Talk to Text with a side of Barcode
Hello folks and here's one more post for Tech Thursday! While searching the net for some awesome and interesting topics for you I found something that may assist you in every day cell phone use and another that is just plain creepy yet fun. So let's start with the iPhone 4 and lower. By now you have all seen the commercials for Siri, the assistant that comes built into the new iPhone 4S. Siri answers many questions and can help with making calls, email, text messages, set appointments, and much much more. Apple has already made it clear that Siri will be an exclusive feature to the iPhone 4S so the rest of us are left to drool with envy. What's good is that there is a way to simulate what Siri does.
Out of all the apps I found, I felt that the best was Vlingo and Dragon Dictation. Although I've used both and if I had to choose just one I'd go with Vlingo. Don't get me wrong, Dragon Diction is awesome and it's pretty accurate but once you speak and the text is written out for you there is still the pain of having to copy and paste into a text message field or status update. With Vlingo you can say something like, "Text Rebecca, message, What should we have for dinner tonight?" Vlingo will then transfer everything you've said into a text message and open your native texting client leaving you with one thing to do; press the send button. The same goes for status updates on Facebook and Twitter. You simply speak what you want and off it goes. It's not the same as Siri but it's close enough. There are some hackers who have found a way to port Siri to older iPhones, but I recommend staying away from it completely. Not only is it illegal but it can seriously destroy your iPhone.
Let's now put Siri aside for a moment and look at something creepy yet fun. We've all seen movies that are based in the future where people have barcodes that holds information on person right? Well, what if you could generate your own barcode? A site called, "Barcode Yourself" is out there and you can do just that. It gives an explanation on how it works but I'll let you go through that yourself. Once you get started you will be asked your age, sex, location, height, and weight. There might be a couple more questions but once you are finished a barcode will be generated with the information you gave for yourself. It's kind of creepy to think that this could actually happen but for now it's all in good fun. After finishing your barcode you can print it, promote it, or save it for future use. You can even tattoo yourself if you felt so inclined. I attached mine to this post as an example and make sure to check it out. Also, don't forget to take a peek at Vlingo and Dragon Dictation with the links provided below. Happy Barcoding and cheers!