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Word Transcription software
Microsoft’s new Transcribe in Word feature is perfect for anyone that needs to transcribe conversations, like students and journalists. You can either record audio live or upload recorded audio, and Word will automatically transcribe a discussion and separate sections by speakers. Best of all, it’s free for Microsoft 365 subscribers.

To start, the Transcribe in Word feature only works on the web version of Word. You’ll head to the Word live site, and either start a recording or upload one. If you’re recording a conversation live, Word can listen to your microphone and your computer’s audio, which helps you transcribe a video call.

If you prefer, you can record something ahead of time, then upload it to Word for transcription. Word accepts .mp3, .wav, .m4a and .mp4 files. In either case, Microsoft will identify different speakers and separate out the transcribed words accordingly.

Translation Glasses.  This is my pet theme as it would revolutionise my ability to have a conversation with someone, face to face, even in a noisy situation. But even more than that it would enable people to communicate to others who speak a different language, even via the internet.  Having another look at the subject in 2023 I have decided they are not (yet) for me.  1. Too expensive. 2. They include cameras - an expensive and INTRUSIVE add-on. 3. They are still too heavy and look ugly - Google Glass showed that this was not necessary. I thought that Xiaomi would have produced something at a reasonable price by now.  But not so. I will have to wait a little longer.

Multiple video contacts That scourge, the pandemic, resulted in a plethora of communication programs to help people work from home and to keep in tounch with friends and family.  See Help14 on this site for more detail

Smart Everything These days it is possible to do a great deal more with the aid of the internet, whether it is via a smart phone, computer or by your voice. Examples of programs are Google Assistant

Artificial Intelligence. Chatgpt There are others but this is currently most well known program which can demonstrate what is coming, Chatgpt is the program being used by Boston Dynamics robotic dog, Spot. It can now answer questions and obey orders.

Phone (tablet) "detox".  People are spending 4 hours a day on their phone or tablet.  Whoever would have thought this thing could be so addictive !  But it has and must be reducing the world's productivity by billions.  Although, on the other hand these things save you hours when you are trying to get information.  But it is possible to reduce the ever increasing pestering by those sites that innocently tell you they keep your information safe and would you mind telling them your location and e-mail address!  Data means money, often in the form of advertising.
If you want to reduce the pestering to some extent there is a very interesting article by Mozilla/Firefox at HERE

- It will ask you to download the Firefox browser if you don't already have it

Calling emergency on and Apple Watch.
To make an emergency call directly from your Apple Watch:
Press and hold the side button (not the digital crown) until you see the Emergency SOS slider appear.
Keep holding the side button until an alert sounds, and you see the emergency countdown begin. Alternatively, slide the “Emergency SOS” slider to the right. To end the call, press firmly on the screen (Force Touch) and tap End Call.

ROKU Millions of consumers are "cutting the cord" by canceling their expensive cable TV subscriptions. Instead, they use a streaming media gadget like Roku to bring movies, TV shows and online video to their television screens. (Roku is pronounced like "row-koo.")

A Roku player plugs into one of your TV's input slots, and connects to your high-speed Internet to bring a wide selection of entertainment options to your living room. Hundreds of free channels are available, but additional charges apply for subscriptions to Netflix, Hulu, Youtube TV, Amazon video and other streaming services. Another way to do this is by attaching a Google gadget to the HTML socket at the back of the average TV.  This will pick up most programs you can find on your tablet or phone and tansmit them to the bigger screen, without further cost..

The average speed of downloads in the UK is increasing quite rapidly as the OpenReach vans go round the country digging up paths and laying fibreoptic cable to the green BT boxes in streets. Speeds of up 100 Mb/s are becoming commonplace, although the distance between your computer and that box determines whether you will get the highest speeds. Nevertheless, this will be fast enough for most home use, including 'streaming' of videos and TV.  The idea of laying fibe cable to every house in the country is uneconomic - and will probably become unnecessary as mobile telephone connections get ever faster and will supersede the requirement for cables (my opinion)

From 2020 Windows 7 will rarely be updated, although businesses will be able to pay for updates at an increasing amount each year.  This will be a charge per Windows 7 PC. Microsoft is hoping people will finally give up on it.

iPhone 14 is the most expensive yet at between £849 and £1099

The Wi-Fi (wireless) connection has evolved over several years.  It used to be called meaningless things like 802.1 It is now on the 6th version so will be called  Wi-Fi 6  This generation wireless standard is faster than 802.11ac. More than speed, it will p