We live in exciting times, maybe too exciting in terms of sensory input over stimulation.  I remember being a kid and hearing old timers talk about the “way it used to be”. Indeed things used to be different.  My Grandmother was born on a ship coming over from France in 1903; she died at 92 in 1995. In her life time, we went from the horse and buggy to putting a man on the moon, from the classical modes of distribution of information to the information super highway. These classical modes included newspapers, books, telegraph, telephone, radio, film, TV, more diversification of TV and Finally the internet.  As Web 2.0 comes of age, we look at the robust interactive distribution of media via streaming financial quotes, news, video and more. Add in various social media, too numerous to mention and the world is at our finger tips. It is exciting and over whelming.  Exciting in that there is nothing that we cannot inquire about and find an answer to in a nano-second. Over whelming in that we are constantly being bombarded with information and imagery.  I have come to realize that of the 50-100 Emails I receive daily, there are only a hand full that must be dealt with…now.

Bus companies used to put governors on engines to keep them modulated under the speed limit. Yet we are witnessing such acceleration that there must be self modulation. I do this by having computer free days on Sundays; this includes my variety of crack-Berry.  Ah, the return to a simpler life… I personally hold on to some romantic fantasies about living a simpler life. These I take by walking my Jack Russell around the pond and in the woods every morning and knowing when to shut down the cell phone/Email/PDA/Video/TV/Camera thingy that is surgically embedded in my side.

Let’s now discuss the social implications of this techno boom-age that we are all experiencing.  Humans are social creatures; we need to interact with people for business, for pleasure, for romance and the creation of future generations. Web 2.0 is a lovely way to Skype with loved ones, Talk via VOP to family and associated around the world, have web meetings and instructions worldwide simultaneously. Not too long ago, you needed a 20K Sat Phone to do that and Now there’s magic jack, but wait there’s more….

I have witnessed many times watching four University students walking down the street all talking on their cell phones. Is this the best usage of our time –space continuum? Is social life solely predicated on tweets and Facebook entries? Do we get to be in the NOW with no commercial interruption?  Have you talked to anyone lately who is retired? Retirement is a full time job!  Really, the overhead of life is becoming more and more time-intensive/ expensive. Have you noticed that in your daily life, how more and more time must be dedicated to getting stuff done, yet not necessarily contributing to our work? Yes, the price we are paying for an accelerated life has an interest expense. Being a technophobe, I wouldn’t trade any of it and still I wonder what will web 3.0 be?

The value of community both on and off line creates a balance in my life that I treasure and by the way, my Grandmother never set foot on an airplane in her 92 years….

“Confusion is a high state as long as you don’t stay there.”

Confusion means that something new is coming into our consciousness that we haven’t quite accepted yet. An old thought form or belief system is still in place and we’re not quite ready to let it go.There is a cross over between these two thought energies pulling at our mind.

This is confusion.

It’s a high state because we are moving from an old paradigm into a new one. This is progress, evolution or involution. People who are perpetually confused and confounded are not the subject of this discussion! We are talking about movement into new higher territory and the mental friction that is part of the natural process of getting there.

I know a gentleman who received his PhD in Philosophy from the University of Iowa about 20 years ago.  He was unable to successfully land a job in his field, so he became a custodian, also known in Academia as a maintenance engineer.  He liked the pay and the hours so well that he never sought another position.  He told me last year that he was going to retire in 2010. I hope he gets a Golden handshake!

How do you cheat in typing class?  You look at the keys!

Thus began the habit of pecking at keys. Little did I know that less than a decade later, when my father  bought my first computer, an Atari ST, (which by the way was the fastest computer available at the time with 1 MB of memory!) that I was cheating myself.

Over the years there have been many programs, including Mavis Beacon teaches typing and several of my son showed on the Internet that trained you to type better.  I thought for quite some time that this is something that I should pursue….

About 10 years ago, a program was offered through AOL called Dragon NaturallySpeaking 4.0.  I bought it.  It did not work very well, I didn’t use it.

One of my goals over Christmas break was to learn to master the Dragon.  My dad who is now 84 years old just bought a computer, intent upon writing his memoirs. He probably types at five words a minute.  I’m about 40 with my individual pecking, the problem is that I have to look at the keys. We invested in two copies of Dragon Naturally Speaking preferred edition, and spent the better part of the end of 2009 learning and teaching myself and my father how to use Dragon by Nuance.

Warning,… there is in fact, a large learning curve to master Dragon.  I would be lying if I told you that I have mastered Dragon.  I haven’t.  I spend a dozen hours with my father learning the program.

This blog post is being dictated completely via Dragon.

It’s really quite remarkable. The way it works is that you train the program to your intonation, speed at which you read, how you speak and the cadence of your words. Soon it becomes very, very good at recognizing your speech.  I believe using Dragon will save me hundreds and hundreds of hours every year.  Even if you’re an expert typist, you probably cannot type 120 words per minute, which is the rate most people speak at.  Go ahead and take the time to learn to become proficient with Nuance Dragon.