Computer dictation can be hit and miss, but Dragon has managed to squeeze 99.9% accuracy into Dragon Dictate for Mac 4, and a similar level into Dragon NaturallySpeaking 13 for PC — which might be even more accurate than your keyboard. Both are fully headset compatible, and you can set up custom lists with apps.
In addition to being able to “write” documents aloud, Dictate for Mac actually allows you to control the other apps on your OS X machine, meaning you can create new documents and send tweets hands-free. Other cool options include the ability to convert pre-recorded audio files into editable text, and the use of voice shortcuts to expand small snippets into often-used longer clauses.
NaturallySpeaking can speak your words back to you for “proof-hearing”, and improve its own accuracy by analyzing your documents. Furthermore, you can even use an iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad equipped with Dragon’s app as a remote mic.
Both Dictate for Mac and NaturallySpeaking are available in English, English - UK, French, and German languages.
To grab these Dragon apps at half price, head for the links below (make sure to choose the appropriate language on the product page).
Subway construction takes a notoriously long time. Drilling, digging, and building under the most populated city in the United States is a complicated and expensive endeavor.
Chief among current projects is the Second Avenue Subway, which has existed in the planning and construction stages since 1929, and East Side Access, a project dating to the late 1960s. The projects have started and stopped at various points in the intervening decades, but it now appears that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is making an effort to turn the literal money pits into working train lines.
The Second Avenue subway has been in some form of construction or planning since 1929. The many stops and starts to its construction have rendered it a punchline to many New Yorkers, who call it 'The Line That Time Forgot." Here's a look at the under-construction 96th Street station.
The MTA has been trying to change that impression since 2007, when the agency recieved a full funding grant from the Federal Transit Administration to complete Phase 1, a $4.45 billion project that will build a new line between 96th Street and 63rd St. This is a look at the under-construction 86th Street station.
Phase 1 is scheduled to open in 2016 and will serve as an extension of the Q line. The 96th Street Station, shown here, is one of three stations being built during Phase 1.
The rest of the 8.5 mile subway line is currently in the planning phase. It is estimated that will cost more than $17 billion. This is the 86th Street station.
Here's a map of the planned Second Avenue Subway.
The other long-gestating project is East Side Access. The goal of the project is to ease commutes from Long Island and Queens to the east side of Manhattan through a new 8-track terminal below Grand Central Station. This is a view of the new terminal.
The project will do this by bringing the Long Island Railroad to the East Side of Manhattan through the 63rd Street Tunnel. The project is due to serve an estimated 162, 000 riders per day. Here's another look at the terminal.
By doing so, many Long Island commuters will be able to exit at Grand Central on Manhattan's East Side rather than at Penn Station, on the West Side, and then having to take a subway to reach Midtown East. Here, you can see a worker installing concrete lining and waterproofing.
What prompted the surprising exchange? The worker merely complimented the coat.
"The lady said, 'that's a beautiful coat' and she was so sweet," the woman known only as Nadine told ABC News. "So I took it off and handed it to her through the drive-thru window."
She said she was just doing "what felt right."
The worker, Cheryl Semien, reacted as anyone would after they just recieved a Mink coat worth $10,000 unexpectedly. According to Semien's coworkers, she "was yelling, as if she won a million dollars."
"She was a perfect stranger, I didn't know this lady from nowhere," said Semien, who had been working at the restaurant for nine years.
Semien told ABC that she plans to "treasure" the coat and "pair with some boots."
This 23,000-square-foot over-the-top Beverly Hills mansion was recently purchased by Minecraft creator Markus "Notch" Persson. According to TMZ, Jay Z and Beyonce had interest in the home but were outbid. Persson closed on the mansion for a whopping $70 million, $15 million below the asking price of $85 million.
Some of these moments seem bizarre because of their foreignness or lack of context. Others are just plain weird. We've collected some of our favorite moments from the past year.
A man takes part in the annual No Pants Subway Ride in New York on Jan. 12, 2014.
A trader looks at Pete the Penguin of SeaWorld Entertainment as he walks on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Jan. 15. SeaWorld was celebrating its 50th anniversary.
Men carry a fake cow while riding an escalator during preparations for the Green Week food, agriculture, and horticulture fair in Berlin on Jan. 15.
In it, Felicitas del Carmen Villanueva Garnica claimed she was physically abused by her employers’ three children, and accused the family of human trafficking.
The lawsuit was dismissed after “rampant inconsistencies” emerged during her deposition, many of which backtracked from her original allegations, though the family did pay her about $6,000 in back wages, writes Michael Wilson in the New York Times.
Despite the court's dismissal, the couple, Chilean aristocrats Malu Custer Edwards and Micky Hurley, and their three children, are stuck in Italy after the US refused to let them back into the country following a summer vacation.
The Times reports that the family’s August vacation was only supposed to last three weeks, but they were refused re-entry by the State Department because of Garnica’s now-dismissed allegations.
The family was reportedly alerted while on vacation that Edwards needed to renew her student visa to re-enter the US, but the request was denied by the United States Consulate, which stated that Edwards “had been untruthful on her application to renew the visa by failing to report having engaged in human trafficking,” according to The Times.
Writes Wilson:
“'Well, what’s so bad about Italy?'” Ms. Edwards asked, repeating a question she has heard from friends. “Well, just wait until you are anywhere in the world, and you think you’ll be there a couple of weeks, and then be told you can’t go back to where your life is.”
Garnica’s lawsuit against the Edwards and Hurley claimed that the socialites only gave her $800 a month to work 12-hour days without any days off.
She also alleged Edwards and Hurley took her passport, kept her in the apartment without proper food or her medication for hypertension, and that she was abused by the couple’s three children.
The lawsuit was dropped by Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein of Manhattan’s Federal Court after Garnica revealed in her deposition that she was allowed to come and go from the apartment at her leisure, was given food, and that the source of the physical abuse was the couple’s three-year-old toddler who was no taller than the nanny’s waist.
Edwards and Hurley are currently appealing the visa denial.
19. Stryker also sold his Palm Beach estate this year, for $42.9 million.
The 2.6-acre estate, which actually consists of three separate properties, sits on the Atlantic Ocean. One of the properties was sold to Stryker by Jimmy Buffet.
Silicon Valley has one of the most in-demand real estate markets in the country, thanks in part to the prevalence of tech workers and their disproportionately high salaries.
Homes in Santa Clara County often sell for more than $1,000 per square foot. It's not uncommon for small homes that would be tear-downs anywhere else to sell for more than $1 million here.
Our friends at real estate listings site Point2Homes helped us compile a list of Silicon Valley homes that are not exactly aesthetically pleasing, but that are listed for startlingly high prices nonetheless.
You may be surprised to see just how little your money will get you.
In Los Gatos, a 780-square-foot home costs more than $1 million.
The Gaza Strip faces an uncertain future four months after the conclusion of a war in which 2200 people were killed there.
The Strip remains deeply isolated, while the Islamist terrorist group Hamas's continued control over the territory has dissuaded donors from aiding in the area's post-conflict reconstruction. Last week, two rockets were fired at Israel from the Strip; the Israelis responded by destroying a Hamas training camp. But today, material for the construction of a Coca Cola plant was allowed to enter the territory, signaling that economic opportunities might slowly rebound as wartime tensions recede.
Business Insider visited the coastal Strip in November. While it's hard to view anything there outside the context of the region's ceaseless and often violent state of flux, Gaza offers signs of both a rich history and its own, resilient version of normal life.
The Gaza Strip was occupied by Egypt after the 1948 Middle East War, until Israel seized the territory during the Six-Day War in 1967. Israel unilaterally pulled all of its soldiers and civilian settlers from the Strip in 2005.
Hamas has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007. It's a US-listed and Iranian-supported terrorist group whose charter calls for Israel's destruction, so the takeover soon triggered a policy of Israeli and Egyptian border, maritime, and airspace restrictions that continues until now. Despite these hurdles, Hamas has built up enough of a weapons and cash stockpile to launch thousands of rocket attacks on Israel and fight three wars with their powerful neighbor — most recently this past summer.
Gaza City sits along an idyllic stretch of Mediterranean coast. Despite the violence of that had gripped the area just a few months ago, a tense calm prevails through much of the Strip. This was the calming view of the Gaza City port from my room at the Roots Hotel.
In TNT's new show "Wake Up Call," Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson lends a helping hand to everyday people who are facing enormous challenges in their lives. From dysfunctional homes and dead-beat dads to sports teams that don't gel and businesses struggling to survive.
Produced by Devan Joseph. Video courtesy of Associated Press.
Christmas is a deeply special time for people all over the word. During the holiday season, they celebrate in many ways.
No custom is more important to folks across the globe than the time-honored Christmas Eve or Christmas Day meal. Yet, these meals vary greatly in different parts of the world.
Inspired by this BookTable post by Rob Rebelo, we took a look at some typical Christmas meals from countries around the world.
Brazilians eat turkey on Christmas Eve, but not in the traditional North American style. Along with turkey, they serve rice, Brazil nuts, and a variety of fruit.
Germans often serve fruity Stollen cake, along with mulled wine called Gluehwein. Stollen is traditionally baked to have a hump, symbolizing the humps of the camels that carried the wise men to see Jesus.
Many Bulgarians fast before Christmas, so on Christmas they nosh on stuffed vegetables, soups, and cakes.
For over 40 years, Jonathan Goldsmith worked as a journeyman actor with hundreds of IMDB credits to his name.
In 2006, he booked the role of a lifetime: the spokesperson for a Dos Equis beer campaign that soon made him known to millions as "The Most Interesting Man In The World."
Goldsmith lived and worked in Hollywood for years, but now prefers the quiet life with his wife Barbara and their two dogs in Vermont.
He talked to Business Insider about how he landed the role that turned him into a cultural icon.
Photo agency Reuters has one of the most popular Instagram accounts with 111,000 followers.
Each day it posts the best images from Reuters photographers around the world, with compelling imagery and stories that need to be shared.
Here are the original photos of Reuters' 29 most popular Instagram posts from 2014, based on likes and comments, along with their original captions.
"A man and his dog jump into the sea in Piran, October 5, 2014."
"A hot air balloon floats past an almost full rising moon on a warm fall evening near Encinitas, California, on October 5, 2014."
"Castellers Colla Joves Xiquets de Valls start to form a human tower called 'castell' during a biannual competition in Tarragona city, October 5, 2014. The formation of human towers is a tradition in the area of Catalonia."
Every busy guy needs a good, reliable barber: one he can trust to be quick, pleasant, and most importantly, great at trimming hair.
That's not always easy to find, but our friends at Yelp have given us a hand. They ranked the best 10 barber shops in New York City, based on their vast database of user reviews.
Each one is professional, clean, and highly affordable (men's cuts are usually under $20) – and they're located in neighborhoods throughout Manhattan, Brooklyn, and even in Flushing, Queens.
Premium Barber Shop is top notch. You could step into any other barber shop in the city and maybe you'll get lucky, but at Premium, you can rely on consistently good service and quality.
Everyone there is personable, quick, and totally skilled at what they do. Sometimes there's a line, but don't be afraid, it moves quickly.
"In short, [barber] Arthur is like the godfather of barbers, so do yourself a favor and swing by," wrote reviewer Sean L. "You absolutely will not regret it, and more than likely will be become yet another one of his lifetime customers."
True to its name, this place is on the mark. In fact, it's so popular you might be hard pressed to get in in the evenings. So if you've got some time during the day and find yourself in the East Village, this is the place to go.
"Been coming here for 4 years now and can't imagine going anywhere else," wrote Yelp reviewer Evan R. "Everyone who works here is a pro, and I've gotten great cuts from just about all of them."
What more could you want in a barber shop than complimentary beer (or coffee or soda) while chitchatting with the owner about how you want your coif to look?
That's what you can expect at Barber Room 306, where your barber is sure to listen closely to what you'd like, and maybe even make a few suggestions of his own. Trust the guys here – they won't disappoint.
Syria has been at war for nearly four years. The most recognizable images of the country today depict bombed-out buildings, piles of rubble, and displaced citizens.
A collection of images taken fifty years earlier by Charles W. Cushman, an avid traveler and amateur photographer, are a stark contrast.
Though Syria saw a number of coups d'etat in the 1960s and in the decades before and after, Cushman's photos of downtown Damascus in 1965 paint a more mundane picture, showing families gathering, men riding donkeys, and shoppers in bustling bazaars.
We named the 24 most impressive people of the year starting with the overall winner, India's new prime minister, Narendra Modi.
From finance and tech to politics and entertainment, these are the people who amazed us the most this year.
MOST IMPRESSIVE: Narendra Modi is poised to reignite India's economy.
Prime Minister Modi is turning over a new leaf for India. The country's stock index is at record highs.
Since he entered office in May, Modi has reworked the government's budget, made bank accounts more accessible to everyone, made advances in reforming labor laws, transformed the government into a more transparent and open place, and formed positive relationships with China, Japan, and the US.
He's a political figure who's putting people's faith back in India, and he's utterly beloved by the people of India. He won the May 2014 election by a landslide, and since then he's kept people's faith in him through his initiatives both home and abroad.
Modi is undoubtedly India's newest and biggest rockstar.
Bill Ackman is soaring during a rough patch on Wall Street.
Additionally, the net returns for Pershing Square, Ackman's hedge fund, are over 30% for the year. Ackman is famous for a big short of Herbalife, a multilevel marketing company that sells weight-loss shakes. But he's had most success with his stakes in Allergan and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Mary Barra took the helm of GM and helped it get through a major crisis relatively unscathed.
In January, Barra became the first female CEO in General Motors' history— and in the auto industry in general. And despite starting her tenure in the midst of a 30-million-car recall for defective ignition switches in Chevy Cobalts — GM's largest recall in history — Barra kept her poise throughout the ordeal.
She plans to use the incident as a launchpad to transform the company's rigid culture. She's leading by example, taking responsibility for GM's actions, and holding employees accountable for their work.
Here's what happened: YouTube prankster star Josh Paler Lin wanted to find out what happens if you give a homeless guy $100. How would he spend that money? He approached Thomas, who was holding a sign on the street asking for money, and gave him $100. Thomas was near tears at the amount and tried to refuse but Lin insisted.
Lin then followed Thomas with a camera. Thomas beelined for a liquor store.
But it turns out, Thomas bought food at the store. He then walked to a nearby park and handed the food out to other homeless folks, people he didn't know.
Lin, who was hiding and filming, was floored. He came out of hiding and apologized to Thomas.
Thomas has been homeless for about four months, he told Lin when asked. He wound up on the street after both of his parents died. They had grown ill and their insurance didn't cover all of their care, so he quit his job to take care of them. After they died, their condo was sold to pay the bills and he had no place to go.
"There's a lot of people that are just victims of circumstance and they didn't go homeless because they're lazy or ... it could be a divorce, one thing leads to another and the man sells his boat, his home, everything, and all of a sudden he finds out he's got no money. There's a lot of good people that are homeless," he told Lin.
The man touched Lin so much, he insisted Thomas take another $100. But it touched viewers so much, they insisted that Lin set up a crowdfunding account where they could donate to help get Thomas back on his feet.
In the time it took us to write this post, the account went from $10,000 to more than $13,000. The Internet is going to be very generous on this one. We'll update this post with the final donation number when the fund raising ends.
Personal branding through social media may help you build your professional network, but there will never be a replacement for a charismatic personality.
Napoleon Hill, author of "Think and Grow Rich" — one of the top-selling books of all time — wrote about the habits of the most likable people in his essay "Develop A Pleasing Personality," published in the forthcoming collection "The Science of Success."
He introduced his steps to having a "million-dollar personality" by explaining it was steel magnate Charles M. Schwab's charming demeanor that in the late 19th century elevated him from day laborer to an executive with a $75,000 salary and a frequent million-dollar bonus (astronomical numbers for the time).
Schwab's boss, the legendary industrialist Andrew Carnegie said "the yearly salary was for the work Schwab performed, but the bonus was for what Schwab, with his pleasing personality, could get others to do," Hill writes.
Here are Hill's 14 habits of people who are so likable that others go out of their way to help them:
1. They develop a positive mental attitude and let it be seen and felt by others.
2. They always speak in a carefully disciplined, friendly tone.
The best communicators speak deliberately and confidently, which gives their voice a pleasing sound.
3. They pay close attention to someone speaking to them.
Using a conversation as an opportunity to lecture someone "may feed the ego, but it never attracts people or makes friends," Hill says.
4. They are able to maintain their composure in all circumstances.
An overreaction to something either positive or negative can give people a poor impression. In the latter case, says Hill, "Remember that silence may be much more effective than your angry words."
5. They are patient.
"Remember that proper timing of your words and acts may give you a big advantage over impatient people," Hill writes.
6. They keep an open mind.
Those who close themselves off from certain ideas and associate only with like-minded people are missing out on not only personal growth but also opportunities for advancing their careers.
7. They smile when speaking with others.
Hill says that president Franklin D. Roosevelt's greatest asset was his "million-dollar smile," which allowed people to lower their guards during conversation.
8. They know that not all their thoughts need to be expressed.
The most likable people know that it's not worth offending people by expressing all their thoughts, even if they happen to be true.
9. They don't procrastinate.
Procrastination communicates to people that you're afraid of taking action, Hill says, and are therefore ineffective.
10. They engage in at least one good deed a day.
The best networkers help other people out without expecting anything in return.
11. They find a lesson in failure rather than brood over it.
People admire those who grow from failure rather than wallow in it. "Express your gratitude for having gained a measure of wisdom, which would not have come without defeat," Hill says.
12. They act as if the person they are speaking to is the most important person in the world.
The most likable people use conversations as an opportunity to learn about another person and give them time to talk.
13. They praise others in a genuine way without being excessive.
"Praise the good traits of others, but don't rub it on where it is not deserved or spread it too thickly," Hill says.
14. They have someone they trust point out their flaws.
Successful people don't pretend to be likable; they are likable because they care about their conduct and reputation. Having a confidant who can be completely honest with them allows them to continue growing.
The west side of Texas A&M University's Kyle Field was imploded to make room for $450 million in football stadium improvements. The updated west side of the Aggie stadium will include new suites and premium areas for fans, the Hall of Champions and upgraded TV broadcast facilities.
The redevelopment is expected to be finished in time for the 2015 football season, pushing Kyle Field seating capacity above 102,500.
Produced by Devan Joseph. Video courtesy of Associated Press.
This was a huge year for high-end real estate.
