I downloaded Dragon Dictate for the iPhone a few weeks ago, tried it for a few minutes–then wrote it off as fatally flawed. First, I spoke into it, and it understood me fairly well. I tried it again, and was further impressed. But the third time, I spoke 3 or 4 sentences–and after a while, [...]
April 12, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Depth perception
A few years ago, I lost the sight of my left eye due to a detached retina. The most obvious loss of sensory ability was stereoscopy–seeing things as three-dimensional. It took me a long time to regain my ability to park, and I still occasionally pour water outside a glass instead of inside. (I do [...]
April 9, 2010 By 2 Comments
Start with a cluster
Image by flash_nerd via Flickr Every morning I jump out of bed and step on a landmine. The landmine is me. After the explosion, I spent the rest of the day putting the pieces together. –Ray Bradbury I wrote yesterday (see entry directly below) about the need for a book writer (any writer, really) to [...]
April 8, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Write daily to improve your writing
If you want to eventually run a marathon, you must run daily. If you want to be ready for any kind of activity, you have to train your body and mind to it by frequent practice. Image via Wikipedia In Outliers, a wonderful book about what it means to excel, with speculations on what it [...]
April 6, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Perspective
Got an email from my friend: “I’ve got good news and bad news. The good news is, I’ve been given a great opportunity to focus. The bad news: Cancer in my liver, spine, and brain.” The prognosis is pretty negative–a few months, perhaps. Because my friend is a private person, I won’t share my friend’s [...]