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I seem to be stuck on a computer theme — last night and tonight I have been struggling with my internet connection — at least 6 computers in this house and no way to get on the net. My computer knowledge is kind of at the level of semi-literate, so I rebooted, I unplugged and plugged back in, I checked all the cables and the connections — still no internet. Next step: call a friend who knows computers back to front and inside out. He diagnosed that it was probably the provider’s problem; give them a call. The tech asked me a zillion questions and began to give me directions as to what to do. As I am trying to juggle the phone, sixteen hundred cables and the laptop, I pushed the disconnect button on the phone. !#?*!*!! I manage to get back to another tech who gives me additional instructions (this time I am smart enough to put the phone down as I manipulate cables and power sources. Ta-da! I have internet. However, this is on a cable directly from the router to my laptop — It is not in my office, which is connected by yet more cables and gadgets, nor am I getting my wireless connection. I played around some more with the boxes and cables and connections and solidify the direct connection — yay! — and am imagining that it is the wireless router which is at the ’root’ of the problem of the lack of connection in the other room (my office) or by wireless. Since I have a connection, though, here I am online and I’ve checked my email. This will work for now and tomorrow (or the next day, or the next) I will tackle the rest of the problem.
Monday I installed Dragon Naturally Speaking (word recognition and writing program) onto the tiny computer. Yesterday I “trained” it and started to write my client notes by speaking into the computer. So far, I guess, I haven’t trained it very well. Although it is amazing when it gets things right, it is very frustrating when it does not understand me. I think I have used the commands “scratch that,” “correct that,” and “spell that” more than I have dictated text!! I can see some progress, especially with the phrases I use often. When we get to those, the machine is right on almost all the time and pretty rapid. I am discovering that I don’t say the consonants F, B, H and N very clearly and I tend to let final consonants fade away (you realize that when the computer writes “ten” and you said “tent” or you say “had” and it writes “ad”. Right now I could probably type in my notes faster than speaking them, but I will keep working on it, and, hopefully, I will soon be able to talk into the computer efficiently. In the meantime, it is mostly fun, (especially when what the computer types sounds sort of like what you said but it isn’t quite right) with some frustration mixed in.
The tiny computer arrived on Wed night. I lo-o-ve it! I took it to my practicum the next day and it ran for about 5 hours on its battery. I’ve never had a laptop or notebook that would go that long. I took notes while my supervising MD saw patiients. [several people stopped to ask about it because it is so cute.] It seems to do everything I want it to. The one annoying thing is that the right space key is out of place and I keep doing a ‘page up’ instead getting an upper case letter. The screen is clear and, even with my aging eyes, I can see the screen without having to lean closer. Just found another annoyance — somehow when I type an upper case ‘I’ a piece of text is highlighted and disappears. I think that the keys are very sensitive and I must brush over some other key that activates the delete stuff. As long as I am careful whenever I type ‘I’ things go along okay. It really is lightweight and easy to carry around, and the power cord (transformer) is much smaller and lighter than other regular size notebooks. A friend came over this evening and set up wireless network for me, so I am good to go. Next challenge is to “train” Dragon Naturally Speaking so that I can speak notes into it. DNS is installed but not set up. My project for the week.
I am very excited! A good friend just showed me a teeny tiny notebook computer (9″ screen,) and told me about its slightly larger brother (10″ screen.) It seems to do everything that my regular size notebook does and may even be faster. The price is under $500, and I am hooked. I hope to put Dragon Naturally Speaking on it and be able to speak my patient notes into it. The battery is touted to last 7.5 hours and the speakers are reviewed as awesome. Ready, set, go!
