Nuance Software: Dragon Contest 6/16/2009

On the wings of a mighty Dragon.

I am a Writer of many things, fiction, non-fiction, podcasts, and commercials. I am also a Podcaster and Voice-Actor with various projects. I was the co-host on ExtraLife Radio and the The Instance, the increasingly popular World of Warcraft podcast. I have always been a visual and vocal person in my life. I am a Florida boy, born and raised and my local flavor sometimes makes voice software cringe and run for the digital hills.

I also cannot stand to use pen and paper, simply because of my grip. I have always held a pen or pencil too tightly so I gravitate towards the technological options of a computer. I am an uncontrollable gadget-geek and love all types of tech goodies. I am also a voracious reader, sometimes absorbing four to five books at the same time even. So when a friend suggested I try Dragon NaturallySpeaking I grabbed a copy. I would have tried the demo as I often do with software but being a fellow writer I trusted his suggestion.

I went down to the local OfficeMax and grabbed a copy. After the initial setup I was blown away. Dragon NaturallySpeaking perfectly meshes my thoughts and vocal senses into one majestic soaring beast. I carry with me a digital recorder just in case the next story of novel hits me while walking on the beach, or local nature trail. I can transfer files, covert, or just sit on my patio and rant and rave about various subjects. With your accurate vocal diagnostics I can even throw my personality into the mix with little or no problems. It even catches the Florida flavor of my speech patterns. I am totally blown away by the quality and accuracy of your software. Dragon NaturallySpeaking should be a requirement when anyone seriously begins writing. It just makes things flow.

Thank you, Nuance for putting your heart into such a great product, and for teaching me finally how to speak Dragon. I have to run I have some worlds to create.

Andrew E. Konietzky - Writer / Podcaster / Tech Monkey

Vote for the article here.

TEACHING WATERMELONS TO FLY.

Being a writer involved in the world of videogames is like trying to teach watermelons to fly. The biggest problem that has arisen regarding the quality of writing in games is the overwhelming game console market, and growing Attention Deficit Disorder in the gaming population. With the advent of consoles the writing has begun to either evaporate or vanish altogether from the games produced today. The Nintendo generation not only brought gaming to the masses, but opened the floodgates of games devoid of story.

With developers shooting for fast output of games to make money, writing has taken a back seat to production. I understand the need to appease the number of gamers, which has exploded over the last five years. Unfortunately, studios are too quick to just throw together a quick flash card plot for the design, and never delve just a tad deeper into a decent story. Many gamers such as me are disgusted by this, but the majority of buyers keep eating up the tripe that the studios chum the waters with. For every fifty games that come out there is but a small number that truly deserve to be snapped up by the hungry players. We are ravenous for quality writing and story. I am not saying that the console market is the only place that games are skeletal, but the initial seeds were sown there. Not everything is doom and gloom, as certain studios still work diligently on the background, and realize that the story is what makes us “escape” into their worlds.

Read the entire article at:

Random Shoes.

Found: June 26th, 2007

The average life is full of near misses and absolute hits, of great love and small disasters.

It's made up of banana milkshakes, loft insulation, and random shoes.

It's dead ordinary and truly truly amazing.

What you've got to realize is it's all here now.

So breathe deep and swallow it whole because take it from me, life just whizzes by then all of a sudden it's...

- Eugene Jones

Modern words of wisdom.

Found: May 10th, 2007

I have no idea who penned this observation, but as far as I'm concerned the author is DEAD-ON with their outlook.

Share and Enjoy.

We have taller buildings, but shorter tempers; wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints; we spend more, but have less;we buy more, but enjoy it less.

We have bigger houses and smaller families; more conveniences, but less time; we have more degrees, but less common sense; more knowledge, but less judgment; more experts, but more problems.

We spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry too quickly, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too seldom, watch TV too much and pray too seldom.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values.

We talk too much, love too seldom and lie too often.

We've learned how to make a living, but not a life; we've added years to life, not life to years. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but have less communication; we've become long on quantity, but short on quality.

We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbor.

We've conquered outer space, but not inner space; we've done larger things, but not better things, we've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul, we've split the atom, but not our prejudice; we write more, but learn less; plan more, but accomplish less.

We've learned to rush, but not to wait; we have higher incomes; but lower morals; more food but less appeasement; more acquaintances, but fewer friends; more effort but less success.

These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion; tall men and short character, steep profits, and shallow relationships.

These are the times of world peace, but domestic warfare; more leisure and less fun; more kinds of food, but less nutrition. These are the days of two incomes, but more divorce; of fancier houses, but broken homes.

These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one-night stands, over-weight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill.

It is a time when there is much in show window, and nothing in the stockroom.

The Irony of Love.

Found: November 4th, 2006

This drifted to me from the far off reaches of the web. I have no idea who wrote it, when, or from where it originally came from.

Share and Enjoy.

Loving the right person at the wrong time,
having the wrong person when the time is right
and finding out you love someone right after
that person walks out of your life...

and sometimes, you think you're already over a person,
but when you see them smile at you,
you'll suddenly realize that you're just pretending
to be over them just to ease the pain of knowing that
they will never be yours again...

for some, they think that letting go is one way
of expressing how much they love that person...
in my opinion, some are afraid to see the one they love
being held by someone else...

most relationships tend to fail not because
the absence of love. love is always present.
it's just that one was being loved too much and the
other was being loved too little...

as we all know that the heart is the center of the body
but it beats on the left. maybe that's the reason
why the heart is not always right...

most often we fall in love with the person we think we love
but to only discover that for them
we are just for passing time. while the one who truly
loves us remains either a friend or a stranger...

so here's a piece of advice;
let go when you're hurting too much.
give up when love isn't enough.
and move on when things are not like before...

For sure there is someone out there
WHO WILL LOVE YOU EVEN MORE.

Working through the muttle in my mind and heart.

Found: October 14th, 2006

I was doing some soul cleaning today. I was going though an old journal of mine, where I would write ideas and such. I came across an entry way back in 8/1/2002. I did not write this, but I did find it floating in the twisting nether of the cyberspace. If anyone knows who wrote this please tell me, as I have always loved it.

Remember this and keep it in your heart. You don't choose Love, Love chooses you. All you can really do is accept it for all its' mystery, when it comes into your life. Feel the way it fills you to overflowing, then reach out and give it away. Give back to the person who brought it to you. Give it to others who are poor in spirit. Give it to the world around you in any way you can. Love has its' own season, and it's own reasons for coming and going. You cannot bribe it or coerce it or even reason it into staying. If it chooses to leave from your heart or from the heart of your lover, there is nothing you can do and nothing you should do. Be glad it came to live for a moment in your life. If you keep your heart open, it will surely come again.

I got this attached to a pirated MP3.

August 30th, 2006

Ok, I thought instead of the usual ASCII-inspired artwork you normally get with these files, I thought I'd share my view on CD piracy with those who have downloaded this file.

Surprisingly, I don't condone media piracy in any way. If artists have made something that is enjoyable to others they should be paid for it, and the large CD/DVD collection which I have legitimately purchased is proof that I am more than willing to do so.

Now. If most of the money that I paid went to the artists (which in this country is considerable!), that'd be fine by me. But it doesn't. It goes to agents, publicists, record companies, distribution companies etc. Which to a certain extend is also ok; they do their part in making the artist's work available to the public and should be compensated for it accordingly.

However. What I do mind in the extreme is the corporate fatcats who own these various companies and whose only goal in life is to make more money than they will be able to spend in a lifetime. Sony. CBS. MCA. RCA. BMG. Whoever. The ones 'behind the scenes' who don't actually do any real work except for keeping record prices at an inflated level way beyond the actual manufacturing/distribution cost.

I'm one of those people who doesn't earn a lot of money. I'm not stupid, but I've chosen a life path that doesn't involve the accumulation of wealth. I enjoy listening to music but I'm fed up with having to pay over the odds for something that cost very little to make after the initial outlay.

Make CDs and DVDs cheaper to buy and people will choose to buy them over downloading an inferior quality product over the internet. Everybody loves having a nice shiny CD case with a booklet.

Hey, BMG, if you make a billion less this year, will you really notice? ;)