((((((((((((((((( WEBREFERENCE UPDATE NEWSLETTER )))))))))))))))))
November 8, 1999
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New this week on WebReference.com and the Web:
1. DHTML DINER: Loading External JS Files for DHTML Browsers
2. UPDATE: Universal Related Popup Menus 2.02
3. UPDATE: Internet License Plate Gallery
4. SOFTWARE REVIEW: Voice Recognition Software - Dragon vs. IBM
5. CONTEST WINNERS: Subscribe & Win!
6. NEW LINKS: Image Map Resources, Internet Statistics,
JavaScript Resources
7. NET NEWS:
* Microsoft Declared Monopoly
* Real Fixes One Privacy Hole, Exposes Another
* Web Publishers, Advertisers Square Off on Customer Data
* Study Finds Top Firms' Web Sites Error-Ridden
* A Web That's Out of This World
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Spread the word! Feel free to send a copy of this newsletter to
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1. DHTML DINER: Loading External JS Files for DHTML Browsers
Why do DHTML gurus go through so many gyrations to load a simple
.js file? Find out why in this step-by-step examination of browser
quirks by our own DHTML dynamo, Peter Belesis.
http://webreference.com/dhtml/diner/scriptsrc/
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2. UPDATE: Universal Related Popup Menus 2.02
By user request we've updated our popular popups to work with
frames. And of course, it's open source. By Andrew King.
http://webreference.com/dev/menus/
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3. UPDATE: Internet License Plate Gallery
We've added eight new plates to the gallery, including SFT ENGR,
WWWPAY, HTTPME, and 21T.COM, one of the only license plates in
existence with a legal domain name. Keep those cards and plates
coming!
http://webreference.com/outlook/license/
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4. SOFTWARE REVIEW: Voice Recognition Software - Dragon vs. IBM
>The Problem
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), repeated trauma
injuries are the most common newly reported workplace illness.
Over 64% of the new cases reported in 1997 (the latest data
available at http://stats.bls.gov) were disorders associated with
repeated trauma, like carpal tunnel syndrome and noise-induced
hearing loss. Of these injuries, repetive strain injuries were the
fastest growing. These injuries cost businesses over $100 billion
dollars in worker's compensation claims and lost work time,
productivity, and rehabilitation.
>The Solution
An entire industry has grown around dealing with this problem.
Ergonomic keyboards, mice, furniture, and all manner of
contraptions have proliferated in response to the increasing
demand. One area that shows great promise is voice recognition
software. Now in their fourth generation, these products have
evolved to allow hands-free dictation, and the promise of hands-
free computing.
Reality doesn't always match the hype however. I've been working
with three voice recognition products over last few weeks, Dragon's
Naturally Speaking Preferred 4.0, IBM's ViaVoice Pro Millennium
Edition, and Conversa Web 3. Rather than giving you a conventional
review (you can read some below), I'll try and give you an idea of
what it is really like to work with these products, and give you
some tips on improving recognition.
Dragon Systems and IBM have updated their voice recognition
software with larger vocabularies, improved accuracy and ease-of-
use, all designed to speech-enable your apps, increase recognition
accuracy, and ultimately free your hands from typing. I tested
dictating with both products into a number of applications
(including dictating this review, guess which product I used) and
surfing the Web with their speech-enabled browsers.
>Dragon Naturally Speaking Preferred 4.0
Optimized for the Pentium III, Naturally Speaking 4.0 ($199, $249
with USB Microphone) features improved training time (it took me
only a few minutes), improved accuracy, voice surfing with
NaturalWeb, and an improved Vocabulary Builder that reads in your
existing documents. Dragon's BestMatch system features a vocabulary
of 160,000 words with additional accuracy improvements for Pentium
III computers greater than 450 MHz. You can dictate into most any
Windows application, and common apps are fully voice-enabled
(Word, Outlook, Office, WordPerfect).
Out of the box, after only five minutes of training, Dragon showed
impressive accuracy (PC Magazine reports 96.5% initially and 98%
accuracy after one hour). To improve recognition, use the
vocabulary builder on your typical documents, use the "correct
that" feature to correct recognition errors, speak clearly in
complete phrases, and make sure your microphone is positioned
correctly (1/2 inch in front of your mouth, just off the edge).
For straight dictation into e-mail etc., you can talk directly
into Microsoft Outlook, but I recommend using the default VoicePad
application for maximum accuracy and speed, then cut and paste
into your app (say "click edit, click cut," move to desired app
and "click edit, click paste").
You can control menus in voice-enabled applications using your
voice by saying "click name-of-menu, and click menu-option." You
can edit text by saying "select word" and saying the new word, but
moving the cursor is still faster using a mouse or trackpad (both
products have voice-enabled mice). Dragon's NaturalWord enables
you to control Microsoft Word speaking natural-language commands.
>Surfing the Web
You can surf the Web using Internet Explorer and Dragon's
NaturalWeb. First say "Start Internet Explorer" to launch Explorer.
You can go to your favorite bookmarks ("Go to Favorite
WebReference"), dictate a URL "Go to Address" and control the
standard navigation buttons using "Go Back," "Go Forward," "Stop
Loading" etc. Clicking on a text link is as easy as saying it, and
clicking on a linked image takes a bit more work (they are not
numbered). If there is any question on which link you chose, a
question mark appears and you can say "Click That." It takes some
getting used to and isn't foolproof, but in large part it works.
>IBM's ViaVoice Pro Millenium Edition
ViaVoice's new customizable VoiceCenter centralizes all functions
into one convenient menu, with wizards and a nifty animated talking
pencil named "Woodrow" to guide you through the setup process. The
Recognition Wizard helps you set up your microphone and voice input
levels for maximum accuracy. The Navigation Macro Creator lets you
build macros to repeat a series of mouse clicks or keystrokes.
ViaVoice is more user-friendly than Dragon for microphone setup
and help. At any time you can say "What can I say?" and ViaVoice
displays a popup with available commands. You can also invoke
the ever-entertaining Woodrow by saying "Teach me about ."
Woodrow talks you through the procedure, complete with context
sensitive talking help.
Like Naturally Speaking, ViaVoice allows you to delete the last
phrase using "Scratch that," and with both products you'll find
yourself saying that a lot initially. "Correct " works
pretty much the same way as Dragon. ViaVoice encourages users
to correct dictatation using both the keyboard and your voice.
However, correction using just your voice is difficult. The IBM
representative I talked to said that most users prefer keyboard
correction, though they were looking into a hands-free mode for
the next update. Recognition accuracy was pretty good, though I
found ViaVoice to be a bit worse than Dragon, perhaps it's because
I've had Dragon longer. ("er, Scratch that") PC Magazine found
95.6% accuracy for ViaVoice out of the box and 97.7% after two
hours of use.
Unfortunately, training ViaVoice took much longer than Naturally
Speaking. Initial training took about 15 minutes. There are a
series of six stories you read in to analyze your voice, each
10-35 minutes long. You can pause to rest along the way, but
training ViaVoice is a time-consuming chore compared to Dragon's
speedy setup. With both products, the more time you put into
them, the higher your recognition accuracy will be.
>Surfing the Web
Sufing the Web with ViaVoice is a bit easier than with NaturalWeb.
In ViaVoice you just say "Surf the Web" and Explorer, Netscape, or
AOL launches (you choose). In both programs you select links by
saying the link text. In ViaVoice linked images are also numbered,
to select one you just say the number. To scroll down the page
just say "Page down." You use "back," "forward," and "stop" just
like you'd expect.
>Conversa Web 3: "Whiskey Echo Bravo Romeo Echo Foxtrot"
The best in way I found to surf the Web with your voice is
Conversational Computing's Conversa Web 3. Using Internet
Explorer 4+, Conversa features speaker-independent voice
recognition, licensed from IBM ("What Can I Say" sound familiar?).
(Note: Barry L. Smith, Conversa's Senior Product Manager says
"Conversa's speech technology is 100% internally developed.")
No training is necessary, and surfing is intuitive. Like
ViaVoice, you select links by saying them. Navigation buttons
are labeled clearly, "Go Back," "Scroll Down," etc.
>Can you say "Papa Alpha India November?"
However, there's a price to pay for speaker independency. To enter
text in the URL address field ("Enter address") or forms you have
to use the military alphabet. ("Roger that, Alpha-Bravo"). I'd
like to see Conversa's ease of use combined with better Web page
navigation and natural language dictation.
Conversational Computing owns conversations.com, where you can
find voice-enabled Web sites, and information about voice-enabling
your own site.
>Hardware Requirements:
All voice recognition programs require some serious horsepower,
Dragon recommends a minimum of a 200 MHz PC with 128MB of memory
(and IBM recommends 225 MHz and 48MB minimum), but you won't be
happy at this speed ("Can you say molasses?"). For best results,
I recommend you get the fastest computer you can afford, at least
a 500 MHz Pentium III. (The new 600 MHz 256 MB machine I bought
for voice recognition still has some lag time after dictating a
phrase).
>Buy a USB Microphone
Each product comes with its own microphone and associated sound
card compatibility issues, but for maximum accuracy I recommend
you bypass your sound card completely and buy a USB microphone.
Dragon makes one for $79 called Naturally Clear.
>What about the Mac?
Mac users take heart. By the end of the year you'll have new Mac
versions of these voice recognition products. Both will require a
G3 of least 333 MHz.
>Conclusion
Overall I found Dragon's Naturally Speaking to be more accurate
than IBM's ViaVoice, while ViaVoice is more user friendly. Training
Naturally Speaking is also much faster, and it has a larger
vocabulary. For surfing the Web with your voice I recommend
Conversa Web. These products don't replace your keyboard, but
they can take a huge load off of your aching wrists. One other
recommendation: get a private office so you don't drive your
coworkers crazy.
http://www.dragonsys.com
http://www.software.ibm.com/speech/
http://www.conversa.com
http://www.zdnet.com/products/stories/reviews/0,4161,2331859,00.html
PC Magazine, Sept. 10, 1999
http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/1999/10/29/voice_recognition/index.html
Salon.com, Oct. 29, 1999
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5. CONTEST WINNERS: Subscribe & Win!
Congrats to this week's winners: Olaf Kolling of Stuttgart,
Germany, and Lisa Beames of Beavercreek, OH. They each win a free
copy of HoTMetaL Pro 6.0 from Softquad Software, Inc.
Each week we'll draw new winners from our new subscribers - you
could be next. Subscribe to our text newsletter today and you too
could win a copy of HoTMetaL Pro 6.0! Already a subscriber? No
problem - just fill out the form, and you'll be automatically
entered to win.
http://webreference.com/new/contest.html
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6. NEW LINKS: Image Map Resources, Internet Statistics, JavaScript
Resources
>Image Map Resources
Mapmaker, mapmaker, make me a map. Client or server-side, our list
of image map resources will give you the tips and tools to make
your maps the most mighty.
http://webreference.com/authoring/graphics/imagemaps.html
>Internet Statistics
Looking for the secrets hidden in the numbers? Dive into an ocean
of on-line statistics with our list of resources, and see what you
can fish out.
http://webreference.com/internet/statistics.html
>JavaScript Resources
So you've memorized everything Doc JavaScript's got to say, you've
checked out the new JavaScript.com and... What's that? You still
need more JavaScript? Swim through our list of JS resources until
you've gotten your fill.
http://webreference.com/programming/javascript.html
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7. NET NEWS: Microsoft Declared Monopoly, Real Fixes One Privacy
Hole, Exposes Another, Web Publishers, Advertisers
Square Off on Customer Data, Study Finds Top Firms'
Web Sites Error-Ridden, A Web That's Out of This
World
>Microsoft Declared Monopoly
If you haven't been living in a cave for the last few days, you've
already heard that a federal judge has declared Microsoft a monoply.
But the real story is only beginning to take shape: Microsoft is
responding publicly to the ruling, and news analysts are beginning
to make sense of what this decision really means.
http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article/0,1087,3_233431,00.html
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/trial/
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1003-201-1431262-0.html
Internetnews.com, Microsoft.com, CNet.com, 991105-991108
>Real Fixes One Privacy Hole, Exposes Another
Real Networks reacted quickly last week to criticism of its
RealJukeBox program, releasing a patch that blocked the software's
user identification and tracking functions. Unfortunately this
won't satisfy privacy advocates, because as Wired News reports,
the company's far more popular RealPlayer software also utilizes
user tracking functions.
http://www.internetnews.com/streaming-news/article/0,1087,8161_230531,00.html
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,32350,00.html
InternetNews.com, 991102; Wired.com, 991106
>Web Publishers, Advertisers Square Off on Customer Data
In a move that may change the way Web Publishers and Advertisers
deal with ad clickthrough data, IBM is testing new techniques of
serving its ads to Internet users in a way that prevents publishers
from knowing who clicked on IBM ads displayed on their Web sites.
IBM may then withhold the click data from publishers unless they
can be persuaded to do otherwise.
http://search.nytimes.com/search/daily/bin/fastweb?getdoc+site+iib-site+62+0+wAAA+ibm%7Ead
NYTimes.com, 991108 (free registration required)
>Study Finds Top Firms' Web Sites Error-Ridden
Fortune 100 companies' Web sites are chock-full of errors, ranging
from bad links to bad coding, according to a new study. The survey,
conducted by programming tools company Parasoft, examined Web sites
of 95 of the Fortune 100 companies. It found that these sites had
an average of one link error for every three and a half Web pages
- and an astounding 12.6 coding errors per page.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1007-200-1426293.html
http://www.thewebking.com/press/releases/webking/for100rep.htm
News.com, 991101
>A Web That's Out of This World
Internet engineers are turning outer space into cyberspace,
hoping to expand the Internet to other worlds. "By 2030, we hope
a stable interplanetary backbone can be established between the
planets," Internet visionary Vint Cerf said last month at a White
House presentation. Early usage would be focused on robots
communicating with Earth, but we're confident that Mars colonists
will eventually be able to find spam from home in their mailboxes
each morning.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2389090-1,00.html
ZDNet.com, 991105
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That's it for this week, see you next time.
Andrew King
Managing Editor, WebReference.com
update@webreference.com
Eric Cook
Assistant Editor, WebReference.com
ecook@internet.com
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