Dragon NaturallySpeaking is voice-recognition software that’s cutting-edge. It is not yet another speech-to-text application; it is high-performing as it exploits the entire power of a modern Pentium 3 (better or equivalents) machine and it involves a training phase where an individual’s voice is learned.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking is now available for the Palm Tungsten. The recorded data will be synchronised with the desktop and then interpreted automatically. This makes a vision come true — the vision of composing E-mail by talking to a PDA. See the Web site for details.

Cited by: PalmAddict

Fun stuff with transparent screens has recently hit the Web. Go view the full gallery.

This beats the hell out of the previous item, which briefly mentioned transparency in KDE.

Apple developed a mechanism which enables alignment of windows with respect to the ground. This is done simply by rotation of the windows based on sensor data. The idea was recently taken a step forward so that it allows interaction with programs and games, simply by movement of the (PowerBook) laptop.

Playing games by shifting CoG

The Public Wiki section on this domain

ome months ago I decided that only urgent messages are worth the use of E-mail. Somehow I just got fed up, even though I was spam-free.

A couple of days ago I took what I hope to be a step towards life without E-mail. I set up a Wiki where most of my correspondence will take place. Wikis are a collection of pages where content is editable by everyone, given access privileges of course. Why not use forums or bulletin boards for rapid communication? Here is a short comparison:

*Dependent on the package

This photo (direct link) has got to be seen for its enormous size to be comprehended. Zooming appears almost infinite, without loss in quality. The site provides the tools for viewing and interacting with the data in real time.

If this photo were printed, it would measure 6.67 m by 2.67 m (300 dpi). The photograph shows Delft and its surroundings in the autumn of 2004.

On the right: my illustration of the extent of magnification

ardware and software support for multi-head displays continues to improve. In practical terms, more and more computers under a wide variety of platforms allow you to extend your workspace (Desktop) to additional monitors. Most people do not take advantage of this convenient extension. Some even prefer to stick to virtual desktops (switching between several desktops within a single monitor), yet it is important to remember that what is out of sight is out of mind. With a large workspace, you need never minimise an application.

Next time you invest in a new workstation, ask the salesman about dual-head support. Going to the extreme, can anyone argue that the individual below does not enjoy playing Quake?

Picture from PlanetQuake

Do you happen to view your bank statements on-line? Long process, is it not? It can be automated with this huge library of Perl scripts for many different banks around the world. A click or two can reveal your balance, transactions, etc.