Reality Suckage

Posted on by PaulaO

Hey, I got some writing done! Ain’t I just special! I am about to get to work on it again, actually.

The problem is, see, I can’t write but a few minutes at a time. Earlier today I pushed myself to nearly an hour and I am still paying for it. Such is the life of a crip writer, I reckon.

The good news is that the surfACE board should be here soon and I can finish that wheelchair mounted desk. It is my hope that it will make writing much easier and fun again. If not, well, I don’t know what’s next.

Does anyone reading this use a Voice Recognition Software? If so, which one? Has anyone tried one?

Dragon Dictate is the universal favorite although it is not truly hands free.
QPointer is truly hands free but doesn’t have quite as good a speech engine as Dragon.
IBM’s Via Voice is not worth mentioning. Is it even still being made??

Comments

  1. I think Radclyffe uses Dragon Speak, you might like to check with her about it.,

  2. Thanks! I am about to send an email to the main list.

    I’ve tried speaking my story aloud, the draft version, and it just doesn’t flow right. But then, I didn’t give it much effort and all things get better with practice, right?

  3. Are Dragon Dictate, Dragon Speak, and Dragon Naturally Speaking all the same? Or is one a subset of the other? I know that DNS has ruled the market for years and nobody has been able to touch. And by that comment, I don’t mean hands free… duh…

    Even the best require a period of training. The further your voice, accent, inflection, and tonal range are from their closest built-in model, the longer it takes. With you it shouldn’t take more than a couple of years… Just be prepared because it WILL be frustrating and NEVER 100% accurate.

  4. Yeah, Dragon Dictate, Naturally Speaking, and any combination thereof are the same thing. I *think* they used to be two different software and one bought the other. I think.

    I’ve used Dragon in the past. I found it to be VERY frustrating! I know you have to keep using it to get it used to your voice but at that time I had no patience. I’ve used Via Voice and actually liked it better than Dragon. Can’t remember why. For both of them, it is interesting what they think the dogs are saying.

    Computing Out-Loud has some fantastic info, as well as a goofs page. Don’t go there and drink anything at the same time! example:

    Recently, however, I discovered a way to even the score a little. VIN comes equipped with a voice macro capability. He can be programmed so that when you say “address,” he responds by typing your return address; or when you command “closing,” he types “Faithfully yours, Howard Forshbuckle, C.P.A.”

    Last week I programmed VIN with a voice macro I named “you %*\#@^&!.” Now, whenever I notice that the screen contains a word of dubious origin, I roar, “”you %*\#@^&!,” and VIN responds, “I’m sorry I was such a jerk. I swear it’ll never happen again. I’m feeling much better now.”

    I appreciate the sentiment. I just wonder if he really means it.

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