The Journal Newsletter
Introduction
Welcome to February 2007!
The Journal 4.1 Build #207 is now available. Look in “The Journal News” below for a detailed list of what’s new in this update, and for download and installation instructions.
Our “Tips & Tricks” this month cover the spoken word with “How to Record Audio in The Journal” and “Using The Journal with Voice Recognition Software”. And, as always, we have a new set of writing prompts.
Thank you for choosing DavidRM Software’s The Journal!
Tips & Tricks
TRICK: How to Record Audio in The Journal
Have you ever wanted to record an audio journal? Or maybe you have a loved one that would rather tell you about her life rather than type it out for you. (This approach could work really well, for example, with the interview-like questions of the MemoryGrabber add-on.)
The Journal isn’t specifically designed as an audio journal, but if your computer has a microphone, you can use that to record audio directly into The Journal. Here’s how:
2. Click on “Create New”.
3. Under “Object Type”, find and select: “Wave Sound”.
4. Then click “OK”.
6. Click on the Record button (it has a big red dot), and begin speaking.
7. When you’re finished recording, click on the Stop button, and close Windows Recorder.
You can added a description to the speaker icon, by clicking on the speaker icon to select it. Then clicking on the Edit menu and choosing “Edit Image/Object Description…”
You can edit your recording by right-clicking the speaker icon, finding the Sound sub-menu and choosing “Edit”.
NOTE: This method essentially inserts a Wave file (.WAV) into your entry. Wave files have no built-in compression, so they can get big quickly. This means that The Journal might be a bit slow saving and loading long audio clips. I recommend experimenting to see how long a recording works best for you.
TIP: Using The Journal with Voice Recognition Software
If you use The Journal with voice recognition software, like Dragon Naturally Speaking by Nuance, here is a tip to improve performance: Turn off the automatic spell checker features.
2. Bring up the “Spell Checker” tab.
3. Un-check (clear) both of these options:
- “Check spelling as you type”
- “Correct spelling errors as you type”
Those features of the spell checker have been shown to interfere with using voice recognition software. Since the features have no real purpose when you are using voice recognition software, it’s best to just turn them off.
Writing Prompts
Free Writing Prompt – Write for 20 minutes using the following as your title or starting phrase: “Consider Blasphemy”
Journaling Prompt – What do you like more than chocolate?
Memoir Prompt – Everyone goes through hard times. Write about one of the hard times of your life. Write about how you overcame the hard time (or didn’t).
Submission Information
If you would like to contribute to the “How I Use The Journal”, “Writing Exercises”, or “Tips & Tricks” sections, or would like to submit an article about journaling, writing, or another The Journal-related topic, we would love to hear from you.
Submissions for the newsletter should be sent to: support@davidrm.com
If you are submitting for a particular section, please indicate which one. Try to limit your submissions to 500-1000 words. Submissions may be edited for length and content.
If you prefer to remain anonymous, please state this in the email. Otherwise your name (but not your email) will be used in the article heading.
As always, if you have any suggestions for, or bug reports about, The Journal, please feel free to email them. Both are always welcome.