoping they come around on this, as it doesn’t make too much sense to hit the pause button on sales for a week. 

There are a number of great new features that will be available with Dragon Naturally Speaking 10, which we will cover shortly.  I have not yet seen any releases on Dragon Naturally Speaking 10 upgrade prices for those of us that have been using version 8 or version 9 of Dragon Naturally Speaking.  Given the productivity increases that you can get with Dragon Naturally Speaking, the upgrade price will definitely be worth it, after all, who makes the decision to opt to run a slower program rather than run a faster program that increases accuracy too? 

Dragon Naturally Speaking Accuracy Boost over version 9

Dragon Naturally Speaking 10 will be 20% more accurate than Dragon Naturally Speaking 9.  Plus words will appear on the screen much faster as you speak.

Faster Words Displayed on Screen with Dragon Naturally Speaking 10

In the past the words would often times “catch up with your voice” but you did not always get the immediate feedback and gratification of seeing those words show up on the screen immediately.  That sometimes created situations for user error, where you might repeat yourself thinking that the program had missed something, when in fact it rarely missed anything.

  So in the meantime, get ready to buy. The deals will be all over online and you won’t need a GPS to find that obscure little store selling an outdate version at clearance prices. This new version is too important to miss.

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With the support of some great people at Mindjet, I was able to get my MindManager installation upgraded to version 7.2.374.  When I first attempted to upgrade, I had not yet had a chance to scope out “why” I needed to upgrade.

In general with MindManager, I always presume that a newer version will fix a few bugs and be more stable and I can always benefit from that.

Here are some of the more specific issues that the new upgrade solves for MindManager Pro 7 as well as for MindManager running with MindManager Connect.

 

MindManager Pro 7 Service Pack 2 & Mindjet Connect Known Issues: June 12, 2008 MindManager Pro 7 SP2 Issues

Issue: Opening a shared map stored on Mindjet Connect with a branch that has a depth of more than 40 linked sub‐topics will cause MindManager to crash (Maps).

Workaround: Do not open a shared map containing a branch that has a depth of more than 40 linked sub­topics.

Issue: Save As does not work when saving to a WebDAV (e.g. SharePoint, eRoom, etc.) location.

Workaround: None. Save the file to your local file system and use the WebDAV server’s upload mechanism. Once the file is stored on the WebDAV server, you can open, edit, and save changes as normal.

Issue: Customers that request activation using the “Manual, via Email” method may have the

emailed license key blocked by their firewall.

Workaround: Depending on your firewall and mail server settings, the license bin file emailed from Mindjet to you may be blocked. If this is the case, Mindjet Customer Support may have to rename the file (e.g. to license.txt) and you will need to rename the file to the expected format. Mindjet Customer Support will provide appropriate instruction when necessary.

Issue: Windows Vista users that open a map from the Mindjet Learning Center and attempt to

export it as a web page will receive an error that the user does not have sufficient privileges.

Workaround: This problem typically occurs when User Access Control (UAC) has been enabled on Vista. This level of increased protection/ security prohibits this operation. You will need to work with your IT administrator to adjust privileges accordingly.

Issue: A crash occurs if the user presses <ALT><F> for an extended period of time.

Workaround: Press <ALT><F> and release when the application menu is activated. Avoid holding this key combination for more than a couple of seconds.

 

Issue: The Insert Sub-topic gesture does not work when in Pen mode.

Workaround: None.

Issue: Some customers may experience problems when activating MindManager Pro.

Workaround: In certain rare cases, customers may experience a failure during the MindManager Pro activation process. In many cases, it is believed that personal firewalls or background system maintenance activities may cause a problem. If you encounter this type of problem, please contact Mindjet Customer Support.

Issue: Attachments in a Mindjet Connect map cannot be edited (read-only).

Workaround: Instead of embedding an attachment directly in the map itself, import the attachment as a secondary document and create a link in the map to the secondary document and then use the Check In/Check Out feature to modify secondary documents.

Complete the following steps to work around:

1. In the Workspace Manager, select the workspace from your Workspace List that you want to add a secondary document.

2. Select Import from the Documents ribbon-menu (or alternately, right-click on the Workspace name or in the documents list and select Import).

3. Using the Browse dialog box, select the document/file that you want to import and press the Import button.

4. In your map, right-click on the topic/sub-topic that you want to add the referenced document.

5. Select the Add Hyperlink menu item from the pop-up menu.

6. Press the MindManager button to the right of the Link To field.

7. Select the Workspace that you selected in step 1 above.

8. Press the Select a Document button.

9. Select the document that you imported in step 2 from the document list.

10. Press the OK button.

 

Issue: Concurrent (simultaneous) editing of Topic Notes by multiple users is not supported.

Workaround: None. Only a single person may edit a topic’s notes at any given time. Changes to topic notes may be lost if multiple users attempt to edit the same topic’s notes at the same time.

Issue: Executing a search that looks for content that you have added to a Mindjet Connect map

less than 10 minutes ago will not find the result.

Workaround: Wait until 10 minutes have elapsed from adding your content before executing your search.

Issue: MindManager 7 Pro SP2 WebDAV support does not work on Windows Vista.

Workaround: None. Users wanting to utilize the WebDAV functionality of MindManager 7 Pro SP2 must do so using Windows XP.

Issue: Windows Administrator rights are required to install MindManager Pro 7 SP2.

Workaround: Make sure that you have Administrator rights.

Mindjet Connect Issues

Issue: Workspaces are limited to having a maximum of 150 users.

Workaround: None: There is a limit of 150 users per workspace. If you add all 150 users at once, be prepared to allow sufficient time (perhaps 10 minutes or more) to process adding all users to the workspace.

Additionally, if a workspace already has many users, such as 125, and you add 25 users, be prepared to leave sufficient time to add these additional 25 users (10+ minutes).

Issue: Opening many Mindjet Connect workspaces may cause MindManager to close slowly.

Workaround: Do not open (access during a single session) more than 20 workspaces.

 

Issue: Opening the Add Workspace, Add Member, or other Workspace Manager dialog box may

cause MindManager Pro to appear non-responsive.

Workaround: If MindManager appears non-responsive while you have a dialog box open in the Workspace Manager, close any open dialog boxes.

Issue: Changing Mindjet Single Sign On (SSO) password may cause MindManager Pro to become

stuck in “connecting” mode if password changed while signed in with MindManager Pro.

Workaround: You will need to sign out and then sign back in to reconnect with your new password. Simply going off line and pressing Connect will not work.

Issue: Deleting and destroying a workspace containing many files may cause your queue to get

stuck.

Workaround: If your workspace contains many files, you are advised to first delete and destroy the contents of your workspace in smaller segments (e.g. 5 or 10 files at a time). Once you have reduced the size of your workspace to 10 maps/files or less, you can delete and destroy the workspace safely.

Issue: Workspace Documents, such as Microsoft Word, Excel, or Project files, can only be edited

from their original workspace and not from a shared location.

Workaround: Edit workspace documents in the workspace where the actual document is located (and not in the shared location).

Issue: Closing MindManager Pro immediately after saving a large map to a new workspace may

cause MindManager Pro to quit unexpectedly.

Workaround: Please wait a brief period of time after saving a large map to a new workspace before closing MindManager Pro.

Issue: Maximum secondary file size is 10 MB and maps are limited to a maximum of 10MB in total

attachments.

Workaround: None.

NOTE: A map or a workspace document already belonging to a workspace that grows beyond 10 MB during an editing session could cause MindManager to crash or become unstable.

 

Issue: Copying or duplicating two or more large maps or workspace documents at the same time

may cause MindManager Pro 7 SP2 to go offline and require restart.

Workaround: None. Do not copy or duplicate more than one large map or workspace document at one time.

Issue: Import dialog box may not appear when user initiates an import and may cause

MindManager to appear frozen.

Workaround: The import dialog box is opened but is not displayed to the user, causing MindManager to appear non-responsive.

Complete the following steps to work around this issue:

1. Press <ALT><F4>.

This will allow MindManager 7 SP2 to respond to user input.

2. Restart MindManager.

After restarting MindManager, the Import process should work as expected.

Issue: Clicking on a hyperlink to a secondary document that is currently checked out will cause

the document to open in the background.

Workaround: Select the document’s application from your Windows taskbar (it may be highlighted).

Issue: MindManager appears frozen when a dialog window is open in the Workspace Manager (e.g.

an Add Workspace, Add User, or Import File dialog box).

Workaround: Finish or cancel the process you started in the Workspace Manager so that the dialog window closes. Once closed, you will be able to access MindManager as expected.

Issue: Invitations sent to web mail email clients (e.g. Gmail, Yahoo Mail, etc.) to join an Instant

Meeting will fail.

Workaround: None.

 

Issue: Participants in an Instant Meeting that have been granted remote control by the Moderator

may not be able to remotely operate applications on the Moderator’s machine if that machine is running Windows Vista with User Access Control (UAC) activated.

Workaround: None.

Issue: Users may not be able to save Instant Meeting Whiteboard sessions if they are running

Windows Vista with User Access Control (UAC) activated.

Workaround: None.

Issue: The following SQL stop words are not searchable in Mindjet Connect:

about, 1, after, 2, all, also, 3, an, 4, and, 5, another, 6, any, 7, are, 8, as, 9, at, 0, be, $, because, been, before, being, between, both, but, by, came, can, come, could, did, do, does, each, else, for, from, get, got, has, had, he, have, her, here, him, himself, his, how, if, in, into, is, it, its, just, like, make, many, me, might, more, most, much, must, my, never, no, now, of, on, only, or, other, our, out, over, re, said, same, see, should, since, so, some, still, such, take, than, that, the, their, them, then, there, these, they, this, those, through, to, too, under, up, use, very, want, was, way, we, well, were, what, when, where, which, while, who, will, with, would, you, your, a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, I, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z

Workaround: None.

Issue: Mindjet Connect maps that are added to the My Maps shortcuts (e.g. My Projects) may not

be searchable if the user selects the map shortcut (e.g. My Projects) as the search location.

Workaround: None.

 

Network Issues

Issue: Hyperlinks to Mindjet Connect maps, workspace documents, topics, workspaces, etc. do

not function correctly when MindManager Pro 7 SP2 is offline (not currently connect to Mindjet Connect).

Workaround: Ensure that MindManager Pro 7 SP2 is connected to Mindjet Connect.

Issue: Instant Meeting closes when the moderator connection drops (e.g. weak wireless

connection).

Workaround: The moderator will need to restore their network connection and initiate a new Instant Meeting session. It is best to ensure that you have a stable network connection (either a wired or a strong wireless) prior to initiating an Instant Meeting.

Issue: Uploading large maps or secondary documents on a slow network connection (e.g. 128Kb)

may cause a connectivity warning to appear.

Workaround: None. If the connection is maintained, the operation will continue until complete, though you may continue to receive the connectivity warning.

Note. To get this information converted from a PDF on the mindjet site into something I could introduce to you in a text form, I had to use a new tool that I am re-learning to love called OmniPage Pro 16.  It is an optical character recognition program that converts images of text into a writable document

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Some users, like yours truly, will receive the message that their license key is not accepted

The MindManager license key you submitted was not accepted.

If you read the statement on invalid license keys, you will see the following:

Mindjet has recently contacted users of MindManager who have registered an invalid license key.

A valid Mindjet license key represents legal compliance and ensures quality product and support from Mindjet. In addition, with the release of MindManager Pro 7 Service Pack 2 in early 2008, Mindjet will be implementing a more secure software installation process requiring all customers to have a valid license key for authentication and product activation.

To ensure that you remain in legal compliance and to install future Service Packs and upgrades, you should obtain a valid license key. You can use your current key to purchase an upgrade on the Mindjet online store or from one of the many Mindjet authorized resellers listed on our website.

Unfortunately, a variety of sources illegally distribute or sell Mindjet license keys. We encourage you to provide any information that would help us identify the source of the invalid key above.

If you feel that you have purchased a license key from an authorized source and have received this email in error, please contact Mindjet Customer Service.

Mindjet Contact Details:

Contact Phone: +1 (415) 229-4200

If you try to call, you have to call between 8 am and 5 pm pst.  I’d offer up more information, but I tried calling 50 minutes late and will have to wait until tomorrow morning to determine how to solve this problem myself. 

The “Re-enter your MindManager License Key” link does not work.

I tried that link several times and it does nothing.  I was able to use the back button and get back to the form entry section.  On my second attempt, I removed the dashes from the license key to see if that would help, but in my case, I had no luck.

For the record, I am using a press license of MindManager 7 issued to me by Mindjet directly in 2007.  It could be possible that the press license is not covered in the upgrade.  I left a voice mail with PR at Mindjet to inquire into this possibility and hope to find the answer out tomorrow.

I originally thought I might have some issues with my Mindjet account.  That worked like a charm this time, and I seem to have swapped it for a new little issue. 

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