Voxsmith Demo Update

The UI is done. All of the features are installed and working. The only think left to do is test. A lot of testing! I have 3 decks with almost 200 slides to process this week, and another 3-5 decks next week. Once done, I’ll make sure all of the remaining bugs get squashed and get it shared!

If you are interested in testing Voxsmith, please comment below!

=====

Not related, but you know when you finish something and you are a little surprised that it’s something you created? This video. This app. All part of that. Holy crap!

Where does Voiceover belong in the L&D Workflow?

For years, the instructional design workflow has been a predictable relay race: build in PowerPoint, export to Storyline, then layer in narration once everything’s locked down. The process works — it’s just painfully slow.

Voiceover always becomes the bottleneck. Either you record your own scratch tracks (and pray you never have to re-record them), or you wrangle text-to-speech tools in a browser tab, copy the clips back into PowerPoint, test timing, export again, and then import to Storyline. That’s a nine-step loop that kills creative momentum.

But here’s the thing: PowerPoint already sits at the center of your design process. It’s where pacing, tone, and flow come together long before your first Storyline trigger ever fires. So why not let your slides speak while you’re still designing?

That’s the shift Voxsmith makes possible. Instead of treating narration as a post-production step, you can generate professional-sounding voiceover directly from your PowerPoint speaker notes — instantly. That means you can build, test, and hear your content during early drafts. You can adjust phrasing, check pacing, and make real design decisions based on sound, not just text.

Once your deck feels right, you import it straight into Storyline — fully narrated, timing baked in, ready for sync and polish. It’s faster, cleaner, and way closer to how real courses get built in the wild.

Audio used to be the last thing you added. Now it’s the first thing that helps you think. The demo is live and I am looking for testers!

Bluetooth from TV, while still listening to the stereo

Ok, here’s the situation. My parents watch TV through a dish system, not sure which and it’s not important. And, they also watch a few channels from their smart TV (Netflix, Paramount +). The receiver handles the connection from the Dish receiver and pipes the picture signal through the HDMI cable to the TV. The TV takes care of this through it’s HDMI cable back to the receiver.

Home audio 101.

Here is where it gets tricky. I needed to add two sets of headphones. And, when I say add, I mean I need to be able to hear the TV from the speakers connected to the receiver AND from the headphones. Yes, at the same time and preferably with separate volume controls. This is a thing that one would think would be a snap. The device linked below was the one that finally made it work, mostly because it worked.

Read more

This is how I can help

I don’t have the mental bandwidth to protest. I just don’t. That fact is not helped by me thinking protesting isn’t doing enough. I understand that it is, in fact, making a difference. And seeing all of the people protesting over the USPS, Tesla and everything else makes me realize that we are not the only ones that feel this way. Still, it is not a thing I can participate in immediately and probably for the better part of this year, if at all.

I still want to help.

There was that silly podcast I made earlier. I see this as helping. And it has re-sparked an idea that I’ve had previously on how I can help. And I think this is it.

As support.

For example, a good friend needed some art resized for his picket sign at the Tesla Takedown in Tempe. I did that. This is what I can do. Thinking about the podcast, why not give others the mic for their own AYFKM?

I’m not looking for podcasters. I’m looking for people that are pissed and don’t have a platform to vent on, to share within their circles. Anyone wanna help me test?

Do you have a decent laptop or some kind of microphone with headphones? Are you ok using Google Chrome or MS Edge on a computer (sorry, no phones at this time)? Maybe even be on camera for a video version? Do you think you could rant for a few minutes about WTF is happening in the United States right now? If you answered yes, maybe we should have a chat?

Is this a good idea? Is it shit? Is it almost a good idea? Comments are open!