3 ms·

Stephen Hawking was very special to me. He's a large part of why I chose a life in science in general and physics in particular. I'm just one of many, but he u

Stephen Hawking was very special to me. He's a large part of why I chose a life in science in general and physics in particular. I'm just one of many, but he unmistakably and uniquely affected my life for the better. Growing up, I read Brief History of Time and Universe In A Nutshell dozens of times each. I relished the jokes I got, and I won't forget him. I also weep for him, knowing he never got the Nobel prize he wanted so very much. I haven't shed a tear for many people in their passing, but I have for him. Thank you for opening my eyes to the wonders of the universe. You are an irreplaceable part of who I have become today.

ethbro 9y ago
I had the honor of attending one of his lectures at CWRU in undergrad. Two things forever stick out in my memory. #1 - That he told jokes during his lecture. To be wheelchair bound, facing a degenerative condition... and still have humor. Inspiring. #2 - The respectful silence. At least at the lecture I attended, he live keyed his entire speech. This meant the synthesizer would speak, followed by 20 or 30 seconds of absolute silence as he buffered the next few sentences. I remember not a soul spoke in that time above a whisper. And he deserved every ounce of respect.
- tintor 9y ago
  "At least at the lecture I attended, he live keyed his entire speech. This meant the synthesizer would speak, followed by 20 or 30 seconds of absolute silence as he buffered the next few sentences." He was "typing" one bit at a time? How can he type the entire sentence so quickly?
  - NamTaf 9y ago
    Yes. Here's some info on his setup. It tracked the motion of his cheek, which he could still control, to stop on a letter. It scanned through the alphabet and he had to pull it up at the right time. http://www.hawking.org.uk/the-computer.html http://www.hawking.org.uk/the-computer.html I also just started typing that in present tense ('tracks'...) and had to pull myself up. :(
    - ethagknight 9y ago
      “I can also give lectures. I write the lecture beforehand then save it to disk. I can then use a part of the ACAT software called Lecture Manager to send it to the speech synthesiser a paragraph at a time. It works quite well and I can try out the lecture and polish it before I give it.” Interesting!
    - Abishek_Muthian 9y ago
      >"ACAT includes a word prediction algorithm provided by SwiftKey, trained on my books and lectures" Wow, I wonder whether they provided it before (or) after MS acquisition.
    - ethbro 9y ago
      My understanding is that over the years his input setup has changed as his physical capabilities deteriorated. This would have been circa-2004, and I want to say at the time he had a less predictive but more physical system.

ethbro 9y ago

I had the honor of attending one of his lectures at CWRU in undergrad. Two things forever stick out in my memory. #1 - That he told jokes during his lecture. To be wheelchair bound, facing a degenerative condition... and still have humor. Inspiring. #2 - The respectful silence. At least at the lecture I attended, he live keyed his entire speech. This meant the synthesizer would speak, followed by 20 or 30 seconds of absolute silence as he buffered the next few sentences. I remember not a soul spoke in that time above a whisper. And he deserved every ounce of respect.

tintor 9y ago
"At least at the lecture I attended, he live keyed his entire speech. This meant the synthesizer would speak, followed by 20 or 30 seconds of absolute silence as he buffered the next few sentences." He was "typing" one bit at a time? How can he type the entire sentence so quickly?
- NamTaf 9y ago
  Yes. Here's some info on his setup. It tracked the motion of his cheek, which he could still control, to stop on a letter. It scanned through the alphabet and he had to pull it up at the right time. http://www.hawking.org.uk/the-computer.html http://www.hawking.org.uk/the-computer.html I also just started typing that in present tense ('tracks'...) and had to pull myself up. :(
  - ethagknight 9y ago
    “I can also give lectures. I write the lecture beforehand then save it to disk. I can then use a part of the ACAT software called Lecture Manager to send it to the speech synthesiser a paragraph at a time. It works quite well and I can try out the lecture and polish it before I give it.” Interesting!
  - Abishek_Muthian 9y ago
    >"ACAT includes a word prediction algorithm provided by SwiftKey, trained on my books and lectures" Wow, I wonder whether they provided it before (or) after MS acquisition.
  - ethbro 9y ago
    My understanding is that over the years his input setup has changed as his physical capabilities deteriorated. This would have been circa-2004, and I want to say at the time he had a less predictive but more physical system.