NOTE: Sony, Microsoft, Windows, Dragon NaturallySpeaking and Olympus are all registered trademarks.
UPDATED: 4/7/2015; 9:38
I realize that I have written nothing on this blog for eight updates and ten spam comments. Thought I’d better post something. So I decided to review a recent purchase.
I recently purchased a Sony ICD-PX333 recorder from Wal-Mart. I cannot find the receipt, but I believe it was around $65. That was not what I set out to do, but the model I went back to purchase was sold out.
I needed to replace an Olympus VN-7100 that I found in a local thrift store. I have been writing mostly news, lately. But I wanted to be prepared when that great American novel popped into my head. My Olympus still works and I can use it for some things. I needed something, however, that had a more clear sound for dictating. The older Olympus does not have a computer port, but I can connect it through the headset with a minijack plug and record the information that way.
As an aside, I did give my Olympus a torture test. I did not intend to. But when I removed some clothes from the washing machine, I found it inside. After making sure it thoroughly dried out, I tested it and found it still worked just fine. I would not recommend this test on any device on purpose.
There were two Sony models on display. I do not recall the other, but I chose the PX333 because it had more recording time built in and had a port for a mini-SD card. The other model did not—as far as I could tell.
One of the complaints I read concerning this model is that the SD card was not included. You can get an 8-GB SD card for about $11 at Family Dollar (if they are in stock). That is double the internal memory which is just under 4-GB due because some of the internal memory is used for file management. Wal-Mart had a 32-GB SD card for about $17. With over 1000-hours of recording time, however, this is hardly an issue. If you plan to attend a week-long seminar, of some sort, or recording the speech of a politician, a mini-SD card might be a good idea.
I immediately opened the box and found inside two AAA batteries, a USB plug and the PX333, of course. What I was disappointed in NOT finding was a carrying case and a DVD-ROM with Dragon NaturallySpeaking. I did not really expect to find a microphone or headphones even though they were on the list. There was an asterisk beside these items and that means I did not buy the higher priced model. Apparently these Items come with the PX333F model. In fact there were no disks and that was somewhat of a disappointment. Until I realized that the software may have been included on the device itself.
It took a little playing around to figure out how to move around the menu to set the time and date and figure out how to set up other things for the device (Who needs instructions?).
When I got it home, I plugged it in with the USB plug. I had already made a few test recordings to play with. I was pleased to find that Sony had added a software called Sound Organizer on the device and I installed it. It did give me some weird errors but continued to install okay. There was an update to the software already available, and it, too, gave me an error, but updated okay.
The one bad thing about the software—at least for Mac enthusiasts—is that the Sound Organizer software is available only for Windows. You can still access the PX333 from Mac or Windows like any other MP3 device when attached by the USB cord.
The nice thing is that when there is a new recording on the device, the Sound Organizer, or SO, recognized that immediately and asked if I want to transfer the new files. Right away I did. As a habit I turn off devices before I plug them into the computer. Once it recognizes it, it will turn it on for you.
You will notice that when you plug in the recorder, you will get a menu for both the library on your computer and the IC Recorder. You can erase the files on your recorder or transfer back and forth. This is why the SD card is really a moot point. You can transfer recorded files back-and-forth to any device you desire and even burn them to CD or DVD.
With the device plugged in, you can do many things. You can make new folders on your device. By pressing the DEVICE SETTINGS button, you can access all of the menu items instead of fumbling with the MENU button on the device. It also accesses the date and time through your computer and automatically sets it. The PX333 does not display the time and date on the device which is kind of disappointing.
Interestingly, you can also add music and podcast to your device which might be useful if you have a stereo headset. This takes from your recording time, of course. If you are in the habit of waiting around for interviews, though, this might be nice.
The SO software allows you to edit the files so that you can save distinct quotes. You can burn them to a CD or DVD which might be very useful for a radio news host. If you can plug in the device at the station, you can probably even run the quotes off of the device without having to waste a CD or DVD.
One review complained that the device can only record in MP3. I am not sure of the advantage of any other format except, perhaps, that it might extend the recording time. MP3 is a standard and almost all other software recognizes it. I find that makes it easier to add audio from the PX333 into my video editing software.
The one function I was really excited about was the little “notepad” icon all the way to the left and to the bottom. It is highlighted when you have a file selected. That is the transcription icon. I pressed it and hoped that it would transcribe the audio into an editable document. It did not. All it did was set up a page with the information about the file and I had to type in the quotes.
Apparently this feature is meant to work with the Dragon NaturallySpeaking program; not provided with this model. I have tried to get it to work with the speech recognition software on Windows 8.1, but with no success. If I figure out how to do it, I will let you know. The SO does provide support for Dragon, so I presume it will work if you have a copy to install.
Another disappointment of this feature is file naming. If you go to transcribe a file, the name of the recorded file is automatically entered as the document file name. This is all right. If you go to create a second file—for whatever purpose—it keeps the recorded file name and does not let you change it. This is a minor inconvenience. You just have to remember to change the file name the first time you transcribe each document.
You can use the DPC Speed to adjust the speed of the speech to match your typing skills.
The other feature I am happy with is the T-MARK button. As you record, you can use this to “flag” certain segments. Say, for example, you are doing an interview. You can press T-MARK before each question and you can then go straight to specific questions that you decide to use in the interview.
Even without the “goodies” provided in the higher-end models, I have to say that I am okay with the purchase, overall. I still have not gone through all of the functionality of the device, so I do not know what I am missing. If I find any really neat stuff, I’ll let you know.
I entered the Navy in June of ’77. People thought me odd because I was the only recruit that had to fold my blanket each day. I had to sleep under it. Going from 120+ degree weather to the 90-degree weather of San Diego was quite a significant change.
I remained in the Navy for a number of years and traveled to a number of places. I was in Somalia when we were trying to cement relations long before the “Blackhawk Down” incident. I was in Hong Kong when it was a free country.
I visited “the former” Yugoslavia while Tito yet lived. It was the only example of a communist government that I can point to that actually worked. Why did it work? General Tito maintained the sovereignty of his country. He ran the government without undue influence from outsiders. He actually cared about the welfare of his people.
I have even been through the Bermuda Triangle and, unless you reading this are a part of some alternate universe of which I am unaware, we came out on the other side.
It is a recent event that I wish to concentrate on. The recent 100th anniversary of the Panama Canal. It is also an example of the Imperialistic nature of the “progressive.”
European ocean explorers have dreamed of a canal across what is now called Panama since they discovered the Americas. It would cut out having to travel around the infamous “Horn.”
Fresh off of their successful building of the Suez Canal, the French attempted to build a flat canal through the isthmus controlled by the government of Columbia. Because of lack of engineering skill of the company working on the project and malaria and yellow fever, the company went bankrupt and the project was halted in May of 1879.
USS Nashville
In 1904 the United States undertook the building of the canal which officially opened on August 15, 1914. In 1989, the United States invaded Panama to capture Manuel Noriega; purportedly because of drug smuggling. He was sent to France for charges of money laundering and is now in a Panamanian prison for a number of charges including murder.
I was captivated by the engineering of the canal and the operation of the locks. Because the Pacific and Atlantic are at two different levels and the terrain, a ship has to be raised or lowered depending on which ocean you are traveling to (as I understand it). Ships traveling through the canal are captured in the locks where the water is raised or lowered. I was told that it is completely accomplished by the force of the water itself. There are no pumps.
The locks have been expanded before and today the Panamanian government is widening them again. The government of Panama, in fact, is doing much more to increase the potential of the canal than ever before.
I find it interesting as I look back that I went through the Panama Canal when it was a mere 64-years old. In March of 1978 the USS Oldendorf (DD-972) passed through the locks of Panama. This is no great page in history. It is simply a page out of my history.
Sorry. I haven’t been to my site for a while. I have been working on other projects. I did not realize that the site was down. Fortunately I ran across a problem like this previously and knew how to fix it.
I am working on other book projects, as well. Blockage has prevented me from completing some writing projects.
I am in the process of updating Glen’s Constitutional Notebook available exclusively on LULU.com. I hope to get working on some fiction soon.
Being pulled into the world of a gripping novel can trigger actual, measurable changes in the brain that linger for at least five days after reading, scientists have said.
The new research, carried out at Emory University in the US, found that reading a good book may cause heightened connectivity in the brain and neurological changes that persist in a similar way to muscle memory.
The changes were registered in the left temporal cortex, an area of the brain associated with receptivity for language, as well as the the primary sensory motor region of the brain.
Neurons of this region have been associated with tricking the mind into thinking it is doing something it is not, a phenomenon known as grounded cognition – for example, just thinking about running, can activate the neurons associated with the physical act of running.
Read more at The Independent
SEE ALSO: Lost At E Minor, 100 best novels
Get Free books at Project Gutenberg
Benjamin Fearnow
WASHINGTON (CBS DC) – In the wake of revelations about intrusive government surveillance, many American authors are worrying about the freedom of the press and some simply are avoiding controversial topics.
A new report from the PEN Center (PDF) and the FDR Group entitled “Chilling Effects: NSA Surveillance Drives U.S. Writers to Self-Censor” finds that 85 percent of surveyed writers are worried about government surveillance of Americans, and nearly three-quarters (73 percent) “have never been as worried about privacy rights and freedom of the press as they are today.”
Sixteen percent of writers have avoided writing or speaking about certain topics due to threatening privacy concerns, and an additional 11 percent have seriously considered such avoidance.
Writer comments included statements such as, “I assume everything I do electronically is subject to monitoring.”
Read more at CBS DC
My thoughts
I note the humor that the author of this CBS article is Benjamin Fearnow. Seems an appropriate name for the author to write a piece about people self-censoring their work based on the fear of NSA and DHS monitoring of the web.
I also note that the PEN American Center is part of “The FDR Group.” I presume (because we never assume) that means The Franklin Delano Roosevelt Group. The introduction to the paper states:
“We know—historically, from writers and intellectuals in the Soviet Bloc, and contemporaneously from writers, thinkers, and artists in China, Iran, and elsewhere—that aggressive surveillance regimes limit discourse and distort the flow of information and ideas. But what about the new democratic surveillance states?”
They, of course, use the term “democracy” throughout the paper as if the United States is a “Democracy.” This is a common misconception, of course. We are a Republic (Refer to Article IV, Section 4 of the Constitution). The tyrannical governments listed in their introduction are democratic societies. They are based on the democracy of the Manifesto of the Communist Party.
I could go on about the administrations of Wilson, FDR, and democrats thereafter. But you would not like it. I except John F. Kennedy from the list of communist democrats after studying some of the things he did. Though he believed in some socialist-democratic principles—such as the failed Medicare system—he also seemed to have a firm grasp of the Constitution. His vibrant support of the Second Amendment and the militia concept, desire to limit taxes all around and his belief in limited welfare made him more Republican in nature than a Democrat.
Though this group and I may differ in politics, we certainly agree on the frightening prospect of monitoring on the freedom of expression. After all, the First Amendment was never meant to protect speech I agree with.
How bad is the monitoring actually? Add to the monitoring other tyrannical principles of our “government”—some even praised by the Supreme Court. I use government in quotes because that is how most people refer to our employees.
The “Clear and Present Danger” doctrine of the Supreme Court was the first attack on the First Amendment. This doctrine is based on a decision written by Oliver Wendell Holmes in the 1919 case Schenck v. United States. After all, who determines a Clear and Present danger? The DHS did with it’s Right-Wing Extremism memo.
There are laws forbidding teaching that citizens are allowed take over their government. Yet the founders very clearly specified that in the government-approved Federalist Papers.
In a letter to Judge John Tyler in 1804, Thomas Jefferson noted:
“No experiment can be more interesting than that we are trying, and which we trust will end in establishing the fact, that man may be governed by reason and truth. Our first objective should therefore be, to leave open to him all the avenues of truth. The most effectual hitherto found, is the freedom of the press. It is, therefore, the first shut up by those who fear the investigation of their actions.”
I am the first to admit that not everything on the Internet is true. Much is opinion. I have posted information that I thought was a researched article only to find that it was an e-mail someone received and had false information. I admit those mistakes when I find them or when they are brought to my attention. In the letter, Jefferson goes on to suggests that discretion should be used in any source of information.
The point is that Jefferson may not even been able to conceptualize the Internet, but very much would have been in support of keeping it free and open. Of course, in his day they used pseudonyms in the Federalist and Anti-Federalist papers to fool the NSA.
The NSA “collecting of evidence” may very well be intimidating authors and this is sad. The very thing the founders wanted to avoid.
I am a stand up philosopher. I used to be a stand up comedian until the pastor of my church made me read Ephesians 5. Starting at Verse 2 it reads:
And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour. 3. But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; 4. Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient:…
What!? No foolish talking nor jesting? Two key elements for a comedian? We won’t get into the other listed items.
Well, it was then that I decided I would change to a stand up philosopher (Thanks to Mel Brooks). Therefore anything that you find to laugh at in this article is your fault and not mine.
This same pastor mentioned in one of his sermons that it is said that no two snowflakes are the same. Each is unique. I heard this during my indoctrination period that you call public education.
The similarity between this theory and the theory of evolution is that kids hearing these things, in general, learn this by rote without questioning. There is one significant problem I find with this snowflake theory. In order to say this with any certainty, a scientist would have to have seen every snowflake that has fallen from the first to the last snowflake that would fall in the future.
We can be certain that no scientist will be able to leap into the future to see those. It is equally certain, however, that they cannot collect up those that fell in the past. I find it difficult to believe that they could collect up all that fall in this present season. It also seems unlikely that they would have the equipment or manpower to examine each snowflake to determine if two turn out to be identical.
They might have the computer power to do so except that the government is busy using that to spy on everything the average American citizen is doing.
I began to consider something concerning this statement on snowflakes. Would it not show the power of God if we could examine all snowflakes and found out that the pattern always repeated with the one-millionth snowflake? Or maybe every one-hundred-thousand? Or even better, what if the pattern of snowflakes repeated every 138,253rd snowflake?
I am trying to picture, now, how many theorists are out there attempting to statistically prove or disprove my numbers. You realize I just throw these numbers out there, don’t you? However, if you do happen to prove one of my numbers, I will gladly take credit for being brilliant.
Incidentally, God gives us a sense of humor and expects us to use it. He just expects us to use it properly.
Notebook designed to help you get the most out of sermons or Bible study.
I have just created My Bible Study Notebook. This idea sprung from a notebook of sermons that I was keeping. I realized that I could create a notebook with space for various aspects of a Biblical topic whether from a sermon, Bible study class or my own private study. You can click HERE for a preview of the inside of the notebook.
The notebook is designed for a right-handed person. If you go to Page 10 of the preview (Page 6 in the actual print version), you will see the beginning of the section. This page has a section in which you can write scriptural references from the sermon or Bible study and a section for your own private notes.
Opposite the page on Page 9 of the preview is a section in which you can place a quote you like from the sermon. You can also add words or terms that you decide need more study. You can add definitions from Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance or your favorite Bible dictionary.
When you get home, you go to Page 1 of the printed book (Page 5 on the preview) where you have space to start writing the sermon scriptures. If the sermon contains quite a few scripture references (as tends to happen at the Church I attend), you can add only what you consider the most important. Do not fear adding scriptures that you feel that you want to remember on the topic.
That is the manner in which each section is laid out. At the front of the book is an index with each beginning page of each section already printed for you. You simply provide the title of the sermon from that section.
There are a few important quotes to review which explains why it is important that you study. It is important that YOU know what the Bible says. Your salvation depends on what you KNOW; not what you are TOLD.
Founded in 2002 by Red Hat’s Bob Young, Lulu is one of the oldest self-publishing houses on the Internet. Initially the company offered printing services and editing tools for self-published authors and, arguably, in 2002 they would have still been called a vanity press. Now, however, they’re another solid link in the chain between authors and readers.
This month the company launched a new photo book printing division, a move that runs parallel to the way the market is going. While most fiction and non-fiction is ending up on reading devices, folks still love a good album. The service, available at Picture.com allows for instant photobook generation and the printed end products are handsomely bound books, calendars, and even business class brochures and marketing collateral.
According to Lyra research, half of all American households with kids under 5 have ordered picture books and the market is set to double from 42 million units to 78 million by 2014.
I spoke with founder Bob Young about the move into the pictures space and how it felt to be one of the first to market in the ebook era.
Read more at TechCrunch
In a dissent for herself and Justices Anthony Kennedy and Antonin Scalia, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said the court was ignoring Congress’ aim of protecting “copyright owners against the unauthorized importation of low-priced, foreign-made copies of their copyrighted works.”
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that textbooks and other goods made and sold abroad can be re-sold online and in discount stores without violating U.S. copyright law.
In a 6-3 opinion, the court threw out a copyright infringement award to publisher John Wiley & Sons against Thai graduate student Supap Kirtsaeng, who used eBay to resell copies of the publisher’s copyrighted books that his relatives first bought abroad at cut-rate prices.
Justice Stephen Breyer said in his opinion for the court that once goods are sold lawfully, whether in the U.S. or elsewhere, publishers and manufacturers lose the protection of U.S. copyright law.
“We hold that the ‘first sale’ doctrine applies to copies of a copyrighted work lawfully made abroad,” Breyer said.
Had the court come out the other way, it would have crimped the sale of many goods sold online and in discount stores, and it would have complicated the tasks of museums and libraries that contain works produced outside the United States, Breyer said. Retailers told the court that more than $2.3 trillion worth of foreign goods were imported in 2011, and that many of these goods were bought after they were first sold abroad, he said.
Read more at Yahoo! News
