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Sorry for the big word! Decimate means (in this case) to completely destroy. To bring enough force and energy to bear upon a problem to obliterate it.

Recently, I was diagnosed with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Working with the computer all day, doing programming, and writing this blog and e-mails, was too much for my hands. Actually, it’s a very common problem these days. Millions of people suffer from Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.

I wanted to continue with this blog, and doing all the other computer stuff that is necessary in this high-tech generation. So I decided to decimate the problem. To find as many solutions as possible and implement them.

Here’s what I did:

• Purchased Microsoft Natural Keyboard and Mouse
• Purchased Bamboo drawing tablet. (The idea is that using a pen doesn’t hurt my hand, so maybe it could replace the mouse.)
• Purchased Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 Standard voice recognition software.
• Started taking three vitamins recommended by doctor.

So, here’s the good news. My my hand still hurts when I use it to type on the computer for long periods of time, but I barely ever need to use my hands. And, it’s fun to use the voice recognition software instead of typing!

Probably, best of all, it’s fun to share this experience with you and maybe even help you solve Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, or any other problem.

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I’ve been using Dragon NaturallySpeaking (version 10 standard) for about two weeks now. I have to say it works really great. Much better than I imagined. I had read about how Ray Kurzweil uses similar software all the time, and even used it to write his books

Maybe you are one of those people who has to experience it to believe it. I was one of those people. The good news is that it can replace about 95% of most people’s typing. For me, it works great for typing my blog posts for me, e-mail, and online chatting.

The only place it doesn’t work that great for me yet is when doing programming. So if you’re a programmer, and you’re using a voice software, please comment and let us know the best way to do it!

Here are some tips on using Dragon NaturallySpeaking:

• You need a lot of memory! On Windows XP it uses about 500 MB. Memory is cheap, so this is no problem.
• It also takes a little bit of getting used to. As with any program, it takes some trial and error to learn how to get it to work well.
• Don’t worry, if it doesn’t work perfectly for you. In the next year or two it will improve dramatically!
• If it is not sending the text to the program you are working with, try closing all other programs, or any programs or web pages which may be using the CPU (like Pandora)
• For version 10, you need to have a computer CPU that has SSE-2, so it won’t work with old computers.

Another fascinating aspect of using the software, is that it allows you to have a very different experience from typing. When you talk or dictate, it uses a completely different part of your brain from when you were typing. You may find, that it is much easier to dictate your e-mails, blog posts, or even a book that it is to type it.

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Once again, the future is upon us. Just like on Star Trek, you can now talk to your computer. Since my hands were hurting from carpal tunnel, I decided to give voice software to try.

This software works 10 times better than I imagined. After doing research on the Internet it seems like Dragon NaturallySpeaking is the best software for voice recognition. Many people said that it doesn’t work very well, but I don’t think they tried it.

I was chatting with Matt online, and he had no idea that I had switched from typing to voice recognition software. it’s pretty interesting, actually. Because when you talk, you use a different part of your brain from when you type.

As a matter of fact, I’m using this software to dictate this post.

The really neat thing about this software is that it makes the promise of accelerating technology more and more real. It seems kind of silly to talk to a computer instead of using the keyboard, but in a few years it will seem natural.

Human beings have a certain natural resistance to change. When cars first appeared, just about 100 years ago, they didn’t even have a name for them! That’s why they called them horseless carriages. The same is true for the changes that we have today.

And so it is with voice recognition as well. Soon everyone will use it and it will be more common and easier than using a keyboard and mouse.

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