4 ms·

This is just my opinion, based on my experience and personality. Voice first running entirely on prem with no internet connectivity, sure I would go for that.

This is just my opinion, based on my experience and personality. Voice first running entirely on prem with no internet connectivity, sure I would go for that. Talking to the internet? No way. Not even if I had root on the device with the source code to the OS, firmware and applications.

melling 8y ago
I guess you’ll have to wait another decade or two. In the meantime, I’m “feeding” my devices every day. Hopefully voice-first becomes a solved problem, and you’ll get your device sooner.
- LinuxBender 8y ago
  What's funny about that is, I had voice recognition software in 1991 that could start up any application on my computer, reboot my computer, etc. Surely there must be a small device with the processing power of my old 386-DX40. I believe it was made by a company called Covox or something? There were several other companies that made similar software back then.
  - danso 8y ago
    Could your device recognize multiple speakers, with varying accents and grammar style?
    - LinuxBender 8y ago
      Yes. Not very well, but yes. Each person had to say a few sentences. This is fine for home use unless you run a halfway house. Certainly not as well as the software we implemented to listen to phone calls in the background on wireless networks in the mid 90's. That was the wildfire project and was fun. We abandoned it, since our lobbyists were able to kick the hands-free laws down the road.
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
j88439h84 8y ago
> Talking to the internet? No way. Not even if I had root on the device with the source code to the OS, firmware and applications. Can you explain how this is different from running your linux computer with a webcam attached?
- sincerely 8y ago
  Do you really think the people who are concerned about Google Home/Alexa/etc don't also have their webcam covered with a sticker?
- LinuxBender 8y ago
  I don't leave a webcam attached, or a microphone. I can also debug any code running on my machines and have some idea of what they are doing. I can also limit when they are allowed to talk to the internet and to what address.
  - j88439h84 8y ago
    > Not even if I had root on the device with the source code to the OS, firmware and applications. Can't you debug code and control network access in that scenario?
    - LinuxBender 8y ago
      Maybe if I have the debugging symbols and kernel headers. Even then there are circumstances where it won't help. For example: Nearly all cell phones check in to their manufactures website from time to time. Nearly all of them look for a header that triggers a debug mode that turns on CarrierIQ. (It isn't called this any more, AT&T renamed it to an empty name to stop people from searching for it). Trying to find obscure functions and understand how they interact with the servers they check into can be very difficult at best. It often leads to more questions than answers, at least based on my experience.

melling 8y ago

I guess you’ll have to wait another decade or two. In the meantime, I’m “feeding” my devices every day. Hopefully voice-first becomes a solved problem, and you’ll get your device sooner.

LinuxBender 8y ago
What's funny about that is, I had voice recognition software in 1991 that could start up any application on my computer, reboot my computer, etc. Surely there must be a small device with the processing power of my old 386-DX40. I believe it was made by a company called Covox or something? There were several other companies that made similar software back then.
- danso 8y ago
  Could your device recognize multiple speakers, with varying accents and grammar style?
  - LinuxBender 8y ago
    Yes. Not very well, but yes. Each person had to say a few sentences. This is fine for home use unless you run a halfway house. Certainly not as well as the software we implemented to listen to phone calls in the background on wireless networks in the mid 90's. That was the wildfire project and was fun. We abandoned it, since our lobbyists were able to kick the hands-free laws down the road.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]

j88439h84 8y ago

> Talking to the internet? No way. Not even if I had root on the device with the source code to the OS, firmware and applications. Can you explain how this is different from running your linux computer with a webcam attached?

sincerely 8y ago
Do you really think the people who are concerned about Google Home/Alexa/etc don't also have their webcam covered with a sticker?
LinuxBender 8y ago
I don't leave a webcam attached, or a microphone. I can also debug any code running on my machines and have some idea of what they are doing. I can also limit when they are allowed to talk to the internet and to what address.
- j88439h84 8y ago
  > Not even if I had root on the device with the source code to the OS, firmware and applications. Can't you debug code and control network access in that scenario?
  - LinuxBender 8y ago
    Maybe if I have the debugging symbols and kernel headers. Even then there are circumstances where it won't help. For example: Nearly all cell phones check in to their manufactures website from time to time. Nearly all of them look for a header that triggers a debug mode that turns on CarrierIQ. (It isn't called this any more, AT&T renamed it to an empty name to stop people from searching for it). Trying to find obscure functions and understand how they interact with the servers they check into can be very difficult at best. It often leads to more questions than answers, at least based on my experience.