Nuance Dragon NaturallySpeaking Medical Version 9.5 is a speech recognition system that lets physicians navigate any Windows or Citrix based EMR system using voice commands. The Medical Version 9.5 was originally designed as a general Window speech recognition system. In the latest versions, EMR-specific features have been added, which reduces time spent documenting care.
NaturallySpeaking Medical was first launched in 2003. Version 9.5 was released in January of 2007. Approximately every 20 months a new version is released. Dragon NaturallySpeaking Medical Version 9.5 is an all-in-one system which enables physicians to use voice commands to navigate, dictate progress notes, e-prescribe medications and access test results.

In Use
Dragon NaturallySpeaking Medical Version 9.5 is a high tech solution to eliminating all of the typing and mouse clicks that can make EMR’s time consuming and cumbersome to use. This is an amazing system; it uses speech-driven macros to navigate through the entire EMR system. This software makes creating letters, reports and emails three times faster than typing by hand. Clinicians can utilize multiple input devices to suite their working preferences. It is possible to use handheld digital recorders, PDAs and Nuance approved BlueTooth headsets. The system has a built in medical library of 14 vocabularies covering over 60 specialties including Cardiology, Emergency Medicine, Mental Health, Pathology and many others.
I found the screens and menus easy to use, and user friendly. When using this speech recognition software you can easily navigate the entire system with voice commands. Dragon NaturallySpeaking Medical Version 9.5 has the ability to add site names, new medications and create personalized commands that automatically enter standard phrases or paragraphs, such as normal exam results.
Dragon NaturallySpeaking Medical Version 9.5 has multiple user capability and can be installed on multiple computers and also can be used over networks. A license is required for each user. Dictaphone’s PowerMic II is a useful option. It is an ergonomically designed handheld microphone that filters ambient sounds, includes a pointing device and offers mouse functionality. It is offered in most bundles of the system.
My overall impression of Dragon NaturallySpeaking Medical Version 9.5 is that this system is easily installed, very well designed and a valuable timesaving solution for physicians and clinicians. This system is an affordable solution for dealing with EMRs.
Technology Employed
The software is ready to use out of the box. Most users can install the software themselves, and after a brief training session, Dragon Medical Version 9.5 adapts to the user’s speech. Dragon Medical 9.5 has a full set of onscreen tutorials, eliminating the need for reading a thick manual.
Dragon NaturallySpeaking Medical Version 9.5 is compatible with any Windows based system, including Vista and Office 2007. The system is also compatible with any Citrix based EMR system. The Dictaphone PowerMic II is not compatible with Linux or Mac systems. Be aware that the system requires 1 GB of memory.
Ease of Use, Configuration, and Deployment
Dragon NaturallySpeaking Medical Version 9.5 reduces time spent documenting patient care and can raise clinician satisfaction. It can improve quality of patient documentation by allowing physicians to dictate and document in their own words. The Medical Version 9.5 has multiple language models and flexible work flow options. With this system you have the ability to add site names, new medications and create customized commands.
Recap
Dragon NaturallySpeaking Medical Version 9.5 is used by over 50,000 clinicians to document care directly into an EMR, Microsoft Word document, or in other clinical software. Dragon NaturallySpeaking Medical 9.5 lets physicians navigate any Windows or Citrix based EMR system by using voice commands to navigate throughout the system.
Dragon NaturallySpeaking Medical 9.5 is available starting at $1,599. There are additional costs for user licenses, and Nuance can provide onsite training for additional fees, which usually takes approximately 2 hours per user. Physicians that use this system have reported that they get a return on their original investment within 3 to 4 months.
Pluses and Minuses
Advantages
Makes EMRs easire to use
Reduces time spent documenting care
Voice macros
Hands free navigation
Compatible with a variety of dictation input devices

Buy Nuance Dragon Naturally Speaking MEDICAL 9.5 – 49$

The industry-leading software for design and layout QuarkXPress is powerful layout software with an intuitive, versatile interface that lets you combine writing, editing, and typography with color and pictures to produce dynamic final output.
QuarkXPress is widely used by magazines, newspapers, advertising agencies, typesetters, printers, corporate publishers, design firms,
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The Next Generation of Modeling. Power NURBS [PRO]. Power NURBS unique hybrid approach fuses the next generation NURBS surface construction technology with the industrys leading Solids Modeling technology bringing an unparalleled modeling experience tothe 3ds Max Platform. Power NURBS modeling environment is designed to provide artist intuitive access to complex advanced modeling tools allowing you toexpand your creative potential beyond the polygon world. Imagine NURBS that work. Quickly sketch out your idea with our free form NURBS curve network. Easily, blend or sweep your curves into complex interconnected organic shapes. Intuitively re-sculpt your form on the fly while changes automatically propagate through your model. Produce complex surfacedetail by drawing and projecting curves onto your model. Cutaway, intersect, join or Boolean surfaces and solids without having to clean up polygon errors. Feel the joy of selecting any edge or set of edges and applying numerous fillet combinations that work and with our resolution independent meshing technology. Never worry about vpoly count again. Sound too good to be true? Think again. Its allhere in Power NURBS, so stop imagining and truly experience the next generation of modeling.

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The industry-leading software for design and layout QuarkXPress is powerful layout software with an intuitive, versatile interface that lets you combine writing, editing, and typography with color and pictures to produce dynamic final output. QuarkXPress is widely used by magazines, newspapers, advertising agencies, typesetters, printers, corporate publishers, design firms, catalog houses, book publishers, and form designers. It is also used by businesses with publishing requirements.

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The first thing to get straight when evaluating QuarkXPress 7 is that with three million registered users worldwide, Quark is more focused on keeping existing customers happy than on converting Adobe InDesign users to QuarkXPress. While many people have switched to InDesign, many more have stayed with QuarkXPress, just biding their time. The newly released QuarkXPress 7 is what they’ve been waiting for.

QuarkXPress 7 fulfills two fundamental objectives: Its design-related features are improved enough to keep QuarkXPress interesting and vital; and it solves deep-seated workflow problems. I believe it will turn the page-layout market on its head.
There are scores of significant new features in QuarkXPress 7. Some make XPress more efficient to use, such as moving 95% of the controls once available only in modal dialog boxes to the Measurements palette for instant visual feedback. Others are new design features, such as implementation of transparency and drop shadows that are markedly superior to InDesign. Coupled with a dramatically improved on-screen display of text and graphics, the designer’s world takes a great leap forward.
But the most profound changes involve collaboration and workflow. For the first time in the page-layout world, the artificial barrier of “one user per document” is gone — without the need for a server. Instead, anyone with a copy of XPress can work on a document at the same time as other users, and changes can appear in real time.
Another big change, which is actually required for the most successful collaboration, is a technology that ensures that everyone working on a project uses the same color management settings, output goals, and mechanical specifications. With the new Quark Job Jackets technology, Quark has tapped into the JDF (Job Description Format) standard and brought it upstream to the original content creator. Bonus: The designer doesn’t need to know anything about how Job Jackets work.
As you can see, there’s a lot of ground to cover. To help you zero in on the changes that interest you the most, I’ve divided the rest of this review into sections on Design, Efficiency, Collaboration, and Workflow. I’ll end with my overall impressions.
But first, let’s go over two boring basics: OS availability and price. The initial release of XPress is available for PowerPC Macintosh (OS X 10.4 or above) and Windows. Quark says that a Universal Binary version for Intel-based Macs will be available this summer as a free upgrade for registered users of the Macintosh version.

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QuarkXPress Passport v7.3
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More people use QuarkXPress for creative design and page layout than any other software in the world. Period. Millions of users are now discovering the power of the new QuarkXPress 7, the most important QuarkXPress upgrade ever.

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I thought I would finally let you know what my opinions were on SolidWorks 2008. Having not beta tested this myself I can not give you as in depth a review as what some of my fellow bloggers (SolidWorks User Blogs) have, but I will point out some items I saw that really caught my attention.

New Interface – This may be where the nerd in me shows through but I am always a fool for a new interface on any program. Something that is fresh and new is always exciting for me. However, now that I am in charge of our CAD system it will bring with it many frustrating moments trying to “teach” my fellow employees where things are, why they changed and so on. Hopefully in the end though the benefits will out weigh the frustrating times it will be worth the change. The new interface looks very nice but it will take some time to get used to on my end also. As with any new major change you will have a lot of time invested into finding where things have moved and so on, but I look forward to the challenge.
Feature Search – If you look at the picture on the left and you focus in on the top of the feature tree you will notice a filter icon with a search box next to it. This is possibly the best addition that I have seen thus far on the new release. It is a feature search that allows you to search for features inside your tree. Have you ever had it that you opened a large file that was created by someone else in your organization and they did not rename any of the features in the tree and then you need to find 1 extrude in the tree? I have and therefore I wasted a lot of time trying to find what I was looking for. This feature allows you to start searching for specific features whether they were renamed or not using multiples search filters. It will search as deep as the material specified for a part if you searching inside an assembly file. I see this addition being a tremendous benefit to all SolidWorks users, young and old alike.
Swift Instant3D – This seems that it could be an extremely useful tool with 1 possible major drawback, your computer needs to be able to handle it. The instant 3D feature allows you to change features on your part by simply clicking on a handle and dragging it to wherever you would like. You can turn an extrude into a cut extrude simply by dragging it in the opposite direction. I am however worried that with all of the computing power that I am sure this needs (this is an assumption because I have not actually tried it out myself) it will slow down you system more than what this feature is actually worth. I hope that I am wrong with this assumption however. If it works like a normal feature creation would work I think this could rival the feature search tool as the best addition to the software in 2008.
So now that I have given you my review I urge you to go check out some of the other blogs (see above) and see some other opinions on the new version. As a whole I am really excited to get it and start playing around with it. So the wait begins. Until next time, take it easy and enjoy the summer.

Buy SolidWorks 2009 MultiLanguage – 399$

When Family Tree Maker 2008 first launches you are offered the choice of creating a new file or opening/importing an existing file.
The “Get Started” screen for beginning a new family tree is simple, asking you to enter your name, birth date, and location, as well as that information for each of your parents. There is no specific guidance for beginners, however, on how to enter names and dates, such as to enter women under their maiden names. It allowed me to enter my name as Kimberly Powell and my father’s name as Larry Thomas without any type of warning or error. I’d like to see a little more “forced” guidance for beginners, since so many people neglect to read the “Getting Started” guide or watch the included DVD tutorials.

Importing a Family Tree File
I began by trying a GEDCOM import of my personal family tree. Family Tree Maker 2008 offers direct import from previous versions of FTM, as well as The Master Genealogist (TMG), Personal Ancestral File (PAF), and Legacy Family Tree. The software I generally use most isn’t in the list, however, so I had to opt for GEDCOM import. FTM took just a little over 2 minutes to read and import my file, not too bad for a family tree with 8300+ names. Many users report that the program bogs down when importing extremely large files, however. FTM 2008 also runs very sluggishly with larger files (50,000+) – a known issue that the tech team is working to improve.
I got a little frantic when FTM said it had imported over 12,000 sources, but it turned out to be only because FTM identified sources with the same source title, but different citation text/detail as different sources, which is different than it was handled in my primary software program (more about this later). I would also have expected FTM to comply with the GEDCOM standard by now, but the program still doesn’t recognize certain standard fields such as NICK (nickname). As with previous versions, FTM imported the NICK field into AKA (also known as) which, in my opinion, should only be used for legal name changes, not nicknames. Some of these nicknames were lost in my initial testing, but was fixed in the first (August 2007) FTM 2008 patch.
Data Layout & Entry
Data layout and entry in Family Tree Maker 2008 was surprisingly intuitive once I took some time to get used to the new layout. I personally really like the data entry screen which allows me to see a family index, pedigree view, and family view, as well as enter an individual’s data, all on one screen. If you’re running FTM 2008 on a small monitor with the minimum suggested 800×600 resolution, you will probably find all of this information on one screen to be a little cramped, however. You can arrange the sizes of each area to fit your needs by dragging the bars between sections; for example, you can increase the size of your family view to allow you to view all of your grandparents thirteen children by decreasing the pedigree view to only show 3-4 generations. Family Tree Maker 2008 will remember these settings the next time you open your family tree.
The “People Index” in the left hand pane allows you to sort by family name, given name, birth date, marriage date, or death date. The dates don’t actually appear in the index in the default view, but if you click on the little grey bars icon at the top of the index, you’ll find the option to expand the index to include this information. For some reason you can’t resize the index pane (unlike others on the main screen), but you can you can “hide” it to free up more room on your display.
Data Entry & Layout (continued)
The “Data Entry” pane on the right-hand side can be customized to allow data to be added for a range of facts. I supplemented the default facts with a few that I frequently use for individuals in my family tree such as baptism/christening, burial, occupation and residence. I also added a custom fact for Nickname as FTM only offers AKA (Also Known As) and I only use that field for legal name changes. I really appreciate being able to see these often used fields at a glance whenever I view a specific individual.
Sources
There is both good news and bad news in the source arena. As mentioned previously, FTM 2008 counts multiple citations to the same master source as multiple sources upon import. Don’t let that throw you, however. Once you go the the sources screen, you’ll see the master sources listed in the left-hand screen. In other panes you can also view the individual citations to this source that exist in your database, along with the people, facts and events to which the source citation is attached. I did have some import problems with some of my sources, however. Italics and bold text did not import correctly (I was importing from a RootsMagic gedcom file and not a previous version of FTM), and I have many errant spaces in my source text. This is something I plan to investigate further to determine whether the fault lies with my original program, the GEDCOM import, or FTM 2008.
Overall, I applaud the direction that The Generations Network has taken with the data entry and layout in this latest version of Family Tree Maker, although many longtime FTM users do not like the departure from what they are used to. Source entry is also acceptable, although not much different than that what was available in FTM v. 16 (the previous version). For entering and organizing data the program really shines. But that’s where the usefulness ends. Charts and reports and inadequate, and the lack of a standalone book feature will also not meet the needs of many genealogists. If you’re considering upgrading from a previous version or moving from your current program, I suggest that you wait a bit.

Buy Family Tree Maker 2008 – 23$

VirtualDJ is the hottest MP3 mixing software, targeting every DJ from bedroom DJs to professional superstars like Carl Cox.
With its breakthrough BeatLock engine, your songs will always stay in the beat, and you can work your mixes incredibly faster than any other DJ could.

The automatic seamless loop engine and the brand new synchronised sampler will let you perform astounding remixes live, with no preparation at all.
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