Comparing Apple's Siri and Google's Voice Recognition

Siri voice recognition on iPhone works quite well.  But Google's voice recognition works very well.  You can directly compare their performance by opening the YouTube app on iPhone and hitting the search button (top right). Now you have the choice of using Siri (next to the space bar), or Google (top right).

My Cat Will Die at 5pm

Two hours from now my old cat will be dead. My younger cat can smell his illness, and stays away.

I have three hours left to say goodbye to him.  And I'm crying now for all the losses in my life I never cried for.  For the girlfriends that left me. For loneliness I felt in my 20's. For depression that has wasted my life and limited my choices.  I never acknowledged those losses.

My cat has never known an unkindness.  I am happy for the life he has had with me.

No Olympics for me

This year I thought I'd be watching the Olympics streaming online.  I was ready with Airplay, Apple TV, and Mountain Lion to stream the Olympics from my MacBook to my television (that's one of the great new features of OS X on newer Macs).  And I would be doing that, but I live in America, where NBC has chosen to only stream the Olympics to cable and satellite subscribers whose contract includes television. It's the dark ages.

I could setup a UK proxy and watch BBC coverage, but my past experience with iPlayer wasn't great.

Maybe I'm better off not getting streaming Olympic events from NBC:  I've read that their presentation of the games is the usual commercial TV sentimental slop: 'Heart warming' stories of US athletes overcoming something, and the camera shots of their parents in the crowd.

I just want to see athletes in top physical condition perform great athletic feats. That's exciting and compelling enough for me.

Now the medal count.  I know that it's not in the spirit of the games to compare national medal counts because individuals compete against each other. But everyone follows the national medal count.

This is how it's done: the country with the most gold medals is first.

This is how it's done in the US: the country with the most medals wins. Using this logic, a gold is equal to a bronze.

George Washington NSFW

This animation pokes fun at the insipid hero-worshiping (whoreshiping?) cartoons used to teach American children about their white history.
(The language is for adult ears only. It's a bit crude)

I'm Out of Here

Thanks  Reddit
Categories:Movies

2012 Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera Disco Volante Concept

       

This is the first Alfa Romeo since the 1970's that I think looks great. I like older Alfa Romeos. The 1750/2000 GTV and the Alfasud ti in particular.

This is a concept based on 8C Competizione mechanicals, with styling from the 1952 Alfa Romeo C52 Disco Volante concept car (which some think was the inspiration for the E-Type).

I adore the straight cut of the front fender openings, the line of the bonnet, the blistered rear quarter panels, and the way the cabin tapers. And for the first time in ages the Alfa grill doesn't look out of place.

The only mistake I can see are the telephone dial wheels.




Photos from Autocar
Categories:Cars

AirBeam Updated for iOS and OS X

AirBeam for the Mac/iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch has just been updated. AirBeam lets you use an iPhone as a wireless webcam for video and sound.  In the past, all devices had to be on the same WiFi network.  Not anymore.


I have my old iPhone 3Gs running the AirBeam app as a webcam on my WiFi network, but I can watch the feed using the AirBeam app on my iPhone 4G from anywhere using 3G data service.


And you can watch the feed on a Mac running the OS X version of the app, or watch the feed on any computer browser.


There's no setup. It really is the easiest way to watch your cats while you're away from home.


Free for iOS devices.  $4 for OS X, but you don't really need it.

Categories:Gadgets

The Sadness When Someone Notices That You're Dying Inside

One day you're there...

and then, all of a sudden...

there's less of you,

and you wonder where that part went,

if it's living somewhere outside of you.

And you keep thinking...

maybe you'll get it back.

And then you realize...

it's just gone.