Richard Sprague WebLog : August 2006

August 2006 - Posts

Welcome new Speech API blogger: Many of you speech techies remember Robert Brown as the API PM who wrote that excellent intro to Vista Speech article in MSDN magazine, and who appeared in a session at PDC last year. Robert switched roles late last year, away from direct involvement Read More...
Posted 30 August 06 08:19 by sprague | 0 Comments
Automated commenting as I read: I was supposed to be in a training class all day today, but it was just cancelled, so I have a few moments to catch up on my blog. This Live Writer thing makes it unbelievably easy. I follow lots of blogs, usually in an aggregator like Bloglines, but Read More...
Posted 29 August 06 09:03 by sprague | 0 Comments
Subscribe to Stephen's blog, please: I have always wanted Stephen Potter to post more. He knows so much, and he's so articulate. If you are interested in speech recognition, particularly anything related to Microsoft Speech Server, he should be at the top of your speech-related blog roll Read More...
Posted 28 August 06 06:21 by sprague | 0 Comments
Back from vacation: Yoo-hoo! It was great to visit New Hampshire and Maine for the past two weeks, but it's also nice to be home. I'm obviously getting old and spoiled, because no matter how nice the places I stayed, my own bed feels so much better. The next few days I'll Read More...
Posted 28 August 06 05:56 by sprague | 0 Comments
Track down secret phone numbers: this site: http://www.hardtofind800numbers.com claims to offer hotlines, including ones that put you straight through to a live human. I wonder if they are associated with Paul English and his http://www.gethuman.com initiative (of which Microsoft is Read More...
Posted 27 August 06 11:35 by sprague | 2 Comments
Ah vacation: Here I was all proud of myself for upgrading to Live Writer, and then I forgot to post. Well, I didn't really forget. I've been on vacation visiting my in-laws in rural New Hampshire. They have high-speed Internet access out here, but it's been harder Read More...
Posted 18 August 06 05:19 by sprague | 1 Comments
Blogging gets easier with Live Writer: The Windows Live team has just released the best blogging tool ever: Live Writer . I've been using it for a few weeks now and it really has made it so much easier to write blogs. So far I have it working effortlessly with my Work blog (this one), my personal Read More...
Posted 13 August 06 02:41 by sprague | 3 Comments
Speech in healthcare: Several people after Speechtek have been asking about healthcare, and whether Vista will support any healthcare scenarios. The short answer is that yes we know this is something many people want to see, and we are looking into it. btw, I've mentioned Read More...
Posted 11 August 06 03:31 by sprague | 0 Comments
More about Apple: Heiko pointed me to this article about Apple's next OS , Leopard: 7. Accessibility improvements Apple is working to dramatically improve how well Leopard will work for people with disabilities, and they certainly deserve some credit for this work. Leopard Read More...
Posted 11 August 06 10:56 by sprague | 0 Comments
More speech demos: Terry Gold has more details about the Microsoft keynote. He did a live demo right after Rob's and it worked flawlessly too. Meanwhile, Long Zheng, a student in Australia, has posted his own video (QuickTime) of Vista Speech Recognition. When you try Vista, Read More...
Posted 10 August 06 08:22 by sprague | 2 Comments
Apple Computer and Speech: Many of us at Microsoft are big fans of Apple Computer. I saved up my paper route money in high school to buy an Apple II, I was the first in my dorm to own a Mac. I even worked there for six years, and that's not counting the time I spent as a writer Read More...
Posted 08 August 06 09:29 by sprague | 9 Comments
Vista booth at Speechtek: Oliver Scholz is lead PM on the team that makes Vista Speech Recognition, and he's been in the booth all day. Here's what he has to say: What a great 24 hours. SpeechTek began last night at about 5 pm. We had a lot of traffic at the booth, and we demo’d Read More...
Posted 08 August 06 09:15 by sprague | 3 Comments
Great live Vista Speech Recognition demo at Speechtek: We'll post more soon, but here's a quick update: Rob's demo at the SpeechTek keynote this morning went flawlessly. Rob, your aunt mom will be so proud! (thanks Jen ) update: Rob is writing about it on his blog now. Read More...
Posted 08 August 06 06:35 by sprague | 0 Comments
Rob's doing the demo again!: Is Rob Chambers crazy ? He's going to appear in Rich Bray's Tuesday morning keynote at SpeechTek for a live repeat of the Financial Analysts Meeting demo of Vista speech recognition. After all the attention we got from Youtube and Spykdog and everyone Read More...
Posted 07 August 06 03:50 by sprague | 2 Comments
Microsoft and startups: All of us who are passionate about technology have great new product or company ideas that we dream about someday turning into reality. Dan'l Lewin is Microsoft's liason to startups. I mentioned previously that he runs a web site for people interested Read More...
Posted 03 August 06 05:40 by sprague | 0 Comments
What's the best microphone for speech?: I like eMicrophones advice. Marty Markoe says Sennheiser hand-held MD431II is the best there is for demos (for $350 it better be). For a cheaper option, most new people in the speech group are issued the Plantronics DSP400 ($80), though Marty will tell Read More...
Posted 02 August 06 04:44 by sprague | 1 Comments
Steve Perlman's latest: I never actually joined Microsoft as an employee. I turned into one when the startup where I worked, WebTV Networks, was acquired in 1997. The president of WebTV, Steve Perlman, is one of the most charismatic technology people I know, so I pay attention Read More...
Posted 01 August 06 04:03 by sprague | 1 Comments

Richard Sprague WebLog

August 2006 - Posts

Search

This Blog

Twitter Updates

Tags

Archives

Beyond My Day Job

Links

Syndication