Update:

The software used for this type of communication is built into the Mac OS as the speech function. You can use this function to read text in Word or text pad.

If you caught the episode of Oprah with Roger Ebert then you might have heard his new voice. After four years of not being able to use his voice due to being diagnosed with thyroid cancer. The Pulitzer Prize-winning Chicago Sun-Times critic appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show to debut the fruit of some Scottish computer programmers’ labour, a voice that actually sounds like him. If you can imagine not having a voice a voice that was his bread and butter as a movie reviewer on television Roger has overcome his disability. With the help of his Mac Book and software he can now communicate with the world. If you have ever used a program like MacSpeech then you are familiar to the type of software that Roger Ebert is using to communicate. He is not the first to use computer speech to communicate, but he certainly is a poster boy for what technology can do for people with a speech problem. The technology that allows people speak through their computers has also gone down in price. You just need a computer and software which would run about $1200 something that was once out of reach for many. This technology has also made it easy for anyone to communicate and get work done that was once impossible. You can dictate your blog posts as you watch TV or read the newspaper. The software has improved over the years from my early start with programs like Dragon Dictate to super programs like MacSpeech. In the early days it took a very long time to teach the software to understand what you were saying and there were mixed results when speech converted to text. The new programs are almost perfect and understand more accents and pronunciation. Even my cell phone has speech recognition software. The effort of all the speech recognition programs must be noted as this technology is often forgotten or ignored even though there is so much value in what it can do.

Last year I covered a few software titles that would benefit an online business. Here is just  a quick recap for those who are new to the blog. These are software packages that help me make money online and they can also help your business.

1. Digsby Instant messaging
   
2. LinkAssistant SEO
3. XSitePro 2
4. PPC Web Spy

These were just a few titles that were reviewed last year. These are as I mentioned programs that I use for my own business and make great tools for my online marketing. There are many more programs I use and hope to add reviews in the near future.

Have you ever taken the time to look at company logos? Every great company has a logo that people can identify in seconds.  If you want your business to stand out you need a great logo. When you visit a web site that has a great logo it builds trust. If you want to look like a real business then it pays to design a great logo.

With many of my sites I have designed my own logo using a service from HP called LogoMaker. This is the quickest way to design a logo online with many great features to work with.

How does it work?
The custom-built design tool was created for the busy entrepreneur. Just follow the three easy steps to create your logo. Once you get your logo just right, pay only $49 and the unique logo you have designed will be yours to use wherever you need.

There are over 10,000 images to work with and manipulate to your own needs. If you need a logo fast and are brave enough to try creating your own design this is a great solution.

If you want to save a copy of videos found on YouTube or other video sites there is a free tool. You can now save video to your hard drive and then convert the video to play on other devices like iPhone or other video player. The tool is called FLV and it’s a free download.

This is one tool I been looking for for a long time. It’s nice to be able to take my YouTube video with me to play on a plane or in a location that I do not have access to the Internet.

Download FLV Direct Here!

If you just got a new computer or laptop this holiday then you need Digsby. This little program has had great reviews from CNET and Download.com. With this all in one IM client you can access the major instant messaging systems and Twitter along with FaceBook.

Dan Ackerman from CNET says

“Digsby Instant messaging clients are also easy to find. We use Digsby, because it combines IM, gmail, FaceBook and Twitter in a single easy to use app.”

He installs this app on all his new computers. If you have not tried Digsby it’s a free download just click here to download.

Download Digsby Now!

If you work on your own web sites at some point you need to edit an image. The top choices for my business needs are the following:

1. GIMP which is a free download and is an open source project to match PhotoShop. This easy to use photo editing software is the best choice for those on a budget and need something free and that works well. There are so many features that a newbie might get a little lost. There are a few books on GIMP, but most people who have worked with PhotoShop should not have any trouble getting the program to do what they want. GIMP is available for all computer OS’s.

2. Microsoft Digital Image Standard

You might have to look around for this one. It might no longer be for sale by Microsoft. This program cost form $60 to $100 and is very easy to use. Many of my logo’s and photo editing projects are done through Microsoft Digital Image. It might be one Microsoft product that just works. We have to give them credit for making a good program. The lite version of PhotoShop would be in the same price range and match most of the features. This is one of the most used programs in my tool box and I have used it for hundreds of projects. Would like to see Microsoft update this product and continue to support it.

These two programs are my favorites to edit images. With these two programs on my computer I have been able to make web sites look like a pro design them without spending much money. Many people work with PhotoShop and I hear great things about the software, but the cost goes beyond most budgets. At some point I would like to buy PhotoShop and learn how to use it. In the meantime these low cost solutions do a great job for what I need.

This has to be the best kept SEO secret. The last few days I have been playing around with an SEO package from LinkAssistant. The best part is the basic package is 100% free and can be downloaded to any computer. It does not matter is you have a PC MAC or Linux this software is going to work on your system. What LinkAssistant does is provide a clean software package to help with your link building and SEO efforts. The package includes a suite of programs called SEO Power Suite. With four programs in the suite. You get LinkAssistant, Rank Tracker, SEO Spyglass and Web Site Auditor. The Rank Tracker program was very easy to use and I found some valuable information right away. The free package has so many features and value that I think many users will want to try the pro version.

Not to get ahead of ourselves I think all webmasters need to download the free software and play around with it. You will soon know what keywords are ranked in all the major search engines and which position they show up in. There were keywords I found on a few of my sites that were in the top 10 which is a very cool way to try to make some money. The software can help you increase the number of sites you have in the top 10 spots in Google. This LinkAssistant software works with all major search engines and you can even pick the countries you want to check. Once you start playing around with LinkAssistant it becomes part of your everyday SEO efforts. This software has changed the way I title my posts and increase keywords to show up better in results. Many fortune 500 companies already use LinkAssistant, you can get a free copy and have the same tools the big boys use.

You’ve gotta rush. Users who’ve been among the first wave to start using this SEO software are now making serious big bucks. Do you want to join this group of folks using the software that is de facto the standard of SEO? If you think making money online is something you, too, need to get into, then don’t miss out on this chance to start right now.

Download free SEO PowerSuite and start using it today!

The last few weeks have been crazy with WordPress updates. The first one I did almost killed my blog. Since then I have made sure to turn plug-ins off. This seems to help and the upgrades have been working properly.

Every time I do an update I feel like the blog is going to get corrupted. If you are not backing up your database you should before any WordPress update. It’s better to be safe then sorry. Let’s hope this is the end of updates for awhile.

There is a promotion going on right now from Microsoft that will save you $100 on the pre order of Windows 7. If you plan on upgrading from Vista then place your order soon. It’s only on for another few days. The pre order is good on the Professional version for $99 or the home version for $49 you can find more details here.

This weekend I was reminded as to why I use a Mac as my main computer. After Windows Vista crashed without anything major being added to the system, it made me mad as hell. After several restore point sessions it came back up, but I am still not sure if the problem is fixed. If it keeps happening then I will need to do a full re-install of Windows. This is an option I was hoping I would not need to go through. The good news is that I do have almost all my critical data backed up to my external drive or to Dell’s Back server.

There was a funny message from Firefox after one of my crashes that I had not seen before. Here is a screen capture for your amusement.

Well I hope that my trouble with Windows Vista is over for the day. The problem started while I was using Firefox so I am trying Google Chrome as an alternative and see if I still get this crash. All I can say is if you do not own a Mac then you need to look into it if you depend on your computer for any type of business need.