Semi-Random Topics Of The Day
Jan. 28th, 2011 03:37 pm* Egypt. Al-Qaida disappoints me. I would have thought they'd take advantage of the "political speech" going on in Cairo to storm/bomb/wreck the American Embassy there and and so on.
Remember, Egypt is our indispensible ally in the region. If their government changes, the Camp David Peace will be burned to ashes, and we can expect regular wars in the Sinai and Suez--with the possible new wrinkle of nuclear strikes. Mubarak goes and we have Armageddon.
* Afganistan. When was the last time the mainstream sources told us how the war is going in general terms? Nobody seems to be interested.
I wonder if some Republican/Tea Party state governor is going to say, "Now that we've deployed our entire National Guard contingent to Afganistan, I'm giving them die-in-place orders. They'll only return if they win the war--and will have to pay their own way. No resupply, no support, and not one more penny from the taxpayers."
* Media Technology. On my post the other day about the possibility of computers understanding tone-of-voice...it turns out that Avatar Creators Like This Man have been coming at the solution from another direction. By making virtual homonculi capable of modeling the full array of human emotion, a computer intelligence can, in theory, work backwards and recognize the meanings of human expression through the settings of the model.
Meanwhile, I saw an advertisement on TV for Shirley Temple movies that had been remastered and colorized for DVD last night. Colorization of monochrome movies has been around since the Eighties, and while it can be great if done correctly, I haven't exactly been impressed by it.
I think it has to do with our basic level understanding of photography in general...how we see the world through our own eyes. When I saw the sample footage on the commercial, I couldn't help but notice the gray zones underneath the color. I guess the technique will improve in the years to come, but I still have my doubts. *shrug*
Remember, Egypt is our indispensible ally in the region. If their government changes, the Camp David Peace will be burned to ashes, and we can expect regular wars in the Sinai and Suez--with the possible new wrinkle of nuclear strikes. Mubarak goes and we have Armageddon.
* Afganistan. When was the last time the mainstream sources told us how the war is going in general terms? Nobody seems to be interested.
I wonder if some Republican/Tea Party state governor is going to say, "Now that we've deployed our entire National Guard contingent to Afganistan, I'm giving them die-in-place orders. They'll only return if they win the war--and will have to pay their own way. No resupply, no support, and not one more penny from the taxpayers."
* Media Technology. On my post the other day about the possibility of computers understanding tone-of-voice...it turns out that Avatar Creators Like This Man have been coming at the solution from another direction. By making virtual homonculi capable of modeling the full array of human emotion, a computer intelligence can, in theory, work backwards and recognize the meanings of human expression through the settings of the model.
Meanwhile, I saw an advertisement on TV for Shirley Temple movies that had been remastered and colorized for DVD last night. Colorization of monochrome movies has been around since the Eighties, and while it can be great if done correctly, I haven't exactly been impressed by it.
I think it has to do with our basic level understanding of photography in general...how we see the world through our own eyes. When I saw the sample footage on the commercial, I couldn't help but notice the gray zones underneath the color. I guess the technique will improve in the years to come, but I still have my doubts. *shrug*
Hey.
This season there are all sorts of ads on TV from IBM about how they're developing software systems that can so analyse written language to nail down meaning that they could possibly beat Jeopardy!'s double-entendre-laden game model.
I'm intrigued, but not so concerned yet.
The reason being that I wonder if anybody has found a way to analyse "tone of voice".
On DeviantArt, there is a worksheet created by Nancy Lorenz called "25 Essential Expressions Challenge", intended to train cartoonists and comic artists in designing characters that are consistant no matter what mood they are in, but still easy to read mood-wise.
The Expressions:
* Happy * Sad * Pleased * Angry * Confused * Tired * Surprised/Shocked * Irritated * WTF?! * Triumphant * Afraid * Bereft * Flirty * Serious/Interested * Silly * Hollow/Blank * Incredulous * Confident * Fierce * Despondent * Impaired * Raging * Ironic/Sarcastic * Disgusted * Ill/Nauseous
Now, in theory each and every one of those Expressions corresponds to a tone of voice, as spoken or as heard. If we can get artificial intelligences to both recognize just those 25, and respond correctly to those, we'll have come a very very long way toward fulfilling the technology's potential.
Besides, I wish Xtranormal could upgrade its dialogue system to include expressions as the above. Not only would it make the resulting videos more fun to watch, it would make it more attractive to use Xtranormal.
FP
This season there are all sorts of ads on TV from IBM about how they're developing software systems that can so analyse written language to nail down meaning that they could possibly beat Jeopardy!'s double-entendre-laden game model.
I'm intrigued, but not so concerned yet.
The reason being that I wonder if anybody has found a way to analyse "tone of voice".
On DeviantArt, there is a worksheet created by Nancy Lorenz called "25 Essential Expressions Challenge", intended to train cartoonists and comic artists in designing characters that are consistant no matter what mood they are in, but still easy to read mood-wise.
The Expressions:
* Happy * Sad * Pleased * Angry * Confused * Tired * Surprised/Shocked * Irritated * WTF?! * Triumphant * Afraid * Bereft * Flirty * Serious/Interested * Silly * Hollow/Blank * Incredulous * Confident * Fierce * Despondent * Impaired * Raging * Ironic/Sarcastic * Disgusted * Ill/Nauseous
Now, in theory each and every one of those Expressions corresponds to a tone of voice, as spoken or as heard. If we can get artificial intelligences to both recognize just those 25, and respond correctly to those, we'll have come a very very long way toward fulfilling the technology's potential.
Besides, I wish Xtranormal could upgrade its dialogue system to include expressions as the above. Not only would it make the resulting videos more fun to watch, it would make it more attractive to use Xtranormal.
FP
Tags:
Ell!Ay!Pee!Pee!Tee!Oh!Pee!Pee!--
Aug. 6th, 2010 09:15 pm( LAPPTOPP! )
PS: At the time of this post, my Meez avatar was shown playing with a laptop computer in a Goth dive. It has since changed.
PS: At the time of this post, my Meez avatar was shown playing with a laptop computer in a Goth dive. It has since changed.
Tags:
Doin' The JetPack Shuffle
Oct. 27th, 2008 10:47 pm( Silly Animated Avatar Behind Cut )
PS: At the time I posted, my Meez avatar was dressed in Astronaut kit and flying through the use of a Jetpack. This has since changed.
PS: At the time I posted, my Meez avatar was dressed in Astronaut kit and flying through the use of a Jetpack. This has since changed.
Tags:
New Avatar
Aug. 22nd, 2008 09:15 pm
It's high time the Vending Machine of Awesome got its own avatar. Thanks to
![[profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tanukitsune for the bottles of Awesome Sauce, without which this machine would be much less awesome.
Roomz With a Viewz?
Jun. 25th, 2008 05:10 pmhttp://www.meez.com/roomz.dm?act=view&room_id=dr1.rVTPCbNB56j
So I went and made my first Meez Roomz. It's basically a glorified chatroom, open to any Meez Peepz, only I don't immediately know anybody else who uses Meez.
I think I'll write to the admins of this site and put in a list of stuff I think they should do with the concept. It's a nice idea and all...but it needs work.
FP (a.k.a. http://www.meez.com/frustratedpilot )
So I went and made my first Meez Roomz. It's basically a glorified chatroom, open to any Meez Peepz, only I don't immediately know anybody else who uses Meez.
I think I'll write to the admins of this site and put in a list of stuff I think they should do with the concept. It's a nice idea and all...but it needs work.
FP (a.k.a. http://www.meez.com/frustratedpilot )
Writer's Block: My Userpics
Jun. 18th, 2008 03:21 pm[Error: unknown template qotd]
My first one and my current one are of the same subject--a Stavatti Stalma fighter jet. The real machine may never be built, so it's in the same position karmically that I myself am in--we'll only fly in our dreams and often not even then.
My first one and my current one are of the same subject--a Stavatti Stalma fighter jet. The real machine may never be built, so it's in the same position karmically that I myself am in--we'll only fly in our dreams and often not even then.
New Tweaks To My Meez
Apr. 9th, 2008 02:15 pm( Silly Animated GIF Behind Cut )
Added a hat and changed the background. There aren't that many backgrounds that work with a flying Meez. :( I should contact them about that.
FP
Added a hat and changed the background. There aren't that many backgrounds that work with a flying Meez. :( I should contact them about that.
FP
My Goodness, Another Journalizing Collage
Mar. 27th, 2008 12:23 amJune 2009--Content removed due to obsolescence.
Test Post...With Possible Actual Content
Feb. 19th, 2008 12:01 am( Silly animated graphic behind this cut. )
DakkaDakkaDakka!
Yeah, I went to my buddy Stanley's place in Kentucky today, and among other things I did some stuff to my Meez avatar, the results are above. I envy anybody and everybody who has high-speed Internet access.
Twin reasons for the trip: 1) I found a couple anime posters at the flea market last week that were so "Stanley" I had to buy them on sight for him, and I delivered those; 2) He's downloading e-books for me and compiling a CD-ROM of them.
Very good visit. We did a lot of stuff together beyond the usual hanging-out, and we had lunch with a good friend of Stan's that I met but hadn't seen in years. We just showed up at the same restaurant at the same time. Synchronicity doesn't happen like that often.
I hope to see Stan again before my move to North Carolina.
FP
DakkaDakkaDakka!
Yeah, I went to my buddy Stanley's place in Kentucky today, and among other things I did some stuff to my Meez avatar, the results are above. I envy anybody and everybody who has high-speed Internet access.
Twin reasons for the trip: 1) I found a couple anime posters at the flea market last week that were so "Stanley" I had to buy them on sight for him, and I delivered those; 2) He's downloading e-books for me and compiling a CD-ROM of them.
Very good visit. We did a lot of stuff together beyond the usual hanging-out, and we had lunch with a good friend of Stan's that I met but hadn't seen in years. We just showed up at the same restaurant at the same time. Synchronicity doesn't happen like that often.
I hope to see Stan again before my move to North Carolina.
FP
