Ceiva photoframes has a cute website where you can upload a picture
of yourself and they do a video of you "on Santa's lap." They are also
doing a Got a Wish Sweeepstakes with a daily $500 giveaway.
The
video is a cute little story with Santa and an elf. It was pretty
quick and easy to upload a photo. I just used one I had handy from my
little avatar photo I use online. I really need a new one - I am
getting tired of the two I have been using. Maybe that will be a good
project to work on on my enforced time off. Probably bettr use of my
time than talking to Santa, right?
I told Hanukkah Claus I wanted a new job for Hanukkah. Heh heh. Actually that really is what I want.
A
digital photo frame would be a good present this year. I like the idea
of saving space by being able to rotate lots of photos in one frame.
Luckily,
or perhaps unluckily, I had already bought all my Hanukkah presents
before I got laid off. So I don't have to feel guilty about buying
anything with the threat of less income. Also my mom sent the boys
each one thing thy chose from Amazon.com - Ben got a Batman playset and
Adam got a talking Bumblebee transformer. It was really funny when the
package came I put it down in the living room and it started talking to
me from inside the box!
I've got a fun idea for holiday presents for the grandparents - do a slideshow of all the great pictures throughout the the year and give them to them on a personalized flash drive.
The folks at PexagonTech.com have ones that have Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas designs and as well you can upload your own design or logo. What a cool idea. You could do "Jones Family Slideshow 2008" on there and put a ton of pictures on.
Here's some of their features:
* Choice of 14 colors
* FREE Laser engraving on BOTH sides!
* Choose from one of our 32 exciting Themes such as "#1 Teacher", "Sports" or "Butterflies"
* Personalize the back with two lines of text
* Available in 512MB, 1GB, 2GB, 4GB, 8GB and 16GB capacities
* Hi-Speed USB 2.0
* Shipping is $4.65 and only 20 cents for each additional drive.
* No Minimum order!
Check out this video of the author of "The Love you Make" blog use voice recognition software to write a 280 word blog post in under 3 minutes. That's 1.7 words per second. She is using
Dragon NaturallySpeaking which I have blogged about before in terms of how it can be used by people with disabilities to make computer access easier. I am a pretty decent typist, but I suffer from Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and boy would it be nice to avoid having to type so much. I think it would drive my co-workers crazy to listen to me though. If I ever decide to write that Romance Novel that is stuck in my head I would definitely try Dragon again.
PRESS RELEASE THAT GOES WITH THE VIDEO
In this YouTube video, you can see a blogger using Dragon
NaturallySpeaking 10 Preferred to write a blog article with in
WordPress.
The author of The Love You Make, is using this voice recognition
software after having the software for just a few days. She writes this
great little article that's about 280 words long in about two minutes
and 45 seconds. That translates into about 165 seconds of typing, or
1.7 words per second. That means she's typing a little over 102 words
per minute with Dragon NaturallySpeaking.
Plus, she's just getting started with the software!
Dragon NaturallySpeaking has come a long way over the last decade,
and now can enable people to type at 150 words per minute. I myself,
have clocked version 9 at 167 words per minute, and I'm seeing even
better results out of version 10. The software is extremely accurate,
and can make many of your typing chores exceptionally easy.
As a blogger myself, I am able to write longer articles, with more
complete thoughts on a subject in a significantly reduced amount of
time. I have been working to challenge bloggers to try Dragon
NaturallySpeaking and see if they can use it to help improve their
writing. I think bloggers have an enormous amount of potential, and I
always look for tools that will help them unleash that potential.
I think that Dragon NaturallySpeaking is a great tool that can
definitely help bloggers increase the value that they offer their
readers. I can envision a blogosphere where bloggers are able to take
the time and provide insights into their wisdom and experience and
ideas easier and faster because they can get their thoughts out quickly
and completely using Dragon NaturallySpeaking.
I hope you will consider using Dragon NaturallySpeaking. It has a
price point that starts at about $99. This is the version that you
would use if you only use the software with your computer. If you
intend to use the software with a pocket voice recorder, which could
enable you to have your MP3 files of your voice transcribed into text,
then you may also want to consider opting for the Preferred version of
the software. The Preferred Version starts at about $199 and has many
options.
I personally recommend the preferred version, but I do understand
that times are a little tough financially for many people including
myself. I still recommend it, because I do believe that you will see a
significant return on your investment. Spending $100 or even $199 on
Dragon NaturallySpeaking will enable you to type at 100 to 150 words
per minute. It has been my experience that you will not get as tired
from typing, you will not suffer from eye strain as much and as a
result will experience fewer migraines or headaches, and you will be
able to move around your office, your home, or your work environment
because you will not be locked in front of your computer sitting in a
chair typing and mousing around with your fingers.
I do believe that Dragon NaturallySpeaking can help you to be a
better writer, to write as a more in-depth blogger, to produce better
content, and to produce more content. I believe this because I have
seen it myself. :-)
Please consider watching this Dragon NaturallySpeaking video so
that you can see for yourself just how well Dragon actually speaking
works.
Sincerely,
Brett Bumeter
Softduit Media
PS I wrote this 575 word article using Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10.
It took me about three minutes to write and about three minutes to
edit. :-) Even with editing time, that's 95 words a minute!
My three blogs are hosted on Typepad. I really like Typepad for the ease of use of their service and the fact that you get templates you can use and also easily do a custom header and graphics for your blog. I don't mind paying a monthly fee, and in fact, since I monetized this blog last Aril, (Google ads, sponsorships, and affiliate program through Amazon) my blog has paid for itself and more.
However, there are times when you need more webhosting than Typepad can handle. For example, I am frequently jealous of some of the goodies you can add to Wordpress coded blogs for example the page curl feature. Typepad does not have this.
You also want to go for real webhosting if you need to do web commerce (shopping cart), mysql, php, have a forum, etc.
If you are looking for imformation on web hosting a good site I have been working with is webhostinggeeks.com. In particular their webhosting blog has a lot of interesting articles on what to factor in when you are choosing a web hosting company.
One interesting article from the blog recently talked about how Host Gator, a web hosting company, is using buying carbon offsets to offset its carbon emissions.
The topic of computer accessibility is a very interesting and pertinent one. The more we as a society depend on the internet and other computer tools in our day to day lives the more it becomes important to consider how these tools are used by people with various types of disabilities.
Today I have the opportunity to talk to you about a product called Dragon Naturally Speaking which is a piece of software that can be used to enable computers with voice recognition. For people with difficulty typing this can be very useful as you can use the voice commands to interact with all types of Windows software.
I have Crohn's disease, and while I don't necessarily consider myself to be disabled, the fear of the disease causing me to get to that level seems to lurk in the back of my mind. In 2006 when I was hospitalized and diagnosed, I was out of work on disability for about 3 months. When you are stuck at home recuperating, or housebound due to illness or disability, the internet can help connect you to the rest of the world. Between online forums, email to relatives and work, and just surfing the web for information its become crucial, not just an extra.
I think that voice recognition software can not only help disabled people work with computers but also help people simply work faster. I used Dragon Naturally Speaking years ago, and I bet they have improved the product a lot since then. Back when I used it was before the days of Bluetooth and good microphones and the software had a tendency to misunderstand me. According to their web site they have about a 99% accuracy now, which could make this a killer app for the disabled and really anyone trying to make life easier.
I also have carpal tunnel syndrome and I know that avoiding use of the mouse and keyboard can really help alleviate this type of repetitive stress injury.
I found this best buy from Buy.com. Its a Migo 2GB DataTraveller usb click drive for only $12.95 with free shipping. What a cute little thing! Don't lose it though. I don't see from the picture if it has a loop for putting on your keychain or lanyard.
I find little usb drives to be so useful for both my work (I never go to a customer site without one) as well as for carrying pictures of the kids back and forth. One year for holiday gifts I made a slideshow of my scrapbook layouts and sent it to my family members on a click drive as their gift.
I really like Typepad for my blog platform because it is so easy to use. I don't mind paying for it - I feel like I get my money's worth as I get templates, the ability to easily ad widgets, and can make my blog look pretty an personalized without having to do any programming. And yes - you can use Typepad and still have your own domain name and be able to take advantage of all the good thing that allows you to do. See - I am mariannesmotifs.com running on Typepad.
But my blog has been loading really slow lately - I think because I loaded up on flashy ads and widgets. I wonder if Typepad itself could be part of the performance issue?
Should I switch to self hosted and Wordpress?
Alot of people use Wordpress and their own server. Did you know you can
actually get a dedicated server for $29.95 a month through a company
like ServerPronto top ISP?
I don't really feel like monkeying around with Wordpress, however. I do technical stuff all day at work and by the time I get home at night I just want to post and chat for fun, not delve into html programing to make my blog look professional and hip. Its probably worthwhile though if you need to have a shopping cart and stuff like that for a bigger site to have your own dedicated server.
I noticed that the blog was loading slowly, so I removed some ads and widgets. Although they are fun, if they take a long time to load I am afraid that people will not get to my quality content and just give up on me. I turned of the Widget Bucks ad. I have only made 5 dollars on the things, and I am just not sure that it is worth the screen real estate it is taking up. I might change my mind and try putting it back up - but I want to make sure it wasn't what was slowing doing my page loading time.
So you might see some experimentation going on with the blog design and sidebar widgets. I want to get a perfect balance of fun widgets that load fast and are easy on the eyes.
I don't care if you are "techy" or not this is a free service you can use! Program GOOGLE 466453 into your cell phone and you can text for great information on the road. Don't know how to program it into your phone - click the web link below and Google will send you a link.
This woks with ANY cellphone with SMS which is really almost all cell phones. (Check for how your provider charges for SMS messages - some charge by the message)
I grew up in Rochester, NY, the home of Kodak. I remember being fascinated as a kid with the business cards of Kodak employees because they were printed on photo paper and had a picture of the person.
It's a great marketing strategy to put a face to the name - it helps break down the barrier between the buyer and seller. Let's face it, especially if you are attractive - your face is a valuable part of your personal brand.
I found a new website that is a directory of local business people with pictures. I think its a great way for business people, sales and marketing people, and people in the service industries to help promote themselves. I saw alot of hair stylists, nail techs, real estate agents, etc. If you are a people person in a "people" business, what better way to get your name and FACE out there.
The link to the site is MyCityFaces.com. This is a free site, and has many cities listed not just in the US either - all over the world. They have cities represented all the way from Adelaide, Australia to Zurich, Switzerland! Atlanta (my home) seems to be well represented already, even though the site is new.
