DocAndersen
One of the things I am always looking for is something that will automatically convert voice to text. I am also interested in tools that convert text to text. I talked a little bit about a product I back and that is now shipping, Senstone. Senstone allows you to record meetings and convert the recording to text. While I was using the tool, a long-time friend reached out to me and mentioned another tool in the voice to text space, Otter.ai, I downloaded the iPhone app and have played with it a couple of times. I like the overall concept of a standalone microphone so the Senstone system works well for that. But I have found that the Otter.ai product is also very good.
For the most part, this is a Doc problem not as applicable to the overall Virily population, my apologies for the column space dedicated to that.
The other technology that I have been using a lot is the Travis system. Travis the Translator. The tool is a small voice to voice translations device and I’ve been using it nearly every day on a recent project. It is so much easier to communicate ideas in our native language. While I can get places in Thailand and my Spanish is barely passable, I cannot speak Japanese at all or Korean for that matter. I’ve been working on a project with a Korean vendor. Conversations have gone much faster using Travis to translate. There is a pauce (they speak), Travis Translates, and says it out loud, (I speak) Travis translates and says the translation out loud. Overall the tool is really useful!
The time saving and frustration reduction has really helped!
I realize that most people don’t need any of these devices. The last thing that has helped lately is the new Beacon from Rocketbook. Beacon represents a system that allows you to convert a whiteboard into a connected whiteboard. Although not a directly connected whiteboard. That requires systems like e-beam. The Rocketbook beacons allow you to write on the whiteboard and then capture the information into the Rocketbook application. It does allow you to convert handwriting into digital or what is sometimes called editable text.
The beauty of the beacon system is they are small. They go on any whiteboard, and they cost less than 3 US dollars per set! If you have a whiteboard and you ever need to convert it into something you can share with other people, I recommend the Beason system from Rocketbook.
I realize today is a tech recap that frankly, most readers won’t care about. I understand that.
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Question of
I wonder if polls are fixed?
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Yes
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No
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Question of
Thank you for reading. I know most of your won’t use any of these things but thank you!!!! ok?
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Yes
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No
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Sometimes the polls are fixed. We might use them you never know. There is always a reason to educate. No reason to apologize for teaching us something new.
Thanks for the support and the kind words!
Polls drive me nuts sometimes!
I remember travelling when translator was not yet a thing. We were in a resto in Vietnam to eat dinner. Very hungry as we just arrived from Cambodia. The staff cannot communicate in English and rice is nowhere in the menu. So we ordered already the dishes but having headache on how we can make the waitress understand that we need rice ???
My memories of Vietnam and having dinner is a little scarier. I saw the restaurant the team took me to on a TV show years later.
“best snake” was the translation of the name.
I pinged the guys that took me, and yes I enjoyed snake without knowing it!
Awww. It was in Vietnam where I ate frog and wild boar too ???. I think it is scarier to eat rats, cats, and such. And guess what? I saw that in a resto menu in Guilin, China ???
i’ve seen rat, cat and squirrel. The menu in Vietnam was not translated and everything was ordered by the hosts.
oh well.
it tasted good. Funny I did gag, 10 years later when I found out!
What’s wrong with the snake? I heard it tasted like chicken ???
it actually had a very strong flavor not chicken!
Q: I WONDER IF POLLS ARE FIXED?
Yes (7 votes) – 70%
No (3 votes) – 30%
Q: THANK YOU FOR READING. I KNOW MOST OF YOUR WON’T USE ANY OF THESE THINGS BUT THANK YOU!!!! OK?
Yes (8 votes) – 80%
No (2 votes) – 20%
machine translation rocks
it really does, they have done a great job with Travis!
it started with brute force/lexicon based strategies, then evolved to the ML/statistical model we use today. the next step would be an expert system which can handle abstract concepts and find local equivalences…
that would be an AI structure of value.
Nuance is the most difficult component of human language.
bigtime. even we can’t always parse it
it is the one thing that kills AI quickly now. sarcasm is of course, really destructive!
programming a 1:1 equivalency is easy. fuzzy logic is tricky…
that is very true. the reality of the patterns we have today for M/L make nuance nearly impossible.
AI then layered over the top struggles with the math.
especially when the logic is subjective- how does the machine know when to apply it?
I will have to try doing a poll soon. Yours seems just fine.
it really does seem to be working (fingers crossed)
I am not too technical at all. I do know that when I am creating a poll I have to refresh the page after I put in the thumbnail photo otherwise the poll does not work right
That has been fixed, for me at least, I can do it now without having to refresh.
It does appear to be working, thanks Andre!
I noticed that I actually submitted it realized it hadn’t worked and refreshed twice before I share it to twitter, that seems to have fixed it.
frustrating.
I cannot advise any voice to text system, never used it. Polls for me works well now.
Thanks for the comment – polls do appear to be working again!
Interesting post. I like the translator and it may be my first “new technology” to buy ?
I have been really impressed with the overall quality of the translations!!! Of course, I speak American so it struggles with converting that to English sometimes!
Your info is helpful. I heard something on the topic before, used it during my last trip but also learnt much new from your post!
i am very happy to inform! Thank you for the kind words!
The translator sounds like a great tool!
i have been using it for a while it is amazing so far!
Thanks for the shareI. I use free Amazon Speech to text but I think an unobtrusive gadget to record from, virtually handsfree would be an asset I could put to great use.
i suspect we have similar thoughts. My other is that while a swiss army knife (smart phone) works, it doesn’t always work well
Never used this one before Doc.
You Poll seems fine, have not tried one yet today.
it does look like it worked, it has (as you know) been spotty.
Travis is a great innovation, dear friend … I know this stuff and I will never use it
thanks for commenting! sometimes we learn things we may never use.
You are absolutely right, dear friend
Thank you! I enjoy our conversations!
I also do something when they limit us
i think honestly they are trying to fix issues the best they can.
Some years ago I remember using a voice to text system – it worked OK but produced some very interesting – and often hilarious – mistakes! I would like to try it again, but haven’t a clue as to how to set about it or what equipment I need.
all you need literally is a cell phone with Otter.ai and it is free (smartphone sorry not cell phone) it is a lot better now than it used to be!