The Mike

So, tis the season to go blogging. To have not entered a text entry in one's blog for an extended period of time would give the impression that the blog is dormant, or worse. And of course, the observation would not be far from the truth. Because the notion of a blog as a constant stream of awareness, consciousness, or information demands that there be a blogger who is actively feeding the blog. But that would necessitate a motivated blogger who would need to be most likely motivated by the fact that there is a readership that he services. If indeed one knows -- as I do -- that there is no readership here, but this is rather just an experiment in the utilization of a specific dictation software package, then there can not be much of a motivation to submit an entry on a regular ongoing basis.

Nevertheless, life must move on and so must one's blog. So here is the latest entry -- the latest news in the dictation world of mine.

I purchased a new microphone. The microphone that I purchased is a GN5035. It was given a high rating on Dragon's website as compatible hardware. Including being called an excellent microphone. But when I checked on other websites, I did not necessarily see the most favorable reviews. I received it by UPS, shipped from Amazon.com. The first thing I noticed was that the rather tight headphone was actually quite uncomfortable in my ears. And I pretty much resolved then and there to return the item. But several factors cause me to hesitate and actually probably keep this microphone. They are the following:

1. When testing this microphone with the software, I found that it's better rates is very very minor, I'd almost go so far as to say that I get a 99% accuracy rate.
2. The rating on Nuance's website was very high, and I have to give them some credence.
3. The price is right -- or at least, more right than others. I got this headphone for $35 on Amazon. Other headphones that are suggested at the website of Nuance, cost anywhere between $50-$90. For $35, I am neither ready to purchase nor to return this headphone just to buy something worse.

So for those reasons and more, I'm ready to suffer a the discomfort of the uncomfortable headphones, with the hope that with time the plastic will stretch sufficiently that I will no longer feel any tightness upon my ears.

So that's the news right now. Nothing dramatic but something very helpful. Because I definitely intend to have the software replace any typing that I would need to do -- at the least as much as possible.