News:

Welcome to our site!

Main Menu

RIP Stephen Hawking

Started by trdsf, March 14, 2018, 12:26:58 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

trdsf

Quote from: Cavebear on March 17, 2018, 10:44:40 PM
I didn't know that, so thank you.  I can well imagine that almost any voice synthesizers would have loved to provide his voice closer to his original one, but I can also imagine how he came to own his "voice" and would be reluctant to change it.
I did a little research; Hawking's voice is called "Perfect Paul" and is based on the actual voice of the designer of the system, Dennis Klatt.  The same voice used to be used by the National Weather Service for their automated weather system, along with the DECtalk's default female voice.  My ex and I always referred to them as Stephen and Stephanie.

Klatt, alas, died in 1988, but his voice has outlived him by thirty years, attached to one of the premiere theoretical cosmologists of the age.

Not a bad legacy, that.
"My faith in the Constitution is whole, it is complete, it is total, and I am not going to sit here and be an idle spectator to the diminution, the subversion, the destruction of the Constitution." -- Barbara Jordan

Cavebear

Quote from: trdsf on March 17, 2018, 10:56:35 PM
Around 2010 or so, long after DEC had been bought out and the vocoder tech spun off, Intel mounted a major effort to improve Hawking's system at the interface level, since changing the sound was not an option.  Over time, as he aged and the disease progressed, Hawking's 'typing rate' had degraded to about one or two words a minute; Intel was able to improve his predictive text system... but the DECtalk unit stayed, and the company that bought out DEC's TTS still markets it as DECtalk.

I don't like to offer undescribed links, but I am completely out of my depth of this subject, so I offer it undescribed.  The efforts to keep Hawking communicating with us is impressive.  https://www.wired.com/2015/01/intel-gave-stephen-hawking-voice/
Atheist born, atheist bred.  And when I die, atheist dead!

Baruch

Quote from: trdsf on March 17, 2018, 10:32:57 PM
He was offered new voices several times, but always refused.  He was so associated with that particular voice, he didn't want to change it.  It led to some problems later because the hardware and software were so out of date, almost no one knew how to support it anymore.  I seem to recall that it was DEC hardware, which pleases me immensely as I had long been a fan of DECâ€"the first computer I used extensively was a DEC VAX, and you always keep a soft spot in your heart for your first silicon.  :)

My first "work" computer was a DEC VAX too.  Good stuff back in the day.
Ha’át’íísh baa naniná?
Azee’ Å,a’ish nanídį́į́h?
Táadoo ánít’iní.
What are you doing?
Are you taking any medications?
Don't do that.

Shiranu

My thoughts... beautiful image.



But apparently this is an extremely derogatory image, because it depicts having ALS as something "wrong" and "bad" that needs to be fixed... and is a form of "abelism", or bigotry and social prejudice against people who are physically impaired.

*sigh*

I don't buy into this generation being any more "easily offended" than the last (the amount of people who cried and protested that it was oppressive for them to have to go to school with "the negro" shows that's a load of shit), but the internet has certainly made some really stupid as fuck issues to be offended over much more visible.

I think it's less "this" generation (most of the people I see calling this abelism are at least 40+, so it's not even my or the younger generation) is easily offended and more technology has given the stupidly offended people a louder voice than before.
"A little science distances you from God, but a lot of science brings you nearer to Him." - Louis Pasteur

SGOS

Quote from: Shiranu on March 18, 2018, 06:25:16 PM
My thoughts... beautiful image.
Mine too.  I'm at a lost to understand what is controversial about it.  Has this opened a public debate on Twitter that I've missed?  I can see people hating Hawking.  He's not only an atheist, but presents an alternate story to one found in Genesis, but the picture itself is just a poignant farewell.  It even has a spiritual tone with Hawking leaving his chair and walking off toward the heavens, or maybe just off into the universe he loves.

Munch

#50
Think a lot of people seem to forget, that Hawking wasn't always physically disabled, the condition set in later on.

I'm reminded of a friend of mine, years ago, he was a member of the gay community in my local area, and was the brightest, nicest person you could meet, charming and caring, had a boyfriend, worked with the community and everyone turned to him when things were rough. He sadly developed the same condition that killed his mother, Muscle atrophy, and he went from a bright, shining man, to being complete disabled, and so much so he couldn't even hold his head up without support. He died from the condition, and it hit the local area so much so they had him on the front cover of the town paper.

I want to remember the man he was and kindness he gave to everyone, not remember the condition that he died to.
'Political correctness is fascism pretending to be manners' - George Carlin

Hydra009

Quote from: Shiranu on March 18, 2018, 06:25:16 PM
But apparently this is an extremely derogatory image, because it depicts having ALS as something "wrong" and "bad" that needs to be fixed...
I'm confused by this. The ice bucket challenge was a fundraising drive to cure ALS, so surely it's undesirable to have malfunctioning neurons, right?  I mean no one wakes up with ALS and is happy about it.  And more generally, isn't bodily disease/disorder undesirable by definition?

Shiranu

Quote from: Hydra009 on March 19, 2018, 10:01:07 AM
I'm confused by this. The ice bucket challenge was a fundraising drive to cure ALS, so surely it's undesirable to have malfunctioning neurons, right?  I mean no one wakes up with ALS and is happy about it.  And more generally, isn't bodily disease/disorder undesirable by definition?

Yeah, I'm honestly not sure. I just skimmed it because I thought it was really stupid.

If I had whatever disability, ALS or had my legs blown off or whatever, I think I would be more offended by people telling me I need to look at it positively than sharing images like that.
"A little science distances you from God, but a lot of science brings you nearer to Him." - Louis Pasteur

Baruch

Quote from: Hydra009 on March 19, 2018, 10:01:07 AM
I'm confused by this. The ice bucket challenge was a fundraising drive to cure ALS, so surely it's undesirable to have malfunctioning neurons, right?  I mean no one wakes up with ALS and is happy about it.  And more generally, isn't bodily disease/disorder undesirable by definition?

The extreme SJW consider blindness or deafness to be desirable variants, because all variants, other than the average, are desirable to them, as political hobby horses.
Ha’át’íísh baa naniná?
Azee’ Å,a’ish nanídį́į́h?
Táadoo ánít’iní.
What are you doing?
Are you taking any medications?
Don't do that.

Baruch

Quote from: Shiranu on March 19, 2018, 10:44:55 AM
Yeah, I'm honestly not sure. I just skimmed it because I thought it was really stupid.

If I had whatever disability, ALS or had my legs blown off or whatever, I think I would be more offended by people telling me I need to look at it positively than sharing images like that.

For some perhaps ... "Whatever doesn't kill you, makes you stronger" is a reason to consider adversity to be desirable.  Nietzsche.
Ha’át’íísh baa naniná?
Azee’ Å,a’ish nanídį́į́h?
Táadoo ánít’iní.
What are you doing?
Are you taking any medications?
Don't do that.

Cavebear

Quote from: Shiranu on March 18, 2018, 06:25:16 PM
My thoughts... beautiful image.



But apparently this is an extremely derogatory image, because it depicts having ALS as something "wrong" and "bad" that needs to be fixed... and is a form of "abelism", or bigotry and social prejudice against people who are physically impaired.

I never accepted the differently-abled argument.  Hawkins was limited in his ability to communicate and move on his own.

The image of him walking away from his chair is very moving to me.  Which, as an atheist, does bother me, suggesting an afterlife.  I just liked the idea of freedom.  Sue me...  LOL!
*sigh*

I don't buy into this generation being any more "easily offended" than the last (the amount of people who cried and protested that it was oppressive for them to have to go to school with "the negro" shows that's a load of shit), but the internet has certainly made some really stupid as fuck issues to be offended over much more visible.

I think it's less "this" generation (most of the people I see calling this abelism are at least 40+, so it's not even my or the younger generation) is easily offended and more technology has given the stupidly offended people a louder voice than before.
Atheist born, atheist bred.  And when I die, atheist dead!