The things in my head go 'round and 'round

MLW is looking for boots. And not just any boots. She is looking for a pair of boots that will show her personal sense of style to the world.

Me, I am just as happy with a good pair of work boots. But her sense of style and mine are just a tad bit different.

MLW worries about not only the comfort of her boots, she worries about what outfits they will go with. She is concerned with the boots she buys will stay in style long enough. She worries whether other people are wearing the same boots, because if too many people are wearing the same boots that is not a good thing.

Crazy. When I buy a pair of boots I am worried about whether or not they fit. Go figure.

Namaste.

Yes, folks it is that time yet once again. Time to get your Christmas Cards ordered so that you can get them sent out in time for the holidays.

And I have to tell you that there is noone better to order from than Vistaprint.com. And even better they are running a limited time offer of 25% off everything that you order on their entire site. But lets talk cards. They have the traditional ones, they have photo cards where you can put your favorite photo on the card. They also have the 4 x 8 cards that have a photo and your greeting on it, along with my favorite, caricature cards. Caricatures! How totally cool is that?

The point of all of this is that Vistaprint.com has the capability to help you make your Christmas Cards, and you party invitations as memorable as the season. Their website is easy to navigate, their products are reasonably priced, and they can get your order to you in 3 days if you need it that fast. And the very best part is that they not only have Christmas Cards, they also have Business Cards, Stationary, Rubber Stamps, and Magnetic Signs just to name a few of their products.

Vistaprint.com needs to be your place to shop you for not only your holiday card needs, but for everything you might need for your family and business.

Namaste

If you spend a lot of time online like I do, you have to get tired of typing. I know that I do. I always have wanted one of those programs where as you are talking, the computer is doing the typing for you. All you have to do is talk. And I can do a lot of that.

Well, I found that program. it is called Dragon Naturally Speaking 10.

Check out this video.

Here is what the developer has to say about it:

The video above was created by a blogger that goes by the name, SuperZ.

I couldn’t write that name before using Dragon NaturallySpeaking until I trained Dragon NaturallySpeaking to recognize the name SuperZ. I mention that because I’m using Dragon NaturallySpeaking right now to write this article (notice Dragon new when I said the words right now that I meant the word right and not the word to write).

I’ve been writing articles and reviews about Dragon NaturallySpeaking for close to two years. I’ve had a lot of experience with the software, and I wanted to reach out to other bloggers and see what they thought of the software.

SuperZ tried out the software and as you can see from his own video, the results that he’s getting after having used the software for just a week are pretty amazing. His computer is keeping up with just about every word that he says, and typing those words out for him in text.

Well frankly that’s exactly what Dragon NaturallySpeaking is supposed to do these days and it lives up to its claim of achieving 99% accuracy and I’ve clocked it typing faster than its claims of 150 words per minute.

That’s right you can type 150 words a minute with Dragon NaturallySpeaking. You do have to spend a little time editing from time to time, but you type so fast that editing doesn’t take that long. You get the typing done faster and the editing is a breeze because you only have to look at the way that you phrased words. Dragon NaturallySpeaking almost never makes a spelling mistake. It types out the entire word based on the vocabulary that has stored in the machine. So it really can’t misspell a word it’s pulling the word straight out of a dictionary.

The only exception might be the case when you run into a name like SuperZ, which is not in your dictionary yet. When you run across a name like that, all you have to do is add it into your dictionary and train the software to recognize that new word or name. It just takes a second and after that you’ll be able to say SuperZ all you like and Dragon NaturallySpeaking will know exactly what you are talking about.

Sincerely,
Brett Bumeter
Softduit Media
www.softduit.com
PS this article includes about 381 words that I wrote with Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10. It took me about 4 minutes to write and 4 minutes to edit this article. The writing time included the short amount of time it took to train dragon to recognize the name SuperZ. Editing took 4 minutes because I’ve been working all night and I’m not reading too fast! J

Anyone who has a blog has had the same quandry. Which webhost should I use? Who has the best service, the best technical support, and isn’t going to head off to Jamaica with my money?

We all want the most “stuff” for our money. It is an American sort of obsession. I give you cash, you give me a bunch of stuff. But if you enter “webhosting” into your favorite search engine you had better step away from your monitor, because you are going to be completely overwhelmed with the amount of information that is going to be there.

Enter a webhosting blog by webhostinggeeks dot com. These guys have a great site full of information for someone just thinking about setting up a website. They have a blog where they talk about what is going on in the industry, along with a number of links to articles that will help you pick out a site, and get it up and running. They have “how to’s” about “Three Web Hosting Mistakes to Avoid“, and “What Type of Hosting Do You Need“.

They also have articles where they rate webhosts by who offers free domain names, who offers multiple domain name hosting, who offers free google adwords. This is a great site for those who are just getting started, to those who already have a webhost and want to see what else is out there. Like me.

Namaste.

Sarah Palin has pushed the standard black frame glasses back into the mainstream of America.  Don’t know why she wears them, unless it is to make herself look more intelligent, or serious.  And I don’t know why she chosed the standard, severe, black frames.  There are so many more options out there.

And I know that she is buying the expensive, designer frames.  I just get that vibe from her.  When MLW and I were talking about changing the frames on our eyeglasses, we didn’t start looking at the designer frames.  We started looking at what frames were available that first fit into our budget, and then what frames didn’t suck.  Luckily I remembered a plug I heard on The Clark Howard Show, a consumer advocate show about Zenni Optical.

Zenni Optical has a huge selection of frames, with single vision lens, sunsensor (potochromic) lens, tinted sunglasses lens, bifocal lens and progressive lens.  And the prices start from just $8.  That definitely fits into my budget.  And the frames are good looking.  You can’t beat that with a stick.

The reason that their prices are so low is that they have no middle man who has to take his slice of the pie, so to speak.  Zenni manufactures their own products, and really doesn’t have a huge advertising budget to drive their prices up.

So if you are in the market for new glasses, give them a try.  You will be very satisfied.

Namaste.