If you have worked with the new Dragon Naturally Speaking 9 custom vocabulary beta trial, there is a new update available for your software. 

You may have seen a slight error creep into DNS 9 after utilizing the program that tracks your speech for about 40 hours and then sends a database to Nuance where they create a custom vocabulary for you.  The error takes place when you are trying to make corrections.  I have seen issues where only parts of words are selected such as the last four letters plus the trailing space on a five letter word.

I believe this is the error that the new update will correct.  The old error could be manually corrected by restarting DNS9.

You should be able to get this update the next time you completely restart your machine and start DNS9 or when you simply completely close out DNS9 (even out of the start bar task bar) and restart DNS9.

Its about a 17mb download and install and doesn’t take very long.  Easier than loosing weight eating hoodia roots from Africa.

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This weekend, I set up a green screen in my back up office (winter office when the wifi fishing dock is too chilly or windy).  I set up lighting for filming, set up my video camera, and hung a green screen like sheet as a back drop behind my desk.

I then went through the process of trying to learn how to take a picture or a video and putting that into the background while putting my own head or image into the foreground using Pinnacle Studio MovieBox Ultimate.  My son, Corbin, helped me with the whole process and within about 90 minutes we were able to push our images into a South Park episode (just playing at first).

Then I pushed my son’s video image into a Rolling Stones concert, while my son played the guitar with Keith Richards.  Maybe not the best influence, but my son thought it was pretty cool.

Then I toyed around with a very very basic slide presentation using some still images from a trip I took to Cahokia Mounds, the largest pyramid in the Americas and the pyramid with a base larger than that of the Great Pyramid in Egypt.  (Looks like a dirt pyramid with the top cut off if you ever visit)

The tools that I have for this were relatively inexpensive.  I have a $250 mini-dvd camcorder, a $100 software program and a $40 video converter box that came with the software that enables me to plug my camera (or DVR or any video source) into my laptop via USB.  The green screen was thrown in with the software too and I thumb tacked it to the ceiling.

The Green screen can be used for anything from video productions to insert a talking head into a scene or to create special effects (think gollum in the Lord of the Rings) or even in web design (check out the MGM Grand website most of those images are created with Models in New York with the rest of the images pushed in from other sources). 

I’ll probably use it more for talking head purposes myself, so I can kick back in a massage chair drinking a beer while the world sees the professional image of me on the internet.  (Maybe not that extreme, but there are many uses.

The package that I bought is a steal at less than $160, if you can find it at $150 or better you are getting a good deal. This software is more video editing than screen capture. It will not replace Camtasia, but will enable you to take your Camtasia videos to a whole new level.   There are lesser versions of Pinnacle that range in price from $70 - $120, but for a few dollars more, you can get the full package along with many special effects, the green screen and all the cords you need too.  Compared to paying $400 for Camtasia it really felt cheap!

Its called Pinnacle Studio MovieBox Ultimate

Pinnacle Studio MovieBox Ultimate

Pinnacle Studio MovieBox Ultimate combines a high-speed USB 2.0 capture device with the power of Pinnacle Studio Ultimate video editing software and a suite of highly-acclaimed pro audio and video tools for professional results. The extensive range of capabilities includes compatibility with the Windows Vista operating system, HD DVD and AVCHD format editing and disc authoring, Hi-Fi audio music generation, and automatic Web publishing. In addition to Pinnacle Studio Ultimate video editing software s improved performance and speed, and a sleek new user interface, Pinnacle Studio MovieBox Ultimate includes BIAS Inc s SoundSoap audio cleaning tools, professional level special effects from ProDAD VitaScene, precision Panning and Zooming with StageTool MovingPicture, and a Chroma Key green screen backdrop for easy-to-achieve professional results. Product has new packaging, smaller footprint and upgraded software. Hardware remains identical to previous version.

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Nuance is working on a pretty successful year from a launch and press perspective.  They came into the year strong after riding 2007 with Dragon Naturally Speaking 9, the best voice recognition software for personal computers to ever hit the market. 

It enabled me to type at 150 words per minute!

Then in January, Apple dropped their own voice recognition software and picked up the Dragon Naturally Speaking Engine to run in iDictate.

Now, they are bringing to market a Voicemail to Text Service.  This is actually a slightly common business model in voice recognition today, but it does enable Nuance to leverage their own technology directly as opposed to sub licensing their technology through other Vendors.

How does the Nuance Voicemail to Text Speech recognition Process Work?

1. Someone calls your Voice mail and leaves a message
1. “Jim, this is your Doctor, we have the results of your drug treatment and we need to make an adjustment in your prescription.  Please call us at your earliest convenience to schedule an appointment.”
2. Your voice mail is then run through the Dragon Naturally Speaking voice recognition engine
1. Now that has about a 99% accuracy rate, but that rate applies to recognized voices.
2. So Nuance combines their automated technology with human processes
3. The transcription then goes to a human for quality control and checking.
1. This is very similar to a process that the Postal Service in the United States employed for about 15 years to transition away from human data entry people to software that was capable of 100% accurate handwriting recognition.  I worked with that project during the middle 5 years of the project and we saw a 50% reduction in mistakes by the software every year.
4. You then receive an email, SMS or other notification that you have a voice mail and you can read the text version or access the audio version in the format and medium of your choice.
1. This also enables you to keep excellent copies of your voice mail in a transcribe manner that is excellent for companies that are required to document all customer contacts and requests.

Converting voicemail to text is a powerful and simple concept. But implementing a highly scalable semi-automated service is far more complex and requires highly accurate speech recognition - technology that takes decades to develop,” said Steve Chambers, president, mobile and consumer services division, Nuance. “The Nuance Voicemail to Text Service integrates speech technology with over 3,000 Nuance transcriptionists, hosted in a Nuance-owned facility, with proven security, scalability, and reliability.”

Nuance Mobile Launches Voicemail to Text; New Service Converts Voicemail to Readable Messages

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