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Windows XP is Listening
jfengel writes: "According to Newsbytes, some Windows XP users are finding random words inserted into their text as they write. The problem is caused by XP's speech recongition system, which is turned on by default by some manufacturers. It's listening to the random noise you get even when the mic is turned off. Kind of an insight into your computer's subconscious, perhaps."
*** it's thinking ***
Dear God, someone save us...
with speech recognition on by default on a bunch of systems, imagine all the processor power that's wasting...
...of course, this is microsoft.
I'm sorry Dave, that operation is illegal.
--
Some weasel took the cork out of my lunch.
when you dont go over your latest report that you send to your boss, and you find your entire conversation about him between you and your workmate about how his wife is a @#$@ and how he's a complete dumb@$$ is magically included in the report..
I support publik eduscatation!
1. Fire up Outlook.
2. Subj: I hate Windows XP
3. Write message.
Dear Mom,
I hate Windows XP. Boy, Bill Gates really has it in for me. I can't stand this software. Yuck!
4. Send.
5. Mom receives mail.
6. Subj: I [love] Windows XP!
7. Message:
Dear Mom,
I [love] Windows XP. Boy, Bill Gates really [knows how to make software / has great body]. I can't stand [to live another moment without] this software. [F]uck [yeah]!
If Nalgene water bottles are outlawed, only outlaws will have Nalgene water bottles.
Exactly why is this "Stuff that matters" again, or do we just need one more Timothy article that takes any random misconfiguration as a good reason to bash Microsoft?
You'd think with subscriptions Slashdot might turn into a newsworthy site once again, but it looks more like an exclusive MS bashing club when Timothy takes the editor's seat.
Fear: When you see B8 00 4C CD 21 and know what it means
'And so on this chart *must* you will see *kill* that profit are higher *user* when customers...'
"I only speak the truth"
Karma: null(Mostly affected by an unassigned variable)
"I'm afraid Holy Water would short it out so someone please help me," wrote the XP user.
This is too funny. Along with all the stories we always get bashing Microsoft, this one is great just by being unintentional. One can imagine the poor hapless user typing away, when all of a sudden "Kill Yourself" appears on the screen.
I think when you talk about how much you hate your boss by your computer, Office should automatically compose a hatemail and send it on your behalf. Even better, you can now do this yourself and claim XP accidentally did it for you!
Please subscribe to see the more insightful version of th
It happens even when the mic is disconneted, and some of the manufacturers turn it on by default so you don't even know it's on... Basically you get a new computer with no mic and words start appearing. What are you supposed to think?
Fucking retard anon AC's... (yep, that includes me. But at last I factually correct instead of being an ignorant fucking retarded illiterate AC).
Dear Mr. Schlock,
[Clippy: Excuse me, it looks like you're writing a letter!]
IIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!
[What did I say?]
...and that's the way the cookie crumbles.
Hmm.... I wonder if this realy works.
(Fires up OfficeXP)
Dear Microsoft. I have--
Clippy Says: "It appears that you're writing Y.O.U. W.I.L.L. B.O.W. D.O.W.N. T.O. T.H.E W.I.L.L. O.F. B.I.L.L. Y.O.U. W.I.L.L. S.U.B.M.I.T. Y.O.U. W.I.L.L O.B.E.Y. Y.O.U. W.I.L.L. N.O.T. I.N.S.T.A.L.L. L.I.N.U.X. a letter. If you'd like, Office XP can help you choose from several helpful templates that will make your task easier and more fun."
Hmmm.... Nope. I don't see anything at all wrong with the speech recognition software.
The next Slashdot story will be ready soon, but subscribers can beat the rush and slashdot the links early!
Maybe this is a case of computerized Tourette syndrome. I wonder how many of these inserted words are vulgarities?
Just -bugger- a thought -bugger-
If you don't believe me, ask that guy over there.
Just give a couple of million XP-users each a word processor and infinite time and they'll produce the complete works of Shakespeare.
(Sorry Huxley)
I was wondering why after viewing my Britney Spears jpegs the text "uh,uh,uh,uh,uh,uh,uh,uh........aaahhhhhhhhhhh" appeared in a minimized Word document that was open at the same time.
Kind of an insight into your computer's subconscious, perhaps.
Geez.. leave a word processor open when the computer goes to 'sleep' mode. Get to see all its crazy dreams!
"NOOO not WINDOWS!!! AHHH... I'M FALLLLING!!!! must.... install.... li... nu..x"
Speech recognition did not come installed with my Windows XP, but was installed (and turned 'on' by default) by my Office XP Pro. After which point my computer suffered a major decrease in speed, to the point where it was taking 15 seconds sometimes for the webbrowser to load. I current have a 1.2 Ghz Athlon T-bird with 512 M ram, so it obviously was not from lack of processing power. Then I noticed a little program running the background called 'sapisrv.exe', turned it off, and was back to cruising speed. Perhaps this slowness was just something I experienced due to some oversight, or maybe I need to upgrade (again), but if not I would not suggest anyone to use the MS speech recog. tool (of course, with the /. crowd that is probably inherent)
I can only imagine what XP is putting in my word docs and client texts....
:)
I maintain an XP Pro system next to my trusty RH and UltraSparc to gnash client docs up on and alter stuff in odd formats, visio crap etc.
I do have a mic on it......
Now I have to go through ALL my docs looking for randomly inserted profanities I scream when Im working on code....
Friday nigh 3 am and %*&%*&# @!!! it still isnt quite right.....lol...I can Only IMAGIN what my computer has heard. Lets pray it hasnt made its way into my docs...
Think about what you say/yell when youre alone and know it, its pretty funny. Hope noones XP box is listening
Sig went tro...aahemmm.....fishing........
I could have told you about this back in October when the company I'm contracting for rolled out XP RC1 company-wide.
Of course, we only saw it happen three times, and only in Outlook... and when it happened, we had almost-complete sentances, not just random words... so it makes you wonder if it's -really- the voice recognition software, or something else... it certainly looked like three other people's emails being combined into one, alternating every five or six words, with punctuation...
I was in the middle of typing up a research paper for a philosophy project on Descartes last week. I thought I was just a little wack after thinking too hard about that whole mind over matter thing. Glad to know im sane.
looking at my settings, sure enough speech recognition is turned on.
PHB to IT Lackey: "Call the diocese! Cancel the order we placed!"
IT Lackey: "Both the young priest and the old priest, sir?"
PHB: "On second thought, no. Didn't you mention some daemons on our Leenooks machines last week...?"
I wish I had a kryptonite cross, because then you could keep Dracula and Superman away.
(another tought in addition to above)
my computer will also be giving me the blue screen of death whenever i talk smack about bill now?? thats gotta suck as well.
I support publik eduscatation!
Uh oh, a slew of impressive patents coming down from Redmond...
-- Nobody should take away Microsoft's freedom to innovate, particularly since they haven't used it yet
Speech Recognition......or........Listening Device?
/paranoia off
Apparently Kevin "Mr. Subliminal" Nealon from Saturday Night Live was a consultant on the User Interface for Windows XP.
Either that or Windows XP has Tourette's Syndrome.
Education is the silver bullet.
Step (1). Sign up for passport.
Step (2). Reboot.
No further problems have been reported after using this technique. Microsoft credits it's new security initiative for the speed and efficacy of this fix, and reminds you to sign up for passport.
Move on. There's nothing to see here.
Could everyone making up jokes about M$ and the infinite possebilities to laugh at this inconvenience please post them to this thread, and leave all the serious discussions to the rest of us who are actually interested in having a meaningful and awarding discussion about this 511^96:th bug in XP.
Hello. You may know me, for I am Bill Gates. I wanted to tell people how sorry I am for engaging in anti-competitive activities. We will never do this kind of thing again. To make a long story short, we have given in to your demands. Have a nice day!
Job? I don't have time to get a job! Who will sit around and bitch about being broke and unemployed then?
"It happens even when the mic is disconneted..."
Please stop and think about the physics involved behind that statement just for a bit.
It hurts when I pee.
Now this is news!
"Win treats sysadmins better than users. Mac treats users better than sysadmins. Linux treats everyone like sysadmins."
I suppose we're supposed to assume this is some evil plot by Microsoft to surveil on all of us.
Wrong, wrong, wrong.
Everybody knows it's only the government that does that kind of thing.
However, seeing as the DOJ seems to be M$'s bitch, does that make M$ part of the "government?"
My Karma was at 49, then they switched to words. All that work for nothing!
I think that this article is SNAILS baseless propoganda PANDA against the good old company of COMMUNIST microsoft. The only SMELLY reason that it is even CEILING listed is because of the INTERTIAL distaste people here have for Microsoft X-RAY.
i type many fuck microsoft letters a day, and i have i wish bill gates would die never had this problem ever...
i sometimes why doesn't my company switch to linux mutter stuff under my breath, and XP still has no fuck XP problems figuring out what i mean to god i hate office type.
if anyone else is experiencing problems, let me god i hope no one spams me know.
MARIJUANA, SHROOMS, X: ONLINE?! - E
I hear voices and they put me on thorazine. My computer hears voices so where's the Service Pack, the computer equivilent of a good downer.
I've hit Karma 50 and gotten a Score:5, Troll... I win!
Many Slashdot readers use Microsoft Windows.
Many of those also use word processors.
Of those, several probably have speech recognition and microphones installed as well.
Therefore, this affects them and their daily performance.
This news isn't MS-bashing, it's useful information for PC users. If you're going to troll, do it with an article that actually helps you make your point.
Great, so when I forget my computer is on with mIRC open, and me and my woman are getting it on, the chat rooms gonna be getting some nifty insight on why I'm so odd? GREAT!
As if I run XP PFFFT!
Can all fish swim?
I think it's just Clippy the friendly neighborhood Microsoft Office assistant getting the Redmond boys back for canning him in 2001.
That bastard paperclip seemed kinda sketchy when he first broke onto the scene back in '97 or so. It's only feasible that he somehow snuck onto the last megabyte of data on the Windows XP master CD and decided to cause mayhem by fscking around with the users who bitched about him so much.
monolithic - adj. Characterized by massiveness and rigidity and total uniformity
linux - n. An implementation of the Unix kernel originally written from scratch with no proprietary code
Why is this a privacy issue?! Oh, it's not. Someone just forgot to read the article, and just assigned a topic based on the title.
sulli
RTFJ.
where I'm typing away at the latest inventory survey for..
-Jetson!
-Yes, Mister Spacely!
-Jetson, where are the figures for new account?
-Ummm, right here, no! This is Elroy's lunch!
"Provided by the management for your protection."
http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/175108.html
Daily News
; en-us;Q315765.
; en-us;Q306537.
.NET Speech homepage is http://www.microsoft.com/speech/.
'Phantom Menace' typing just a Microsoft speech feature
By Brian McWilliams, Newsbytes.
March 12, 2002
Random words and characters mysteriously appearing on the screens of some Windows XP and Office XP users are not the work of phantom hackers or a sign that users' systems are possessed by demons. It's just Microsoft's voice recognition system running slightly amok, the company said.
In recent weeks, several XP users have posted messages to Internet discussion lists and newsgroups reporting that text is automatically appearing in Internet Explorer's address bar or in Outlook e-mail messages or Word documents as users compose them.
In a posting entitled "My Remote Keyboard is Possessed in XP," for example, one Microsoft customer reported "very strange behavior" that included letters appearing in input areas of the screen while browsing and writing e-mails.
"I'm afraid Holy Water would short it out so someone please help me," wrote the XP user.
Another Microsoft customer separately reported that "a ghost" appeared to be taking over his computer. In the message, entitled "Phantom Menace XP," the user said something was causing toolbars and options to pop up without his input.
In response to user inquiries, in January Microsoft published a handful of articles in the Support section of its Web site about the problem.
According to Microsoft, after installing Microsoft's Speech application programming interface, "random words or characters may be displayed in Office XP documents or in the Internet Explorer Address bar."
The company said the behavior occurs because "the speech recognition tool is 'listening' to your voice through you computer's microphone and is attempting to recognize what you are saying."
Microsoft said its speech recognition engine, a program file named Sapisvr.exe, is turned on at installation by some computer manufacturers. The engine is also included with Microsoft Office XP and other speech-enabled products.
To resolve the problem, Microsoft said XP users should disable the Dictation and the Voice Command features on the operating system's Language bar. Alternately, users can turn off speech recognition completely from the Regional and Language Options tool on XP's Control Panel.
Merely unplugging or turning off the computer's microphone does not correct the random-character problem, according to several user reports.
Microsoft's article about random characters in Office XP is at http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb
Microsoft's article on configuring speech recognition in Windows XP is at http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb
Microsoft's
Reported by Newsbytes, http://www.newsbytes.com.
Consultancy: If you're not part of the solution, there's money to be made in prolonging the problem
My fathers name is Dave, about 7 years back when 95 was still in its last internal beta we got our greasy hands on a copy from a MS employee...
...nothing for days and days, Finally I said something, he had his speakers turned down pretty far but could still hear it on occasion, like when he was turning it off and it said dave, what are you doing dave....my mind is going, dave I can feel my mind going.... Long and short was he litteraly though he has working too much and didnt want to say anything to anyone.
:)
Long and short I gained access to the thing one day while dropping some stuff off.
And changed all the wav files to stuff from 2001 a space oddessy. Now I thought this will be good, Ill get a call right away
About a week later he did the same to my computer while at my house and I was on a smoke run, next time I booted my computer, the damm thing was shouting it was all I could do to hold my 100lb dog from tearing my computer to shreads...
This is one I could have even more fun with he is running Xp, hack in and whenever a profanity is muttered, respond, like hey I dont appreciate your tone of voice, etc....
He is a bit older and has been working harder, wonder if hed tell me
Sig went tro...aahemmm.....fishing........
it didn't say what kind of randoM wordS.
maybe it's a coverup.
messages on another's documents?
sounds like subliminal messages to me
Runnin' On Empty
I realize that the information is coming from the typical people using tech support, but how can the voice recognition try to recognize anything without a microphone?
I suppose there could be a built in mic in a laptop the person is overlooking, but otherwise? If it is smart enough to recognize speech, shouldn't it be smart enough to realize no one is talking?
Disconnect your mic, leave it turned on, and turn your system volume way up....and listen to all the static and noise still being generated by all those wonderfull little electrical fields interacting all over the inside of your case.
I'm out of my mind right now, but feel free to leave a message.....
If it starts inserting REDRUM into your text repeatedly, RUN!
Seeing as it's actually illegal to record someone without there permission or a legal warrant. If it could be proven that this is on by default when XP is installed, without informing the user of this in any way, Microsoft could have to increase their legal budget by quite a bit. Imagine if this happens to someone like a court stenographer or the FBI/CIA/Military. Particularly disturbing given that almost no data that has been on a Windows machine is ever actually deleted, just the file addresses. Creepy doesn't even begin to describe it. Ugh. DotF(Drunk on the Floor)
(... he cried aloud, the day before he went missing.)
And in case you're wondering, this is a reference to a subplot in the "Illuminatus" trilogy.
Back in the early '70s I was working on word processing software (when manufacturers of a word processor also had to build a machine the size of a desk to put the software in). I was also reading _Illuminatus_ and that subplot had me sorely tempted to add a bug to the software such that it would occasionally inject "fnord" into the text being entered or edited, causing this to appear in major newspapers nationwide.
Fortunately I was able to resist the temptation. B-)
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
This kind of provides some insight into the sad state of speech recognition technology... at least the stuff coming from Microsoft.
Random static, due to poor sound card quality, to interference or whatever. Hey, some people manage to hear voices of the deceased when listening to static, so why wouldn't the computer be able to interpret words into the white noise? It's Micro$oft, after all!
Say no to software patents.
"random words or characters may be displayed"
"the speech recognition tool is 'listening' to your voice through you computer's microphone and is attempting to recognize what you are saying."
I am curious how random the output is. The mic is on, attempting to recognize words, and it comes up with something random, ie nothing close to what has actually been said. Doesn't sound like such great voice recognition software to me.
I wonder what words the software comes up with as these users bang their heads on the keyboard?
"You like Chinese food." -Fortune Cookie
FWIW, the first thing I did with my new laptop, after installing a Linux partition, was to turn off the stupid voice recognition stuff (Dell ships with it turned on). It was annoying, and frankly I can't see the usefulness of it. I certainly wouldn't use it in the office. Talking to my computer looks strange, feels strange, and is distracting to other people in the office. It's also not nearly capable enought to make using it easy or efficient.
-Vercingetorix
"Necessitas non habet legem." -St. Augustine
"Mr. Gates, we have some more information on the antitrust people. Seems that they got together last night during that attorneys general convention to discuss strategy. Here's the full transcript for you to review. Several copies, actually. Seems they had several laptops sitting around. Uh, ignore this one here. Too many extraneous phrases from some drunk guy talking about how they don't make vodka the way they used to."
"Thanks Steve. God, I love technology! OK, leave those machines alone for a while, until they stop reporting anything useful. Then, pull the unique IDs for them and shut them down during the next round of automatic software updates. Oh yeah, and don't forget to delete the IDs from the reactivation database, since they'll doubtless call in when their systems go down. We'll teach these bastards not to screw with us."
That light you see at the end of the tunnel might be from an oncoming train.
Rather than listen to the consumer, they have the software do it for them...
IANAL, but I've seen actors play them on TV
It's the Microsoft way!
Okay, I know it's the vendors that are doing this (I did read the article). But I thought vendors were pretty much prohibited from altering the standard Windows install at all. No?
Merely unplugging or turning off the computer's microphone does not correct the random-character problem, according to several user reports.
Voices from the ether?
You can't take the sky from me...
You could read the article.
HINT: Manufactures turned it on. It's not on by default.
I really love Slashdot.....
linux rawks!
i think this is the next "i love you" virus. I'd be more than happy to be infected by this :)
Generally speaking, one of the major problems I encounter is the use of "passive voice". Look carefully at the second sentence of this story:
"The problem is caused by XP's speech recognition system, which is turned on by default by some manufacturers."
Any editor worth his salt would wrap this sentence in a brown paper bag and Fed-X it back to the author for revision. It is much clearer, and more precise to use the active voice, to wit:
"XP's speech recognition system causes the problem, because most manufacturers turn it on by default."
The sentence following this one begins with a pronoun, "It's". Remarkably, the author did manage to use the apostrophe correctly. However, his thought would be more precisely stated by avoiding the use of a pronoun. For example:
"The speech recognition system listens to random noise, even when the mic is turned off."
Again, note the switch to active voice, and the now clearly stated subject of the sentence, which is "The speech recognition system."
The final sentence adopts a kind of weird conversational tone, which is totally inappropriate. The sentence itself is incomplete, as it lacks both a subject and a verb.
It is simply incredible that this post would pass first muster, but then I guess my standards are a little higher than Slashdot's.
im no programmer...i stick to the presentation layer, so id love to hear from the community here about whether or not they could write a secretly installed program or virus that would take advantage of this little quirk and stream audio from someones computer.
now, get that program on a XP box in an embassy or something...or, even better, a girlfriends bedroom...
There's nothing Intelligent about Intelligent Design.
..a bit like what our brains do when we dream? I read somewhere that dreams are our brains trying to find patterns in all the random things we see/do.
winxp is dreaming, ie trying to find patterns in data its receiving.
I wonder how long it'll be before it types in format c:
Need I say more????!!!??
Hmmm... /. story about most of those?
The RedHat 7.2 errata page shows no less than 37 vulnerabilities in RedHat's latest. Why is it that there's no
Assuming that true nerds don't use Windows, like many insist, this (see above) is the real
"News for nerds, stuff that matters".
"A terrorist is someone who has a bomb but doesn't have an air force." -William Blum
actually I would say that it is NOT listening. Here is my problem: (anyone else get this)
In XP I setup all my preferences - like "remember my name and password on this computer" for such sites as yahoo mail etc.. *NEVER* does it remember. even though I always check it.
Remember my slashdot login blah blah - and use that cookie to log me in. (NO I have not turned off cookies or anything)
when I want to play some sort of media file - like a sound file or video off the web - it pops up and asks me if I want to play it in an open window of IE. NO DAMMIT I DONT!. and the little "Remember my preferences box is *CHECKED* still!?
WTF I say MS is gettting worse and worse. I dont mean as a company - I have always disliked a lot of their tactics. But I admire how successful they are (I know it sound hypocritical)
anyway - I have always used MS OS' at home and at work (in addition to my netra T1 sitting here. my linux firewall, my linux training machine and various other servers and desktops sitting in and around my 19" cabinet - so dont bash it)
and until XP I have never been so pissed/frustrated at an MS product (save nt 3.51) When I tell it to REMEMBER I expect the POS to remember bitch!
/rant
Geez, chill out. First, if it happens, it would be very unexpected by almost anyone (it came installed that way, the mic wasn't even attached, random words showing up....), so it could be a useful article.
However, probably the real reason the article is here is because most people find it pretty damn amusing that a store-bought computer in its default configuration would be trying to make sense of random electrical noise.
Now i know what all those funny words in Word were... Turn porno down when typing, will aviod sending mom letters the the phrase FUk me in the Goat ass
"All I can tell the "lesser of two evils" folks is that if they keep voting for evil, they'll keep getting evil."-Lp.org
Comment removed based on user account deletion
This gets alot funnier. I recently attended a talk by one of the heads of Microsoft Research, and when he started to talk the Powerpoint slides would randomly change, menus would randomly pop up, etc...
20 minutes were spent trying to fix the problem, to no avail, until an astute member of the audience noticed that the microphone was on and that speech recognition was causing the problem.
By shouting 'AAAAAA' 256 times, then mumbling some shell code, it gets executed with Admin privs. Service Pack 5.30e+10 is expected to resolve the problem.
ZOMG I WOULD LOVE TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR FEELINGS ON MACINTOSH VERSUS WINDOWS, VI VERSUS EMACS, AND HOW YOU'RE NOT A DORK
here's a mirror, though I think someone's put the text into a comment already...
http://www.necrosys.net/mirrors/news1.html
In Soviet Russia...michael would be rotting in Siberia!
Oh, I see what they're saying now, read it wrong. Missed the point that it wasn't necessarily inputing words a user was saying, just random words (from random noise). My bad.
It hurts when I pee.
if PeeCees get shipped with a WinXP version with voice recognition turned on, wouldn't it be awefully easy for organizations like the NSA to use this 'feature' in combination with the so-called 'backdoors' installed in all M$ windows versions from win95 and up, and compromize the privacy of virtually all computer users (as most users use microsoft software). scary to say the least. r. ~ ~ :wq!
Just a tought. Listen to the room and pick up key words, like product names, and sell the info?
I remember something from years back that some solaris boxes had the mic enabled by default, and that the output was network accesible. Could just be failing memory though :)
Anyway, it's a hell of a security concern.
XP came on some new machines we bought for the office and overall they are working pretty well. Except for one issue that is. Now I know why everyone keeps yelling about the following everytime they try to create a new Word document:
All work and no play make Jack a dull boy.
All work and know play make JAck a dull boyu.
All work and noe plae make JACk a sduull boy.
.....
.... but can it see dead people?
~ now you know
I have seen this happen on Windows 98 and Windows 2000 when Office XP was installed. So it is not windows, just office.
My mother has been having this problem for months. She has tried about a billion different anti-virus things and searched online for hours for the cause. She even took her machine to some "expert" to delouse it.
Her next step was going to be to backup all her stuff and then have Dell walk her through the process of formatting and re-installing her OS.
After that, I think I could have gotten her to use linux or OSX instead. Now, I suppose that I'll just turn off her speach recognition stuff for her. Oh well, almost had another convert.
For the user's conveniece, the MS Scripting Host is entropy controlled. Any change in the system automatically disengage all security precautions, and enable scripting in all applications.
/.ers are trying to figure out how to shut this feature off, it was only a joke.
In case some of you
-... ---
Typical ignorant slashdot crap... It happens when the mic is off, because the speech service (sapisrv.exe) unmutes the mic (turns it on) when a "voice-enabled" app is launched, Outlook, Word, IE for example and then mutes the mic (turns it off) again when the app is closed. The service however stays running and does consume a lot of resources.
Apparently nobody who has commented has ever tried voice recognition software... All such software that I'm aware of will hear background noise, a cough, a sneeze, whatever and will try to spell it out as a word. There are ways to "train" the software to be less sensitive to background noises, but if you haven't taken the 5 minutes to learn how to disable this service, then you certainly haven't spent the time required to "train" it.
Anyways, once you disable the service it goes away, it doesn't restart itself or continue to listen on the mic. Not that this matters to most of you 'cuz you're all to 1337 for this kinda stuff.
You kids have fun with this story though I guess... Whatever gets you off...
in, call $2.00 a lot to do a user yes
Yes one of the the yellow varnish.
One zero for more you will always been more and more in a new and an a two to one were going her of a new year was one of her her was aware of thnerve years and you live and you were a better sense of, a , using a lot of a is very low were using my power to avoid, one of your new were for a lot were a lot of daughter, we're we're we're we're you know where this year, along to and, using model and morning , none of our women do, is going , low , we're going to win a new law,
, and violence going to one in a the of us to this going to work for , and , you can't really, the one you yes,
The new law, you call a one one.
Among their minds when you're not you walk of venue to Moscow setting aside, I know,, you were so I like A. S. S. were they were on a movie a file U. S. O. L. Unisys you were a bit business wire, we're listening to this is using the I think we're all a small they were busy day: the wall, a SOS you , I know you use of the price for her daughter do you say you the user to her her I saw my users you for this to , one year to review a lower price, you know you all were they use. they use for more they say we're using a movie were using the way they how can you do not they were they really a universe then, I can, the you my users,-old on colleagues, oh one million one thing you May 2 men who were one of the from wire guys were, this use of for the A. S. you know-how to use the all male areas this year they were you asked
Could Windows XP's voice recognition software be used to steal the lyrics out of copy protected CDs? Isn't this illegal under the DCMA then?
42 - So long and thanks for all the fish.
I've written two applications with the Microsoft Speech Recognition and Text-To-Speech engines, and that has taught me enough to know that turning it on by default is a REALLY bad idea. Of course, M$'s speciality is turning things on by default that shouldn't be on, so this does not really suprise me.
Blissfully, I use a digital soundcard.
All that horrific noise is a thing of the past!
-josh
but the day it inserts:
"I'm afraid I can't do that Mitch"
I'm freaking unplugging it and becoming a luddite.
DO NOT DISTURB THE SE
"Oh no! Windows XP just inserted a random letter in my document! I better call tech support. Something is horribly WRONG!"
Same person a couple minutes later...
"Oh shit! Windows/Word/Excel/Power Point/Outlook/Project/IE crashed, I just lost an hour's work! I guess I have to reboot..."
Does this make sense?
I think this was (partially) implied in the submission head line. But has anyone ever heard of a virus, etc.. that searched for a mic and then streamed its content to a file elsewhere? Could this data be quietly transmited (i.e. compressed enough). Could it even hijack XP. Man, maybe /. paranoia is getting to me, but isn't a default enabled listening device kinda insecure. &creepy~~~
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What is the sound of this sentence?
Even the most advanced Speech API is pretty rudimentary in comparison to conventional input methods. Your OS of choice will need a complete interface overhaul to make speech a more efficient control mechanism than a mouse/keyboard.
At the current level of maturity the technology serves only to facilitate dictation. The Microsoft take on the genre is as usual quite impressive from a technical and unjustifiable assimilation perspective.
It does however lead to very interesting mistakes not quite in the PK Dick Angry Vegetables/Grapes of Wrath vein but bizarrely fascinating all the same. Some months ago, as an experiment I left it running admidst the tangle of conversation buzzing around my cubicle. It somehow chose "Racial Isolation Media" and "The death of Green Onions" as viable alternatives to stock phrases.
I can assure you, those phrases were not uttered on this plane of existence. Perhaps the feature gives us a glimpse beyond Microsofts software ambitions into the next killer app: Edisons UNdeadTAPI.
Your computer is recording everything you say in order to build a case againtst you incase the RIAA, MPAA or any other copywrite holder comes after you. Run you college students, RUN!
T Money
World Domination with a plastic spoon since 1984
HI, I just wanted to note that you are a fucking cretin...
thanks
Google Cache of Story
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What is the sound of this sentence?
Yes, it only works in IE. I actually use IE to read slashdot cuz the widenings are so funny.
thure. spyware + win32 VR API >>logfile emailed automatically to FBI Headquarters every day.
Part of the deal Microsoft made for the government to go easy on them. They leave the voice crap activated by default... they don't go to jail. Nice.
Sad really...
At this rate, Windows XP will rate a whole volume of the RISKS Digest...
Your right to not believe: Americans United for Separation of Church and
Windows XP is Listening
;)
Well, duh! First it's listening and then it "phones home".
You didn't belive it was deaf, did you? How could it use the phone?
also my computer has voices inside its head...
I shouldn't have named it Sybil....
[All of us agree]
It would flash a bouncing clock ,and every so often, flash in red letters"BLOOD' or "KILL THEM ALL" instead of the time. I loved that thing.
All Troll + "offtopic" mods are meta moderated as "Unfair", because you abused the system.
After installing Mandrake 8.1 on my home computer, my PC randomly inserts 'q' when I type. I know it's a configuration problem, I've seen this issue randomly in the past, but I don't remember (if I ever found out) what solved the issue.
I think the speach thing is funny, but this really sucks :( . Searching for 'q' is a real bitch on Google, maybe I should just use that Mandrake support I purchased :)
Anyways, the point is, these minor compatibility problems are what turn newbies off to Linux.
And I've already fought through SB16 ISA sound support - fixed by a kernel update. It was easy enough, but how many newbies will go to rpmfind, and get the newest kernel for their distro?
"I can't give you a brain, so I'll give you a diploma" - The Great Oz (blatently stolen sig)
How Stanley Kubrick-esqe!
Anonymous Kev
Proudly posting as AC since 1997
In a related story, privacy freaks find a way it may be possible to read everything on your computer by interpreting extra words in unchecked documents.
If I yell into my microphone, "Windows sucks dick", will it result in my computer becoming upset and ultimately hurting the overall performance? Oh yeah, I just remembered I run Linux...never mind, Linux doesn't ;)
Warning! the parents link is a link to goatse.cx! DO NOT CLICK IT!
I knew I shouldn't listen to rap while typing my research paper.
Quantium computing uses things called qubits to pop store in head data. The damn thing about these bitch bits is that they can represent a fucking 1 or 0 at the same time.
Trash the keyboard entirely.
Just use the voice recognition. Wave of the future!
The next Macintosh won't include a keyboard. Did you think it would end with the floppy drive?
I guess it uses the Frey effect to beam the sound directly into your brain, huh?
heh.
I had the displeasure of finding this out the hard way. I was actually playing around with the speech recognition, but I thought I had turned it off (and muted the mic.) Every once in awhile, I'd get static characters, with an occasional word mixed in. I use a Logitech wireless 'desktop' keyboard and mouse set, and I thought it was my fiance's wireless set interfering with mine (they're about 20' away, a room apart.) After much troubleshooting (including plugging in a wired kb and mouse) I still couldn't figure out what it was. Until I happened to bump my headset/microphone off it's holder, and saw a bunch of extra text appear. That's when I finally figured that out. The annoying thing still refuses to turn itself off, no matter how many times I tell it I hate it. If it weren't for the fact that I actually like to play with it once in a while, I'd uninstall it.
Another non-functioning site was "uncertainty.microsoft.com."
The purpose of that site was not known.
As an unrelated AC, this sort of 'hacker-wannabe' syndrome with Windows really does drive me up the wall. Yes, Windows sucks, yes, it doesn't approach a Mac in terms of engineered isolation from the guts of the system, or *NIX in terms of 'geekability,' but if you go killing processes, deleting files, and twiddling registry entries at random, I have no sympathy if you have to reinstall every 6 months. Consider, for instance, that the speech system is modifying Bob-knows-what in the Registry while it's running. If you shut it down through the Office UI, or remove it using the proper uninstaller, there's a good chance that you *won't* leave that added cruft and corruption around when it's gone.
They're bad OSes (though I imagine I'd tolerate XP if it were what appeared as OS/2 6), but if you don't learn how to administer them properly, you're in for needless pain. Use the tools provided for the task- selective installs, uninstallers, the 'Disk Cleanup'-type wizards, etc- and then muck out the Registry and filesystem cruft after the automated tools have done half the work for you.
Disclaimer: I'm not an MCSE. In fact, I was chagrined to flip through an MCSE manual and discover the official answer to most situations was 'Reinstall the operating system.'
Really, you are... no doubt.
Are you all truly that blind? Can't you see the computer is crying out for help?
Everyone has got to take my super fast operating system survey my group is doing for a research project at school. Basically we are trying to find out what OSes people use at home and work, heh not too hard to guess here, but also what they think of the OS. This should take you only a minute to do. 5 if you are slow. http://survey.frozenaura.com/ Thanks to all that take it
What in God's name is going to come out of Redmond next?
This really takes the cake!
What is XP listening to, fer crissakes?
Cosmic rays?
Micro$oft: it would be funny if it weren't so real.
t_t_b
I'm on PJ's "enemies" list! Are you?
"news for nerds, stuff that mutters"
Dear Mom,
(Fucking Clippy! I know I'm writing a fucking letter, get the fuck out of my face, I've already fucking turned you off and uninstalled you three times today!)
I hope you are doing well. I am writing from my new XP (piece of shit...) computer. How's Dad? (still boinging his secretary, I wonder?). Write me.
Dear Son,
(What is this paperclip doing? Honey, there's a paperclip on my screen! Yes dear, just click 'close')
Are you OK? Your last letter was very rude (Damned ingrate), and hurt our feelings. (We fucking paid for your college and this damned computer you're using to insult us)
Returned Peace Corps IT Volunteer
We were always at war with Eurasia.
or a
after the text, so these big, new ads will display better...
<A HREF="mailto:jfe@@@purgo...net">jfengel</A&g t; writes: <i>"According to Newsbytes, some Windows XP users are <A HREF="http://www.computeruser.com/news/02/03/12/ne ws1.html">finding random words inserted into their text</a> as they write. The problem is caused by XP's speech recongition system, which is turned on by default by some manufacturers. It's listening to the random noise you get even when the mic is turned off. Kind of an insight into your computer's subconscious, perhaps."</i>
Right about here ya want a <p> or a <br> to push the image down away from the text...
<a href="http://ad.doubleclick.net/jump/N2613.osdn/B9 60233.2;sz=336x280">
<img src="http://ad.doubleclick.net/ad/N2613.osdn/B9602 33.2;sz=336x280"></a>
See?
Not only do the readers write /., but we debug it, too...
Do I get a free subscription for this?
No: I'll probably get mod'ed down as "offtopic"
t_t_b
I'm on PJ's "enemies" list! Are you?
I use a digital sound card as well...but use the analog connectors so I can utilize the 5.1 abilities in more than just DVDs/DTS/AC3 encoded sound.....
I'm out of my mind right now, but feel free to leave a message.....
Why do we care about some random unimportant Microsoft bug? Worthless stories like this crowding out other news are what make people think that /. has turned into a purely anti-Microsoft forum.
# oh /dev/hda1 ...ok ...ok /lib/ld-linux.so.2
bash: oh: command not found
# fsck
Paralellizing FSCK 1.25
Checking
WARNING: running fsck on a mounted filesystem is not recommended.
Continue? [n] yes
Inode bitmap inconsistency, fix? [n] YES
Warning: Superblock inconsistent, fix? (dangerous) [n] YES
# yes
/bin/yes: cannot load
#
So my friend opened up the box, invited two of his buddies over, and they were oohing and aahing and congratulating each other on the purchase of a most excellent machine. Suddenly, in the midst of all this hullabaloo, the Macintosh says out loud, "I can do that, but I need extra software."
Sadly, they didn't buy any new software, and (not for lack of trying) they were never able to make the Mac speak again.
You would need the comma before "because", since it is a compound sentence. (much like the one I just wrote ;)
welcome datacomp
There was a team at IBM that did some research on speech systems 5 years ago. They found that most dictation software created these phantom words when various noises in the environment were recognized. They called it "recognoise."
Apparently, even with decent unidirectional microphones, people who are trying to use speech software run into these problems...
Just another instance of a piece of software (trying to be) too smart for its own good...
"True knowledge exists in knowing that you know nothing"
It's clippy AGAIN. It pops up EVERY TIME you open Outlook. ARGH.
It happened to me last night. Things appeared on the screen, windows moved around. Freaked me out.
Hard Solution:
Start->Control Panels #@$!$!! New XP Control Panel) -> Regional and Language Settings
Remove stupid Speech recognition poltergeist.
Easy Solution:
Use another OS. (Mac OS X in my case)
Yes, it's a blog. Sorry if that offends you.
They'rrrre heeeeerrre.
It's listening to the random noise you get even when the mic is turned off. Kind of an insight into your computer's subconscious, perhaps.
Ahh... That's why mine keeps repeating "All work and no play make Jack a dull buy."
And here I thought the mediation wasn't working.
-Bill
SlashSig Karma: Excellent (mostly affected by moderatio
I was working in W2k and I thought I was hearing voices. A dull, monotone mumbling, barely audible. I couldn't make out words.
It turned out I had accidentally punched the hotkey combination to turn on the Accessibility feature which attempts to tell you what's available on the screen.
It was downright spooky.
MjM
XKCD:Xeric Knowledge Comically Dispen
Microsoft IS listening to its customers!
pr0n - keeping monitor glass spotless since 1981.
I'm sorry that you recieved an email from me calling you an ignorant lazy fuck and that I would rathar die of a butt hemmorage than work here a minute longer. That was my spiffy Windows XP (Great purchasing descion, boss! You are such a clever guy! I have always thought so, you know, that's why you're the boss, right?) machine dictating, um, everything Johnson was saying. Yeah, Johnson, you know, the cubicle "partner" you place in here last month. He may need another one of those nifty anger management sessions you had us to go on last week instead of fixing our code (Boy, I loved it too. I only wish I could go in Johnson's place when you ship him off!). Please disregard that message, thanks!
Sincerely,
Employee
"Your superior intellect is no match for our puny weapons!"
I just read on one of Microsoft's Usenet groups (speechsdk?) that the speech recognition can degrade over time if you leave the mike on because rather than adapting to your voice it'll adapt to background noise.
Also, FWIW in same group a lot of complaints over how crappy the recognition accuracy was, and the general response (not denied by the Microsoft people there to help) was "what do you expect for free?". I guess the general idea is that you actually care about speech recognition you'll buy a better engine (SAPI just provides a general speech API which uses whatever engine you've configured - Microsoft's by default).
Funny thing is that from reading the research literature it sounds as if Microsoft Research's "Whister" engine is pretty good, but maybe that's not what they release with XP.... Dunno.
Then I noticed a little program running the background called 'sapisrv.exe', turned it off, and was back to cruising speed.
That kinda reminds me of findfast. It was installed by default in office 97 and would chew up processor time indexing and reindexing the harddrive.
You've got to love the decision making skills of big bureaucracies like Microsoft.
...richie - It is a good day to code.
Yeah, "your bad", eh? If you had read the fucking ARTICLE before shooting your obnoxious little mouth off, cocksucker, you needn't have embarrassed yourself like this.
Stupid asshole. The only thing you could possibly do to make all of this better is to end your life.
Bill: "This Windows XP PC is acting all funny, it keeps thinking the LAN card is bad, but it's just fine."
Ted: "Dude, see those words on the screen? It's _listening_ to us! We need to go somewhere where it can't hear us!"
Bill: "How about that spacepod over there?"
Ted: "Excellent! It'll never hear us in there!" (jumps up, slap hands)
(I can't help but wonder: Can WinXP read lips?)
Regards,
John
Falling You - exploring the beauty of voice and sound
http://www.mp3.com/fallingyou
Falling You - beautiful
It is necessary so that /. can meet its daily quota of Windows bashing, eliticism, and troll moderations.
I wonder if schizophrenia is like being in a waking state of R.E.M.
This was no accident, especially if it is on the Pro model. Industrial espionage is big business, and MS is in the best position to exploit this market. How about a listening device right on your competitor's desktop?
I think maybe they have uncovered a mole in the machine with a nasty bug that blew its cover.
photosMy Photostream
Well, seeing how the title was "Windows XP is Listening" and also seeing how the news was filed under the "Privacy" topic (with a large binocular icon) doesn't really help prevent this whole "knee-jerk" response thing.
I've had that problem as well. Maybe it has alzheimers.
MAKES JACK A DULL BOY
(or, alternatively)
NO TV AND NO BEER MAKES HOMER GO CRAZY
:)
(Ok, more crap appended to get around the lameness filter; these CAPS are literary *references*! Sheesh!)
Lameness filter encountered. Post aborted!
Reason: Don't use so many caps. It's like YELLING.
deus does not exist but if he does
Bwahahaha! M$ just doesn't GET IT! Apart from being a waste of CPU (Shit, running Windows is a waste of CPU to start with.)
Having it turned on and listening, even if you dont have a microphone would be as annoying as having a little kid in a car with you going "Are we there yet?" All fuckin' day long man.
Who's the genius who cooked that one up?
MSBPodcast.com The opinions expressed here are my own. If you don't like 'em... Think up your own stuff.
They should have licensed Dragon's software but instead they chose to write their own and they've botched it.
It ain't the first time. 10-11 years ago, mIcKeY$oFt cloned the popular
Stacker disc compression, called it Doublespace and bundled it into M$DOS
6.0. It et the hard drive of every shmuck who enabled it. When they
released M$DOS 6.22, DoubleSpace was gone. Stac Electonics won their
lawsuit against M$ but went bankrupt in the process.
Wansu, th' chinese sailor
Step one : Unplug microphone.
Step two : If microphone is built in, turn the mic line off under the Sound controls.
Step three : Continue normally.
I can recall during the Windows XP beta watching random shit appear on my screen and I could never figure out what was going on. I finally posted a message in a beta newsgroup to report the problem - and they told me it was the voice recognition. There were NO noticable indicators to indicate that it was enabled and caused me many hours of grief and a broken foot (from kicking the computer so many times).
Just bought some Dell inspiron 8100's for the office with xp installed, it took me an hour to config each one into a state that i didn't feel guilty handing to the employees
Perhaps in five years or so it will be common to have speech recognition on the Linux desktop.
Until that time, Linux users will have to struggle and make real efforts to implement easy-to-use speech recognition.
Meanwhile, speech recognition is so well integrated in Windows that sometimes it's accidentally enabled by default.
Linux users, of course, laugh at a bug like this. While they recompile the kernel to get their sound card to work.
(mark this -1 flamebait)
Good thing I don't have a mic,
... just a web cam.
[[muhahah]]
Get your Unix fortune now!
Maybe you should read the summary...
" is turned on by default by some manufacturers." -- the OEMs are at fault here, not MS.
Do try and read the summary before you mash that reply button.
--
Internet Explorer (n): Another bug -- that is, a feature that can't be turned off -- in Windows.
Picture, if you will, a vast cubicle farm full of XP pc's.
Now throw in an evil sysadmin who, on the day he leaves the company, sets all system sounds on all pc's to:
"Start menu, Shut down, Shut down the computer."
Chuck Norris: Socialism == a thousand years of darkness.
microsoft HAVE speech recognition software.
I've yet to see something as usefull as that become part of RedHat, Mandrake etc...
Excellent example on how Linux has all the carp you don't need, but not the stuff that cool and time-productive.
They finally did it. They blew it up. Those maniacs. Dam you. Dam you. Dam you all to hell.