Join the PPINET E-mail List because...
-
You'll hear the latest rants and raves as we explore new graphic & web design tools
- You'll find out about new books, classes, and online resources
- We'll never share, sell, or give away your name to anybody for any reason :)
- Prizes!
EXCERPTS FROM PAST EMAILINGS....
Dictating a whiff of viavoids (Dictating with Via-Voice)
OK, I don't have it down completely yet! But, I am dictating this using IBM's ViaVoice software. After authoring 14 books over the last five years, and contributing to at least that many more, I'm learning that the human body is not built for that much typing!
As I've spent time at a physical therapist, the acupressure clinic, the pharmacy, the back doctor's office ... I'm discovering that there is an epidemic of low back pain shoulder pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, and a wide variety of other ailments associated with spending an obscene amount of time sitting in front of a computer.
How about you? How many hours you spend the day sitting in front of a computer? Many of us spend our work time in front of a computer, then we open " relax " in front of a computer, and we indeed she and what ever other types of social interaction (staying in touch with family,, involvement in political activities, and so on) all crunched into the same bad position.
In response, I'm experimenting by at least moving around a room as I "write.". After one week, I'm at the point where I can dictate letters and other more informal written material. Thinking of trying this yourself?
I started out by reading the book "Talk To Your Computer in their " by Dan Newman. Dan doubles as one of the producers of the videos I make for my Virtual Classroom computer book series (Adobe illustrator 10 Virtual Classroom, FrontPage 2002 Virtual Classroom). While hanging out at Dan's video studio, I observed him dictating using voice recognition software.
Dan's book is a very handy and helpful overview and I strongly recommend you check it out before deciding whether or not foist dictation systems will work for you, which want to get, what to expect. "Talk to Your Computer," warns you-appropriately I think-that it takes a lot of work to train your computer to understand your voice. Much of the "voice recognition " that us human's do is content-based. In other words if I say " honey, I mrumph you very much, " my girlfriend will interpret that as, " honey, I love you very much." That's because we are able to fill in words that we don't understand based on making assumptions that we draw from the content and context of what we're hearing. Voice recognition software, at this point, is not capable of that. Voice recognition software (VRS) depends completely on understanding-here in-what you say into a microphone. Thus, you need to set up an optimal technical environment (with little background always, a fast computer processor, a quality microphone ...). You also need to train your computer to understand the things you say.
The first few days were rough. ViaVoice generated a stream of bazaar, goofy, and sometimes downright offensive strings of words in response to the things I spoke into the microphone. One week later, we're all little more on the same wavelength. While I stretch out on the couch, or wander around a room, ViaVoice is getting about 75 or 80 percent of my words.
Each time you edit a dictated document, ViaVoice learns some new words, and builds up a database matching the things it hears you say with words you want on the page ((and other VRS software works the same way). As you make corrections in your document, your VRS program increases its vocabulary.
When I watched Dan Newman dictate a book, he made corrections using compact audio commands with his voice recognition software as well. If I start explaining the commands used for doing that, ViaVoice will go crazy making changes to this letter. Personally, I find it too tedious to make the changes or verbally,. After I'm done dictating a document, I just go sit down at the keyboard and fix it out. But still, I'm at least cutting my time in front of the desk by 60%.
I got ViaVoice free at my local CompUSA (a computer chain store in the United States). It retails for something like $40 but a combination but of rebates render the price zero. ViaVoice 9 even comes with a microphone headset. I am having some of the compatibility problems between the software and Microsoft Windows and word XP put the- even after downloading a fix from ViaVoice. But compared I'm motivated Pacific, and I'm overall impressed. I guess it all depends on how determined you are to get yourself of out of your chair and away from your desk.
DREAMWEAVER VS. FRONTPAGE Part I
If you're expecting me to give some equivocal answer on which is better, you're wrong.
As visitors to my site know, I've been writing about FrontPage since. well, since there was Microsoft FrontPage. Let's see: there was Create FrontPage (97) Web Pages in a Weekend, FrontPages in a Week (my girlfriend never understood how that didn't violate some non-competitive clause in my writing contract - I explained one was for folks who only had 2 days, and the other was for readers who had a whole week - two totally distinct markets!). There was the infamous FrontPage MCSD Exam book (authorized!), and my personal favorite - the gorgeous full-color Wild Web Graphics with Image Composer (the graphics program you used to get free with FrontPage). And the beat goes on, through my current FrontPage 2002 Bible (with David Elderbrock) and my FrontPage 2002 Virtual Classroom (with videos).
So, I've been kind of a die-hard FrontPage guy. But guess what? I just finished the Complete Idiot's Guide to Dreamweaver MX. I'm newer to DW, but I've been using it a couple years and teaching it. It's time to compare the two applications. Ready?
With any comparison like this, there are always areas where one product excels, even if overall the other product is better. For the last year or two, my attitude has been that DW is much better for page design, and just about everything else, including creating style sheets, generating JavaScript, and saving time with templates and libraries. Still, until recently, I was convinced that FP is still the tool to use for database-server connections - particularly if you're kind of server-database challenged, like I am.
Now, I'm changing my mind. MX comes with live data (server database connection) tools that were marketed separately as UltraDev until now. Yes, it took me a long time to set up my first database-server connection in DW. But then again, it took me a long time to get my hands around the same features in FP. And, you don't need those infernal extensions to make the connections in DW. (I cover all this in chapter 15 of the Complete Idiot's Guide to Dreamweaver MX - order now at www.ppinet.com J)
Should everyone switch? No. If you're settled into FP, the switch is kind of a hassle. But if you're fed up with FP themes that fail to show up on your server, and your server is a step or two behind on FP server extensions, you might start preparing to make the move. PPINET is still a FrontPage site until I set up an efficient routine for managing data (like your email address!) in DW.
Am I biting the hand that feeds me? Well, maybe, but here's a question/rumor: Is Micorosoft really behind FP anymore? Why is Dreamweaver featured in press releases from MS about Web tools with Windows? Why is Microsoft featured in Macromedia press releases about Dreamweaver MX? And, most importantly, why has MS released such lame "upgrades" to FrontPage over the last few years?
Still, there's gazillions of folks out there still using FrontPage! The reader who sends me the best argument as to why I'm wrong gets a free copy of the FrontPage 2002 Virtual Classroom with 80 minutes of free video. (note - this contest was available to email list readers and is OVER).
How can I be this blunt? Hey, you signed up for my opinions when you signed up on my mailing list, right?
Send feedback. and I'll comment more based on your opinions and questions.
FRONTPAGE VERSUS DREAMWEAVER PART II: THE CASE FOR FRONTPAGE
The response to my little essay in the last newsletter comparing FrontPage 2002 (unfavorably) with Dreamweaver MX elicited some very constructive responses. The overwhelming majority of you, are using FrontPage, and-as I learned-for a wide variety of good reasons.
Many of you pointed to the fact that that front page makes it much easier for a non programmer to set up and manage an on-line database. I did knowledge that advantage to FrontPage, but I think that under estimated it. For example, depth I heard from a woman who manages her church membership database online with front page. I doubt that there are very many volunteer Web coordinators doing a task like that with Dreamweaver (although with MX that becomes more possible).
FrontPage also has the obvious advantage of being fully integrated with Microsoft Office. It looks, works, and feels like Word. This is probably FrontPage's biggest attraction, as well as its biggest weakness. The problem is, Web pages don't act like printed pages. Unlike printed pages, Web pages expand to fill the width of a browser, whether that browser is 800 pixels wide or 1600 pixels wide. Web pages support fonts only insofar as an assigned font is supported by a visitor's operating system. And carefully placed images bounce around her that page in a web browser, unless constrained by tables.
I think FrontPage tends to deceive the designer, creating an illusion that your Web pages will look to visitors the way they look to you. But the plus side of all this, is the tremendously intuitive front-page interface.
The most extreme response was from someone on my list who I believe is a Microsoft representative, and they unsubscribed from the list in response to my opinion. OK. Thanks for listening.
After acknowledging unappreciated advantages of FrontPage, the fact remains that the most effective way to design web pages is to use a more powerful page design tool like Dreamweaver. Interested in finding out how that works? You might find my Complete Idiot's Guide to Dreamweaver MX a good place to start. One unique thing about my perspective and writing the book is that I have been designing Web sites with FrontPage for five years, I've written a half-dozen books on FrontPage, and I currently split my time about 50/50 between FrontPage and Dreamweaver put. So FrontPage users who are looking for an introduction to dream lever might find my perspective something they can identify with.
You'll find a link to order the book at www.ppinet.com
CorelDRAW vs. Adobe Illustrator
Talk about someone totally lacking in product loyalty. I used to live and die with CorelDRAW and now I'm using and writing about Adobe Illustrator. Geez! At least I'm still rooting for my Minnesota Twins (those who follow the machinations of the ultra-greedy baseball owners might get the irony in that).
Why the switch? Simply because DRAW's market share declined to the point that I didn't find it supported enough in the media that I design for. My publisher wants files in Illustrator's EPS format, and guys who print banners and posters down the street want AI files.
The one thing Illustrator does NOT have is the kind of insanely cool community that DRAW users have that orbits around Rick Altman (www.altman.com) and his CorelWorld conferences. Corel doesn't deserve Rick, but he's hung in there with them. He's the single reason Corel maintains any credibility with designers.
OK, that's market share. How do the products compare? The logic of DRAW is that more is better. The logic of Illustrator is that more integration is better. Illustrator makes it easy to bounce image files back and forth between industry standard PhotoShop, and just about anything else in the Macromedia/Adobe world. And the interface and many features are very similar in PS and AI. Plus, I've been hearing via Rick's various forums that DRAW 10 is kind of flakey.
Still, the main reason for switching to Illustrator is not a better product, but a more widely accepted one. Head-to-head, DRAW 9 does a broader range of tasks than Illustrator 10. AI needs more page layout features, but I suspect Adobe won't put them in so as not to venture onto InDesign turf.
Illustrator might have slipped past DRAW in the realm of vector effects. It's certainly very, very powerful - tools like gradient mesh and the new liquify (yes, I spelled it right) tool set provide intense control over gradients and effects.
Both DRAW and Illustrator have a fairly high learning curve (almost a pun, given that curves are the essential elements of both vector packages). Switching ain't easy. I put it off for a while, but now I've joined the stampede. To scope out Illustrator, follow the links to my Illustrator book features at www.ppinet.com.
|
