command

Voice commands and speech recognition aren't just for smartphone users; they're for PC users, too.

Speech recognition can help you avoid repetitive stress injuries, increase efficiency, and even be fun. You can launch programs, dictate text, scroll Web pages, and more, all by voice. Here's how:

Step 1: Go to Start > Control Panel > Ease of Access > Speech Recognition, and click on "Start Speech Recognition."

Step 2: Run through the Speech Recognition Wizard by selecting the type of microphone you'll be using and by reading a sample line aloud.

Step 3: Once … Read more

Are you feeling ignored because your iPhone 4S-toting friends are spending more time conversing with Siri than with you? If you have an older iPhone 3GS or iPhone 4, you can run the newly released iOS 5, but it doesn't come with Apple's vaguely British virtual assistant. What's a lonely, old iPhone owner to do?

One idea is to give Dragon Dictation a try. From Nuance, the makers of Dragon Naturally Speaking software (and who may have had a hand in developing Siri), Dictation is a free iPhone voice app that lets you engage in one-way conversations with your iPhone. It won't answer your queries like Siri does, but it does an impressive job of translating your spoken words into text. So, while you can't ask Dragon Dictation where you can find the best burrito in your vicinity (I'm pretty sure Siri would tell me to leave the state of New Hampshire for such an item), you can dictate text messages and e-mails as well as Facebook and Twitter updates. … Read more

When Apple announced the voice recognition app, Siri, every Android owner was thinking the same thing: we've been doing that for years. Free apps that are available in the Market right now use voice commands to complete everyday tasks like text messaging, sending e-mails, getting directions, and finding reviews.

So while Siri (you know that's "butt" in Japanese, right?) makes its way to the iPhone 4S, grab these free apps and start telling your Android phone what to do right now.

The coolest technology on display at Tuesday's Apple event? Siri, no doubt about it. This new voice-recognition system promises to transform the way we use our iPhones.

Just one problem: you can't have it yet. Apple didn't say when Siri, which is still in beta, will be available, so it could be months before you're telling your iPhone what to do. Update: My mistake. Siri will be bundled with the iPhone 4S, albeit in beta form. Plus, only iPhone 4S owners will be able to get in on the voice-powered action, owing to Siri's steep processing requirements.

If you don't want to wait, or don't want to buy a 4S, try Vlingo. Arguably the "original" voice assistant for the iPhone, this free app lets you accomplish a lot just by speaking. You can post updates to Facebook and Twitter, run a Web search, look up destinations on a map, place a call, and so on.… Read more

Cocktail is both useful and fun for inveterate Mac tinkerers and would-be power users (that is, power users who aren't hard-core enough to use the command line).

This multipurpose utility can help you keep your computer happy and healthy, giving you access to scores of tweaks and optimizations pulled together from various utilities, preferences, third-party hacks, and command-line tools. Cocktail can help you with routine maintenance and customization across your disks, system, files, network, and interface. Cocktail is organized around these five areas, with highly customizable options for everything from clearing caches and repairing permissions to changing the appearance … Read more

Video games tend to be more enjoyable on a large screen, but what happens when you harness the power of a 20-foot-wide multitouch display that runs at 8,160x2,304 resolution? Some incredible pew pew.

Fleet Commander, designed by computer science grad student Arthur Nishimoto and developed at the Electronic Visualization Laboratory at the University of Illinois in Chicago, is perhaps the most tantalizing "Star Wars" concept game ever made.

Under development for several years, it currently harnesses the power of a giant multitouch LCD wall to "explore how a real-time interactive strategy game that would typically rely on complex keyboard commands and mouse interactions [could] be transferred into a multi-user, multitouch environment," according to EVL. Fingers are tracked via TacTile software. … Read more

For people who manage remote servers, the use of the secure shell (ssh) Terminal command is quite common, and is very often the only command people use when opening a Terminal window. While you can enter each of your ssh connections (usernames, server, and arguments) for every new Terminal session, this can be a burden if you need to connect to many servers. While Apple's Terminal application has a connection manager option where you can store the addresses of the servers you access, even this can be a bit cumbersome to continually access. One option instead is to implement … Read more

We use a Windows machine for work and a Mac for pleasure, and one thing we love about our Mac is the dock. This strip across the bottom of our screen contains shortcuts to all our favorite applications, documents, and folders, giving us quick access to the things we use the most. LaunchBar Commander is a similar utility for Windows, and although it doesn't have the sleek interface or animations of the Mac dock, it works just as well at keeping our favorite things handy.

LaunchBar Commander has a plain interface, just a skinnable gray strip that can be … Read more

The OS X terminal is a powerful interface with your computer that can be used to script tasks, run under-the-hood routines on your system, remotely control other systems, and perform a number of other detailed and specific actions. While getting familiar with the Terminal may seem like a daunting and unnecessary task, there are a few useful terminal commands for troubleshooting the system that can be run easily without needing to know much about the Terminal.

uptime

The uptime command shows the time that has elapsed since the system was last restarted. While not directly useful, it can provide you … Read more