Dragon Naturally Speaking v.10

To those of you who use and like this software: How many hours does it take to make it even partially useful? Right now, I'm experiencing these issues:

• It mis-recognizes MOST words I speak.


• It takes several seconds for the text to appear after I speak (too little memory or processor on my laptop?).


• It refuses to recognize swear-words, even after training.


• Heck, it seems incapable of learning ANY word I try to teach it, no matter how many times I type and read it in the "learn word" feature.

This experience is worse than the one I had with Word 2000 when it first came out with that voice-recognition feature. I have the uneasy feeling that I'll have to spend hundreds of hours teaching this damned software... rather than writing.

Your experience? Is it just my way of speaking that's the issue? Am I forever screwed?

Best,
Chris

PS: I might have a copy of Dragon Naturally Speaking v.10 for sale, cheap! Only $45. I'm told that it's AWESOME software.

Dragon Naturally Speaking v.10

To those of you who use and like this software: How many hours does it take to make it even partially useful? Right now, I'm experiencing these issues:

• It mis-recognizes MOST words I speak.


• It takes several seconds for the text to appear after I speak (too little memory or processor on my laptop?).


• It refuses to recognize swear-words, even after training.


• Heck, it seems incapable of learning ANY word I try to teach it, no matter how many times I type and read it in the "learn word" feature.

This experience is worse than the one I had with Word 2000 when it first came out with that voice-recognition feature. I have the uneasy feeling that I'll have to spend hundreds of hours teaching this damned software... rather than writing.

Your experience? Is it just my way of speaking that's the issue? Am I forever screwed?

Best,
Chris

PS: I might have a copy of Dragon Naturally Speaking v.10 for sale, cheap! Only $45. I'm told that it's AWESOME software.

DB9F RS-232 serial port connector = video-out plug?

Okay, I should know this, but I can't find any straight answers anywhere on the Web... or in my manual. I'm trying to connect my telescope's computer - which uses a 4-pin phone-cord-like cable - to my computer (lacking such, of course). Meade (the telescope manufacturer) makes a DB9F RS-232 serial port connector cable that terminates in said 4-pin cable for transferring data from the computer to the telescope.

Is the port that such a connector plugs into the same thing as the 2-row, 9-pin video(?) port on the back of my computer? It looks the same, with all the same pins and even the little hold-down bolts:


I mean, geez, there's a lot of talk out there about COM ports and serial ports... but nothing about if they're the same as monitor ports. The identifier on the back of my laptop is identified with this icon: |0|0|

Thank you!
Chris

DB9F RS-232 serial port connector = video-out plug?

Okay, I should know this, but I can't find any straight answers anywhere on the Web... or in my manual. I'm trying to connect my telescope's computer - which uses a 4-pin phone-cord-like cable - to my computer (lacking such, of course). Meade (the telescope manufacturer) makes a DB9F RS-232 serial port connector cable that terminates in said 4-pin cable for transferring data from the computer to the telescope.

Is the port that such a connector plugs into the same thing as the 2-row, 9-pin video(?) port on the back of my computer? It looks the same, with all the same pins and even the little hold-down bolts:


I mean, geez, there's a lot of talk out there about COM ports and serial ports... but nothing about if they're the same as monitor ports. The identifier on the back of my laptop is identified with this icon: |0|0|

Thank you!
Chris