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Stephen Hawking Looking For Personal Techie
kaptink writes "One of the great grandmasters of space, time and the history of our existence is seeking an assistant to help develop and maintain the electronic speech system that allows him to communicate his vision of the universe. An informal job ad posted on Stephen's website said the assistant should be computer literate, ready to travel and able to repair electronic devices 'with no instruction manual or technical support.' He lost his real voice in a tracheotomy in 1985, but has something based on NeoSpeech's VoiceText speech synthesizer mounted on his wheelchair that helps synthesize speech by interpreting the twitches of his face. The synthesizer's robotic monotone has become nearly as famous as Hawking himself, but the computer — powered by batteries fastened to the back of Hawking's wheelchair — isn't just for speaking. It can connect to the internet over mobile phone networks and a universal infrared remote enables the physicist to switch on the lights, watch television, or open doors either at home or at the office. It's a complicated, tailor-made system, as the ad makes clear. A photograph of the back of Hawking's wheelchair, loaded with coiled wires and electronic equipment, is pictured under the words: 'Could you maintain this? If your answer is "yes", we'd like to hear from you!'. Hawking's website says that the job's salary is expected to be about $38,500 a year."
WTF! Are you kidding me! Is he going to pay travel expenses for the lucky boot licking acolyte?! BTW - I'm an agnostic. However, Steve H's latest scribble, that the universe just popped into existence and didn't need a creator was lame. Before the flames begin - At least let's discuss that the universe/multi-verse is more complex then our current understanding of physics allows for. Funny that for a guy in a box, mind is little more then a grey goo theater! It's OK to say "We just don't fucking know, and we may never know!" I would respect that more from a man of science. Pity that human beings never really got solid on Copernicus. I suggest "The Best Of Tom & Jerry" for Steve H's interface to us humble fucks. Good luck with your tech job Loozah!