Speech Parser

Bob Satterfield - Public Domain - Tap for a bigger image

Bob Satterfield – Public Domain – Tap for a bigger image

A challenge for all you programmers out there, especially you app-makers. What we really need is a speech parser. An app that can analyze what someone says and rate it for content. I visualize a scale, say from one to ten, to indicate the level of content in what was said. If there’s no content, it gets a rating of zero. If it’s chock-full of meaningful content, it’s a ten. I don’t predict many perfect scores.

This app would be useful when an athlete or a politician is answering a reporter’s questions. Or a spouse is explaining what happened to the rainy day fund. Or maybe a contractor is telling you what you’re going to get for your money. But mostly for politicians. I can see the scale on the screen, continuously registering the content quotient as they make their speeches. No more being hypnotized by the droning voice and the great hair. Now we’ll have a graphic indication of how vacuous their words really are.

So you programmers, sharpen up your bits and get to your keyboards and hammer out the speech parser app. Baffled listeners everywhere will thank you.

rjb

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VocaliD

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

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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