Sine-wave speech auditory illusion

Sine-wave speech auditory illusion

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Chris Darwin was doing a research paper on speech perception and discovered something interesting. He distorted recordings of people speaking based on specific pattern matching properties of speech, and then played them back for people to see if they could understand what was said.

At first, it sounds like distorted tones and bleeps. But after you listen to the original version – your mind seems to be able to hear the speech clearly on the second playthrough. It turns out the brain’s prediction/learning knows better what to expect, and applies that without the listener being consciously aware.

If one listens to enough different SWS samples, some begin to gain the ability to understand the SWS versions without having to be exposed to the originals.

Go here for details on SWS as well as to the (free) Praat software that Darwin used to create the samples. [Hackaday]

A little longer examination:

Solar Panel installation review

Solar Panel installation review

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Local user brrent reviews putting solar panels on his house and gets a good discussion going on the process, pros and cons.

Summary:

  1. There are a lot of crummy installers out there with slimy salesman. Out of 6, only 2 even passed the sniff test
  2. Total out of pocket cost was $30,925 – but about $20k after rebates.
  3. Seriously consider doing this when you need to get a new roof. You don’t want to install and then find you need to rip it up to put down a new roof in 5 years. A roof lasts 30 years and panels last 30 years, so it’s good to have them in sync.
  4. Don’t go with any installer that doesn’t use Enphase micro inverters. A micro inverter makes each panel operate independently from the array. Without them, if one panel is shaded, the whole array is impacted.
  5. A lot of companies will assume crazy electricity price hikes, I’m assuming 4-5% annual increases, and the companies that felt the most honest also used those figures for their payback period. On that assumption, payback is ~10 years.
Jumping cars

Jumping cars

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The Chinese auto company BYD demonstrates the Yangwang U9 model, an electric supercar with four motors, fast charging, a top speed of 243 mph, and individual wheel drive system. It also doesn’t need a driver. Yangwang U9 also has the ability to leap. Watch carefully, and you’ll see the wheels retract into the body like a low rider, and then suddenly extend while at speed to leap over obstacles or holes in the road.

Perhaps they’re trying to duplicate Mercedez-Benz Maybach bounce that has been turning heads.

Real Lighthouse living

Real Lighthouse living

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A wonderful 1973 documentary about keepers on the Bishop Rock lighthouse. What was real lighthouse work like? Lots of long hours away from home, cramped quarters, and discipline.

Keepers needed to ride a rappel rope up/down and haul in supplies until 1976 when a helipad was added. The 3 keepers work 2 months straight on the lighthouse away from family doing 24 hour rotating shifts. They got 1 month off and back they go. This means each person works 56 hours a week – for 2 straight months.

In 1992, the tower was fully automated with only service crews coming in to make repairs and check on the systems. Watching this old footage really gives you a feel for the rough life being a lighthouse keeper on a barren rock was like.