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| ActiveWords PLUS! | Utilities |
| It would be nice if you could
just say “e-mail” to your computer on a whim and it would open your e-mail
program. While computerized voice-recognition isn’t yet ready for the mainstream, the
next best thing would be if you could just type “e-mail” and get the same
response. You actually can do this with a nifty program called ActiveWords Plus!. ActiveWords is an application that can make life on a computer easier. ActiveWords allows you to assign specific actions to any word or combination of keystrokes. If you want to launch your word processor, you could go the normal route of clicking on “Start,” going to “Programs,” and selecting your word processor from the list of available programs. With ActiveWords installed, you can type “write,” hit the “ActiveWord Key” (defaulted as F8), and your word processor pops right up. But the functionality of ActiveWords doesn’t stop there. Since I regularly visit CNN.com, I added the ActiveWord “cnn.” Regardless if I’m composing an e-mail or working in an Excel spreadsheet, I can type “cnn,” hit the ActiveWord Key, and I’m reading the news, even if my Internet browser wasn’t open to begin with. After downloading and installing ActiveWords, I was welcomed to the program by an excellent tutorial. I highly recommend the tutorial as your first exposure to ActiveWords. You will be led through the basic operations of the program and provided with some basic examples of ActiveWords. The program itself is nothing more than a small icon that resides in the system tray of your taskbar and the “Monitor Bar” that can be docked at the top or bottom of your screen. The “Monitor Bar” allows you to change the options for the program, access the “Help” file and launch the “Add New ActiveWord Wizard.” Adding a new ActiveWord is easy, and this is where you really begin to realize the power of the program. You first choose an action for your new ActiveWord (such as substituting text, opening a document, going to an Internet site or sending an e-mail), and then you select what letter, word or keystrokes you want to associate with that particular action. I especially like the “Text Substitution” function of ActiveWords. I am an active user of “AutoCorrect” in Word, and I have many automatic substitutions programmed such as “Supreme Court” for when I type “sup.” This is a great timesaver when I’m typing in Microsoft Word. The great thing about “Text Substitution” with ActiveWords is that it’s not program-specific and I get the functionality regardless of whether I’m composing an e-mail or typing in “Notepad.” Another great bonus with ActiveWords is the superior support you can receive with the program. I found a thriving community in Yahoo! Groups where users ask questions, supply tips for others and even upload additional ActiveWords to share. I thought one user had a great idea for opening “Notepad” — his ActiveWord was “notee” with an extra “e.” He told ActiveWords that he didn’t want to use the confirmation key (F8) after typing “notee” so Notepad would automatically open after he typed the last “e.” Another user in the group created ActiveWords that would automatically search California case law on FindLaw.com and provided the ActiveWords for anyone to download and use. In addition, the ActiveWords Web site is a treasure trove of great information and add-ons for the program. I downloaded an ActiveWords file for ASCII characters from the Web site, which automatically programmed such things as the copyright symbol (©) when I typed “copyright” and hit F8. This, and other such shortcuts, will make your life on the computer much easier. I only wish I had more space here to expound on the incredible possibilities of ActiveWords. The good news is there is a fully functional, 30-day trial of ActiveWords available on its Web site (www.activewords.com), so you can try it out for yourself. If you are a computer user who enjoys using shortcut keys such as “Alt + Tab” to switch between open programs, and “Windows Key + D” to quickly access your desktop, then I bet you will fall in love with ActiveWords. I recommend downloading the trial download and using ActiveWords for yourself. If you find that you just “don’t get it” after a while, then mosey on back to the tried-and-true, point-and-click mouse-mode. But if you find yourself gaining an extra second or two here and there as you type your customized ActiveWords, then enjoy a new way of computer interaction. |
ActiveWord Systems Inc. (407) 628-5504 www.activewords.com Price: $49.95 per user license Windows 95/98/Me/NT 4.0/2000/XP Reviewed by Brett Burney, a legal practice support coordinator for Thompson Hine in Cleveland. He also writes for Law.com’s Automated Lawyer and has a monthly legal tech review column on LLRX.com PROS CONS VERDICT |
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