Tuesday, January 2, 2018

Second on the Second




From April 2013 S. T. O. A

Among my dad's things were three spiral notebooks filled with family history, memories of growing up during the Great Depression and his military service in WWII. Rather than transcribing the notebooks, Himself thought my task would be easier using speech recognition software so he gave me his copy.

I asked the Young One for my headset and mic which she had borrowed for a class. She said I didn't need it with the built-in mic on the laptop. She watched as I installed the program and went through the training routine.

The process seemed simple enough. Read a short paragraph so the program could "learn" your speech pattern. I chose to read the Alice in Wonderland sample. Alice sitting with her sister and bored to tears because the book her sister was reading had no pictures or conversation. What was the use of a book without pictures or conversation?

What the hell? The cursor was flashing a yellow arrow above the very first word of the paragraph. The Young One snickered. Start again. "The" and the arrow moved to the second word. Blah, blah, blah, and what was the use of a book without pictures or conversation? What the hell? The arrow was still flashing above the second word.

I have been told by friends outside of the New England area, that I speak very fast. I think you all can't keep up. Neither can the programmers of this software. But I gave it one more time. Blah, blah, blah, and what was the #@$@ use of a %$%^ book without %^&^757 pictures or ^$#9$# conversation?

Obviously, the program isn't sophisticated enough for a Bostonian accent or else the employees of the software recognition corporation belong to the S.T.O.A. Listen to the Bob and Ray routine if you need to be edumacated.

This is part of Bleubeard and Elizabeth's Second Time Around. Want to play? Share an old blog post, any topic and post it again. Then link up with Bleubeard and Elizabeth to see what other Second Time Arounders have shared.

21 comments:

  1. This had me laughing this morning-Happy second on the 2nd Hugs Kathy

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  2. What a fun filled post. Thanks for the laugh! Hugs, Valerie

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  3. Ha! It reminds me of the scene out of the Star Trek movie where the software can't interpret Chekov's accent:)

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  4. I just saw the special thanks list. Very cool.

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    1. It's fun. I have it set for a week, but you can set the preferences for longer.

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  5. LOL I think a New York accent is the same.....thank goodness I don't have one! ;)

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  6. You practically had me rolling on the floor with this one, CJ. Both the video and your written description of "what was the #@$@ use of a %$%^ book without %^&^757 pictures or ^$#9$# conversation." OMGosh - too funny.

    I'm sending the video link to my son who moved to California and joined the F.T.O.A. Either that or I've gotten senile and have defaulted into the S.T.O.A.

    You outdid yourself today, my friend :D

    Happy Second on the 2nd! Hugs, Eileen

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  7. I was watching a Dick Cavet show on the Decades Channel when he interviewed Bob and Ray. They make everything up as they go along. It is often off the cuff, based on the other one's response. I love them.

    I had trouble with the BAWSTUN accent when I was there. I remember a tee shirt I almost bought that read "HAVAHD." That's when I checked out MIT for graduate studies. I can see why the software didn't recognize your voice. I'm still laughing. Thanks for sharing this as a second look on the 2nd. I am still laughing!

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    1. Bob and Ray are hilarious. I think I first heard this routine at Teague's house. She had an LP and we listened on her record player.

      The Bawstin accent takes an acquired ear usually acquired at birth =^,.^=

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  8. I'm one of those New England fast talkers too, and I drop all my er and ing's at the ends of my words. And I am not too bad unless you put me with someone from central Mass (I am a Worcestah native) and then my accent gets really bad. Well it's probably always really bad. Enough about me, but I am trying to explain why I enjoyed this post. Hugs-Erika

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  9. Just FUN! Great!
    HAPPY NEW YEAR to you!
    oxo Susi

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  10. I can't stop laughing! LOL! Thanks CJ!!!!
    (I might use your special thanks list idea, that is great!)

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