I wanted to test drive my Sony IC recorder with a brand new computer and Dragon Naturally Speaking 10.  I am using a brand new profile that has only received minimal training (about 5-7 minutes plus the previous article written with DNS 10).  I’m trying to emulate what the out of the box experience might be for new users, and so far I am very impressed. 

This is a test of Dragon NaturallySpeaking using my Sony IC recorder.

The first time that I’ve used my Sony IC recorder along with my new Logitech headset.

This particular headset fits over my ears and the microphone flexes to my mouth slightly. The headset has two 3.5 mm jacks, one for headphones and one for the microphone that plugs into my Sony recorder. I’ve used my Sony recorder a number of times with other head sets, and then I plug it into my computer via USB, download the MP3 files into my computer, and utilize Dragon Naturally Speaking 9 to convert the MP3 files into text.

This time I am going to be using Dragon NaturallySpeaking preferred 10 along with this new headset so this is a test both of the new software and of the new headset with a recorder that has worked very well in the past.

In the past I’ve used headsets that were much larger than this particular headset, and those were not necessarily always conducive to walking around or taking long hikes or walk through the woods. This time I intend to go hiking through the woods, specifically, up Crowder’s Mountain in North Carolina. Where I will be using the headset and my recorder to write a book I’m working on, and I will use it to write a number of other blog articles for my clients.

I work as a blogger and a ghostwriter, and this will give me greater portability than what I’ve had in the past.

I have noticed an increased level of accuracy using Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10, and I’m basically looking to see how well the accuracy improves with both a new headset and this recorder.

One thing about this recorder, it doesn’t have a wind screen on it, so I need to get to a craft store where I can find something to "craft" a windscreen. I’ve looked for small sized wind screens in the past, but I cannot find any at your typical music shops. As I am walking right now, I’m getting a little bit of wind on the microphone that I could hear in the earpieces. I do not know if that will have a detrimental effect, when Dragon NaturallySpeaking tries to do its thing.

We shall see, but I suspect that I will need to get a windscreen before this is all over. The wind is only blowing slightly right now, and I’m getting a significant amount of feedback in my ear.

I don’t know where you go to find that foamy material used for windscreens. But I think I might build a find something like that at a craft store and then cut or mold it into a shape that I need it to be.

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This is a quick test using my new windscreen developed for my  Logitech headset that plugs into a Sony recorder that I use for dictation purposes. I’m walking outside and hoping to catch a nice gentle breeze blowing in my face that would normally make my microphone go off the charts with static and noise that would render the dictation of my words somewhat useless. I have crafted this windscreen using a little foam that I cut from a mattress pad, along with the paw of a cat that I cut from a stuffed animal that was at the bottom of my kids toy bin that we had in storage. Hopefully they won’t miss the cat as they haven’t played with it in over two years, I do seem to recall that it may have been one of my daughters preferred toys when she was two years old, but she hasn’t seen it in a long, long time.

I’m outside walking on our dock. It is a nice beautiful day here in North Carolina although it’s a little bit chilly. I’m turning around in circles slowly trying to capture whatever breeze or wind might be blowing around and I can feel a little bit of breeze on my face right now.

Even though I can feel the breeze blowing in my face I cannot hear the breeze blowing into the microphone of my headset. That is a distinct improvement over results I was receiving just a few minutes ago before I put this windscreen onto my headset.

If you want to build a wind screen yourself for your own microphones even if they are noise cancellation microphones like my microphone is, All you need to do is get a microphone, and a piece of foam, and a stuffed animal such as a beanie baby. The thicker the fur, or the fuzzier the for the better. Think of those shaggy microphone covers that you see on microphones used by reporters during hurricanes. That is ultimately the goal that you’re searching for here for use outdoors. I molded the foam using a pair of scissors to get a general shape that I was looking for. It wasn’t pretty, but it seemed to be functional. I then cut off the leg of a beanie baby kitten, this was a large beanie baby not the typical variety. I then pulled that leg over top of the foam which I had inserted onto the actual microphone. I then proceeded to trim off the excess part of the leg of the kitten, until I just barely had the foam covered with a kitten paw.

For the record, I’ve never hurt a kitten in my life, and this is a stuffed kitten, a stuffed animal that is, and the kitten didn’t seem to complain even though I did feel a little bit like Sweeney Todd practicing for a vegas side show try out as I performed the surgery.

Once I had the paw fitted to the microphone foam, I then used a ponytail holder, to tighten the paw fur around the foam so that it would stay on the microphone and would not fall off.

That’s basically how I built this, and it does seem to be working. The wind is picking up right now, and I can hear it in my ears but I cannot hear it in the actual headphones. The wind is blowing a pretty good clip , leaves are falling off the trees and actually hitting me in the face at the moment but I do not hear any of this background noise coming through my microphone. I’ve been talking for about five minutes and 25 seconds.

For what it’s worth, the above totals up to about 606 words that I wrote in 5 1/2 minutes. That is about 110 words per minute that I was able to type while I was walking around on a fishing dock in North Carolina with a microphone headset and a Sony voice recorder. And I did that on a slightly windy day.  That’s what I was able to do and I was just testing things and playing around a little bit. Imagine what you could do if you put these tools to work.

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This is just a simple video to show Dragon Naturally Speaking 10 Preferred running on a brand new Toshiba Laptop (U405-S2856 with Microsoft Vista and 3gb of ram).

I installed the Microsoft Updates, Installed Dragon Naturally Speaking 10, and then did the absolute minimum amount of voice training with the software, which took about 5-7 minutes reading some goofy(funny) chapter from a novel that reminded me of the better days of Seinfeld.

The video in this article is a little hazy as I do not have any screen capture software running on this new machine yet, so I just used my digital camera to record the screen.

Regardless, the software and the computer did an excellent job.  I only found 1 mistake after the fact.  (see if you can spot it!)

The actual text of the article is below, in case you want to compare it to the video or something. 

These are the first words that Dragon NaturallySpeaking will transcribe. I have just started a brand-new laptop installed all the Microsoft updates, and install Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 on this machine. I did the simplest possible voice training method that I could find in the system which only took a couple of minutes and now I am saying those initial words into my computer, and my computer seems to be transcribing everything I say extremely accurately.

I am doing this because I wanted to see just how well a brand-new computer could work with Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10. I have a new computer, a new Logitech headset, and a new version of Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 preferred. As you can see from this video, I don’t think the software has made a single mistake yet. I’ve seen Dragon NaturallySpeaking work on a number of occasions, but I have to say that this might just be one of the most impressive occasions that I have seen to date. This is just amazing!

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Whether you are writing a tech blog or covering the Classic UGGs down under, Dragon Naturally Speaking can help you capture your thoughts rapidly, accurately, and with very little effort. I highly recommend it because I believe in it and use it every day.

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Hi Everyone, This is Brett Bumeter from softduit.com. I am here outside of my office today in North Carolina where it’s a little bit breezy and I’m testing out my new wireless Logitech headset. I’m testing it out with Dragon NaturallySpeaking, which is running on my computer in my office right now.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 is capturing my words as I save them from a distance of approximately ten feet at the moment.

I’m attempting to do this in one continuous shot so that you’ll know that there’s no film tricks going on here. To do that I’m using an XShot photo stick, basically a single bar tripod, and I am also utilizing a tape measure to mark the distance from which I’m standing and writing.

As you can see right now I’m zoomed out all the way. I am approximately 20 feet away from my laptop which is still continuing to capture the words that I say using my Logitech wireless headset and Dragon NaturallySpeaking.

This headset is supposed to have a range of approximately 33 feet at the extreme.

So I’m walking just a little further out here on my dock to try and get a check of the distance with the system. Now my camera only has a limited zoom capability. So at this point I’m actually about10 feet past the extent of my tape measure

There’s my laptop in the distance.

I’m trying to zoom in and keep this steady. (I tried to edit this from a distance, but could not read the editing box terribly easy. Editing would be best suited for a later time, when you can listen back to the words that you have stated.)

As you can see it’s a little tricky editing from this distance I wouldn’t necessarily recommend using a wireless headset from a distance of 30 feet if you need to edit.

This would be a great way though to do some brainstorming especially if you like to walk while you talk. Personally, that’s exactly how my brain works. I think better when I’m walking around or standing up than I do when I’m sitting down behind a desk.

Now my office coworkers they don’t really seem to mind where I work as long as I feed them enough treats throughout the day. But that’s not necessarily any different from office workers in any environment. So as you can see this actually does work fairly well even from a long distance but it’s a tool and like any tool you have to find the right application for that tool. In this case I think it would be very good for people that are trying to write longform articles, documents or maybe even a novel or something Like in the NaNoWriMo writing contest.

So if you’re looking for a great tool that frees you up from having to work on your computer, behind a desk, locked there with ball and chain, Dragon NaturallySpeaking might be the thing for you, and a wireless headset might even give you additional freedom to get away from your keyboard and away from your computer altogether. I’m Brett Bumeter and I hope you enjoyed this little video.

Original Transcription Text from working with Logitech Wireless Headset Microphone and Dragon Naturally Speaking 10 Preferred 

This may have errors in it, but I wanted to provide it so that you could watch the video and get a sense of how well the microphone worked from a distance.  (the wind did blow or gust up once or twice which might have also played a role)

Everyone does the regular from softduit.com I am here outside of my office today in North Carolina where it’s a little bit breezy and I’m testing out my new wireless Logitech headset I’m testing it out with Dragon NaturallySpeaking which is running on my computer in my office right now

Dragon NaturallySpeaking is capturing my words as I save them from a distance of approximate latency at the moment

I’m attempting to do this in one continuous shot so that you’ll know that there’s no film tricks going on here to do that I’m using an action at photo stick basically collect a single bar tripod and also utilizing the tape measure to mark the distance from which I’m standing and writing

As you can see right now I’m zoomed all the way of approximately 20 feet away from my laptop which is still continuing to capture the words that I say using my Logitech wireless headset and Dragon NaturallySpeaking

Others headsets boast to have a range of approximately 33 feet at the extreme.

And so I’m walking just a little but further of your my.to try and get a check of the distance with the system now my camera only has a limited zoom capability to the WiMAX 10 feet past the extent of my tape measure

There’s my laptop in the distance

I’m trying to zoom in and keep this study

As you can see it’s a little tricky editing from this distance I wouldn’t necessarily recommend using a wireless headset from a distance of 30 feet if you need to edit.

This would be a great way though to do some brainstorming especially if you like to walk while you talk personally that’s exactly how my brain works I think better when I’m walking around standing up that I do when I’m sitting down behind a desk even when I work from a desk in such a beautiful setting your North Carolina.

Now my office coworkers they don’t really miss early seem to mind where I work as long as them as long as I feed them enough treats drug today but that’s not necessarily any different from office workers in any environment so as you can see this actually does work fairly well even from a long distance but it’s a tool and like any tool you have to find the right application for the right application for that tool in this case I think it would be very good for people that are trying to write longform articles documents or maybe even a novel for something like the nano remote writing contest.

So if you’re looking for a great tool that frees you up from having to work on your computer behind a desk locked in with ball and chain, Dragon NaturallySpeaking might be the thing for you, and a wireless headset might even give you additional freedom not only away from your keyboard away from your computer altogether I broken her and I hope you enjoyed this little video and I hope to see you around soon by this

So there you have it. If you are working with highly technical topics, this is not likely going to be a good fit for transcriptions of medical charts, or legal case analysis for issues with Leptovox, but if you just want to capture some free flow thought, do some brainstorming, and especially if you keep a separate audio file copy of everything you say, this can be a very useful tool, and a lot of fun!

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I have worked on a couple different projects to teach younger children (3rd – 5th grade) how to use Dragon NaturallySpeaking both with version 9 and now with the new version 10.  From my experience Version 10 is easier, because it requires less training time.

That said the training environment is not geared towards children and for that matter its not really geared towards those with vision impairments, which is rather odd. 

Frankly, its a definite product short fall that should be corrected in version 11, and preferably in an update to version 10 (where it should have been to begin with).

That said, it is still a very good tool for helping children to learn how to compose their thoughts into text and an even better tool for older users that have visual impairments. 

Its this weird paradox that actually enables me to categorize this article under both Improving Technology and Broken Technology at the same time!

When I served in the military years ago, we used to say that you go to war with the army that you have.  That means both people and equipment.  So I’m not going to belly-ache about the absence of a design that would make this better for young users or the visually impaired.  Instead, I’m offering up some tips to help them get started.

1. The primary goal for a young user or the visually impaired is to get the minimum training accomplished so that they can then begin to use the product with a program like Microsoft Word.  With that program both groups can increase the zoom up to something that is easier to read.
2. For children, I recommend that they train with an adult standing by waiting to help them with any words they can not say or can not read.
3. Alternatively, the text at the bottom of this article has been transcribed from the DNS10 training session from one of the articles written for children.  A user could copy this text and print it out in a large enough font to read.  The problem is that the reading window that Dragon NaturallySpeaking uses for training is too small, has text that is too small, and it can not be resized to fill up the screen.
4. In addition, a user could set the resolution on their computer at a very low level like 800×600 which will increase the size of the box and the text.
5. As a final alternative, a user could ask someone else to record the text of the training session, and then they could listen to that recording and speak it while they listen.  Again they may need someone to help them know when to begin speaking and when to stop (in between new windows)

These are the segments that you might want to copy and paste into a more readable format.

In this step the computer listens to the sound of your voice and adjust the volume setting of your microphone when the computer is finished adjusting the volume it beeps to signal that the process is complete if you reach the end of this text but you have not heard a beep start reading the text again from the beginning you should only have to read about 10 to 15 seconds

In this step the computer checks the audio input from your sound system having high-quality audio input is very important for good speech recognition or audio input will make it difficult or impossible for the program to recognize your speech accurately when the computer has finished checking the audio quality it beeps to signal that the test is complete if you reach the end of this text but you have not heard a beep start reading the text again from the beginning you should only have to read for about 15 seconds

Welcome to general training

training is about to begin

You are about to read some short stories. The computer will listen while you read, so they can learn what your voice sounds like. Students at Provo high school wrote these stories for you to read. Michael Rutter and Carl’s Barksdale edited them. We hope you enjoy the stories! Susie, the singing swine by J. E. E. Rockwood once upon a time there was a pig. But this wasn’t any ordinary pig. This pig could talk! Oh it sounds crazy, but it’s true! She could say all the words you and I can, and even some we can’t. Farmer Bill used to come out every day and talk with that pig. It was quite a sight to see. Farmer Bill set on a tree stump with the pig right by him. They talked as though it was the most natural thing in the world for a farmer and his pig to speak with one another. It had never occurred to Bill that most pigs can’t talk. It was quite a shock when it dawned on him. He was talking to his wife, Lucille, during dinner. Bill mentions something his pig had said. Lucille looked up from her plate and stared at Bill. "Pigs can’t talk! They are stupid," she said as she took another bite. Bill thoughtfully chewed his carrot. Obviously not all pigs were too stupid to talk. This pig could talk! Then he thought that if his pig could talk just like people can, maybe she could do other things people can do to. Maybe she could cough, hum, or maybe she could sing! What an idea! The thought kept turning over in Bill’s mind as he finished his supper. He calmly walked out to the pasture and knelt by Susie, the pig. "I have a question," he said. "Can you sing? The pig smiled as well as a pig can smile and said, "of course I can sing!" She started singing the most amazing song, Beethoven’s "ode to Joy." It was the best song bill had ever heard! "That’s amazing!" He said, "can you sing anything else?" Susie pranced around Farmer Bill singing Mozart. "I’ve never heard anyone sing like you before!" Bill patted the pig’s head and smiled warmly before walking back to the house. Once inside, Bill picked up the phone and called an old friend of his from school. This friend happened to run Carnegie Hall. It was the very same Carnegie Hall that all the great musical people have performed an explanation point they had a pleasant conversation before Bill went to bed. A week later a huge crowd gathered at Carnegie Hall. Nobody knew what was going on. They heard that some special performer was out to sing, someone fantastic. But not a single person knew who it was! The mystery only added to the excitement. The crowd became quiet as the orchestra warmed up. They were still as the lights dimmed. There was a long silence as the crowd leaned forward in their chairs and listened to the announcer. "Carnegie Hall is proud to present. Susie!" Farmer Bill walked onto the stage in a suit. Following him on a leash came his amazing pig. She wore a bright pink dress with tiny white polka dots and trimmed in lace. Around her head was a white bow. The crowd sat in surprised silence. They didn’t know if they were supposed to cheer or laugh! Bill remove the leash as Susie sat herself down in front of the orchestra. Bill walked off the stage, leaving Susie alone.

So that’s it so far. This took more effort than I realized to create, and I keep thinking that there must be a better way to go about this. That said, short of combing through Nuance’s job search board or something, it would seem that this function would be best handled by Nuance in house.

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This weekend I was testing out Logitech’s ClearChat PC Wireless (noise cancellation headset microphone) with Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 Preferred.

You can read some of my initial impressions written with the headset and DNS 10 below:

Okay so now I’m using Microsoft Word I want to see just how well this works from a bit of a distance. I’m walking over across from my office this is really cool I am standing about 20 feet away from a computer typing on my computer while I look at it from a distance

…

I have a portable heater blowing warm air against my feet and it is making a little bit of noise in the background. That’s it doesn’t seem to be impacting my computer nor my microphone whatsoever. This is just flat-out amazing I can’t believe how well this works.

…

This is exceeding all of my expectations and then some. I can pace and type at the same time. This is pretty damn cool!

I will try and get some video of this in action very soon.  I had to charge it for 2.5 hours out of the packaging.  Then plugged it in, no software, it just worked.  I was amazed.  This works on the 2.4Ghz protocol, its not a bluetooth headset.  That said at $99 it is about $200 cheaper than the bluetooth headsets I’ve been able to find so far.

Being the technophile uber geek that I am, I’m even wondering if I can enjoy watching movies in my home theater seating arrangement (known as a couch) while dictating movie reviews into the headset to my computer placed in a different room.

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One week from today the national novel writing month (NaNoWriMo) contest or event begins. This is a event where people from all around the world gather together online every day for a month to attempt to write a novel, or a 50,000 word novella about anything. This novel writing contest is not necessarily intended to produce a polished finish novel ready for publication. It is intended to produce the words necessary to create such a novel. It’s basically one of those confidence building contests to show you that it is possible to write that many words, or at least the number of words it would take to publish about 170 page book.

It is a major milestone for a number of people, and once you have that book published, or at least uploaded online through the contest, you can also then seek out and receive a significant amount of support from the large number of people that participate in the contest.

They can help give you feedback on your writing style, your plot, your characters and how realistic they are and a wide range of areas that help you improve the book so that you can get ready for publication.

This contest takes place every year during the month of November and starts on November 1. There will be launching parties for the contest. Many of those will be kicking off on Halloween at midnight.

This year I will be participating in the contest for the second time ever, although this will hopefully be the first time that I’ve completed or will complete that is an actual novel. 

I haven’t completed this contest in years past, so before I put on my Dansko shoes and start clog dancing, I’ve got a lot of work ahead of me!

Last year I only made it to about 10,000 words. Work and travel and other events took me away from the contest and I wasn’t able to complete it. This year I have an ace up my sleeve. I’m using Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 10, which enables me to not only talk without using my keyboard, but it also allows me to talk and write without even sitting at my computer. As I write this article right now I’m actually driving my car down the road to the airport to pick up some friends and family that are getting back from the Bahamas.

I’m using a microphone with noise cancellation capabilities plugged in to a Sony voice recorder. I take the voice recorder which has a USB jack on it, I plug it into my computer, and I upload the voice file in the form of an MP3 file onto my computer. I can then use Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10, the preferred edition and not the basic, to convert the MP3 file into text. I do a little bit of editing to the text, and I published my article that you’re reading today.

I’m hoping to use the same tool and the benefits that come from this tool to get my 50,000 words out for this writing contest much faster and easier than I did last year. When I write with Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 in this style, I can write about 3000 words in 30 minutes. It does take a little getting used to, and it does take a little practice to write at a level that is acceptable for publication. I have a writing style when I type with my fingers that is probably considered to be at a college level of writing if not higher.

I wrote this 840 word article in about 8 minutes while driving!

However when I write with my voice, that is when I’m speaking aloud and speaking in a way that can be transcribed into text, my writing level is probably closer to that of a freshman or sophomore in high school. I may be a little harsh on myself in that regards, but I have high standards for my own writing. One of the benefits I get out of using Dragon NaturallySpeaking in this way is that I rarely misspell words. I currently have a laptop computer, a Toshiba, that has a relatively cheap keyboard. I mention this because when I type with this keyboard, it makes lots of errors because several of the keys on the keyboard stick. This is a factory defect and these keys have stuck ever since I bought the damn thing. That drives me nuts because I am a good typist, but this particular keyboard is going to be the death of me I think. Never fear I do intend to purchase a new laptop very soon, I just haven’t figured out which computer I’m going to buy yet.

So that’s what I’m up to with the national novel writing month contest, and I’d encourage you to try it out as well. I’m not hiding any of my secrets tricks or tips, if you want to try Dragon NaturallySpeaking and write with both hands behind your back, literally, that should be a piece of cake for myself and for you and anyone else that wants to give it a go.

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DNS 10 Tips! Every now and then, you will select something and then decide that you do not need to change or edit it.  To remove the election, simply say ‘Unselect That’ – For me this is typically followed by the command to “Move to End’” (of document) or “Move to End of Line” so that I can then resume my writing.

I just came across this YouTube video, in french I believe.  It shows a person destined not to be the Last Dragon trying to get rid of his keyboard.  I will let you watch and learn if he is successful or not.

That said, Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 does not promise to eliminate your need of a computer keyboard any more than a mouse does.  Its not snake oil promising to eliminate acne, its just another great tool that can be applied to leverage the power and speed of your brain, your voice and all that processing power available in computer systems today.

I still use my own keyboard a great deal, but Dragon does save me from having to use it for everything.  My hands and wrists get more breaks.  I even lift weights sitting at my desk while I write from time to time.

But the majority of the time, I’m using Dragon and multi-tasking, either working on a different computer, browsing the internet and taking notes with dragon, or engaging in other activities.  So in this regard it truly enables me to do many things at one.

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This next article probably couldn’t provide more difference in the perspectives, but they all revolve around Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10. What’s possibly more amazing, these perspectives that I found as other bloggers discuss Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10, or actually areas that I had either tried myself or seen other people do.

I’ve taken Dragon NaturallySpeaking and loaded up my laptop in a car, and then I drove down the road and I wrote a number of articles and e-mails while I drove.

I didn’t even have a car accident!

It’s probably actually safer to have someone else be your designated driver while you are writing with Dragon NaturallySpeaking. I have tried typing on my computer, while someone else drove, and I typically find that I get very carsick when I do this. I’m not terribly prone to car sickness, but it is a nasty thing to experience on a long road trip, especially when you have work to get done.

But you can use Dragon NaturallySpeaking, and you don’t have to look at your computer screen as much, you don’t even have to face your keys, and this helps reduce the disorientation and sense of imbalance that can come with typing or reading a computer screen while you’re the passenger in a car.

You know what I was thinking today? We were riding in the car and I was thinking about how great it would be if I could get some posts done while I was in the car. I have several reviews that I need to do and one that is even  overdue. And I hate being late. So, it would be just great if I could work on my blogging while we were in the car. Why can’t I? Because in about 30 seconds I would be car sick. I get car sick very easily. If I look down to  pick something up off of the floor I am immediately dizzy. So I can’t type in the car. - Look Mom- No Hands!

Probably one of the coolest things I’ve considered along with many other bloggers, is the concept of using Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 to help capture some of your family oral history. Many people often lament the lack of documentation of the stories that their parents and grandparents and great grandparents knew and told. With Dragon NaturallySpeaking, it could be very easy and practical to capture some of your family’s oral history and save it in great detail for the posterity of your own family.

Even in my own family, which is a fairly extended large family, when we hear a story from one of our elders, it’s not always the same story that someone else in the family may have heard. Using a tool that enabled you to capture the different versions, and even the very different stories across the family could significantly help to capture a true history of your family is different faces in different situations inspire people to remember things, to remember those stories, and to remember those important things in life.

I want to get our family history written down this would be great I can have all the aunts and uncles sit down with the computer and tell their life stories and the computer would write everything down for me. - Amazing Dragon Naturally Speaking!

I am not much of a cook myself, but I do appreciate good cooking. And as I write this, I’m thinking about the context of the last section of this blog article as it related to family history. When I first read this comment about jotting down recipes with Dragon NaturallySpeaking. As you literally create those recipes, I thought that was a good idea.

It’s a running joke in our family that if you really like something I’ve made, you better enjoy it now because I don’t know if I can ever make it again. My husband will cringe and ask; "Uh, did you happen to write this one  down?" Many times I do, sometimes I don’t.

What would be perfect for a avid cook/baker like me would be to have my own little personal assistant sitting next to me in the kitchen typing out my instructions and my list of ingredients as I go about my merry way  mixing and mashing and blending and baking. I could call out "A teaspoon of vanilla. A quarter teaspoon of almond extract" and she/he would copy it down for me. Not only would this help me when I’m tweaking my  latest and greatest culinary creation but it would save the damage to my computer that flour dust and food particles spilled in between the keys do.

As futuristic as it sounds, there actually is an assistant that can do just this, but I wouldn’t have to feed them, pay them or give them bathroom breaks nor a Christmas gift. As a matter of fact it could be a Christmas gift to  myself! It’s the Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 Standard and is simply… amazing. - No More Flour in My Keyboard?

Then I thought about recipes in the context of family history, and I thought of all the great recipes and methodologies that could’ve been captured, and in some cases still can be captured using a tool that helps you to record someone’s notes and thoughts as they go through the process of making that perfect blueberry pie, or that amazing apple cobbler, or even simple things like scrambled eggs.

My great great grandmother used to wake up and cook breakfast for 57 people on a wood stove, Every day! That’s just amazing, and you can imagine she had some interesting stories to tell and recipes to share and she sure as hell didn’t worry about ‘exercise’ or the ‘best diet pills’ she was out there chopping wood, and collecting eggs, and milking cows and a lot more just to prepare that breakfast!

The important concept to understand here is that Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 in many ways is a tool that is still changing the way we look at work. It might seem like a lot of work to write down a recipe or even type one up. But when you can literally speak to recipe out loud while you’re making something, and have your recipe documented, the efficiency level skyrockets and the feeling that you are doing difficult work, or something that is time-consuming evaporates.

Where else could you use Dragon NaturallySpeaking to make your life easier, more productive, or just share important knowledge for the people that are important in your life?

I don’t know the answer that question, but I suspect we will be figuring that out for the next couple decades, as we learn how to adapt this tool to its best usage.

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