[Noisebridge-discuss] The auto voice device on the ceiling
Rubin Abdi
rubin at starset.net
Wed Feb 10 08:18:21 UTC 2016
After some review and feedback from others (and more review) I've tweaked
the system a little bit. Please let me know how it sounds. Thanks.
On 4 February 2016 at 00:22, Rubin Abdi <rubin at starset.net> wrote:
> Hi all.
>
> TL;DR: I've installed some new speakers and an amp in the rack. The bass
> is now turned down all the way and the volume is set to something pleasant.
> Additionally I've found a new TTS voice, Mary Poppins, that has been
> reasonable/bearable for all the people I've asked to listen to it. The
> ability to mute Mary Poppins has been spruced up. And lastly I've made Mary
> a little less verbose.
>
> Again when we had the thing running before we had a bunch more people
> donate money than we had prior due to Mary reminding people to do so, and
> there were other people who were thankfully happy to be reminded about last
> BART. There's a lot of benefit to having Mary talk than not.
>
> At this point we're going to run an experiment with Mary. If people have a
> legitimate problem with it, they are welcome to reply back to this thread
> (or better yet talk with me in person) and provide better solutions to such
> problems.
>
> To mute Mary for 60 minutes, please go to the URL listed on the paper
> hanging on the bottom of the rack. If you don't have a phone or computer to
> hit the URL with, please use one of the internet terminals sitting at the
> back of the space.
>
> If you want to mute Mary for longer (if you're running an event in the
> Hackitorium) you can either ask on Slack or email the av@ Noisebridge
> mailing list (which can be found on the mute URL). Please do not abuse the
> mute because you'd like to use it as a sort of protest instead of actually
> talking with me so we can find a better solution together.
>
> Zach: I would appreciate hearing the opinions of your golden ears
> regarding volume level.
>
> Thanks!
>
>
> On 25 December 2015 at 01:22, Zach <organic_unity at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>> Thanks for the infos Rubin. (and I hope you are having fun in Ireland!)
>>
>> I agree with some of those benefits for sure. Especially the trash and
>> donations. Is there a way (at the very least) to disable it for the
>> regular meeting hours between 7pm-9pm? This thing drives me nuts at
>> meetings and pegasus wouldn't mute it a few weeks ago (we tried).
>> Also one notable problem with this that bums me is the annoyance of
>> needing net access to mute it. I don't come to NB with a laptop and I feel
>> like things in the space which require one are a bit annoying. Could we
>> *please* have a physical mute button we could press? I'm all about hacking
>> in the physical realm of things and this would be so lovely.
>>
>> I also think this thing would be just as effective at 6db to 12db lower
>> volume. The volume it currently is set at is really grating.
>> thats just my two cents.
>>
>> -Zach
>>
>>
>> --------------------------------------------
>> On Thu, 12/24/15, Rubin Abdi <rubin at starset.net> wrote:
>>
>> Subject: Re: [Noisebridge-discuss] The auto voice device on the ceiling
>> To: "mohammed Gh" <mahomagh at gmail.com>
>> Cc: "NoiseBridge Discuss" <noisebridge-discuss at lists.noisebridge.net>
>> Date: Thursday, December 24, 2015, 11:57 PM
>>
>> 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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>>
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>>
>
>
>
> --
> Rubin
> rubin at starset.net
>
--
Rubin
rubin at starset.net
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