Responding to some people's seemingly insatiable need to share their thoughts online, Nuance has updated its Dragon NaturallySpeaking speech recognition software so users no longer need to type to post updates to Facebook or Twitter.

Those who loathe talking on the phone to automated speech recognition systems may take solace in the fact that scientists are working to make such systems more lifelike and less annoying to use.

For years, using voice recognition technology on phones or other devices has been a novelty -- something people try once but never again, usually because it works so poorly. But recent developments, including harnessing the computational power of the cloud, have made it more usable and will make it even better in the near future, according to Microsoft.

Rock stars do it before striding on stage. Actors do it before gazing into the camera. Even nervous 10-year-olds do it before arriving at their piano recitals. (Of course, their mothers make them.)