The Pebble and the Avalanche

SpeechTek 2008 Lectures, Workshops, and Sessions

Here' the current list of sessions I'll moderate, judge, instruct or lecture at for SpeechTek 2008 in New York City. If you'd like to attend SpeechTek, please register online.

Please note that I'll be running a "CCXML Application Workshop" at SpeechTEK again this year. The class will last for three hours, starting 1:15 P.M. on Thursday, August 21, 2008.

B101	Speaker	What End Users Really Want	Session description: Requirements for the Voice User Interface are often generated by people who don't understand the Voice User Interface. How do we generate meaningful and useful Voice User Interface requirements?	Mon., Aug. 18, 10:15 AM - 11:00 AM
A201	Moderator	Speech: Thinking Out of the Box	What are the bleeding-edge possibilities for speech technology?	Tues, Aug 19, 10:45 AM - 11:30 AM
SpeechTek Labs	Judge	Speech Application Tools	I will host, moderate, and judge a session on various speech application tools. If you'd like to participate in this session, please contact me.	Tuesday (exact time unknown)
STKU-9	Instructor	Stop Rude Calls: A CCXML Workshop for VoiceXML Veterans	Just in time for the elections, a service to block unwanted telephone calls. If you already understand VoiceXML and want to learn about CCXML, this workshop provides an introduction to the basic concepts of CCXML, including how to interact with VoiceXML applications.	Thurs., Aug. 21, 1:15 PM - 4:30 PM

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Twitter Feed

I now have my own Twitter feed.

Although I like Twitter, I also have the feeling that Twitter is just an intermediate step to an even more interesting and more useful method of communication. If I use Twitter every day, perhaps I'll be able to figure out what that next method will be.

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CCXML Workshop Part Two Now Online

The second part of the two-part presentation on the CCXML programming language is now online.

Technical note: If you have trouble playing this on your system, please let me know. The file plays correctly on a Mac, and the basic file plays correctly using the totem player on Linux, but I'm not certain how well it works on other systems.

EDITED: Well, it seems that blip.tv isn't as friendly a hosting site as I originally thought. The link now downloads the file to your computer, where you can play it using Quicktime or Totem. I will find a different hosting site shortly.

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Recent Quotes

A nice quote from the book popped up online at CNN Money.

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Talk: Typewriter vs. iPhone

I'll be speaking here in Chicago on Tuesday, October 9, 2007. The talk will be at the Chicago Public Library at Budlong Woods, 5630 N. Lincoln Ave, at 7 PM.

I'll be speaking on "Typewriter vs. iPhone: How You Can Come Up With a Great Idea." Here's a flyer (PDF), slightly modified from the original that the library created.

I gave a version of this talk at SpeechTek at the end of the August, and it was terrific fun for both myself and the audience.

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SpeechTek Updates

I've updated my schedule at SpeechTek to include one new seesion that I will be moderating. If you'd like to meet with me at SpeechTek, please feel free to write or call as soon as possible. As an experiment, you can also find this calendar online at Google (check for the week of 19 August).

I'll be running a "CCXML Application Workshop" at SpeechTEK this year. The class will last for three hours, starting 9 A.M. on Thursday, August 23, 2007. The class is part of the annual "SpeechTEK University" held in conjunction with the conference. I believe that there may still be room in the class for one or two more individuals without becoming too crowded; please contact SpeechTek if you'd like to attend.

If you'd like to attend, please register online. You can use the discount code "D07," which discounts registration for the conference and exhibit hall.

Here's the complete list of my appearances at SpeechTEK... looks like I'll be quite busy!

E104	Speaker	Free, Flexible, and Fiendish: The Ups and Downs of Open Source Tools	If you're writing ordinary software, you're in luck: there are hundreds if not thousands of open-source tools that will help you create, maintain, test, document, and distribute your software. If you're writing speech recognition software...	Mon., Aug. 20, 3 PM - 4 PM
A303	Speaker	Will New Interfaces Crush Speech 2.0?	Have we fallen asleep? For years, we've touted speech recognition as tn amazing replacement for clumsy and annoying telephone systems that use touch-tones. While we continue to succeed, the world has passed us by...	Weds., Aug. 22, 2 PM - 3 PM
STKU-2	Instructor	CCXML Application Workshop	Description: Learn how to use CCXML in just 3 hours in this application workshop.	Thurs., Aug. 23, 9 AM - 12 PM
E101	Moderator	Open Source Development Environments		Mon., Aug. 20, 10:15 AM - 11:15 AM
E105	Moderator	Techniques for Reusability		Mon., Aug. 20, 4:15 PM - 5 PM
Idea Market	Moderator	Speech Development Application Tools	An open-ended discussion about key ideas in developing speech applications.	Mon., Aug. 20, 4:15 PM - 5 PM

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SpeechTek Appearances

I'll be running a "CCXML Application Workshop" at SpeechTEK this year. The class will last for three hours, starting 9 A.M. on Thursday, August 23, 2007. The class is part of the annual "SpeechTEK University" held in conjunction with the conference.

If you'd like to attend, please register online. You can use the discount code "D07," which discounts registration for the conference and exhibit hall.

Here's the complete list of my appearances at SpeechTEK... looks like I'll be quite busy!

E104	Speaker	Free, Flexible, and Fiendish: The Ups and Downs of Open Source Tools	If you're writing ordinary software, you're in luck: there are hundreds if not thousands of open-source tools that will help you create, maintain, test, document, and distribute your software. If you're writing speech recognition software...	Mon., Aug. 20, 3 PM - 4 PM
A303	Speaker	Will New Interfaces Crush Speech 2.0?	Have we fallen asleep? For years, we've touted speech recognition as tn amazing replacement for clumsy and annoying telephone systems that use touch-tones. While we continue to succeed, the world has passed us by...	Weds., Aug. 22, 2 PM - 3 PM
STKU-2	Instructor	CCXML Application Workshop	Description: Learn how to use CCXML in just 3 hours in this application workshop.	Thurs., Aug. 23, 9 AM - 12 PM
E101	Moderator	Open Source Development Environments		Mon., Aug. 20, 10:15 AM - 11:15 AM
E105	Moderator	Techniques for Reusability		Mon., Aug. 20, 4:15 PM - 5 PM

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At Voip-News

A report on my talk by VoIP News, as reported by a live blogger as I spoke.

I'll expand on one comment:

But Yudkowsky believes that Mabel [a machine that imitates a human operator] cannot solve the human service problem in the current telephony environment.

What I was trying to get across was that even if a machine imitates a human successfully, and provides wonderful old-style human operator services just like "Mabel" the switchboard operator did in the old days, that wouuld only scratch the surface of the terrific opportunities available in emerging telephony.

Quite a few people in the audience had their laptops open, and the conference provider supplied wireless access. This put speakers on their toes in a few ways: anything they said could be checked, any web site they mentioned was instantly accessible, and an IRC connection (think "group chat" if you're unfamiliar with IRC) let any interested parties discuss a speaker as he was speaking.

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Presentation Available Online

My presenation from the O'Reilly Emerging Telephony Conference is now available for download directly from the O'Reilly website, along with the presentations of other speakers. Photographs of the talk can be found here.

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Speaking at the Minnesota Telecommunications Association

I'll be speaking on Tuesday, February 13 at the meeting of the Minnesota Telecommunications Association on the topic of speech technology.

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