At 7:00 last night, I was still in my office putting the finishing touches on an article I'm writing for the Speech Server newsletter (Aug 05) titled "4 Questions You Should Ask Yourself Before Writing a Speech App." Thankfully, I got it finished, and made it home in time to catch the last of the Cards-Fish game (Fish won 6-5).

About the Author
Because I've been a writer for awhile now, I've had my share of articles published. Over 300 and counting. This is more about longevity than quality. Remember Fred McGriff? He hit 493 lifetime homers, which is a ton of taters. But McGriff wasn't great -- he just hung around a long time. Think of me as the Fred McGriff of tech writers.

The article, which I wrote with the help of the redoubtable dev Walter Isidro, will be out this week. If you're on the Speech Server Newsletter list, you'll get an email about it. If you're not on the list, go here to sign up. Here's a sneak preview:

4 Questions You Should Ask Yourself Before Writing a Speech App

What kind of speech application am I going to make? Is it a full-fledged web app? a front-end executable? or maybe just a low-level service that's launched from another application? Determining the type of speech application you will create before you begin will give you an immediate idea of how much work is involved in the project and will keep you from getting off track throughout the development process.

Do I have written specs? In addition to the traditional Requirements Spec, speech projects require two other spec types: the Dialog Spec and the Servicing Spec.

What kind of infrastructure am I building on? Speech apps can place special demands on hardware resources. Because Speech Server is designed for deployments of all sizes, its capacity requirements are set at a reasonable level. But that level can go up depending on your operational goals.

What do I know about developing for Speech Server? Speech Server contains unique APIs that handle Speech-to-Text and Text-to-Speech conversions. It leverages industry standards such as SQL and IIS, as well as speech components like Speech Engine Services and Telephony Application Services.

I know, I know, this is a TechNet blog and I'm supposed to focus on the IT Pro audience rather than developers. But even non-coders can get some value out of the article. I write about making sure you have enough hardware resources to handle your operational needs, as well as the importance of post-deployment tuning. So even if you can't tell Visual Studio from Studio 54, I think you'll still find the article worth reading. And even if you don't, it's only like 1,200 words. Almost nothing. So it's not like you're wasting your whole afternoon. (Hey, I'm trying to scratch out a living here. Humor me.)

Article Series
The word "series" intimidates me a little because it implies a commitment that I'm not comfortable making. But that just verifies my writerness. Remember this: Writers don't like to write; they like to have written. But Microsoft likes commitment, which is why the "4 Questions" article is just the first in a series of 3 or 4 (maybe 5, but definitely not 6) Speech Server articles that I'll be writing for the newsletter. Hopefully, I can get them cranked out in successive months, but you never know. Thankfully, the commitment doesn't require it. That might be enough to send me over the edge. But if you do get around to reading the first article, and if you have any comments, my door is always open.

Cup o' Joe
Today's coffee flavor: Delta Platina (Portugal)*
Result: Rich, smooth, perfect for a mid-afternoon break

*There's a story here: Phil the Coffee Junkie goes online and orders a couple kilos of Delta coffee straight from Portugal. He's all excited because he's remembering how good the Cafe was on his trip to Lisbon a few years back. So here he is in Seattle, waiting for this coffee from Portugal, when he gets a call from the Customs people in Memphis, Tennessee, asking him what he plans to do with a couple kilos of Portuguese coffee. "I plan to drink it," says the venerable Phil. "Ok," they say, "as long as you're just going to drink it," and they let the shipment go through. When the coffee finally arrives, Phil finds out that the shipping charges were double the price of the coffee. All told, he paid something like $60 for 2 kilos of Portuguese coffee. Pricey, to be sure. But I gotta say...it's good sippin'.