Well, it looks like scientists are pretty close to finding conclusive evidence of life on Mars. Amazing.
After I read about Spoken Interface I opened up the Speech control panel of my computer. Turning it on is like having a whole different computer. Instead of contorting my left hand into <command><tab> to switch between apps, I just say "Switch to Safari." "iChat with Killy." "Connect to server." It is amazing what it is capable of. The next day, or maybe it was later that afternoon, O'Reillynet.com posted this article on speech with the Mac, which is a pretty good place to start if you are interested in exploring what it is capable of: MacDevCenter.com: Are You Talking to Me? Speech on Mac OS X [Mar. 17, 2004] Once you turn on the extended controls for assistive devices, the speech recognizer is able to control most things on the screen.
I wonder how long it will take for someone to write some glue in between a voice over internet application (like iChat) and speech commands.
http://www.moveon.org/censure/caughtonvideo/"Warriors of the world, hear me," said Rumsfeld, seated on the onyx throne overlooking the fighting arena at the island's central volcano, surrounded by a phalanx of exotic but murderous beauties and his seven-foot-tall guard Omarra. "I declare the Eagle Fist all-styles, hand-to-hand combat world championship open once more. For the next 10 days, the world's mightiest fighters will come together here at Fang Island to compete for a prize of $1 million and the post of Associate Secretary Of Full-Contact Defense!"
Hey Killy,
There is a stove fix-it place over by my place on Almeda. Island's, well you typically have to save up a few million megabux, but there are some in the world for sale. Ha, I'm joking, you can get them at Rent-A-Center, along with a giant screen TV, perfect for watching the game when you are supposed to be knocking down walls.
Small bathrooms in older houses? You are looking at the wrong older house. The house I grew up in (1920's) had a larger bathroom than the place I'm in now, which is so large that I've thought about moving into it. Then again, maybe I was just smaller in the memories of the house I grew up in, as my memory of the bathtub is that it was enormous.
Didn't you have something about a house that has been used, Killy?
I started eating yogurt because Colin said Laura said it makes you fart less. I'm still scared of any flavor other than peach, but I've gown to have enough of a taste for peach that I have started to care about my yogurt packaging. This comes to mind because I just opened up a package of Archer Farms (Target grocery house brand) and it is the kind where it has a little resealable lid with a plastic seal underneath. Why is this? Do people really eat half a thing of yogurt and then cap it off, "mmm, mm, I'm full!" on 6 ounces of material? I know my grandmother reuses yogurt and cottage cheese plastic containers to hold chex mix and the like, but neither seems to present much of a business case for the additional packaging. I think this is why I appreciate Yoplait's minimal packaging. There is just a little foil seal at the top and voila, you're in and you aren't wondering "Do I keep this lid around in case I don't finish all 6 ounces?
What a strange world we live in. I've been following the Haiti/Aristide thing through the lense of Pacifica Radio (KPFT) and last night caught some mainstream TV. In some ways, the situation in Haiti leads me to believe that NPR/BBC is remarkably limited in their world-view, neither's coverage seems very strong to me. The Charlie Rose show last night was excellent, mostly because Rose had someone who was actually from Haiti, partly because he had a broad range of viewpoints:
One of the conversational gyres was the Columbia prof saying that the current administration was undermining Aristide by withdrawing aid as soon as it came in office. The congressman affirmed this and stated that the US stopped monetary aid because Aristide was embezzling it; however, other forms of aid to Haitians, like food aid, have never stopped. Rose asks the Haitian journalist if this was the case, and she basically confirms it.
The prof then went on about how the stopping of monetary aid was more than just that because it caused a financial payment crisis as the government couldn't pay debt without the cash aid. I missed the response to this, but the point seemed pedantic. Ultimately, if the point about Aristide's aid abuse was correct, then shutting it off would suck, but would be a more preferable method of affecting positive change than sending in the Marines guns-a-blazing.
The Pacifica coverage of the evening took a pretty hard-line stance that the US is supporting the opposition and basically abducted Aristide. One of the more interesting points of coverage is that Aristide's bodyguard was an American company, paid for by the US State Department. I'm thinking, what the hell? If the US is anti-Haiti and anti-Aristinde, why would they spend money on his bodyguards and why would he accept that kind of aid? It doesn't seem to make any sense.
In some ways I wonder if this is a sideshow for other things happening. Maybe it is a sideshow because it has been a pretty slow-news month. Maybe it is a less confusing alternative to attention paid to Venezuela, which is pretty confusing (Caracas Chronicles). Who are the bad guys? What is democracy? What is the purpose of government other than an alternative to anarchy?
Oh, and is there anything about the story of US Special Forces coming in to get Aristide at the Presidential residence that reminds anyone of Ghost Recon scenarios?
The train stand by my place is no longer new. the grooves in the anti-slip pavement are browned with dirt, the platform edge's fascia is stained in blooms of mold or perhaps where most people step on or off. The funk is collecting fast, litter is present in the cars now, although Houston evil-doers have not yet learned how to scritch-scratch their messages into the plexiglas. There seems to be a bit more up and down vibration at the car picks up speed; it makes me feel somewhat seasick; I wonder how true the rail-bed will stay in Houston's shifting soil. They can hardly keep the streets from buckling in the heat and random subsidence. The train's internal sign points the wrong way to the exit at McGowen; the announcer lady still makes Bell Street sound like Bill. Despite it being the first night of the rodeo, the train is largely empty northbound at nine. The trains are running doubled up in anticipation of the traffic.
cause i just had a dream about a head of lettuce that falls in love with some seaweed that washes up on shore but instead of calling the seaweed 'seaweed' he calls it 'mer-lettuce'. Isn't that just ridiculous?
.jpg)
.jpg)
){kind=link}