The trouble with not being a geek.

Well, will you look at that.

I'm sitting here with my arms folded, some considerable way from my computer screen, cuddled up in a comfy chair and not bent over like some kind of weird wicked old which hunched over her cauldron. I just installed and trained that Mac speech software Birmo was on about and am totally amazed by its accuracy.

The hardest thing to get used to is not watching the type as it comes up on screen because there is a delay while it figures out what you are talking about. Rather, you have to force yourself to stare off into the middle distance and let the computer overhear you thinking aloud.

It takes half the effort of actually sitting there typing and I am so impressed I can barely speak!

However, it wasn't easy because sadly, I am not a geek (i.e., even if I do read the fine print on computer software sites, it doesn't actually mean anything). The Mac Speech program propbably did say I needed Macos 10.whatever, but as I have a fairly new machine, I figured I was as up to date as anything. When I get it, it's not until it spits the program out like a bad taste, I realise that I need to upgrade the operating system. I make a few phone calls and, assured that it should be cool to get Snow Leopard because yes, I do have an 'intel core duo' (WETFTI), two days later the disc arrives in a cloud of dust from the TNT truck which was sent out to deliver this precious piece of gadgetry.

All excited, I load it in, only to have it tell me that it can't install because I don't have enough RAM - thanks Mister Jobs. So, what initially only cost me three hundred bucks adds up to more like $500, but hey, its worth it in chiropractic care for my aching typing neck.

Unbelievable accuracy when you consider what the computer is actually doing and in not in any position to make poetic connections or comprehend context.