Talk to your phone. And to your computer.

Warning: Another cheerleading post from your humble narrator. Disregard if you're not fortunate enough to have an Android phone, or Google apps loaded on your non-Android phone. (Wow, I barely got that warning in before I started shilling!)

Do you ever talk to your cell phone? No, not on your cell phone, but to your cell phone! You can, you know. It will listen to you (and you thought no one listened to you!).

In all seriousness, voice recognition technology has come a LONG way. If you have an Android phone and you don't have the Voice Search app, shame on you. And now the Google Chrome browser will listen to you, too!

From Mashable:
"How Google Is Leading the Way to a Voice-Activated Future" by Ben Parr
http://mashable.com/2011/07/07/voice-technology-google/

Note that Google voice actions work on non-Google phones, too. Just download the Google Mobile app and you can do this on most any smartphone!

Check it out, watch the videos ... and give it a try! At least try it out on your cell phone.

Here is a link for "Voice Actions for Android" from Google:
http://www.google.com/mobile/voice-actions/
Note that even if you don't have an Android phone you can click the "Google for Your Phone" to get voice search (Google Mobile app) for other phones. Or just visit "m.google.com" from your phone's browser.

Quote of the Day: Tesla on electric vehicles

Wait, what was that? How could Nikola Tesla, who lived 100 years ago, comment on electric vehicles? Well, it turns out that he was way ahead of his time. As usual. Recall, he was right and Edison was wrong when it came to predicting how we would transmit electricity.

"At first glance it may appear that to generate electricity by an engine and then apply the current to turn a wheel, instead of turning it by means of some mechanical connection with the engine, is a complicated and more or less wasteful process. But it is not so; on the contrary, the use of electricity in this manner secures great practical advantages. It is but a question of time when this idea will be extensively applied to railways and also to ocean liners." - Nikola Tesla, New York, 17 December 1904; from "Charge It!" (an article about charging electric vehicles), published in IEEE Power & Energy Magazine, July/August 2011

And to electric cars, I might add. Dude was wicked smaht, as they say in Bahston.

Song of the Day: Dana Parish - On The Wings of Love

I didn't find a direct link to this song, but go to Dana Parish's MySpace page, find the song "On The Wings of Love," and play it. Wonderful version of this song.
http://www.myspace.com/danaparish

Some background: I heard this song on the NBC show Love Bites. I LOVE that show. Took a while to warm up to it, but now I find it to be the best new show I've seen in years. Naturally, I just heard that they are cancelling it. Apparently tonight is the final show. :(


P.S. Naturally, after bragging it up, the final episode was a dud. Not nearly up to the quality of the previous episodes that were quirky and engaging. Sorry about that.

Quote of the Day: Michael Walsh on the debt fight

Wow, I've been busy lately. Sorry for the delay, but work takes precedence. I have a couple quick posts to occupy this space in the next few days but you, my seven* readers, might have to get used to less frequent posts.

Anyway, back to business. This quote asks a great question. What is the purpose of government? Because what the Left believes the purpose is is neither in line with the founding of this country nor is it sustainable.

Here's the quote:
"Instead,just ask yourself this simple question: When did it become the primary function of the federal government to send millions of Americans checks? For this, in essence, is what the debt-ceiling fight is all about--the inexorable and ultimately fatal growth of the welfare state." - columnist Michael Walsh

This is from Walsh's recent column in the N.Y. Post, if you want to read the whole article. I recommend it.
"Uncle Sam, sugar daddy" by Michael A. Walsh
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/uncle_sam_sugar_daddy_b5PtLOJxAhWJuG66PQxZlN

Here's another good quote from the article:
"The preamble to the Constitution talks about promoting the general welfare, not the welfare state. For the welfare state is incompatible with the rest of the preamble, which concludes: 'and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.' By definition, dependents are not free."


* estimated readership :)