Last week, the big news was that several universities decided not to support the Kindle (or similar e-readers, presumably) because they are not accessible or friendly to blind and visually impaired students. Intel has stepped up this week though with an innovative device to help those with visual impairments read and hear the written word easier! Continue Reading

We reviewed the Moshi Voice Response Alarm Clock. We liked it a lot.

Then we had one to give away. Nice!

To enter it was quite simple… you just had to ask Moshi a question. We got some good ones. Questions like “Is it really Monday again?” and “Should I even get out of bed today?”

Questions like the one our reader Augie Asked…

Hello Moshi, I’m wondering… will you’ll answer my question with another question?

We aren’t quite sure what Augie’s next question was but we have a guess…

He probably would have asked… Continue Reading

(This is the third installment of “Look Ma No Hands- Voice Recognition Technology Today”. Once again there is a video at the end of the post showing the process of writing it prior to the physical clean-up that took place after. The video is truly boring but it does give a good sense of the speed, or lack there-of on a netbook.)

Yesterday I did a quick post on setting up Dragon NaturallySpeaking Version 10. It’s a relatively easy process but it does take some time. It was done on a MacBook Pro with a 2.4 or 2.5 GHz processor and 4 GB of RAM. While that wasn’t able to use all of the resources since it was a virtual machine and the computer was also running Mac OSx it still was quite speedy. Better still, because the microphone is as good as it is I didn’t need to use a headset.

This is a quick post simply to show how well you can use Dragon NaturallySpeaking Version 10 on a netbook. I’m actually recording this post using a Toshiba NB205. Even better, once again I’m not using a headset. I’m sitting in front of the computer and speaking. And while I am speaking slower than I normally would and I’m articulating more clearly than I normally do it isn’t totally unnatural for me to speak this way and as you can see it’s capturing all the words quickly and with almost 100% accuracy.

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In this, the second edition of “Look Ma No Hands, Voice Recognition Technology Today” we’ll take a look at getting started with Dragon NaturallySpeaking Version 10 Professional.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 Standard has an MSRP of $99.
Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 Preferred has an MSRP of $199.

Time to welcome another previously offline company to the wonderful world of the web! It’s hard to believe, but not everyone has always been on the web. Why is the launch of this particular website newsworthy on Gear Diary? Read on…

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I’ve been using various voice to text solutions for a number of years. I began using Nuance’s Dragon NaturallySpeaking when it was back in version 7 or 8. Unfortunately, back then it was often more proof of concept than useful tool. The process of transcribing text was slow and the accuracy was not all that good. Over the years two things have changed. First, the power of our devices has grown exponentially. My iPhone is, on many levels, as powerful or more powerful than the computer I was using just a few years ago. And my iMac and my MacBook Pro have power and speed that I couldn’t have dreamed about a few years ago. Second, the speech to text technology has improved significantly. It just works better. Often, so long as you’re speaking properly — meaning slowly and clearly — the process of speaking and having your words transcribed can now approach 100% accuracy.

That’s what this new series is all about. “Look Ma no hands — Voice Recognition Technology Today” will be an opportunity for me to look at the various tools available on multiple platforms and how to make the best use of them. We’ll look at desktop applications that allow you to speak and create text and will also look at the emerging, and incredibly powerful, devices and technologies available on handhelds.

First up will look at the granddaddy of them all — Dragon NaturallySpeaking.

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On the newly announced Accessibility at Google site, there was a blog post highlighting the application Talking RSS Reader for Android. Talking RSS Reader for Android is an application which reads your Google Reader articles to you.

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Google has written frequently about accessibility in the past in a variety of locations. Yesterday, they announced a new website that brings all of their accessibility information into a single location.

Google has always considered access to information part of their core mission. This includes being able to get your data into and out of Google products via the Data Liberation project site. The new Accessibility at Google site is their new home which focuses information on Accessibility from Google products in a single location.  In addition to highlighting information on official Google products, they also showcase third-party developer applications, such as a Talking RSS Reader for Android.

Accessibility at Google (via the Official Google Blog)

photo credit: Ozyman

Technology can be a lot of fun. It can keep us connected with one another, it can transform our work habits, and it can help us become more organized and efficient.

It can do all these things, but of all the great uses of technology the one that stands as most important is this: that it can help us solve the problems life throws at us.

Dan is a good example of some of the ways technology can help overcome otherwise challenging issues. Back in January he wrote a post entitled A Crash Course in One-Handed Blogging. Dan had just undergone surgery to fuse one of his wrists after it had been destroyed by rheumatoid arthritis. With one arm tightly wrapped and constantly elevated, voice recognition software allowed him to keep blogging and writing for his rabbinic works (and for Gear Diary), even as he recovered from a surgery that was far more extensive than he expected.

Dan continues to do a great deal of his writing using various voice recognition solutions, and he will be introducing a new series about the subject here on Gear Diary later this week. But this story isn’t about VR, it is about another technology that has helped Dan deal with some of the after-effects of RA and his surgery; it’s about a technology that I have long advocated.

With his permission, here is the story…

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In 1999, I had Lasik surgery to correct a my severe nearsightedness and astigmatism. At that time I was 32 years old, and I had been wearing prescription eyeglasses or contacts since I was 12. I have the ugly yearbook photos to prove it…just ask anyone who went to school with me in Eldorado.

Because of my vision problems, it became a yearly ritual to go to an ophthalmologist or optometrist, have my eyes checked, get a prescription, and get a new pair of glasses; at best there may have been one or two years where I kept my old frames and only replaced the lenses. There wasn’t a single year that went by where my eyes didn’t get worse, although wearing contacts seemed to slow down my eyes’ decline.

Over the years, as my prescription got worse and my lenses grew thicker, a significant amount of money was invested in purchasing the thinnest and lightest lenses available. I also regularly upgraded with options such as anti-glare, UV protection, tinted or Transitions lenses, and for a brief awful while – progressive bifocals. A new pair of eyeglasses could easily cost $400 or more each year.

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I taught my grandmother how to use a computer when she was well into her 80’s. She saw that my parents and brother had computers at home, and I had one at college…so she wanted to get in on all the fun. I taught her to use AOL, how to play various games (Spider Solitaire was her favorite), and generally how to be self sufficient and keep herself “sharp” through her games.

Not everyone has a granddaughter with nothing to do for a summer but write a thesis-size set of instructions on how to use a computer (It was Windows ME, so it was like this; Step 1: press power button. Step 2: wait. Step 3: click desired icon. Step 4: wait some more…).

There is a better way to help someone developing Alzheimers and dementia though…Dakim Brain Fitness.

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I have never before been as thankful as I currently am to have technology that has advanced as it has, here in 2009. A little background to explain why this is the case and how our technology is coming in as “handy” (a pun — as will become clear in the moment), as it is.

A bit of background without going into the gory details — I suffer from a form of inflammatory  (Rheumatic) arthritis that leaves me reliant upon heavy medications and, despite the medications, in fairly constant discomfort and/or pain. About five years ago I slipped on the ice and damaged my right wrist. Three surgeries later the damage was repaired, but over the months following the pain returned and grew. Ultimately we discovered that, while the damage was repaired, the rheumatoid arthritis had destroyed the joint.

Things deteriorated to the point where a little over two weeks ago I underwent an operation to fuse my wrist by embedding an 8 inch plate from my arm into my hand. The result will be that I will no longer have any movement (and, as a result, no pain). Everything has gone “well”, but two weeks – and an additional surgery later – I’m still in horrific pain. Fortunately, my left hand is my dominant hand, but even with that being the case, I’m exceptionally limited in what I’m able to do right now.

I share all of this only to explain why it is that I currently have use only of my left hand, and I am so appreciative of the current state of technology.

Like many of us, I spend a good portion of my day writing. Between writing for work and the sites, responding to e-mail, writing talks and preparing classes, I’m on my computer far more than I ever expected. Having just one usable hand is more than a “slight inconvenience”. Fortunately there are some excellent solutions.

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First, before we get into today’s review, I want to talk a little about Sleep Apnea. Sleep Apnea is when you stop breathing while you sleep. The worst part of Sleep Apnea is a lot of people who have it don’t even know it. Symptoms of sleep apnea can include:

• Loud snoring.

• Waking up gasping for air.

• Waking up in a sweat.

• Feeling unrefreshed in the morning.

• Headaches, sore throat and dry mouth in the morning.

• Sleepiness during the day.

Now I know what your going to ask. How do you know for sure if you have Sleep Apnea? Continue Reading

This review has been a struggle to write. Not because of a problem with the product so much, but because of my irregular sleep patterns and my less than regular schedule. Let me start by giving you an overview of how my typical day goes…never mind, I have no typical days.

Instead of a routine of “up at 7 and to bed by 11″, I go to bed anywhere from 10pm to 4am – depending upon whether I need to get up early the next morning, or whether I am using the quiet late hours to work on a particular review. I might get up at 6:30am when I have an early appointment, or I may sleep in until 1pm if I don’t have to be anywhere until later in the day. This is, of course, when I am not suffering from insomnia. On those nights, it isn’t unheard of for me to stay up all night, all of the following day, and then I’ll crash early the following night.

It took a while for me to accept that what was normal for me wasn’t necessarily normal for others, and it has taken me even longer to acclimate those close to me to my weird sleep habits. But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t days – even weeks – where I need to keep a somewhat “normal” schedule, getting to bed at a decent time – and even harder, getting up at a set time.

On some of these days where I might sleep for a solid 8 hours, but when the alarm clock goes off I’ll wake up groggy, feeling unrested and as if I was only asleep for a few moments. Then there are other days where I might only catch a few hours sleep, but I’ll be wide awake when the alarm clock goes off – able to leave my bed refreshed and ready for whatever.

I have never paid much attention to the science of sleep, so other than knowing that REM was a band, and that the acronym stood for “Rapid Eye Movement“, and that this was a sleep stage mentioned in the book Firestarter…well, you get the idea. I was pretty ignorant about sleep stages.

So here is the quick version explaining how the process works:

When you sleep, your body goes through a series of sleep cycles. The average adult experiences 4-5 full sleep cycles over an 8-hour period. Each cycle lasts about 90-110 minutes and comprises five different stages, as illustrated by this chart.

No two people have the same sleep cycles, and nobody has the same cycle twice. Many factors can influence sleep cycles, including diet, exercise, medications, drugs or alcohol, stress, sleep disorders, and sleep deprivation. Age and gender can play a role, too: women tend to sleep more soundly than men, and as we age, we sleep more restlessly.

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