MacSpeech Updates to 1.3

The best speech recognition application on the Mac, MacSpeech Dictate, got updated today to version 1.3. Now you can use MacSpeech Dictate in any document, including those that were not created with MacSpeech Dictate. There is a new “Cache Document” command that allows MacSpeech Dictate to read a document’s contents, in order to navigate the document, and to enter and edit text.
MacSpeech Dictate uses a cache to keep track of the text in the window and where the selection or insertion point is located within that text. This is a significant improvement for this application. I routinely use both MacSpeech Dictate and DragonDictate on the PC side. MacSpeech Dictate still has a ways to go before it gets the functionality of DragonDictate but the aggressive updates and improvements are encouraging.

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iPhone JD for iPhone Help

Louisiana attorney Jeff Richardson has been quietly putting together one of the best iPhone sites on the web for business users at iPhone J.D. While it is supposed to be geared toward attorneys, I think the tips and references are very useful for anyone who uses their iPhone to get things done. This one is worth adding to your RSS feed.

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Connection Lines in Keynote 09

In Keynote ’09 you can now connect objects with lines (straight or curved) that follow your objects as you move them around. I didn’t know that.

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Blogo Review

Blogo is one of those interesting applications that covers old ground from a completely different angle. In this instance it is blogging software, but not like any such application you’ve seen before.

Blogo’s interface almost tricks you into thinking you are logged into a web 2.0 site. It has big friendly buttons and very much feels like a browser. It includes several, easy to use, tools. For instance, inserting a picture into a blog entry is as simple as dragging the file in, picking alignment and setting your size. The application takes care of the rest. You no longer need to resize your pictures before uploading. My only real complaint with image management is that it does not show you a thumbnail in the editing menu. It simply puts a placeholder for your imported images. You have to open the preview window to see your pictures with your text.

Blogo also does a nice job of formatting text with easy to recognize buttons for typical markup. However, it does not have a “headings” button which is puzzling. I use headings often and using Blogo, I’ve got to dig into the html to pull that off. Speaking of html, I am no expert expert but the html code generated by Blogo appears a bit more verbose than that generated by MarsEdit.

I really liked the full screen editing mode. Of course, I always like full screen editing mode. One of Blogo’s strongest features is the ability to go pull the formatting off your blog and format previews just as they would look on your site. Every blogging application should have that feature.

Blogo presents a friendly, but sometimes limiting, interface for maintaining your blog. You can open it up and start blogging immediately. It represents a very different approach to blogging applications and that, in itself, makes it worth a trial. You can download it from drinkbrainjuice.com and a license will cost $25. You can install your license on up to three computers.

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Evernote Tips

Lately I’ve been rethinking my data collection system. I think a better solution for me involves more effective use of Evernote. The Clever with Words blog has some great Evernote tips.

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LegalTech iPhone Session – Call for Apps

One of the sessions I’ll be helping lead at this year’s American Bar Assosciation Tech Show is a roundtable discussion of practicing law with an iPhone. In addition to discussing network and security issues, I also want to highlight some of my favorite business related applications. At some point I will post a listing of the top applications here but in the meantime, I’d like to hear from the readers about what apps you find helpful for getting through the work day. OmniFocus and Evernote are the easy ones. Surprise me with something I’ve never heard of. Sound off in the comments or drop me an email.

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Micrsoft Retail Stores

Yup, you heard it right. Is it just me or does it seem that Microsoft, that built its business around strategic partnerships, increasingly seems willing to “go it alone?” What is next? Windows branded PC hardware?

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The Great Sync Gold Rush

There is a new battlefield in the often maligned rush to cloud computing called sync services. Most Apple users are aware of MobileMe and some of the really techy ones know about Dropbox but sit back kids because that is just the beginning.

In the last month, numerous rumors have surfaced about the fabled Google cloud drive giving you virtual cloud storage space. Google also released their own phone syncing service aiming at seemlessly tying the Google apps and their data to any phone. If that isn’t enough, Microsoft has also started looking up into the clouds with their own PC and Mac friendly syncing services.

These are the wild days for sync services. There is no “go to” service (yet) and every developer with an extra server and a bottle of Web 2.0 sauce wants to join the party. As for me, I am sold with MobileMe for most of my syncing and a Dropbox account for the big stuff. I am excited about all this competition however because I believe synced data is going to be the future and we are just at the beginning.

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Looking at the Kindle 2

Amazon rolled out the Kindle 2 today. I am a reformed Kindle user, which means initially I mocked it and now I love mine. I still have my doubts as to whether the Kindle business model will actually succeed. It seems to me people would prefer not to buy new hardware to read their books. However, since Amazon appears to be the only game in town, they just may pull it off. Maybe one way to get better market penetration would be for Amazon to bundle the Kindle for free or at a seriously reduced price in exchanged for pre-paid subscriptions.

Anyway, as much as I like my 1st generation Kindle, the form factor is just awkward. After a year, I’ve still yet to figure out a way to hold it comfortably while laying on the couch without accidently turning pages. Hopefully they sorted that out with the new design.

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Drive Genius Review

As any self respecting Mac geek, I’ve put together a toolbox to address the various computer problems I come across. One tool I’ve come to rely upon is Drive Genius 2 from ProSoft Engineering.

Drive Genius 2 is a jack-of-all-trades for Mac hard drive maintenance and repair. It includes modules for troubleshooting, repairing, defragmenting, partitioning, shredding, and even editing sectors. The geek meter goes all the way to 11 on this one.

The diagnosis, repair, and drive slimming tools are excellent. I own a few drives that don’t have the automatic S.M.A.R.T diagnosis built in and Drive Genius is a big help. Likewise, the drive slimming module found several large files that had completely dropped off my radar.

The repartition tool must involve some dark magic. It allows you to repartition your drive without reformating. Using Drive Genius 2, repartition does not equal reformat. Amen. If you partition your drives, this one tool alone could be reason enough to buy Drive Genius. 2

With Drive Genius you can do just about anything you want to your hard drives and a couple things you may want to avoid. For instance, I have always avoided defragmenting my Mac hard drives.

I’ve read conflicting authorities as to whether or not this is a good thing. In the interest of science, I decided to take one for the team and repartition as part of this review. The results were inconclusive. While my computer did not turn into a burning hunk of metal, performance didn’t noticeably improve either. I don’t see myself defragging often, if ever, in the future. However, I know some users that work with large media files who swear by it. Regardless, Drive Genius 2 gives you the option.

One complaint I have with this application is the user interface. The application launches into a 3d environment with several (but not all) of the application modules available to you. There are no labels over the icons so in order to figure out what any one module is, you have to click on the icon and wait for the application go through a several second animation sequence that sweeps you down to the icon. If you clicked the wrong icon, you have to sweep back up to the large view and start over again. To further complicate matters, there is an arrow that rolls your current icons out and a new set in. At no point are all the module icons on the screen at the same time. It just feels gimmicky to me which is kind of bizarre in light of the fact that the actual Drive Genius modules feel rock solid. The application also has some animations and graphics in its individual modules. I did not find those obtrusive at all. So you have exceptional utility software tied to an awkward user interface. It would have felt so much better if they just had all of the icons on one screen with a little summary of what each one does with mouse-over. Hopefully this will get fixed in a future build. Thankfully, there is a drop down menu that simply lists the module names and allows you to skip the fancy graphics.

My heartburn with the interface aside, Drive Genius 2 is a trustworthy utility to keep in your Mac toolbox. It also is useful for routine maintenance. A license runs $99 and you can get more information at ProSoftEngineering.com. I would recommend this application as a good investment for anyone serious about drive maintenance and troubleshooting.

You can listen to this review on Surfbits Macreviewcast #197

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