learning viavoice

Olivia and Brittany were playing dress up
on the weekend, and I snapped this shot between
costume changes.


I'm pretty happy with ViaVoice so far. I've also realized that I don't have to speak so slowly or like a robot in order for ViaVoice to understand me. In fact, ViaVoice finds it easier to understand me if I speaking in phrases rather than one word at a time. This also makes it easier for me to put my thoughts in writing as I talk, which is unusual for me since I dislike the sound of my speaking voice.

I really like the macro feature in ViaVoice which enables me to program shortcuts for blocks of text or unusual phrases. I can also add new words to the vocabulary if I find that ViaVoice has trouble recognizing them, such as the word " filk ". :-) And yes, Parki, I programmed ViaVoice to recognize the word " woohoo! " as well as your name.

I can also use ViaVoice to open Internet Explorer and visit any page in my Favorites list. I've just discovered that not all the editing features are listed in the manual, so I'm exploring the online help features now.

Yesterday I went to see Nick the physiotherapist, who is cute and has a soul patch. I recently changed physiotherapy clinics so that now I only have a 12 minute walk instead of one and a half hours on the TTC. My old clinic gave me ultrasound treatment and electrotherapy on one elbow; the new one does ultrasound on both. The electrotherapy sort of freaked me out because it reminded me too much of tacky Dr. Ho commercials on TV. You know, the ones where a beautiful blond model wears electrodes on her face and and tries to smile alluringly while the muscles in her perfectly sculpted cheekbones twitch in a disturbing Frankenstein sort of way.

Wow, I have to say that I'm pretty impressed that ViaVoice recognizes the words " physiotherapist " and " electrotherapy ". :-)

Allison is coming to visit this afternoon. We're going to hang out during the day and hook up with Donna, a woman we met at Ad Astra last month, in the evening. Incidentally, the first time I dictated the name Alison, ViaVoice spelled the name with only one letter L. I corrected it, and the next time I used the name, ViaVoice use my revised spelling, which I think is pretty cool!

Apr/2003 comments: Read | Post | LJ

first viavoice entry!

My sister Ruth on TVO
(click on image for bigger version)



So I have only started to learn how to use ViaVoice but I am already impressed with how much I can do with only a little training so far. Thanks to all of you who recommended this program. I am writing this first bit of Blathering entirely with ViaVoice without using my arms, woohoo!

Editing functions are wonky (hey, this program knows the word wonky) but I am gradually learning. Can't write very quickly using this method yet since I must speak slowly and I'm not yet used to dictating out loud but at least I can write without pain.

I am way way way behind in e-mail right now, but will gradually catch up. Thank you for your patience! :-) cool. My smiley macro seems to work.




(click on image for bigger version)


Today's Blatherpics:

These are from Ruth's appearance on television when she was interviewed for TVO's Imprint program. She had been up most of the night before because Sara and Annie had the Norwalk virus.




She's using an Inkspot pen in this shot!
(click on image for bigger version)

Apr/2003 comments: Read | Post | LJ

waiting for viavoice

My nephew Garrison



ViaVoice should arrive today (birthday present from my mom-in-law Ginny), looking forward to trying it out!

Apr/2003 comments: Read | Post | LJ

spencervisit

Me with my new nephew Spencer

Apr/2003 comments: Read | Post | LJ

Poll: how crafty (or non-crafty) are you?

A beaded necklace made by Kathleen Sloan
(click on image for larger version)



My arms suck today, hence this short Blathering.

But first...

Blatherings Poll: how crafty (or non-crafty) are you?

Mary Ellen's recent post inspired this poll. Are you good at handcrafts? If so, what kind? What pieces are you especially proud of? Did you enjoy taking Home Economics and/or Shop in school? (I hated Home Ec.) If you're NOT crafty, what craft-person do you most envy? Or what craft do you wish you could learn? What crafts are you especially bad at?

Feel free to answer in your own Livejournal, but please do post the URL so I can find it (and others who may not be in Livejournal). If you've already posted a journal entry on this topic, please do post a link.

Apr/2003 comments: Read | Post | LJ