You know, when I see websites online that aim to help people track down old school friends — I realise how lucky I am in that at 28, I am still in touch with all the people from school that mean something to me. That’s not to say I wouldn’t be curious about others though, friends of friends, acquaintances — it’d be great to go to a reunion and just see what every one has been up to for the last 10 - 12 years!
At My Home Town Schools you can get in touch with old School Friends in Great Britain, and it’s totally free to join. Once you’ve found your own school you can discuss it on the message boards, upload photos and chat to people. Pretty neat
I know most of you guys, who love to be able to watch your favourite TV shows online, will also use the Internet to download music, I know I do. Just a few days ago as I was updating my iPod with some new music and podcasts to entertain me on my upcoming long and boring coach journey I was looking for new places to download from. I usually use itunes but I have never actually liked it, I find it fiddly and difficult to use — I recently tried to show a friend who just bought an iPod how to use it, she’s technically challenged any way but trying to teach her how to use itunes was a ginormous nightmare and we gave up in the end!
I much prefer to just be able to grab songs from other sites, download them on to my computer and then transfer them — even though it sounds like more work I find it easier!
One of the sites I came across on my search was SoundsBox.com, a site where you can download all the latest tracks for as little as $0.14 each! You can search the site in many ways which makes it easy to find what you want, I just went to view the current UK chart listing and saw three albums I have been meaning to get, The Kings of Leon, Elbow and the new Will Young one.
In order to download mp3s from the site all you have to do is register a totally free account — you’ll be given $0.30 bonus money which you can use to try out the site and download a few tracks, then once you have decided you like what you see and wish to download more you simply deposit some money via your credit card and away you go.
I have been hearing a lot lately about Dragon NaturallySpeaking, mainly because a fellow blogger I happen to know has been trying to encourage people to try it out. What is it? It’s a great piece of software that turns your spoken word into text and the more you use it, the more accurate it becomes. With that being said I will let him explain to you in more detail by re posting his words here. Please watch the embedded video below first and then enjoy the article.
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!
I am going to share a press release with you that I happened upon a while ago, it is from Cydcor, a company that outsources sales teams, that has just launched a new initiative that encourages their team members to do volunteer work in their local communities. Please read the press release below for full details.
CYDCOR Launches Volunteer Day
CYDCOR, the leading provider of outsourced, face-to-face sales teams, has introduced CYDCOR Cares - Volunteer Day, a new internal program to encourage team members to get more involved in their local communities*
Westlake Village, CA (PRWEB) April 26, 2008 — CYDCOR, the leading provider of outsourced, face-to-face sales teams, has introduced CYDCOR Cares - Volunteer Day, a new internal program to encourage team members to get more involved in their local communities.
The company’s new CYDCOR Cares Volunteer Day benefit provides eight hours paid time off annually to its team members, giving them the opportunity to donate their time and talents to non-profit, community or charitable organizations of their choice.
“CYDCOR is dedicated to giving back and getting involved with charitable causes - it is food for our company’s soul,” said Gary Polson, chief executive officer for CYDCOR. “The success of our company can be measured, in part, by looking at how we can contribute to the well-being of the community, and we want to encourage our team members to get involved in causes they are passionate about.”
Volunteer Day extends CYDCOR’s culture of community involvement. Since 2007, CYDCOR has maintained a relationship with Casa Pacifica, a residential treatment facility in Camarillo for abused, neglected and emotionally disturbed children. Employees have helped organize its community donations, and CYDCOR recently donated $2,500 to support the Casa Pacifica’s programs.
About CYDCOR, Inc.
CYDCOR, Inc., is the leading provider of outsourced, face-to-face sales teams to a diverse client base of companies in a range of industries, including telecommunications, office products, retail energy and financial services. CYDCOR works with a network of independently owned corporate licensee (ICL) sales offices providing clients with access to more than 2,700 sales professionals and 200+ offices in North America. The privately held company is based in Westlake Village, California.
Let me tell you about a site I stumbled upon earlier today, though I warn you…only continue reading if you have an hour or two or three to spare when you get as hooked on the site as I did!
At PixOrNix.com you can not only view but also rate images and view the ones chosen as the best in any particular category and you can even upload your own pictures to be rated by others. The site claims you can rate pictures of almost any thing so I wanted to try this out and did some really random searches.
One of my favourite things to look at pictures of is Fireworks, so I spent a long time rating pictures on Firework.PixorNix.com. I don’t even know what it is about fireworks, but I love them and Bonfire night is my second favourite ‘holiday’, after the mighty Christmas. So looking through all those awesome pictures got me really excited for the three firework displays I am going to be going to over the next few weeks. I have oodles of great firework pictures myself already, so I am going to pick out my favourites and add them to the site for others to rate
