new software

I’m trying out Dragon NaturallySpeaking today.
For those of you don’t know what it is, it’s a software program to translate yours voice into words.
So far I’ve only been using it for approximately an hour and I’m finding that the voice recognition software is actually quite incredible.
There are a few things that I have to figure out such as punch relation online capitalization. But other than that, it seems to be working fairly well.
For instance, I have put in this blog post in approximately 30 seconds.
had I been typing it I think it would’ve taken a great deal longer
the main reason I bought the software is for Jackson and schooling.
I can see now that I may use it a fair amount as well.

TED

I cannot remember when I first saw the TED conference, but it is pretty cool. Once a year people who are brilliant or have something of importance to say get together and have a series of talks and discussions about where we are at in this big ol’ crazy world.

I have enjoyed browsing through some of the talks. Very specifically the technology section. Some of the presenters have some wild ideas. Some bring prototypes of technology, some are theorists. Pretty awesome stuff.

Check it out if you are interested in seeing what the brightest are seeing in the future.
Link here

A new era…

I am a self proclaimed techno junkie…
I love technology. Particularly new stuff…
I have just made a move that is probably the largest jump for me in the last 20 years since I started playing around with computers.

I purchased a macbook from apple.
There have been scads of people telling me that I should do this for ages.
Admittedly there have been a few things that have held me back.
Cost. They are not cheap, but I believe that the lifespan of this thing should be at least twice if not three times the average lifespan of a notebook pc. Therefore, total cost of ownership actually goes down.
(there is my accountant side justifying…)
Secondly, the fact that I do a ton of work in Microsoft Access which is not available in mac format.
Enter a nice little program called Parallels. This little proggy allows me to run windows within the mac.
And it runs so smooth. I won’t say it runs better but it certainly runs just as well as my current pc laptop.
Crazy.

It is taking me some time to get used to the user interface of the mac operating system as well as the fact that it is based on a unix kernal. That changes some things for me in terms of how I run the machine. It is taking time because I am so ingrained into the cult of Bill Gates’ way, that I am having a hard time getting out of it. Not to mention that I do not have 3 days to set aside to simply learn the mac. It will have to be a process for me.

So far, I really like it. I have not done much other than surf, talk to people via Adium (msn…) and check out cute programs like IphotoBooth.
I will delve a little deeper into some others in the next little while.

uh oh….

So, Nan and I have been wondering since we moved into this house 6 years ago about when we would have to replace our furnace. I think that the day has come. Last year, I decided that the thermostat was not working correctly so I replaced it with a nice new high-tech one. It did not work. So, we had our neighbourhood heating contractor come and look at. He let us know that our gas valve was getting weak. To fix it, he installed one of the old style mercury switches and it worked fine for the season.

With the advent of some colder weather this weekend, we popped the furnace on. Or we thought we did. Turned it on, and no heat…. hmmmm. I flicked the switch a couple of times and it started. OK, that is good. Then once it got up to temperature, it did not shut off… Oh brother!

So, we have put the call in to have them come and look at it. I am thinking that we will not have to replace the A/C as it works wonderfully right now. I hope at least.

Secondly, my laptop went on the fritz this week. That was stressful. I keep EVERYTHING on my laptop. I could not even log into it. It turned out to be a services thing.. Yeah, like I really know what that exactly means too. But it is still not 100% it seems. It just seems off. I can’t really explain that, but man oh man, did I boogey it over to Costco to pick up a portable hard drive to back everything up once it was up and running.
So, know I have the decision about what to do with it. Truly, I want to buy a mac. They are so stable. I have never spoken to anyone that has had ANY issues with them. Not a single one. That being said however, they are quite a bit more expensive. But this is my work. It could very well be worth the investment I think. I could run mac for most of my stuff and if there was something that I absolutely need windows for, I can run xp or vista from within mac if I want..

So, all of this is weighing on my mind. I am sure I will stew about it for a couple of weeks… The furnace not so much. You need a furnace. Well, unless you live in Miami I suppose. I do not live in Miami. I guess if I did then I might need to buy
more sunblock than I do right now.

Yet another internet browser or not?

Google has released their own internet browser program for Windows users.
It is call Chrome.
You can download it here.

I was thinking to myself as I saw a link for this and downloaded it..

Why would Google want to have their own browser? Are they not satisfied with being the best search engine out there?

Nope, I think they are gonna bust out some pretty cool web-applications in the next couple of years. They are already doing it with gmail, google reader, google maps, etc… I think that they even have an online Office system that works very similarly to Microsoft’s office…

I think they are going to take a run at Microsoft. It would seem to me that the internet is where things are going for most things. We can walk around pretty much anywhere now and have the internet with us. Cellphones are an obvious version of this.

It will be interesting to see where it all goes.

I downloaded and installed Google’s Chrome. First impression is that it works fairly efficiently but there are a few bugs in it to work out yet.
Give it a whirl and see what you think.

Linix revisited

I am primarily a Windows xp guy. I have been for a long, long time. I would love to be a mac guy but I cannot justify the cost to get into such a system. I have heard the arguments about total cost of ownership but I am still not convinced yet.

Every once in a while my friend Topher tells me I should be running Linux on at least one of my machines. I have started considering it again. Running a dual boot maxhina would be nice if my windows ever flakes out on me for recovery purposes but other than that I should be using Linux for every day stuff. My issue is that I am so ingrained in using my windows programs that I would want to use them In Linux seamlessly. It would be ideal to rim Linux on my laptop with windows inside that Linux for stability purposes.

Can I do that Toph?

Trying something different.

I recently purchased an iphone for many different reasons. I am getting used to now and am finding a plethora of different applications that I can use on it that will make my life and work easier. One of the applications gives me the ability the post blog entries here through my iphone. Why not do it through the web on the iphone you say? Well, the interface on this little application I am trying is simply fantastic. Hopefully it will work ok.

This is not an application to to make my work easier, it is one to make my life easier. I have not been blogging much lately because of busyness. This will hopefully allow me to continue to post even in the busy times of life when I am somewhere that my computer terminal is not.

Test

Testing testing 123!

Done deal.

Rogers is gone for internet, Grynet is in. All set up and up and running like it should be. phew!

Now if I could only get my motorbike back from the shop, I would be all set….
I hope I hear from them today or tomorrow…. sigh

Changes coming.

That’s it. Rogers internet is outa here.
I am fed up with them.