VocaliD

Posted on 2015-04-29 by arjaybe

VocaliD wants to give people with speech impairment their own unique voices.  To do so they combine the person’s own voice, even just a single vowel, with the speech sounds and patterns of someone who’s voice is a match for that individual.  To help, you can go to VocaliD’s website and record your voice.  Watch the TED Talk for inspiration, and go to the VocaliD website to find out how you can help.

See the TED Talk here.

If you’re familiar with Stephen Hawking’s iconic voice, you may be shocked to learn that many people around the world — young and old, male and female — speak with the exact same voice. There are tens of millions worldwide who rely on computerized voices to express themselves, yet many of them speak identically.

Add to that hundreds of millions who use text-to-speech technology everyday for things like smartphone assistants, GPS navigation, and screen readers, and the possibilities for what a unique VocaliD™ voice can offer become limitless.

Learn about VocaliD’s mission to create unique vocal personas and the team that’s making it happen.

Source: About Us – VocaliD

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Kisses for Puppies

Posted on 2015-04-27 by arjaybe

scenes-from-a-multiverse-2015-04-27-Kisses-For-Puppies-cropped
Part of the reason I like this comic is the reference to the increasingly outlandish names being used for legislation. For instance, when they go out of their way to use words in the name that will spell another word, as in the PATRIOT (Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism) Act. That’s a good example of a bacronym. In the case of this comic, it’s the Kisses for Puppies Act, which is not a bacronym.

Anyway, visit Scenes from a Multiverse and enjoy the comic in its full glory.

rjb

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TV maker Vizio may finally get paid after beating 17th patent troll

Posted on 2015-04-26 by arjaybe
Electronic Frontier Foundation graphic created by EFF Senior Designer Hugh D'Andrade to illustrate EFF's work against patent trolls - CC-BY

Electronic Frontier Foundation graphic created by EFF Senior Designer Hugh D’Andrade to illustrate EFF’s work against patent trolls – CC-BY

Patent trolls are parasites. They contribute nothing, only hoping to skim the wealth of others. Now, at last, someone is fighting back.

On the verge of a fee award, after a “harassing and vexatious” lawsuit.

Lawsuits brought by “patent trolls,” companies that have no product but file barrages of patent lawsuits, have become commonplace across the tech sector. For the few companies that choose to fight these cases until the end, it’s an expensive endeavor, since defending a patent suit can cost anywhere from $1 million to several times that amount.

Television maker Vizio is one of the companies that fights back. It’s beaten no less than 16 “non-practicing entities,” and last week, the company released a statement showcasing its list of patent troll cases that ended in a key statistic: “$0 to plaintiff.” The list includes the usual bizarrely named shells, like “E-Contact Techs” and “Man Machine Interface,” as well as well-known patent holding companies like Walker Digital and Intellectual Ventures (whose patents were used by Pragmatus Telecom, one of the shells Vizio sent packing.)

Source: TV maker Vizio may finally get paid after beating 17th patent troll | Ars Technica

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