Jing by Techsmith

Just discovered this gem yesterday.

It's a free screen capture utility that will capture still images, or video screencasts, and then let you quickly post them for sharing.

I already use SnagIt and Camtasia Studio, also made by TechSmith. They are powerful, full-featured applications that are pricey.

Jing can do 90% of the tasks I use the other two applications for, so I suggest you start here.

For tablet users, the interface is particularly pen-friendly and efficient.

http://jing.com

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Optimize Yourself for Speech Recognition

Here are some tips from the maker of MacSpeech Dictate:

We want you to get the absolute best performance from MacSpeech Dictate. To ensure you're getting the ultimate experience from MacSpeech Dictate, check out these helpful tips and tricks:

Maintain some distance. Place the microphone about two finger widths away from your mouth. Some people may need it closer or farther away, depending on the natural timbre and volume of their voice.

Look away. Keep your speech at an even rhythm by not looking at the screen while dictating.

Keep your rhythm steady. Pause where appropriate and speak in complete phrases.

Speak the punctuation. Give MacSpeech Dictate the required context for your speech pattern by telling the software when you're using commas, periods, semi-colons, and other punctuation.

Drink plenty of water. Lubricate your throat as often as possible, especially after reciting large chunks of text. Dry vocal cords will change your voice.

Don't lose your cool. We all tend to speak louder when frustrated, which will also throw off MacSpeech Dictate's accuracy.

Start slow. When you set up your profile, start reading the sample text as slowly as you can, without drawing out the words and sounding like a record player on the wrong speed. Pause between phrases, to let the software catch up, and then gradually increase your speed about midway through the text.

Multiple profiles may be key. Many of our voices sound different in the morning compared to the evening, by which time the stresses of the day have stretched and dried out our vocal cords. You may want to create multiple MacSpeech Dictate profiles for different times of the day, if this is a problem for you.