Microsoft Speech Recognition Software – NOT

Video of embarrassing attempted-demo of Microsoft’s new speech recognition system: http://www.uie.com/brainsparks/2006/08/03/dear-aunt-lets-set-so-double-the-killer-delete-select-all/

Smithsonian Online Photography Initiative

Interesting new effort from the Smithsonian. Terrific idea, but I have to say that on my first, quick foray into the site, it was very confusing.

From the International Visual Studies Assn mailing list:

Smithsonian Launches Online Photography Initiative: The Smithsonian’s 18 museums, nine research centers, and the National Zoo collectively preserve some 13 million photographs which now, thanks to the Smithsonian Photography Initiative, will begin to be made accessible to researchers online. The images found in some seven hundred collections throughout the Smithsonian are organized by museum and discipline…The Smithsonian Photography Initiative is devoted to the presentation and study of these photographic images, viewing photography as an art form, a record keeper, and a cross-disciplinary medium that encompasses science, history, popular culture, and more. Beyond offering more information about where to find photography collections throughout the Smithsonian, a new website aims to be an educational tool, serving anyone who wishes to study, explore, and enjoy photographs of many kinds. To view the website go to: http://www.spi.si.edu/ where you will be provided access to some 1,800 digital images, the work of 100 photographers, who used 50 different processes.

Information Obscurity and Indexicality when Travelling

Written a few days ago, posted now:

I am writing this in the Albuquerque airport Quizmo’s where the menu offers a range of entree salads, and a side Caesar salad. When I asked why there was a side Caesar but not a full-sized one, I was informed, with a tone of annoyance, that the “Roman salad” is a Caesar salad. So why…??

A moment ago I passed my gate, knowing I was early (hence Quizmos). A flight was boarding. The board behind the desk had a generic greeting. The sign over the door gave my flight number, and destination Oakland. Was my watch wrong? Had I changed time zones without knowing it? I asked which flight was boarding, and the person at the desk said, “Portland.” No sign said Portland. I pointed out that the door said Oakland. “That’s the next flight,” she said, exasperated, as if I had asked a silly question. (Woe to anyone running for the Portland flight.)

Earlier, I discovered that there is free, airport-wide wifi here only because I spotted a small sign stuck in a corner in the lobby outside security. Had I not been early and wandering around, I would never have seen it.

I could go on — this is just the last 10 minutes.

When I travel overseas I generally accept a certain level of cluelessness. But within the US, it strikes me that many institutions are themselves clueless about the knowledge and the conditions of the people they are supposedly serving.

An airport is, by definition, full of people both from here and elsewhere; and both frequent travelers and people who travel rarely. Yet this airport does little to tell passengers about its wifi and posts confusing signs for flights. (Similarly, I can only imagine how difficult it is for visitors arriving at SFO or Oakland to figure out how to get to Berkeley via van service.)

I rarely eat fast food, so it’s a recurring experience for me that when I do, I can’t make much sense of the menu. I’m clearly expected to know what their various names mean (e.g., “BK Homestyle Griller” – ??).

As our world only continues to get larger and more diverse (e.g., it used to be that Big Macs had no competition), the information infrastructure doesn’t keep up.

Another recurring frustration when I travel is trying to figure out the weather forecast — or rather, where the forecast is for. Last night in Durango, CO, I was getting both New Mexico and Colorado TV stations via cable. Maybe Denver and Albuquerque; that part I never figured out. Earlier this summer in the Sierra foothills I was getting several Central Valley stations; I never did figure out from where. So when they gave “our” forecast (which differed across the stations), I had no idea where they were relative to me. With 59.1% of US households with cable TV, the assumption that viewers are geographically close to the station’s base no longer holds — yet stations continue to assume, If you can see us, you’re nearby. (In New Mexico I was getting New York stations via satellite.)

Another problem for travelers is directional signs. Driving through Gallup, NM, earlier today, I only found “historic downtown Gallup” by accident, and with difficulty, despite 50 miles of billboards promoting its businesses. I have had this same problem elsewhere: the signs bring the driver to a town, then suddenly point to other towns; but where is the downtown? Once again, the assumption is that locals know where it is; but then locals would also know what road goes to which next town, right? So they don’t need any of those signs.

We live in a geographical world, it is true — but even the electronic media seem not to have noticed the much-vaunted disconnect between place and space.

(An aside: if you know Navaho jewelry — which I don’t — Gallup appears to be a good place to buy it. I saw people clearly in from the reservation to pawn their heavy traditional silver jewelry, and others bringing in their handmade jewelry to sell to the dealers in Gallup.)

Design Conference

My friend Peter Merholz is asking people to help get the word out about the IDEA conference in Seattle Oct 23-4. I think it sounds terrific and quite relevant to iSchools. Registration is very reasonable — $250-500 before Aug 27 — kudos to the organizers for that!

IDEA 2006 brings together a diverse set of designers, creators, and researchers addressing a fundamental challenge we’re facing today – how to let everyday people take true advantage of the overwhelming mass of information that floods their lives.

There are currently many different kinds of folks working in this space, but they typically don’t talk with one another. For this event, we’ve made an effort to invite presenters across a stunning array of disciplines – museum design, information visualization, librarians, environmental design, user research, engineering, interaction design, product strategy, and more.

It’s important to recognize that this is not airy-fairy theoretical stuff. These presenters are practitioners, people actually doing this cross-channel, cross-media work with complex information. A primary goal of this conference is to give you the confidence to cross boundaries and engage with a wide range of problems.

Consumer Alert: Avoid Site for Sore Eyes, Berkeley

I had them try (and fail — twice) to make a pair of sunglasses from my optometrist’s prescription. They made two mistakes. One was not quite matching my prescription, the other (and more serious) was based on a measurement of their own — clearly, to me, they blew the initial measurement and, instead of redoing the measurement and remedying the problem, they argued that there is no problem — despite the fact that the glasses don’t match my regular glasses and simply don’t work! Sloppy work, and no willingness to admit to and remedy their mistakes. Avoid them. Pass the word.

ADDENDUM: A Google Local search on them turned up a majority of very negative reviews, one of which says they have Better Business Bureau complaints against them. Well, now they have one more; I filed one today.

UPDATE 12/30/06: It’s been a while, but I saw that this posting got a hit because someone was searching for this business. They never answered the BBB complaint, which resulted in the BBB finding against them. And my credit card company credited my account.

What to do with printed pictures

Today’s NYTimes, in the House & Home section, describes a way to display many pictures, the ones no one sees because they’re buried in albums, without “buying hundreds of frames”: create wallpaper out of those pictures. The creator photographed hundreds of actual frames against a white wall, then digitally inserted the photos into the images of the frames. Then, from this, they had a custom wallpaper firm create wallpaper. The article goes on to tell you how to do the same at FedExKinko’s using a color photocopier to and gluing the results to your wall. Not nearly as nice, and I’m sure there’s an intermediate process between the expensive custom approach they describe and the photocopier. But interesting.

Picture  © NY Times.