Comments on: The Return of Wishful Thinking http://www.wishfulthinking.co.uk/2008/10/28/the-return-of-wishful-thinking/ inspiring creative professionals Wed, 08 Sep 2010 16:44:50 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 hourly 1 By: Mark McGuinness http://www.wishfulthinking.co.uk/2008/10/28/the-return-of-wishful-thinking/comment-page-1/#comment-226272 Mark McGuinness Thu, 08 Jan 2009 20:23:16 +0000 http://www.wishfulthinking.co.uk/blog/?p=646#comment-226272 Thanks Akiba, much appreciated. Have a great 2009! Thanks Akiba, much appreciated. Have a great 2009!

]]> By: Akiba Howard http://www.wishfulthinking.co.uk/2008/10/28/the-return-of-wishful-thinking/comment-page-1/#comment-225527 Akiba Howard Mon, 29 Dec 2008 04:14:02 +0000 http://www.wishfulthinking.co.uk/blog/?p=646#comment-225527 Mark - first, I should do as my mother would want, and introduce myself. I'm a first time commenter, names' Akiba Howard. Let me say, I found you from Zoe Westhoff, who write glowingly about your e-book on Creatives' and Time Management. WOW! Thanks for the writing, and I wish I had found you a few years ago, when my creativity was at an all time HIGH, but my time management was at an all time low! LOL Fortunately, I've been working on that, and doing much better now....thank you. OK, so here are the 'hope the hand is better' wishes. Hope the hand is better. AS well, I am typing this to you on a MAC right now. I KNOW the pain of the MAC+WINDOWS transition. I HATED IT, but had to, to run some software for my newest venture. Anyhow, I too run D.N.S. (Dragon), and it really is a time saver and fun too. Every time I start it up, it's like a new Christmas toy. LOL, but it works and that is the point. So, this is more of a hello, 'I feel ya', and thank you for your resource, than anything else. Great site...look forward to reading more....and more...and more. Best wishes... KITF Akiba Howard <em>Akiba Howard's last blog post..<a href='http://livingyourdrea.ms/blog/2008/12/monday-december-29th/' rel="nofollow">Monday - December 29th</a></em> Mark – first, I should do as my mother would want, and introduce myself. I’m a first time commenter, names’ Akiba Howard. Let me say, I found you from Zoe Westhoff, who write glowingly about your e-book on Creatives’ and Time Management.
WOW! Thanks for the writing, and I wish I had found you a few years ago, when my creativity was at an all time HIGH, but my time management was at an all time low! LOL Fortunately, I’ve been working on that, and doing much better now….thank you.

OK, so here are the ‘hope the hand is better’ wishes. Hope the hand is better. AS well, I am typing this to you on a MAC right now. I KNOW the pain of the MAC+WINDOWS transition. I HATED IT, but had to, to run some software for my newest venture.

Anyhow, I too run D.N.S. (Dragon), and it really is a time saver and fun too. Every time I start it up, it’s like a new Christmas toy. LOL, but it works and that is the point.

So, this is more of a hello, ‘I feel ya’, and thank you for your resource, than anything else.

Great site…look forward to reading more….and more…and more.

Best wishes…

KITF
Akiba Howard

Akiba Howard’s last blog post..Monday – December 29th

]]> By: Mark McGuinness http://www.wishfulthinking.co.uk/2008/10/28/the-return-of-wishful-thinking/comment-page-1/#comment-216433 Mark McGuinness Wed, 12 Nov 2008 17:12:53 +0000 http://www.wishfulthinking.co.uk/blog/?p=646#comment-216433 Thanks for the suggestions David. Have you tried Mac Dictate? I read a few bad reviews so didn't go for it. I did actually try a Wacom pad -- believe it or not it made my symptoms worse! Maybe I'd already done the damage and it just aggravated it. Thanks for the suggestions David. Have you tried Mac Dictate? I read a few bad reviews so didn’t go for it.

I did actually try a Wacom pad — believe it or not it made my symptoms worse! Maybe I’d already done the damage and it just aggravated it.

]]> By: David Stevens http://www.wishfulthinking.co.uk/2008/10/28/the-return-of-wishful-thinking/comment-page-1/#comment-213948 David Stevens Fri, 31 Oct 2008 09:26:38 +0000 http://www.wishfulthinking.co.uk/blog/?p=646#comment-213948 Speech recognition on the Mac - the fairly new "MacSpeech Dictate" is (I believe) based on the same engine as Dragon. The first version was missing some important features, but I think a lot of that's been improved in a recent new release. Having said that, I haven't done a lot with it - my wrist and shoulder aren't that bad at the moment! One tip - replace your mouse with a Wacom pad (or similar pad) - your wrist sits in a more natural position, so there's less strain. And an elbow support can help too - it's a kind of hinged arm that you clamp to your desk, and your elbow rests in a cup at the end. Take care of those arms! Speech recognition on the Mac – the fairly new “MacSpeech Dictate” is (I believe) based on the same engine as Dragon. The first version was missing some important features, but I think a lot of that’s been improved in a recent new release. Having said that, I haven’t done a lot with it – my wrist and shoulder aren’t that bad at the moment!

One tip – replace your mouse with a Wacom pad (or similar pad) – your wrist sits in a more natural position, so there’s less strain. And an elbow support can help too – it’s a kind of hinged arm that you clamp to your desk, and your elbow rests in a cup at the end.

Take care of those arms!

]]> By: Mark McGuinness http://www.wishfulthinking.co.uk/2008/10/28/the-return-of-wishful-thinking/comment-page-1/#comment-213491 Mark McGuinness Wed, 29 Oct 2008 14:33:32 +0000 http://www.wishfulthinking.co.uk/blog/?p=646#comment-213491 James - that's the trouble with online reputation building. ;-) Brian - Well if my voice goes I'm reduced to searching Google for ' sign language recognition software' or if all else fails 'mind reading software'. :-) James – that’s the trouble with online reputation building. ;-)

Brian – Well if my voice goes I’m reduced to searching Google for ‘ sign language recognition software’ or if all else fails ‘mind reading software’. :-)

]]> By: Brian Clark http://www.wishfulthinking.co.uk/2008/10/28/the-return-of-wishful-thinking/comment-page-1/#comment-213485 Brian Clark Wed, 29 Oct 2008 14:08:00 +0000 http://www.wishfulthinking.co.uk/blog/?p=646#comment-213485 Nice video Mark, thanks. Makes me almost want to give VR a try. Seems I would lose my voice quicker than I'd cramp my fingers. You know, those two I use to type with. :0 Nice video Mark, thanks. Makes me almost want to give VR a try.

Seems I would lose my voice quicker than I’d cramp my fingers. You know, those two I use to type with. :0

]]> By: James Chartrand - Men with Pens http://www.wishfulthinking.co.uk/2008/10/28/the-return-of-wishful-thinking/comment-page-1/#comment-213469 James Chartrand - Men with Pens Wed, 29 Oct 2008 13:10:29 +0000 http://www.wishfulthinking.co.uk/blog/?p=646#comment-213469 <blockquote>(watch more than the first few seconds)</blockquote> Good lord... my attention span is getting a reputation...

(watch more than the first few seconds)

Good lord… my attention span is getting a reputation…

]]> By: Mark McGuinness http://www.wishfulthinking.co.uk/2008/10/28/the-return-of-wishful-thinking/comment-page-1/#comment-213463 Mark McGuinness Wed, 29 Oct 2008 13:03:19 +0000 http://www.wishfulthinking.co.uk/blog/?p=646#comment-213463 James -- that's exactly it, I can think/talk quicker than I can type, so it really helps me get my thoughts onto the screen quickly. Editing is surprisingly easy as well. In terms of training, it didn't take all that long and I got used to it very quickly. I had previously used Vista's built-in speech recognition, which is pretty good for surfing the web or writing a short e-mail, but useless writing articles. So I guess that gave me some prior practice with speech recognition, but I don't think it made much difference. Have a look at the demo video on this page for an idea of how quickly it works (watch more than the first few seconds): http://www.nuance.com/naturallyspeaking/swf/nuanceVideo.swf Cynthia -- thanks. Yes, a writer's worst nightmare. I don't want to be melodramatic but it feels like being able to walk again. Write on indeed. James — that’s exactly it, I can think/talk quicker than I can type, so it really helps me get my thoughts onto the screen quickly. Editing is surprisingly easy as well. In terms of training, it didn’t take all that long and I got used to it very quickly. I had previously used Vista’s built-in speech recognition, which is pretty good for surfing the web or writing a short e-mail, but useless writing articles. So I guess that gave me some prior practice with speech recognition, but I don’t think it made much difference.

Have a look at the demo video on this page for an idea of how quickly it works (watch more than the first few seconds): http://www.nuance.com/naturallyspeaking/swf/nuanceVideo.swf

Cynthia — thanks. Yes, a writer’s worst nightmare. I don’t want to be melodramatic but it feels like being able to walk again. Write on indeed.

]]> By: Cynthia Morris http://www.wishfulthinking.co.uk/2008/10/28/the-return-of-wishful-thinking/comment-page-1/#comment-213413 Cynthia Morris Wed, 29 Oct 2008 09:43:44 +0000 http://www.wishfulthinking.co.uk/blog/?p=646#comment-213413 Wow, Mark, I'm sorry to hear that happened to you. It's kinda the writer's worst nightmare! I sometimes worry about that since I am now working exclusively on my laptop. I'm glad your hands are back and I appreciate that you shared your story with us to remind us to be conscientious about our work posture. Write on! Wow, Mark, I’m sorry to hear that happened to you. It’s kinda the writer’s worst nightmare! I sometimes worry about that since I am now working exclusively on my laptop.
I’m glad your hands are back and I appreciate that you shared your story with us to remind us to be conscientious about our work posture.
Write on!

]]> By: James Chartrand - Men with Pens http://www.wishfulthinking.co.uk/2008/10/28/the-return-of-wishful-thinking/comment-page-1/#comment-213135 James Chartrand - Men with Pens Tue, 28 Oct 2008 16:37:57 +0000 http://www.wishfulthinking.co.uk/blog/?p=646#comment-213135 Hey Mark, Good to have you back. Now I can have more great content like you've been doing over at Lateral Action! (Okay, but without you getting injured from feeding my reading habit, alright?) Technical question. I've had a few people suggest Dragon to me because of the amount of typing work I do - also because I think faster than I type and speaking it out might work better to get those thoughts on paper. Learning curve and setup to use the software for you was... painful? Easy? Long? Did the software screw up much while you taught it? Hey Mark,

Good to have you back. Now I can have more great content like you’ve been doing over at Lateral Action! (Okay, but without you getting injured from feeding my reading habit, alright?)

Technical question. I’ve had a few people suggest Dragon to me because of the amount of typing work I do – also because I think faster than I type and speaking it out might work better to get those thoughts on paper.

Learning curve and setup to use the software for you was… painful? Easy? Long? Did the software screw up much while you taught it?

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