AliceHill.com - Where Technology Frolics

Latest Tech News - New!

My Favorite
Buzzword:
Get ready for the Wireless MAN, baby. Or short for Wireless Metropolitan Area Network.
> All About The MAN

Spam Overload Dept:
According to a recent survey, about 65 percent of Net users spend 10 minutes or more a day dealing with spam. About 37 percent of respondents get 100 junk messages a day, and 63 percent get 50 or more.
Source: Symantec and Insightexpress

Alice Hill's Technology Watch

Friday, March 05, 2004

Earthlink to Test Caller ID for E-Mail
Earthlink is about to roll out a version of e-mail that uses "Caller ID" technology developed by Microsoft. Isn't that a bit like using financial strategy brought to you by Enron?
# Posted at 8:46 AM

It's Robo Translator

Major Breakthrough Department: NEC has just launched the first successful speech-to-speech translation robot called Papero. Developed as a new high-tech visiting tourist feature in Tokyo's Narita airport, the little robot can instantly decipher a sentence in English or Japanese and then translate it on the fly. Better still, the robot is the first of its kind to handle over 50,000 Japanese and 25,000 English words, including slang and colloquialisms, all spoken naturally by the user without any prior voice training and identification process.

The technology is expected to hit PDAs soon, and will hopefully end the brutal agony of sneering French waiters as you accidentally order squid eyes from the menu.
# Posted at 8:46 AM

Thursday, March 04, 2004

Add Fake Background Sounds to Your Cellular Calls

Naughty and Nice Department: Now you can sound like you're stuck in traffic from the comfort of your own recliner. SounderCover allows you to apply backgrounds sounds of traffic, the dentist, a thunderstrom, and even the contstant ringing of another phone line to common cell phone models. Simply hold the down arrow key when a call comes in and you can instantly apply a sound to your call. Wicked! The tones are almost $30 USD, but to anyone who has been pestered or wanted to jump into traffic after fielding an annoying call, SounderCover is for you.
# Posted at 5:23 PM

Sunday, February 29, 2004

How to Get the Howard Stern Show via the Internet

Howard Stern fans (like me) are reeling over the recent decision of distribution partner Clear Channel to pull the Stern show in many cities. Rest easy. We have the step-by-step instructions on how to download the show daily with your PC. All you need is a piece of software called Pix News Pro ($40) and access to a newsgroup server. Spread the word.

Here are the instructions from TechSono:

1. Download PixNewsPro.
2. Create a Downloader for your news server. If you don't know your server URL, call your ISP.
3. Add the alt.binaries.howard-stern newsgroup to your Downloader.
4. If your ISP does not carry the Stern newsgroup, subscribe to TechSono News Service.
5. Set PixNewsPro to download only MP3 files.
6. Click the Scan button.
7. PixNewsPro will now start to download Stern audio files.
The files are large and posted in pieces, so be patient while the program works.
8. Click the "Open" button on the Downloader window.
When PixNewsPro is done creating a file, you will see it in the Downloads folder.
9. Double-click on a file to play it like any MP3 file.
# Posted at 2:41 PM

Barcode Yourself

Here's a fun and tecnical diversion the whole family can enjoy for free. A website that turns basic stats about you into an actual barcode. With RFID threatening to make barcodes obsolete, take a moment to enjoy this blast from the near past.

>>Don't miss this great section on how to decipher any barcode.
# Posted at 1:27 AM

>>More Tech News

Hosted by Dreamhost