Voice/Speech Recognition Software – Part 2 of 2

~ Following is continued from our post on Monday January 23, 2012...

Voice recognition Software has come along way and with every new edition improvements are made, but remember that using Voice Recognition software is very different from speaking to real people, when they can usually understand you from the context and environment even if you whisper, shout, or talk quickly or slowly.

According to “How Stuff Works.com” website, Voice Recognition Software understands words better when you speak in a predictable manner and also recommends: 

• Speak in a consistent, level tone. If you speak too loudly or too softly, the computer may not recognize what you said
• Use a consistent rate without speeding up and slowing down
• Speak without pausing between words; a phrase is easier for the computer to interpret than just one word. For example, the computer has a hard time understanding phrases such as "This (pause) is (pause) another (pause) example (pause) sentence."
• Start by working in a quiet environment so that the computer hears you instead of the sounds around you, and use a good quality microphone. Keep the microphone in the same position; try not to move it around after it is adjusted
• Train your computer to recognize your voice by reading aloud the prepared training text in the Voice Training Wizard. Additional training increases speech recognition accuracy
• As you dictate, do not be concerned if you do not immediately see your words on the screen. Continue speaking and pause at the end of your thought. The computer displays the recognized text after it finishes processing your voice
• Pronounce words clearly, but don’t separate each syllable in a word. For example, if you sound out each syllable in "ex-am-ple” which will cause the computer to not recognize what you said 

Voice/Speech Recognition Software – Part 1 of 2

Voice recognition software, also called speech recognition software, has been around for quite sometime and used by many businesses. But it’s now becoming popular for home use as well. Before you run out and buy a Voice Recognition Software program, such as Dragon Naturally Speaking Premium Edition or Home Edition; Dragon MAC for Mac Users, or others like Talking Desktop, did you know that Windows, XP, Vista and 7 all have a built-in speech/voice recognition software programs?? You might want to try one of these free first to test the waters and then if you want to continue, then make a purchase if you feel you need more features..

Voice recognition software – whether it is built into your Windows Operating System, or a software program such as Dragon Naturally Speaking, you purchased, allows the user to convert spoken words to written text and can work with other software application programs such as Word Pad, Word, Word Perfect and others...


In addition to the software program, you will need two things:
1) a microphone or some other sound input device to receive the sound and I’d recommend a high quality microphone with noise filters built in – if not the recognition rate may be unacceptable and not work as well as you’d like… and
2) most importantly “patience”

First, whether you use the software program built into your Windows operating system, or a purchased software program, they all have a Voice Training Wizard that will guide you through the process, recommends the best position to place the microphone, and allows you to test it for optimal results.

Second, being patient is crucial. Once your microphone and software are ready, you have to “train the software for your speaking style” and the Wizard will walk you through doing this, so that it can recognize background noises such as a fan, air conditioning, or other sounds and most importantly, it needs to adapt to your accents, pronunciations phrases and other voice related patterns and phrases. And believe me that takes time and lots of patience.

~ This post will be continued on Thursday, January 26, 2012

Printing Tips – Extend your cartridge life

Printer Cartridges are expensive - so here are a few tips we've discussed in class to help you save money by conserving your ink and toner..

Print in draft mode – Draft Mode is what I typically use in all class handouts – which helps save money by using less ink. To do this you want to change the default printing mode in your printer’s “preferences” – Go to start, printer/faxes, and when you choose your printer – choose “preferences” and then find the option list for printing preferences which vary on every printer. Yours might say: “draft mode” , or “economde or “ink/toner-saving mode”.. Don’t use Grayscale-it uses colored ink.

Use a thin “sans-serif” font – Set your default font, to a clean style such as Arial, Calibri or Comic Sans, versus “serif” fonts, such as Times New Roman, Baskerville, Bookman


Use your color ink sparingly – I firmly believe that almost everything we print works just as well in black & white, vs. color…So be sure to set your default setting for black and white – vs. automatic which will print whatever color is on the page you are printing..


Send photos out – It is much less expensive (and quality is so much better) when you have your photos printed by a retailer and you can upload them from home for one hour or 3 day delivery, to hundreds of retailers such as Walgreens, CVS, Wal-Mart, Snapfish, Shutterlfy, AAA, AARP, etc…


InkJet or laser – No question for anyone who prints a lot – laser is less expensive in the long run…


Shake That Cartridge – When you think your ink is running low – take the cartridge out and give it a good shake, and do this until you can’t print… Remember most cartridges will warn you the ink is low when they are still 30-35% full, so don’t replace it until you have to!!

What are the ISO settings for in my digital camera?

ISO settings are the measurement of how sensitive your digital camera's sensor is to light. The speed or light-sensitivity of a digital camera's sensor is rated in ISO numbers -- the lower the number, the slower the response to light.

Generally, we get the best picture quality by using the lowest ISO setting (such as 100 or 200). Higher ISO settings, such as 800, enable us to shoot in lower light situations with faster shutter speeds..

Higher ISO setting numbers indicate a higher sensitivity to light, so less time is needed to expose a picture. Most digital cameras let us control the ISO setting to allow the use of higher shutter speeds and/or smaller apertures, according to circumstances

Memory cards are so inexpensive today, that it’s worth having an extra one so that you can get out and shoot as much as you can in as many different circumstances. Don't be afraid to try different exposure settings and use the different settings available on your specific camera model. The more you experiment taking lots of different photos, the more comfortable you will get understanding your camera and what works for the types of pictures you want to take. 

Check your manufacturer’s website for their video tutorial and also check YouTube for more help learning to use your specific camera model.

Windows 7 – tip to improve performance

Windows 7 Operating System has a lot of different visual effects which are totally cosmetic but serve no practical purpose. They simply enhance the “look and feel” of this operating system…

But all of these enhancements don’t add anything to the systems functionality and can in fact, slow the system impacting the systems resources… So you might want to change the default setting from the default “Adjust for best appearance” to “Adjust for best performance”.. It only takes a minute to make this change, simply:

• Go to Start, Control Panel, System, Advanced System setting
• Next choose the Setting button under Performance
• When the dialog box appears, choose the Tab – “Visual Effects” and you will see 4 choices lists

 Choose:

• “Adjust for best performance” (or you can disable them individually in the list noted below) Your choice… Disabling them all does have a significant impact on the way the Windows looks, but it will run much more effectively…so it’s a personal choice for sure…

Instead of any of the other 3
• Let Windows choose what’s best for my computer
• Adjust for best appearance (default setting)
• Custom

Should I upgrade to Windows 7, and if so which version/edition?

Q: Common question – should I upgrade to Windows 7, and if so which one of the versions/editions: Home Premium OR Professional OR Ultimate?

A: Windows 7 was introduced October 22, 2009 and personally I feel if you are happy with the way your computer is performing – then there's no reason to rush out and either upgrade your operating system or purchase a new computer which has Windows 7 on it… .

FYI - Windows XP was introduced in October 2001; Windows Vista was introduced January 20th, 2007 and there are already rumors that the next new Windows Operating System, most likely to be called Windows 8, may be out later this year (2012!!) 

If you choose to upgrade to Windows 7, your current computer may not be compatible or have enough memory to do so – so you want to confirm that first prior to purchasing the upgrade…
If you aren’t sure, visit this website at Microsoft and it will run a check on your computer and let you know if your computer is compatible and if not, what you might need to upgrade the hardware, memory etc..

www.windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/products/system-requirements

If you decide to purchase a new computer, laptop, notebook whatever – almost guaranteed it will have Windows 7 Operating System on it – and if it has the “Home Premium” which in standard at most retailers – it is fine – don’t let them talk you into upgrading to a more expensive version (which by the way will require more memory on the computer also)..

Most technicians I’ve spoken to seem to agree that “Windows 7 Home Premium” is the best option for most of us. They also seem to agree that you should go professional if you want remote desktop and you go ultimate if you want those language packs.

To compare the differences between operating systems – Windows XP, Vista or the new Windows 7 – visit the following link at Microsoft…
www.windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/products/compare?T1=tab04

Automatic Operating System Updates

For those of you with Microsoft Windows Operating Systems, you can keep your computer up to date automatically with the latest updates by turning on the Automatic Update setting to make life easier…
By doing this, instead of you having to search for critical updates or reacting to those announced to you, Microsoft/Windows will download them directly to your computer when you aren’t typically using your computer, such as the middle of the night...but remember your computer would have to be on for this to happen.. If your computer is not on, the next time you turn your computer or laptop on, the “call out notice” will appear in the bottom right hand corner of your monitor prompting you to do the update…
Microsoft/Windows recognizes when you are online and uses your Internet connection to search for downloads from the Windows Update Web site.
An icon appears in the notification area each time new updates are available.
How to Turn On Automatic Updates:
• Right-click on "My Computer".
• Left-click on "Properties".
• Left-click on the "Automatic Updates" tab.
• Select "Automatic (recommended)".
• Select "Every Day".
• Select a time when your computer will be on and online.
• Left-click on "OK".

Just set it and forget it – it’s so easy.

Periodically, Microsoft/Windows will ask you to restart your computer after an update. You can restart at your convenience -- just make sure to save any data you're working on – if you have the automatic updates set, then your computer will automatically restart whenever it is needed…

Yes Size Matters - What are Bytes, KB’s, MB’s, GB’s, TB’s, PB’s or EB’s?

What do all these “measurements” mean that we see for both RAM (Random Access Memory) or the space on a hard drive, portable hard drive, flash drive or memory card/stick?

The smallest unit of memory storage is called a BIT. A bit either contains a ONE or a ZERO. That's it.
• Eight bits is one BYTE ("bite"). That's enough storage for about one letter of the alphabet.
• 1,024 bytes is one KILOBYTE (KB) or about one page of text.
• 1,024 kilobytes is one MEGABYTE (MB) or about 1,000 pages of text (short novel).
• 1,024 megabytes is one GIGABYTE (GB) or about 1,000,000 pages of text (pickup truck filled with books).
• 1,024 gigabytes is one TERABYTE (TB) – and that is equal to about 50,000 trees made into paper and printed

Today, the most popular form of measurement that we hear about is Terabytes (TB) but on the horizon and in some publications we are already hearing about PETABYTES (PB) and EXABYTES (EB) - we've come a long way baby since the Commodore 64's....and we wonder where it will end..
To give you an idea of how much data a TB is or how much it can hold based on a document: It is said that The U.S. Library of Congress Web Capture team claims that "As of April 2011, the Library has collected about “235 terabytes of data" and that it adds about 5 terabytes per month.

Happy New Year - 2012 - To All

On behalf of Bob Donovan, Jean McCarty, Jack Bowes, Kevin Bachelder, Mike Guerino and myself, we want to wish you and yours a healthy, happy New Year full of happiness, wonderful health, great blessings, peace and joy ~ May this year "2012" be the best yet! Cherie Houston
One of my most favorite New Year Poems...

~ William Arthur Ward quotes (American dedicated scholar, author, editor, pastor and teacher)

ANOTHER NEW YEAR

“Another fresh new year is here . . .

Another year to live!

To banish worry, doubt, and fear,

To love and laugh and give!

This bright new year is given me

To live each day with zest . . .

To daily grow and try to be

My highest and my best!

I have the opportunity once more

To right some wrongs,

To pray for peace,

To plant a tree,

And sing more joyful songs!”