Madison can never remember Madagascar, so we call it “I like to move it, move it” in my house.  My kids love both of the Madagascar movies (heck, my husband and I love them too — the penguins are my personal favorite).  For us, it was a naturally progression to get the Wii game (since we have done this with several other movies we have seen).  The first thing I love is that it is rated E for Everyone.  Why is this important?  We have had kid’s games rated higher than that even though they are based on little kid movies.  If it rated any higher, Madison has a tendency to not be able to play it which is just too frustrating for everyone in this house.  The graphics do the characters justice too.  The main game is a single player game.  However, there are several minigames also, and those tended to be two players.  I love that this actually easy enough for a four year old to play (hot potato and musical chairs were a hit here) and still hard enough for adults.  You also are able to pick your favorite player to play with too be it Alex or Marty or even the penguins. Each character actually has their own unique abilities (Melman has healing powers), combat skills (Marty has a powerful kick), and special moves (Alex can zip down vines).  This is truly a fun game to play, and if you don’t have a wii, you are able to get this game on DS, PSP, XBox, Playstation and PS2 also.

Why do I love Dragon Naturally Speaking? Let me count the ways . . . .

Ok, so the video doesn’t tell you all ways I love Dragon Naturally Speaking. However, it does show you how easy it is to use the software. Literally, all you have to do is plug in a noise canceling headset to your computer and download the software. You place your cursor where you want to type and away you go. Now, you do have to train the software to your voice. I tend to talk fast, so it had to correct for that. Plus, if you find that it is typing same wrong word, you can train it on that specific word. This isn’t rocket science to figure out (which is good because I have a tendency to NOT read the books or pdf files that comes with software).

I was able to create that video while my kids were up and playing at my feet (and you can tell when they grabbed my leg, because the video starts wobbling. You can also hear them a little too.) However, I did want to show that you can still be involved in doing other things and be able to use Dragon NaturallySpeaking. This more than triples my typing speed when I am typing and dealing with my kids (Take the Dragon NaturallySpeaking typing test if you don’t know what your typing speed is). I am actually writing this blog post using the software too. Here is the official video on how this all works:

As I stated in my video, I am finding that I can get a lot more in the little snippets of time I have during the day plus I am able to get way more done at night. I love being able to go to bed before midnight. I love being able to answer emails and do blog posts when I have Will sitting on my lap drinking from his sippy and watching cartoons. I have five blogs, so being able to write more content in less time is a huge plus for me. Plus, anyone who knows me, knows I have no problems talking. I am able to do my freelance work and reports using this also. I will be recommending this to my boss. Beside blogging, I have used it to make my daily lists of what I have to do each day plus some grocery shopping lists too! I am not the only one who thinks it is great, check out this New York Times Review.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking is really for anyone who works on a computer. If you talk faster than you type, you need this. If you want to be more efficient in your work, you need this. If you just want a new toy to play with, you DEFINITELY need this. Time is money, and the time you save from using Dragon NaturallySpeaking makes it worth every penny.