What a difference a decade makes. I am out of college and now a working professional who is still creating content and at the same time it seems Dragon NaturallySpeaking has graduated from something that should have never been released on the market to an application that can only be described as pure amazing. I am dictating this blog post instead of typing it out on the keyboard. I’m going to say (not type) that again I am dictating this post instead of typing it out on the keyboard.

Why did I decide to buy Dragon NaturallySpeaking?

Weirdly lately, it seems like every time I turn on the TV, pick up a magazine, or listen to the radio I hear someone telling me that speech recognition technology has come a long way. Of course, I’m not really one to believe the hype especially since I had been burnt a decade ago by so-called “state-of-the art” voice recognition software  (yes, you better believe I hold grudges against software).  But then I began hearing stories about how Dragon NaturallySpeaking enabled people with motor disabilities and repetitive stress injuries control a computer using just their voice. And I began to think about my blog, my beloved blog, that has helped me so much in my professional career becoming dusty from neglect because I don’t have the time to formulate a entry, type it out, proofread it, proofread again, type some more… just generally slave over a post until I’ve concocted something that I’m comfortable sharing with my readers.

Now Dragon NaturallySpeaking Premium 11 isn’t cheap. I have the Premium Edition for which I paid $200 for at my local Best Buy.  It’s actually going for $149.99 right now on  Amazon.com. But I also saw a Home Version in MicroCenter for $79. To be honest I don’t know why I decided to buy the Premium Edition – maybe I just wanted some sort of guarantee that the application would do what it promised. I guess it’s up to you to decide which version you need and admittedly I have no idea what criteria you should use to make that decision.  I can only advise you to base your choice on more solid logic than I did. But I do strongly recommend that anyone who regularly creates web copy invest in this piece of software. After owning Dragon NaturallySpeaking for little more than two hours I no longer look at updating my blog as a chore, but rather as something fun, something easy, something I want to do.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking Premium 11 , the premium version ships with a a headset and for $200 that’s the least they could do. It’s a basic headset with analog input and output (not USB). However, since you’ve already spent $200 for the software you might as well buy a more robust headset that features a noise-canceling microphone for superior clarity. I chose Microsoft LifeChat LX-3000 Headset (on Amazon right now for $22.99) which ran me a solid $49.99 at the same Best Buy.

Setting up the software

The installation process for Dragon NaturallySpeaking is like any other piece of software. After it is installed, you’ll be taken to a set-up Wizard to initiate creation of your personal voice profile. Now this is an particularly important step and should not be skipped. The wizard will present you with several documents to read aloud so that it can analyze the nuances of your speech. This will help to increase the accuracy of your dictation. I’d recommend reading at least three of the documents before trying the software in a “live environment”. The readings are long and boring but I feel very necessary.

I’m going to admit that Dragon NaturallySpeaking is not going to give you the 99% dictation accuracy even after you’ve completed the first rounds of required reading.  But you can teach it new words, you can train it to understand the way you pronounce words,  and over time its ability to recognize your speech and vocabulary will only improve. But one thing is for certain is that Dragon naturally speaking version 11 is leaps and bounds ahead of its predecessors.

Voice-recognition software and web content creation

I’ve always wondered how a single blogger can produce content day after day, sometimes four to five 1,000 word posts within a few hours. I mean are they hiring ghost writers, dictating to assistants or can they just type at warp speed? After testing Dragon NaturallySpeaking, I’m now convinced this is the technology, or one very similar, that they’re using to crank out web copy. And when you think about it it’s really pretty ingenious. Search engines love new content. Readers keep coming back to your blog for new content. New content, especially engaging new content, encourages webmasters to link back to your site thereby sending traffic to your blog. So why not invest in technology that is specially designed to assist in the creation of this sought after fresh, unique content?

Well… as for me, I’ve been made a believer. As far as I’m concerned, once I’m satisfied that the application has really really honed in on my speech patterns, my keyboard will be rendered obsolete.

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I’m a big fan of education in all its glorious forms: traditional classroom learning, online education, and on-the-job-training.  Having completed graduate school in 2008, I needed a new set of educational goals.  More specifically, I wanted to learn a web programming language.

For the past three weeks, I have been taking a non-credit Ed2Go course entitled Introduction to PHP and MySQL offered through the University of Maryland Baltimore County Training Centers.  Ed2Go provides six week long online courses that cost between $95 – $120.  I must say, that I am thoroughly impressed with the presentation of the material and the quality of the instruction.  I am especially impressed with the knowledge and responsiveness of the course instructor.  Ed2Go classes have flexibility build into assignment deadlines to accommodate working adults.  Lastly, the intuitive e-learning platform means that you don’t have to “learn the platform”, instead you simply learn PHP.

Why did I sign up for an Ed2Go class?

I briefly considered enrolling in another Masters program (which I still may do in the future), however I couldn’t bear the thought of having to amass another pile of student loans obtaining a second graduate degree.  So, I asked myself what do I really want to get out of going back to school?.  The answer was simple: I want to learn about web programming. This is different than desiring to earn a degree in a subject, or wanting to do firsthand research in an academic environment, or all the other responses my heart could have given.

I had failed in the past at completing self-paced enrichment courses because they lacked deadlines, structure, and were low stakes – meaning I wouldn’t waste tuition money or receive a failing grade for not finishing them.  For me, options like MIT’s Opencourseware, although amazing in many ways, aren’t practical.

I have always had a healthy interest in software programming and application testing and despite not having much formal academic training, I have a “better than expected” knowledge of the methodologies of both.  As an undergraduate, I took a C programming course that provided me with an introduction to the data structures and program flow controls common in every programming language.  Soon afterwards, I began developing simple, yet effective procedural programs using Autoit 3.0 to streamline my tasks as an application integration tester.

Ed2Go and Career Changes

Ed2Go classes are great for professionals seeking to acquire new skills to help advance their careers or for lifetime learners desiring personal enrichment.  Although, they won’t help you transition into a new career like a certificate or degree program can, Ed2Go courses can certainly give you the opportunity to test the waters of a career change before spending thousands of dollars on tuition.

I’m still working my way through Introduction to PHP and MySQL but so far, so good.  I’m even considering signing up for Intermediate PHP and MySQL which starts in a few short weeks.

There is a Microsoft product everyone can benefit from. It’s called Windows Home Server and it’s packed full of features you actually give a damn about. Just install Windows Home Server on a computer running on your home network, and run the set-up CD on all your PC’s, Windows mobile devices,and game consoles like Xbox 360. The software links all your machines together, and from one nifty command center enables file sharing, automated data back-ups, security features, and remote access. With this product, Microsoft does a good job of taking the critical data management and security functions of large business technology and down scaling it for home and small business use. Windows Home Server product also eliminates the need to install multiple networking applications. Take a look for yourself.

It’s pretty slick.  It’s AJAX, not flash or Java, which is great.  It does all the basic presentation stuff – creating bullets and titles, changing looks, moving things around.  The best thing is the same best thing about the text editor and the spreadsheets application – collaboration.  If you share your presentation, multiple people can work on it at once.  The second best thing?  Being able to publish your presentation to a webpage – which also automatically creates a chat box.  You can even embed your presentation in an iFrame.
Overall, it’s a neat application.  Unfortunately, it suffers from the same problems that the rest of the Google Docs suite does – pages being slow to load, disconnects, automatic saving when you don’t want it, occasional sluggishness, etc.

Personally, I don’t know that we’re ready for online office application suites.  While they are definitely nifty, especially for creating quick documents for web publication or simple collaborative work, ultimately they simply are not as robust as desktop applications – and given the sad state of the United States’ broadband infrastructure, I don’t know that it will become of significant use within the next few years.

Still, fun to play with.

For a more complete rundown of Presentation’s features and glitches, Philipp Lenssen has a great post about it over at Google Blogoscoped.