What city? "Uh, Denver."
What listing? "Uh, Dr. Wade Kimball."
The number is...
What you've described is a traditional bloated DTMF application that's been artlessly speechified using cheap, old technology. Certainly there are plenty of those around -- too many. Current technology is way beyond this, though it's often true that upgrades happen a glacial pace w/r/t telephony applications.
This is a beautiful example where the machine can easily outperform the 17yo. The 17yo:
...is distracted with the boredom, restaurant noise, and his own hormones.
...has to know the menu and translate customers' requests in real time into keystrokes
...has to manage emotions when dealing with upset customers
Meanwhile, the machine has none of these problems. Its model of what the customer is saying has been trained on thousands of utterances collected from trials, using the same speaking environment (outdoor, talker is in car with motor running). The likelihood is that the well-trained machine is going to handily beat the 17yo task completion rate.
The caveat is that to train the machine you lots of data. Lots of interactions like you've posted. But with enough data, the machine does as well or even better than the meatbots. Which is nice, because those meatbots can then do something a bit less mind-numbing. This is what is happening with operator services calls right now.
FYI it's at 97%, give or take a couple. Good enough for TellMe to increase ATT's 800 automation rates from 15% to 70%. Good enough to automate cop cars. It's been a long time coming, and noisy environments are still a challenge, but it's fo real, now.
(Shamelss plug: the really good stuff is running on the engine from Nuance.)
Re:'Rural subdivision' is an oxymoron, prick.
on
Take Back Your Time!
·
· Score: 1
No, I don't live a rural life, but many in my town do and I like being in the middle of that. I would live that way myself but life dealt me a different set of cards...
The community where I live has held back on development. Much of the land is undeveloped/farm/conservation land. My entire subdivision is bordered by undevelopable farm and conservation land -- more land than in the subdivision itself. There's no retail base here and property taxes are twice as high as surrounding communities. I pay it gladly though, as the quality of life is much better without reams of cluster subdivisions and high-traffic retail boxes.
I too deplore the loss of rural countryside to subdivisions. Most subs I have seen are just artless razing of the land for quick profit -- as you say, acre lots with a few trees. Slowly the town turns into a namelss bedroom community. If you're looking for a cause, look no further than your own wallet. The land owners and their kids do. When retirement comes or land passes hands, the owners make new decisions about the best way to profit from it. The town government wields considerable power in these decisions via the permitting process. You do participate in town committees that affect the development policies in your town, don't you? Rather thatn flaming about it, get involved and make a difference.
Re:No one took your time in the first place.
on
Take Back Your Time!
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
So true! Time is money and being overspent is definitely the primary means to be without time that I've seen.
I'm probably on the opposite end of the spectrum. I've assiduously avoided many optional expenses for the past ten years. We own one car, not two. We do not get cable, we rent movies and watch less tv. I never hire contractors; I can often do a better job myself. We've occasionally let our credit cards carry a balance but only for specific major purchases and with a date certain by which they get paid off.
Now I'm 40, I'm debt-free, and I don't have to feel pressured to keep climbing a corporate ladder to meet my future obligations. There's more than enough income in my remaining work years to cover the kid's college and our retirement. And no, I did not get here my lucking out on massive stock options.
I want to emphasize that these were CHOICES, and that these choices did not put us in some fringe lifestyle. We live in a traditional upper-middle rural subdivision, have hobbies, children, family vacations, etc. etc. I just had to choose to work somewhere where my family could get along with one car -- that ruled out a lot of places. I had to choose not to make watching tv a priority (that one was easy). I had to choose to take risks and develop some home improvement skills. I had to choose not to rack up impulsive purchases on credit. It's true that opportunities to take these choices must present themselves, but I've found that the opportunities that come your way in life are usually the outcome of your own mindset.
Regulatory compliance requires routine recordkeeping of customer and other communications. That includes emails and documents. You can be sure brokerage firms and their regulators will have new policy challenges with self-destructing emails and documents.
There were a couple of funny details in the article -- like how it reads like Engrish in some places, and how task manager was displayed on a PC to make it look important.
I was facinated with the manufacturing process but I wouldn't want to spend more than a few hours in the place. It is hard to imagine those employees to spending the majority of their time in such an ugly factory "being extremely proud of their work". But it just means that the security of such jobs is far better for them than their alternatives. So if you have a better job, be grateful!
If these are 10% efficient vs. 20% for silicon, doesn't that mean it requires double the area for the same number of watts produced? That's got to have a negative impact on some applications...
OK, what's to stop every national business from setting up a pair of distribution centers in two different states so that all sales become interstate and all sales tax is avoided? Sorry but the potential revenue consequences of your black letter interpretation don't pass the laugh test...
What you say is quite true, I have felt the same way for years. OTOH there is a limit to how far it goes. A child's temperament also plays a role. The most adjusted, secure, calm parent cannot always stop a child from being colicky, whiny, or inflexible. A child's temperament endows him or her with varying susceptibility to life's array of little inconveniences.
There are no parents that never lose control. Every child is the victim of inadequate parenting -- some much more so than others obviously, which is regrettable. But for every child, part of growing up includes somehow overcoming whatever victimhood we've suffered.
Anyway, sorry if my focus on the negative struck a nerve. For me this has been the most _predictable_ behavior I've noticed in my six year old the past week (sigh), so I pounced on a chance to blow some sardonic steam about it. This too shall pass...
Oh, and the power to NYC didn't fail either -- it was shut down on purpose too (really). So do you really think the millions of people affected didn't consider that a failure? Puhleeze...
You could REALLY lose your pocket change in that mousepad couch! But on the plus side you could spend a few minutes rifling through it and come up with enough cash for a large pizza. W00t!
Well said Eeyore the troll. Let's just all curl up and die.
The only insight I gained from your post was about your mental state at the time. It was not connected to reality. You got the higherachy all right, but WTF does it mean that nobody needs to do these jobs?
I need to live in a house. I need that truck to deliver the lumber. I need that lawyer to close. I need that person in the cubicle to setup my insurance accurately. I need that doctor to help when my family is ill. I need that businessman to provide me a job so I can pay for it all. And god knows I need those people in restaurants at the end of the workday when we're all too whacked out to cook.
People will eventually get bored not doing anything, so they'll pay to enter a theme park where they can have "immersive retro experiences" where the robots will let them join in flipping burgers or whatever, "just like they used to in the old days". The great grandparents (that's *you*) will think they're nuts.
On my planet the cost of using a computer is directly proportional to the number of things I have to think about while using it. And if it costs too much, I'm not using it.
I am not confused by choice, but I also recognize that the fastest way for a population to embrace an idea is to offer it uncluttered by choices of little distinction. We'd all be cursing if cars came with a choice of gas pedal locations. Window managers are no different.
I suppose we should be dismayed at the lack of choice in PC architecture? It is that very lack of choice that made it the phenomenon it is today. Plenty of choice in who provides it; clear expectations of what you get. We call standardization on my planet.
No one likes standards being dictated to them. But they have to happen if the benefits of OSS technology are going to be enjoyed by the largest possible audience. You can contribute to the debate and help constructively shape the choice.
Or you can pander to your own laziness by exercising your freedom to post a self-righteous diatribe on SlashDot.
Ooh, this is a serious affront to the artistic purity of musical performance. Clearly this devil's tool must be banned immediately, along with stage makeup, effects boxes, sampled sound modules, and synthetic instrument materials.
I often see this in posts from disappointed viewers:
"...but having never read the books..."
and all I can say is that if you weren't a fan of the books themselves, or not even a potential fan, you're unlikely to get much entertainment value from this series. There's too much left unsaid in the films (as it must be) for people who don't bring an awareness of the entire myth and its plot with them to the theatre to feel it click together like a reality before their eyes. And of course many people are simply bored with this kind of fantasy story regardless.
But for people who aren't, and whose previous experience reading the books is deep enough that they know the background myth behind the story, this movie series is very entertaining. Though the pithier lines are reused verbatim, don't expect the character of the book to be borne out in the dialog -- look for it instead in the scenery, the physical appearance of the characters, and especially in the music.
Slashdot Mirror
Wait... You weren't kidding. I see the story on quicken now. I guess the link didn't work for me. My apologies!
No, posting an offtopic link to a Mr. PumpkinHead game is how trolls to differentiate themselves.
But it was a good laugh, so thanks.
No, they go like this:
What city? "Uh, Denver."What listing? "Uh, Dr. Wade Kimball."
The number is...
What you've described is a traditional bloated DTMF application that's been artlessly speechified using cheap, old technology. Certainly there are plenty of those around -- too many. Current technology is way beyond this, though it's often true that upgrades happen a glacial pace w/r/t telephony applications.
This is a beautiful example where the machine can easily outperform the 17yo. The 17yo:
...is distracted with the boredom, restaurant noise, and his own hormones.
...has to know the menu and translate customers' requests in real time into keystrokes
...has to manage emotions when dealing with upset customers
Meanwhile, the machine has none of these problems. Its model of what the customer is saying has been trained on thousands of utterances collected from trials, using the same speaking environment (outdoor, talker is in car with motor running). The likelihood is that the well-trained machine is going to handily beat the 17yo task completion rate.
The caveat is that to train the machine you lots of data. Lots of interactions like you've posted. But with enough data, the machine does as well or even better than the meatbots. Which is nice, because those meatbots can then do something a bit less mind-numbing. This is what is happening with operator services calls right now.
ain't quite 100% yet...
And regular speech is?
FYI it's at 97%, give or take a couple. Good enough for TellMe to increase ATT's 800 automation rates from 15% to 70%. Good enough to automate cop cars. It's been a long time coming, and noisy environments are still a challenge, but it's fo real, now.
(Shamelss plug: the really good stuff is running on the engine from Nuance.)
No, I don't live a rural life, but many in my town do and I like being in the middle of that. I would live that way myself but life dealt me a different set of cards...
The community where I live has held back on development. Much of the land is undeveloped/farm/conservation land. My entire subdivision is bordered by undevelopable farm and conservation land -- more land than in the subdivision itself. There's no retail base here and property taxes are twice as high as surrounding communities. I pay it gladly though, as the quality of life is much better without reams of cluster subdivisions and high-traffic retail boxes.
I too deplore the loss of rural countryside to subdivisions. Most subs I have seen are just artless razing of the land for quick profit -- as you say, acre lots with a few trees. Slowly the town turns into a namelss bedroom community. If you're looking for a cause, look no further than your own wallet. The land owners and their kids do. When retirement comes or land passes hands, the owners make new decisions about the best way to profit from it. The town government wields considerable power in these decisions via the permitting process. You do participate in town committees that affect the development policies in your town, don't you? Rather thatn flaming about it, get involved and make a difference.
So true! Time is money and being overspent is definitely the primary means to be without time that I've seen.
I'm probably on the opposite end of the spectrum. I've assiduously avoided many optional expenses for the past ten years. We own one car, not two. We do not get cable, we rent movies and watch less tv. I never hire contractors; I can often do a better job myself. We've occasionally let our credit cards carry a balance but only for specific major purchases and with a date certain by which they get paid off.
Now I'm 40, I'm debt-free, and I don't have to feel pressured to keep climbing a corporate ladder to meet my future obligations. There's more than enough income in my remaining work years to cover the kid's college and our retirement. And no, I did not get here my lucking out on massive stock options.
I want to emphasize that these were CHOICES, and that these choices did not put us in some fringe lifestyle. We live in a traditional upper-middle rural subdivision, have hobbies, children, family vacations, etc. etc. I just had to choose to work somewhere where my family could get along with one car -- that ruled out a lot of places. I had to choose not to make watching tv a priority (that one was easy). I had to choose to take risks and develop some home improvement skills. I had to choose not to rack up impulsive purchases on credit. It's true that opportunities to take these choices must present themselves, but I've found that the opportunities that come your way in life are usually the outcome of your own mindset.
Hear hear! It's YOUR CALL...
Regulatory compliance requires routine recordkeeping of customer and other communications. That includes emails and documents. You can be sure brokerage firms and their regulators will have new policy challenges with self-destructing emails and documents.
There were a couple of funny details in the article -- like how it reads like Engrish in some places, and how task manager was displayed on a PC to make it look important.
I was facinated with the manufacturing process but I wouldn't want to spend more than a few hours in the place. It is hard to imagine those employees to spending the majority of their time in such an ugly factory "being extremely proud of their work". But it just means that the security of such jobs is far better for them than their alternatives. So if you have a better job, be grateful!
If these are 10% efficient vs. 20% for silicon, doesn't that mean it requires double the area for the same number of watts produced? That's got to have a negative impact on some applications...
OK, what's to stop every national business from setting up a pair of distribution centers in two different states so that all sales become interstate and all sales tax is avoided? Sorry but the potential revenue consequences of your black letter interpretation don't pass the laugh test...
I didn't say kids suck ALL the time. ;-)
What you say is quite true, I have felt the same way for years. OTOH there is a limit to how far it goes. A child's temperament also plays a role. The most adjusted, secure, calm parent cannot always stop a child from being colicky, whiny, or inflexible. A child's temperament endows him or her with varying susceptibility to life's array of little inconveniences.
There are no parents that never lose control. Every child is the victim of inadequate parenting -- some much more so than others obviously, which is regrettable. But for every child, part of growing up includes somehow overcoming whatever victimhood we've suffered.
Anyway, sorry if my focus on the negative struck a nerve. For me this has been the most _predictable_ behavior I've noticed in my six year old the past week (sigh), so I pounced on a chance to blow some sardonic steam about it. This too shall pass...
It's easy for children:
When a parent asks you to do something, immediately say no.
When someone asks you to calm down, be louder.
When choosing between sweets and other, always choose sweets.
When you get a new toy, use it for a while, then try to destroy it.
Focus on any perceptible lack in your life and throw a fit of raging, pouty, indignant victimhood for each one.
Some days anyway...
> Clearly, somebody is interested otherwise the calls wouldn't keep coming.
Clearly, that somebody is not among the 50 million people who made the effort to put their names on the DNC list!
Oh, and the power to NYC didn't fail either -- it was shut down on purpose too (really). So do you really think the millions of people affected didn't consider that a failure? Puhleeze...
No service = failure.
You could REALLY lose your pocket change in that mousepad couch! But on the plus side you could spend a few minutes rifling through it and come up with enough cash for a large pizza. W00t!
Do you know if the exhibit has a url where I can check if/when it will show in the northeastern United States?
I'll be looking for that backwards waterwheel the next time I see the film, but I'd bet that was aliasing, just like wagon wheels in old westerns.
If that's true then I should see a *lot* more handicapped plates at the mall.
Uh...distance is proportional to the fuel consumed, which is proportional to the tax paid.
Well said Eeyore the troll. Let's just all curl up and die.
The only insight I gained from your post was about your mental state at the time. It was not connected to reality. You got the higherachy all right, but WTF does it mean that nobody needs to do these jobs?
I need to live in a house. I need that truck to deliver the lumber. I need that lawyer to close. I need that person in the cubicle to setup my insurance accurately. I need that doctor to help when my family is ill. I need that businessman to provide me a job so I can pay for it all. And god knows I need those people in restaurants at the end of the workday when we're all too whacked out to cook.
People will eventually get bored not doing anything, so they'll pay to enter a theme park where they can have "immersive retro experiences" where the robots will let them join in flipping burgers or whatever, "just like they used to in the old days". The great grandparents (that's *you*) will think they're nuts.
On my planet the cost of using a computer is directly proportional to the number of things I have to think about while using it. And if it costs too much, I'm not using it.
I am not confused by choice, but I also recognize that the fastest way for a population to embrace an idea is to offer it uncluttered by choices of little distinction. We'd all be cursing if cars came with a choice of gas pedal locations. Window managers are no different.
I suppose we should be dismayed at the lack of choice in PC architecture? It is that very lack of choice that made it the phenomenon it is today. Plenty of choice in who provides it; clear expectations of what you get. We call standardization on my planet.
No one likes standards being dictated to them. But they have to happen if the benefits of OSS technology are going to be enjoyed by the largest possible audience. You can contribute to the debate and help constructively shape the choice. Or you can pander to your own laziness by exercising your freedom to post a self-righteous diatribe on SlashDot.
Ooh, this is a serious affront to the artistic purity of musical performance. Clearly this devil's tool must be banned immediately, along with stage makeup, effects boxes, sampled sound modules, and synthetic instrument materials.
Duh.
I often see this in posts from disappointed viewers:
"...but having never read the books..."
and all I can say is that if you weren't a fan of the books themselves, or not even a potential fan, you're unlikely to get much entertainment value from this series. There's too much left unsaid in the films (as it must be) for people who don't bring an awareness of the entire myth and its plot with them to the theatre to feel it click together like a reality before their eyes. And of course many people are simply bored with this kind of fantasy story regardless.
But for people who aren't, and whose previous experience reading the books is deep enough that they know the background myth behind the story, this movie series is very entertaining. Though the pithier lines are reused verbatim, don't expect the character of the book to be borne out in the dialog -- look for it instead in the scenery, the physical appearance of the characters, and especially in the music.