RTRFM

Profitbook

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +0800

Along with new technology comes new ways for questionable computer and software specialists to gain access to information that we don’t want to share.

Even though the privacy policy might be rock solid, chances are there’s going to be a hacker that can get through to your information and potentially make a huge profit.

Talk the Talk - Sign to Text

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 00:00:00 +0800

Language technology tends to focus on people who speak. But what about for people who sign? A Scottish team has announced a new app to convert signs into text, but that’s just one part of the picture. UWA linguist Daniel Midgley finds what’s out there on this episode of Talk the Talk.

Talk the Talk - Speech-Jamming Gun

Tue, 06 Mar 2012 00:00:00 +0800

Japanese researchers have developed a “speech-jamming gun”. It works without maiming or killing you, but it does mess with your mind. Will it be a boon to movie-goers, or a free-speech killer? And how does it work? UWA linguist Daniel Midgley will explain as fluently as possible on this episode of Talk the Talk.

Talk the Talk - Reading Thoughts

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0800

A team of scientists has developed a technique for turning brain activity into words. Soon, it may be possible to reconstruct conversations — in effect, to read minds. How does it work? Do we even think in words? UWA linguist Daniel Midgley tells it the old-fashioned way on this episode of Talk the Talk.

When Robot's Attack!

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0800

Three local clever fella’s have travelled far to compete in an international robotics competition and have returned kind of victorious.

They didn’t win gold, or silver, or bronze, but the one that comes after that – huzzah!

They pitted their robots against other robots and in Peter Barr’s mind sparks flew and diodes were flung wide as little explosions erupted through the clash of metal on metal.

It may not be that close to the truth but he learn’t more with Curtin University’s Science and Engineering School’s Tim Keely and Honours in Mathematical Sciences student Todd Hurst.

Talk the Talk - Siri and Speech Recognition (Part 2)

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0800

Apple’s Siri software has put automatic speech recognition back in the news. We finish our two-part discussion with stupid Siri tricks, and some ways that Siri has become embroiled in controversy. And why is Siri female? UWA linguist Daniel Midgley will try to assist on this episode of Talk the Talk.

Talk the Talk - Siri and Speech Recognition (Part 1)

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0800

Speech recognition has come a long way. With the emergence of Siri on the iPhone, good speech recognition is within the reach of many of us. How does it work? Why is automatic speech recognition so difficult? And what tricks does Siri have up her sleeve? UWA linguist Daniel Midgley has the answers on this episode of Talk the Talk.

Scam Watch!

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0800

Have you ever been scammed?

RTR FM Breakfast Present Peter Barr got a call this week from a mysterious overseas phone number.

The man on the other end informed him that there was a problem with his computer and told him to log on and follow his instructions… The man was greeted with a degree of skepticism, but persisted, until he made the fatal flaw of assuming Pete used a different operating system.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission operate SCAMwatch, and they hear stories like Peter’s every day.

ACCC Deputy Chairman Michael Schaper joins Caitlin Nienaber to share his experiences as well as tips on how to prevent getting scammed.

SOPA Internet Strike

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0800

If you try to use the internet today – and I suspect you might – you may find yourself looking at nothing more than a black screen.

Wikipedia, social news site Reddit and others are going on strike to protest a bill going through Congress in the USA.

The Stop Online Piracy Act seeks to give the government power to regulate the internet to curb piracy.

But many internet users are concerned this legislation threatens the freedom of the ‘net.

People don’t like that.

Curtin University Lecturer in Internet Studies Doctor Tama Leaver joined Ben to work out why SOPA’s causing such a fuss.

TWYPING

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0800

Tweeting plus typing equals ‘twyping’ – ingenious.

It’s tweeting back in the days when people used typewriters – blending old technology and new, examining the past through the lens of the present.

It’s happening as part of the Awesome International Arts Festival for Bright Young Things.

Peter Barr spoke to this town’s chief twyper James Berlyn…

Pining for Pinnies

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0800

The pinball machine is an odd beast.

Back in the day these addictive arcade games lured people in to play, and never let some of them go.

Perth’s King of Kitsch Ivan Borgnino was there then and is still living that life now and joined Pete on Brekky to fondly remember the humble ‘Pinnie’.

Talk the Talk - Speech Accent Archive (featuring Steven Weinberger)

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0800

Do you have an accent? Of course you do; everybody does. And now there’s the Speech Accent Archive, an internet database that you can browse, containing sound data from hundreds of speakers of English from around the globe. What is it for, and how can you contribute? UWA linguist Daniel Midgley interviews Speech Accent Archive creator Steven Weinberger on this episode of Talk the Talk.

Talk the Talk - Spam Spotting

Tue, 18 Oct 2011 00:00:00 +0800

This week on Talk the Talk, we’re talking about spam. Not the spicy ham product, but the wretched dreck that clogs your inbox. Why do we call it ‘spam’? How does your computer know if your email is spam? How do you know if an online review is for real, or if it’s just spam-for-hire? Where is all this spam coming from, and why is there so much of it? UWA linguist Daniel Midgley gives you the real deal on this episode of Talk the Talk.

Talk the Talk - Learning from Twitter

Tue, 04 Oct 2011 00:00:00 +0800

For 140 characters, Twitter can tell us a lot about ourselves. By looking at masses of tweets, word-crunching software can tell when we’re feeling up or down, help us decide what stocks to buy or sell, and track the spread of illness through a population. UWA linguist Daniel Midgley puts it all together on this week’s Talk the Talk.

R-Rated is the new legal

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 00:00:00 +0800

The federal and state governments have finally reached an in-principle agreement to introduce an R18 rating for video games in Australia.

Until now, gamers have found other ways of buying games that were refused classification in Australia because of their adult content.

To give us their perspective on the new laws, In-teractive Games and Entertainment Association’s Ron Currey joined Hilary Smale on Morning Magazine.

Talk the Talk - Who Wrote the Bible?

Tue, 12 Jul 2011 00:00:00 +0800

Scholars have long supposed that certain books of the Bible were written by a number of different authors. Now a team of language researchers is using computers to determine Bible authorship, and they’re coming up with some surprising findings. Can text give an author’s identity away? How can computers determine who wrote what? UWA linguist Daniel Midgley tells the story on this week’s Talk the Talk.

Talk the Talk - Spying for Metaphor

Tue, 21 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +0800

The US intelligence agency IARPA is putting a heavy research focus, not into lie detection or speech recognition, but metaphor. That’s right, the figure of speech where you describe something as something else. But why would that be useful for national security? What can we learn about human language by studying metaphor? UWA linguist Daniel Midgley will illuminate the issue (so to speak) on this week’s Talk the Talk.

Capturing CO2

Tue, 14 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +0800

The Collie Hub concept involves capturing CO2 from emissions sources, compressing it into a liquid and pumping it deep below the earth for permanent storage.

It’s a trial project and will receive up to 52 million dollars to further promote WA’s research in carbon emissions reduction – capturing and storing carbon to reduce climate change.

The Sustainable Energy Association of Australian aims to give voice to those with an interest in sustainable energy, promoting the development and adoption of sustainable energy technologies and practices and is also the peak body for sustainable energy in Australia.

Jamie Macdonald spoke with the SEA CEO Ray Wills about capturing and storing carbon.

Talk the Talk - The Most Human Human

Tue, 31 May 2011 00:00:00 +0800

A ‘bot’ is a computer program that simulates human conversation. Some bots are quite sophisticated, but could they ever be mistaken for a human? This week on Talk the Talk, UWA linguist Daniel Midgley chats with Brian Christian, who assisted with a contest to find the most human computer, and wrote up his adventures in a book, “The Most Human Human”.

Talk the Talk - The Most Human Human (Part 2)

Tue, 31 May 2011 00:00:00 +0800

Part 2 of our interview with Brian Christian, author of “The Most Human Human”.