I have Dragon 10, and I have had good success with it. You can get it from Tiger Direct online for a pretty good discount. I do recommend getting a better headset than the one that comes with it though.
truman
JoinedPosts by truman
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12
advice needed on speech recognition software
by quietlyleaving ini'm looking into voice recognition software.
has anyone here tried any.
the only one i've heard of is dragon software.
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That doesn't sound cultish at all...
by Mickey mouse in.... "this is an unofficial group for fans of the watchtower.
keep all comments upbuilding and encouraging please.
no debates or questionings or criticisms are allowed.
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truman
Interesting in the quotation from the facebook page (above in highlighted yellow) where the JW who wrote it credits Jehovah with protecting the "brothers and sisters" when so many non-JWs died......
S/he says that help for the earthquake victims is on the way via rescue workers from Hawaii and California. But what is the chance that many or any of those rescue workers are JW's? The rescue workers, furthermore, will not be selecting who receives their protection and aid based on religious affiliation as Jehovah apparently does.
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truman
I have read several of his books, but read Blood Meridian first. It is a masterpiece, a terrible masterpiece. I read it with a small group of college students who were doing summer discussions of several books. Here are some of my thoughts on Blood Meridian from that time:
In reading this novel, I thought that I should keep continually in mind that McCarthy is telling a story on many levels at once. The Kid does not have much history that we are privy too. He seems to have been born to trouble, from what we do know. His origin is in death; his mother died in childbirth. We are also told that although his father was a schoolteacher, but the Kid is uneducated. His ignorance fosters his innate taste for mindless violence. The very next sentence sets the mythological stage: "All history present in that visage, the child the father of the man" (that latter phrase is from a poem by Wordsworth). One way to read that is by viewing humanity as a gradually maturing entity. Whatever 'man' we are now (or at the time of the story) is the offspring of the 'child' that has come before. And that 'child' is carelessly bloodthirsty-as you point out, not killing to survive, but out of some instinct or for sport.
Yes, I agree, the Kid represents some aspect of humanity that lives from a perspective of instinct, yet at times, it seems that the Kid does have a glimmer of something beyond that. All of them do at times (Glanton has a dog that he treats as a pet-but so did Hitler). Yet those sparks die quickly in the life they lead. If I remember correctly, nearly every one of the men in the gang had some kind of 'normal' life before their mutual murderous spree (with the exception of the Judge, who seems to be the Devil incarnate). They have in them both the animal instinct of tooth and claw, and some higher form of humanity-as do we all. Their environment and the gathering weight of their actions reinforce the former and smother the latter.
I guess it is difficult to dispute what is pointed out in the Judge's analysis of raw human nature-that chaos, conflict, and brutality dwell in its core. I might quote the philosopher Hobbes that without the Leviathan of government, natural life is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short. The experiences of the Glanton gang certainly fit that description. The Judge says that "war is god", that it is "the truest form of divination". It is a test of wills in which the ultimate Will is compelled to choose a winner, thereby forcing a unity of existence. I say that by this measure, war is not god, but a challenge to god. It seeks to wrench an answer from the universe about the meaning of life, even if that answer is death.
On the other hand, I personally do not subscribe to this interpretation of war and its meaning. While it is undeniable that humans are prone to fighting and killing one another, I think it within our capacity to transcend that. If we need to take a Nietzschean view that moral law as "an invention of mankind to disenfranchise the powerful in favor of the weak", so be it. Maybe that is a stage of the journey. If I had to believe that life as depicted in "Blood Meridian" was the fulsomeness of the human spirit, I would sooner see us all die. It is that repellent. The characters' actions were for nothing but blood lust, the glee of destruction. It is a truism that destruction and construction are inextricably intertwined, and that every act of construction is built upon a previous act of destruction in some manner. Every great civilization is built upon the ruins of the one before. Change is the nature of the universe. But in the case of the Glanton gang, the destructive impulse has run wild. It is the extreme, not the norm. And yet the world is overrun with extremes.
At times, as I read this book, I was hard pressed to avoid the conclusion that McCarthy in some way is justifying the actions of these horrific episodes. Perhaps, he is only describing them. I saw the way in which the gang turned upon those who dispatched them in the first place as a warning: When we choose to employ violence to address our problems, we attract to ourselves what we send forth. It matters not whether our own hands do the killing or we send out 'human' tools as our agents. I think this can easily be seen in recent history. And yet, over and over, we wonder why we are being attacked by others. (By 'we', I mean individually and collectively, not any particular group). The Mexicans who charged the Glanton gang to bring back scalps for pay thought they could do unto others with impunity, but is was not so. But they did not set the whole thing in motion did they? They were only reacting to attacks by the Indians, who were reacting to the encroachment of invaders to their land, who were reacting to something else, and so on. Where does the reacting end? Is this what the epilog is saying?
My biggest question in the story is why did the Judge come back to kill the Kid, after so many years? Was it because he had made a life for himself after the killing? Does his death refer to the fact that no matter whether we are peaceful or warlike, we all face death?
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For those of you attending college now (or at least recently have)....
by 2pink inplease remind me what the work load is like.
i went to college and took a few classes in my early 20s, and found it all very easy, but i had a lot less responsibility back then so i think my perception was skewed.
now i am 31, married, 2 kids, soon to be 3. i work very part time from home.
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truman
I just graduated with my BA and am entering my second semester as a grad student. I agree with mostlydead. Take fewer classes. 12-15 units (4-to-5 classes @3 units per class) is considered full-time and will keep you very busy with reading, studying for exams, and writing papers. Four classes is a good doable workload. At this rate, you may take a little longer to get where you want to be in terms of an advanced degree, but you will have a better chance of getting there than if you burn yourself out at the beginning with an overloaded schedule.
One thing to think about for course-load, many professors make the big assignments in a course due near the end of the semester. That can leave you with 3-4-5-6-? big papers to write or projects to wrangle into presentability all at once. The looming deadlines can induce a state of desperation, panic, and depression.
My observation about who completes educational goals and who does not is this: s/he who perseveres succeeds. I am past the child rearing stage, but I think this applies to most all students. It is all about pacing oneself. School is a marathon, not a sprint.
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What's Your Favorite James Darren tune?
by cameo-d inany body remember mash potato?
the jerk?.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yp18utq_u6i.
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truman
I think what you describe can be explained through excellent health care, cosmetic surgery, access to a good make-up artist, and flatteringly lit photography. And yes, those things are reserved for the stars, in a manner of speaking. Nevertheless, although James Darren still looks pretty darn good, he has aged from his days as a teen heart throb. I pulled up google images on him, and there he is with gray hair and wrinkles. Sexy ones, but definitely present.
Did you hear about the flap in the UK about an airbrushed photo of Twiggy that made her look about 25 when she is several decades older? They were using it to sell cosmetics. But seriously, the images of stars are more real than the people they represent, and images can be ageless.
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What's Your Favorite James Darren tune?
by cameo-d inany body remember mash potato?
the jerk?.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yp18utq_u6i.
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truman
How about "Good-bye Cruel World"? I loved James Darren in The Time Tunnel tv series. Only later did I find out what a great voice he has.
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How Many Here Were Turned Down For "Privileges" Because You Weren't "Exemplary"?
by minimus inour odd body of elders would not allow the one person who wanted to mow the lawn at the kingdom hall to do this because he was not getting 10 hours in a month, he was only getting in 7. seriously.. were you ever told you couldn't have a "privilege" because you didn't measure up to their lofty standards?.
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truman
This issue-field service hours-was one of the building blocks of my exit from the WTS. My 19 year old son had been handling the microphone/sound system at our hall for a couple of years because he was good at it and reliable. He was not irregular in service, but usually got only 4-6 hours a month.
One of the elders decided that my son must raise his FS hours or be removed from these 'privileges'. When my son had not done so after a few months, this brother lowered the boom. I knew at the time that this move would alienate my son from the JWs because he has always been a very self-contained and free-thinking individual. I asked the elder if it was so, that we had so many involved young people that they could afford to be pushing my son out the KH door with both hands? He held the party line on the issue.
Shortly after that, my son did gradually cease attending and made it clear that he wanted nothing more to do with being a JW. That trigger point led-with a few intermediary twists and turns-to my own exit from the org.
So maybe there is some value to insisting on a minimum count of field service, after all.
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C.O.'s: Why Are Elders Such Cowards?
by metatron inthe stories never stop.
abusive, egotistical, demanding, ungrateful and arrogant circuit overseers all over the place and "men" -the elders - take it.. i have seen a number of these itinerant predators offend entire congregations with their behavior and i can count the incidents where elders actually showed some b@lls and stood up to them on one hand.
why are elders such cowards?
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truman
I was "just a sister" without the requisite body parts to "show some b@lls", but I did stand up to one CO at a meeting for service.
As usual for such special occasions, three times the usual number of witnesses were in the KH. They had scattered themselves around the available seats in comfortable clusters, taking care to orient themselves toward the stage rather than the back of the hall where we normally met for mid-week service.
That was not good enough for this CO. At meetings for service, he would announce that everyone should pick up their belongings, move to the front rows, and leave no empty seats. This display of micro-control over personal preference irked me deeply, not to mention that I hate being crammed into crowed seating arrangements-especially when more than enough seats for generous spacing are available.
That morning, I got to the hall just as he was preparing to begin. The rest of the dutiful sheep had bunched themselves into the first three rows as instructed. I slipped into a seat two rows behind the bulk of the pack, and prepared to stand my ground...er...sit my seat.
The CO opened his booklet for the morning text and looked out over the group to begin. His eyes landed immediately upon me.
"Come on up here and join the rest of us," he said in a tone that was inviting on the surface, but commanding in its undertones.
"That's OK, I think I will stay here," I said in return, trying to keep my delivery light, despite the fact that my heart was racing at my rebellion.
He repeated his 'request' and I my refusal. I could see a of micro-burst of anger, even rage, sweep over his face at being publicly defied. He quickly covered it with smooth jocularity, pointed his finger at me and said, "We'll talk later."
I said, "Yes, we will." But we never did. No one ever said anything to me about the incident. But I did not move.
It felt like a victory to me.
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The show must go on..
by outofthebox ini was reading in the spanish forum (http://www.extj.com/foro/showthread.php?t=15396) that an old sister died from a heart atack during the memorial, but that didn't stop the ritual.
i remember a lonley very sick sister calling for help to the kh during an emergency, and the elders told her, they were busy in an elder's meeting.
she almost died and was rushed into the hospital by 'worldy' people.
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truman
Sounds similar, UDR, but mine was in Kansas City Mo in the mid 70s.
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The show must go on..
by outofthebox ini was reading in the spanish forum (http://www.extj.com/foro/showthread.php?t=15396) that an old sister died from a heart atack during the memorial, but that didn't stop the ritual.
i remember a lonley very sick sister calling for help to the kh during an emergency, and the elders told her, they were busy in an elder's meeting.
she almost died and was rushed into the hospital by 'worldy' people.
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truman
I remember a Public Talk at which the 'brother' giving the talk became so overcome with 'something' that he nearly fainted and had to leave the stage because he could not continue. Instead of any reasonable alternative, what happened was that a local elder (known for his stage abilities and showmanship) came to the lectern and finished out the alloted time for the talk himself--off the cuff. Everyone oohhed and aahhed about how he did that and kept the congregation from losing out on any of Jehovah's fine spiritual blessings that afternoon. Don't know what happened to the original speaker. We all just forgot about him, I think. Pretty pitiful.