obiter dictum

Started the Zoe Program today. Involves microbiome, blood, and blood sugar testing over 14 days to see how various foods impact my health. Fun to take part. Hope it will be informative.

As a lawyer I rely a lot on dictation. When I first started practicing, I found it to be very unnatural. They do not teach it in lawschool. It was only later in my career that I discovered what a great tool it is.

When I use the term “dictation” I am not talking about AI “speech-to-text” transcription - that can be useful too, but I’m talking about getting live audio to my secretary who can not only transcribe the text, but follow complex directions, and even give me reminders if I miss something. She controls the playback with a foot pedal.

I did get a copy of the “legal” version of Nuance Dragon, hoping it would help give my secretary a “head start” on transcription. Not impressed. I will say the speech-to-text accuracy was very good. But it is very expensive and takes significant amounts of time to configure and train. Even getting over that hurdle, the software itself was just abysmal. Confusing UI, resource hog, and really unstable. I’ll stick to the integrated voice-to-text options for my quick emails, thanks.

For real dictation, I currently use a “tried and true” Olympus DS-5000 and the accompanying software. The dictaphone is good. The software is functional but clunky. I have tried iPhone apps but the physical switch on the dictaphone is really useful. I have also tried Express Dictate by NCH. Slightly better UI but less functional than the Olympus software.

I would really like a fresh take on dictation software. Anyone else using it?

If I see another Prevagen ad on the evening news I might lose my lunch. What a scam.

My small law firm uses O365, we have been sharing docs w/ OneDrive password share links, would like to have the option to attach files and encrypt within Outlook using S/MIME for convenience. Any suggestions on a SSL cert provider? Or alternative that’s just as easy?

Some new kicks for spring. 🏃 on-running.com

Receieved my Truestream signup confirmation. 1GB fiber coming where 6 years ago dial-up was it. Been using a spotty 10MB WISP. This will be a big upgrade! Thank you to our local electric cooperative Great Lakes Energy for taking real initiative and making this happen! ⚡️ 🖥💻

Found an interesting project yesterday for legal document generation: Docassemble. Many years ago I hacked together a similar engine using YAML, Markdown and Ruby; this uses Python instead. Glad someone went the extra mile to package this for others.

Over the past few days I’ve been able to seemlessly move between computers running Windows 10, iOS, MacOS, and Ubuntu, without any interruption to my law office workflow. Amazing!

🌴Tropical Smoothie Cafe: where have you been my whole life? So good, and healthy!🥤

Good article on Politico on the current state of the Democratic party and politics in the US, told from the viewpoint of a Michigan rep.

Last warm day of the season. 70 degrees in November. Good day to put things away before the snow flies.

Legal work has been crazy, 📚 all the COVID delays crashing down at once! 💥 Hearing the same from other attorneys.

Still plant strong nearly 8 weeks in. 💪🏻🌱 Feeling good. May put some fish back on the menu. 🐟 Otherwise, could easily live wo dairy/eggs, not missed.

Since nuking my gut biome in August, I’ve been working on rebuilding. Doing a plant-based diet program: Fiber Fueled. Four weeks in. Big adjustment but headed in the right direction.

Went for a trail ride last weekend with my youngest, growing up fast.

Just drank my last shake after 14 days on an elemental diet. No more cake batter shakes! The flavor could have been a lot worse but 14 days of anything is enough. Feeling great. Hope it lasts. Now I start a slow reintroduction of food. And coffee!

Elemental D 10,11, 12: Feeling even better. Lots of energy. Sick of the cake batter shakes but totally worth it. Rode my bike last few days in this outstanding weather. Counting down the days to real food!

Elemental D 7, 8 & 9: Better and better. Aches gone. Skin cleared up. Everything regular. Feeling great. Miss food. Dreaming about what I will eat when I’m done! And coffee, oh sweet sweet coffee…

Elemental D6: Turned a corner. Everything cleared out last night and I immediately felt much better. Higher energy this morning. No headache, body aches almost totally gone, skin much better. Tonight will be 1 week, half done!

Elemental D5: Aches slightly better. GI is great but hope the muscle aches get better. Those are probably related to not drinking coffee. Not sure if coffee makes a difference but I’m taking no chances! What’s for dinner? Cake batter shake… mmm….

Elemental D4: Muscle aches got real bad, slight headache. Skin feels really oily and is breaking out. Low energy. Nap in the afternoon helped get me through the day.

Elemental D3: Bad breath. Sore muscles progressed to body aches. Lymph nodes a bit swollen, hope that means bacteria is dying! GI feels great but I sure miss real food!

Elemental D2: Sticking with it. Had a dream about real food. Decided I better not drink coffee. Painful. Some online say its okay, but studies here and here say otherwise. This study is interesting; coffee supercharges GOS’s affect on Bifidobacterium. Always been very sensative to GOS.

Elemental Diet D1: Ice and blender improves taste. Stomach aches and some nausea after shakes but clears up, probably just adjusting. Trying to drink slowly. No GI symptoms! That’s something! Hungry this morning though, 1800 cal is barely enough.

Started a 14 day Elemental Diet yesterday. Hoping it will beat my SIBO into submission. Shakes taste like vanilla cake batter with a bitter aftertaste.