How do I blog thee?

Let me count the ways…

I am currently using 3 software when blogging here in Techno Cop.  Actually 5, if you count Mac OS X's grab which I use to clip images and Parallels, which is my VM software of choice.

Here is a step by step:

1. I first fire up Dragon Naturally Speaking (DNS) 9 and Microsoft OneNote.
2. I then open a page in the MY BLOG section which I created in OneNote. I then start dictating while also using the keyboard and mouse for minor corrections. The first line that I dictate automatically becomes the page title in OneNote
3. Once complete, the blog is sent to MS WORD 2007 for inserting images and hyperlinks. In OneNote, just click FILE, and then SEND to BLOG. This automatically sends the file to WORD 2007's built-in blog editor.  It is here where I do some minor editing using MS WORD 2007's powerful editor.
4. Once that is done, I simply click the PUBLISH icon which gives me an option whether to Publish as a regular post or as a draft. Provided that you have setup in WORD 2007 your blog account settings, WORD 2007 will do everything for you.
5. The last step is to visit your blog's URL to view your post.

   DNS ver 9.0 is indeed the best version ever. After just a couple of trainings after the initial install, I can already get close to 98 percent accuracy. I have in fact written a number of blogs here while lying in bed without even touching the Macbook's keyboard. I now seldom write anything without my headset tethered to the Macbook and DNS transcribing for me.

   

   I find it essential to use One Note primarily because of these 3 reasons: 1) it stores and organizes all my blogs in separate pages of a notebook; 2) it allows easy layout both for text and images; and 3) it interfaces flawlessly with Microsoft Word 2007's blogging client using the Send To command.

   

   For those who would like to give this system a try, you should be aware of the following:

   1. I use the Plantronics DSP400 USB headset as it comes highly recommended by the DNS website. This headset gives me an Accuracy Center rating of 24 which is the highest I have ever achieved.
   2. I connect the headset first then choose it under the system preferences of Mac OS X before firing up windows XP under Parallels. These eliminate the hit or miss detection of the DSP400.
   3. One may find it annoying having to shift back and forth from XP to OS when, like me, you do all your image processing in MAC OS X. What I do is to work on all the required images first then move them all to the XP side in one go. However, this will change if you upgrade to the latest version of Parallels 3.0. More on this in my next blog.

   I find this system very efficient and a joy to use.  I honestly believe that any blogger who adapts the same could easily     double their blogging productivity.

   Techno cop out.