[Noisebridge-discuss] The auto voice device on the ceiling

[Rubin Abdi]

Greeting from Dublin Ireland, and eventually 32C3.

First off please don't mess with the rack. Since we've moved it up to the
ceiling and made it difficult to get into, the internet has worked pretty
flawlessly without much down time.

The computer voice that speaks was implemented a few months ago. In the
evening it speaks up coming BART times, and through out the day it randomly
asks people to donate.

Since we've set this up we've observed a few things...

1. A few people have thanked us for setting it up, as they didn't miss the
last BART.
2. There was an immediate influx of random cash donations.
3. People have stated they've remembered to take out the trash.
4. People have stated that it made the notion of closing the space a little
more official and easier to ask others to leave.
5. Sometimes there are classes and events where people would like the voice
to not randomly go off.
6. There isn't a single voice that everyone is happy with or can understand.
7. Someone else with access to pegasus has been trying to play with the
speaker volume, which as caused the thing to end up getting too loud.

Because of reasons 1 and 2 we would like to see the computer voice not go
away.

Because of reason 5, there's a web site (which is printed and posted on the
sides of the rack) which will allow you to mute the voice for the current
hour. Additionally you can simply email the discuss list stating you've got
an event going on and would like to not have the voice go off.

Because of reason 6 not everyone will be happy with this thing. The last
time I rotated the voice around was a few weeks ago. The voice we're
currently using (espeak -ven-westindies+f4 "$*") that those folks in the
space that night could agree on as being the least offensive.

I am happy to change the voice to a better (FOSS) TTS alternative. The
prior voice I used came from MaryTTS. If you have an alternative that you
feel is better, I'll be delighted to meet up with you in the space for a
demo and switch it over if it actually does sound good.

Since a bunch of us are traveling right now, I've gone through and disabled
all the scheduled jobs to make the thing speak. I will turn it back on when
I return after the 10th of January and be open to any discussion leading to
a better constructive solution that isn't "it's loud and annoying and
should go away".

Thanks!


On 25 December 2015 at 06:06, mohammed Gh <mahomagh at gmail.com> wrote:

> I am down to meet this weekend.
>
> On Thu, Dec 24, 2015 at 2:52 PM, Ronald Cotoni <setient at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Agreed!  Lets meet up and talk about some ideas?  Maybe sometime this
>> weekend?
>>
>> On Thu, Dec 24, 2015 at 1:31 PM, Zach R <organicunity at hotmail.com> wrote:
>> >
>> > Agreed.  It was a cool idea and I think there are ways to make it
>> work.  But
>> > it has interrupted classes a lot and especially been a nuisance at
>> meetings
>> > where I can't hear people talking across the room.
>> >
>> >
>> > ________________________________
>> > From: noisebridge-discuss-bounces at lists.noisebridge.net
>> > <noisebridge-discuss-bounces at lists.noisebridge.net> on behalf of
>> mohammed Gh
>> > <mahomagh at gmail.com>
>> > Sent: Thursday, December 24, 2015 12:03 PM
>> > To: Ronald Cotoni
>> > Cc: NoiseBridge Discuss
>> > Subject: Re: [Noisebridge-discuss] The auto voice device on the ceiling
>> >
>> > I agree it is loud and annoying in many occasions of the day especially
>> when
>> > it is quite and every one is hacking on something and not wondering
>> about
>> > the bart schedule.
>> >
>> > This is not the first time I hear a complain about it and I think it is
>> time
>> > to apply the and only rule we have and find a middle ground.
>> >
>> > "Be Excellent to Each Others "
>> >
>> > Happy holiday to you all.
>> >
>> > On Thu, Dec 24, 2015 at 9:45 AM, Ronald Cotoni <setient at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>> >>
>> >> No but you could donate.  I believe it suppresses it or something.
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> On Thu, Dec 24, 2015, 9:43 AM n <jpk at pobox.com> wrote:
>> >>>
>> >>> Is there any way to lower the volume on that auto voice that
>> >>> periodically goes off 24/7?
>> >>>
>> >>> I tried the url posted on it and it doesn't work.
>> >>>
>> >>> Nick
>> >>> _______________________________________________
>> >>> Noisebridge-discuss mailing list
>> >>> Noisebridge-discuss at lists.noisebridge.net
>> >>> https://www.noisebridge.net/mailman/listinfo/noisebridge-discuss
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> _______________________________________________
>> >> Noisebridge-discuss mailing list
>> >> Noisebridge-discuss at lists.noisebridge.net
>> >> https://www.noisebridge.net/mailman/listinfo/noisebridge-discuss
>> >>
>> >
>> >
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > Noisebridge-discuss mailing list
>> > Noisebridge-discuss at lists.noisebridge.net
>> > https://www.noisebridge.net/mailman/listinfo/noisebridge-discuss
>> >
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Ronald Cotoni
>> Systems Engineer
>> _______________________________________________
>> Noisebridge-discuss mailing list
>> Noisebridge-discuss at lists.noisebridge.net
>> https://www.noisebridge.net/mailman/listinfo/noisebridge-discuss
>>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Noisebridge-discuss mailing list
> Noisebridge-discuss at lists.noisebridge.net
> https://www.noisebridge.net/mailman/listinfo/noisebridge-discuss
>
>


-- 
Rubin
rubin at starset.net
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