Does anybody still remember MacGyver?  Do you remember how he could make all those crazy gadgets by using whatever he had on had?  He was always able to escape using the oddest things and get the bad guys.  Well, real life isn’t that far off from some of the things he was able to come up with.  The Sneaky Uses Book series brings us all one step closer to being a MacGyver in our own homes.

The first book in this series of books is Sneaky Uses For Everyday things. From this book, you can learn how to make a megaphone, convert your radio into an aircraft broadcast receiver, and make a flood alarm. There are 80 things in here you can make (and that doesn’t include the bonus applications), and each of these are made from things you should easily find in your house! There are no extra shopping trips needed to pull this stuff off.

The next book is Sneakier Uses For Everyday Things. This book will show you how to make an antigravity rollback toy, a hovercraft toy, and even a breathing device! This is an additional 40 items for you to build in your house!

The next book in the series is the Sneakiest Uses For Everyday Things.  Again, all of these things can be made from items you just have laying around.  I’ve learned how to make a calculator, a magnifier using only a paperclip and paper, and a mini boomerang.  This book has an additional 40 projects for you to try out!  Like the other book, it also gives you step by step directions and illustrations to show you how to make these awesome items.

The Sneaky Book For Boys is right up any boys alley.  They can learn how to get drinking water from plants, make a periscope, and make an emergency flotation device.  I love that at the end of the book there is a list of other books and resources to check into.  You can keep the learning experience ongoing then.  There is also a section in the book for sneaky animals.  You can read all about spider and lizards that are sneaky (and right up a boys alley).

We don’t want to leave the girls out, so there is also The Sneaky Book For Girls. Here we can learn how to make a drawer alarm, make milk into plastic, and how to make batteries.

These books definitely make excellent stocking stuffers for anyone in your house.  The activities can be used in the classroom, for homeschooling, and just for fun too!  I got a kick out of reading how to make some of these items and I definitely felt my inner MacGyver wanting to come out!

Why do I love Dragon Naturally Speaking? Let me count the ways . . . .

Ok, so the video doesn’t tell you all ways I love Dragon Naturally Speaking. However, it does show you how easy it is to use the software. Literally, all you have to do is plug in a noise canceling headset to your computer and download the software. You place your cursor where you want to type and away you go. Now, you do have to train the software to your voice. I tend to talk fast, so it had to correct for that. Plus, if you find that it is typing same wrong word, you can train it on that specific word. This isn’t rocket science to figure out (which is good because I have a tendency to NOT read the books or pdf files that comes with software).

I was able to create that video while my kids were up and playing at my feet (and you can tell when they grabbed my leg, because the video starts wobbling. You can also hear them a little too.) However, I did want to show that you can still be involved in doing other things and be able to use Dragon NaturallySpeaking. This more than triples my typing speed when I am typing and dealing with my kids (Take the Dragon NaturallySpeaking typing test if you don’t know what your typing speed is). I am actually writing this blog post using the software too. Here is the official video on how this all works:

As I stated in my video, I am finding that I can get a lot more in the little snippets of time I have during the day plus I am able to get way more done at night. I love being able to go to bed before midnight. I love being able to answer emails and do blog posts when I have Will sitting on my lap drinking from his sippy and watching cartoons. I have five blogs, so being able to write more content in less time is a huge plus for me. Plus, anyone who knows me, knows I have no problems talking. I am able to do my freelance work and reports using this also. I will be recommending this to my boss. Beside blogging, I have used it to make my daily lists of what I have to do each day plus some grocery shopping lists too! I am not the only one who thinks it is great, check out this New York Times Review.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking is really for anyone who works on a computer. If you talk faster than you type, you need this. If you want to be more efficient in your work, you need this. If you just want a new toy to play with, you DEFINITELY need this. Time is money, and the time you save from using Dragon NaturallySpeaking makes it worth every penny.