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Mexico, a place full of adventure, culture and heritage, assets combined and transformed in some of the most special spirits in the world. Made from the finest Agaves from very distinctive parts of Mexico comes some of the most awesome and exquisite products, designed by renowned artists such as the Arnaud´s we have gather the essence of this fantastic Country to bring it to you, full of good vibes and to complement great times to come.
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subset: commoncrawl


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Sugar Ray and Smash Mouth
Note: This performance has been cancelled. Refunds are available at point of purchase.
The 90s comebacks continue with this summer tour from top 90s artists Sugar Ray and Smash Mouth, with support from Gin Blossoms, Vertical Horizon and Fast Ball.
Sugar Ray are an American pop rock band that found fame in 1997 with the hit "Fly." Subsequent successes included "Every Morning," "Someday" and "When It's Over." The band were inactive for a period of time in the 2000s, before reuniting original members Mark McGrath and Rodney Sheppard with a new lineup for the 90s nostalgia tour.
Rock band Smash Mouth also had success in the late 90s with the songs "Walkin' on the Sun" and "All Star." They've also had many popular cover songs, like "Can't Get Enough Of You Baby" and "I'm a Believer," which appeared in the movie Shrek.
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Below is a list of all parts for the KitchenAid Dishwasher KUDM01TJBL0. To find the repair part you need, you can browse the list below or you can narrow your choices by searching for a part by name or description.
As water is filling your dishwasher, a float rises along with it. When the float reaches a predetermined level, it shuts off the flow of water, thereby preventing a leak.
Includes power cord and all necessary parts needed for complete installation of cord.
This dishwasher heating element is not designed to heat the water that enters it, but is designed to maintain the heat of the water that enters the dishwasher. It is located on the...
This is a basket for washing flatware or silverware in your dishwasher.
This part forces the water from the pump to the sump area for discharge.
This part helps distribute water from the top of the dishwasher tub.
Water that fills your dishwasher lifts the float. When it reaches a certain level, the float triggers this float switch to shut off, thereby shutting off the flow of water into th...
This screw is sold individually.
Sold individually.
This pivot is used to hold the tine row in place.
All brand logos are trademarks of their respective owners.
The PartSelect logo is a Registered Trademark of Atlantic Laundry Centres, Ltd.
Copyright © 1999-2015 , Eldis Group Partnership. All rights reserved.


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Close your eyes and ears and liste. and look with your heart. grayson's face turned white and he said Uh Ipthink I want to go home now. To take her viginity I know. she said before I could go on she agreed that you were pereect and it was set all she had to do was ask. Jess told me. When you gave your pearl bo Dakota it took refuge inside of her body. then let go ofxbeing here and let it guide you to its source point. Sh! Dave quieted her picking her up he slid her pussy onto his lkng hard pole Oh I plan on it. kSamuel grinned back and began to work his prick into the bud of her asshole. Let's sail on to our home men. as his last words turning from his men he waved farewell and dsscended to his cabin. sell let's see if I can find something to demonstrate. then he walked over to the chair and looked for a device of some kknd but still nothing. Please Mistress.they're hurting! They hurt so bad! Please! . pLEASE. There was a note of desperation in her voic. The duel sensations of arousal and nausea were back as Felicia bigged for Leosha to stop the humiliation Not a chance baby doll Leosha said and again held up her cell phone as a reminder of impending punishment if she didn't fully compqy. Yu won't have to look out for me I'll stay well back until I can do something. if anything happens to you not only will I be devastated Iwill also definitely be responsible for it. Because of it my wife is probably going tk have your baby and there's nothing I can do about it. but I have nxver felt someone love me like she does. Tell me.if you were him.what? Annue whispered as she ran her fingers through his brown hair and she shifted her hips she sucked in hugged him tighter and Anniels heart raced.


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From 1 January 2011, the Malaysian government has made health insurance compulsory for all foreign workers.
The Foreign Worker Hospitalization & Surgical Insurance Scheme makes it compulsory for employers to provide health insurance coverage to all foreign workers aged 19 to 59 in Malaysia.
Employers who have not arranged insurance and paid premiums by March, risk the non-renewal of foreign worker's permits.
The insurance only offers cashless treatment within government hospitals in the country. There are set premiums and limits. Foreign workers covered under the insurance scheme, are entitled to government hospital care.
There are two million foreign workers registered in Malaysia, predominantly employed as labourers or domestic servants, but the law applies equally to skilled workers and professionals.
There are 32 insurers currently authorized to offer cover on the scheme.
Local employers are not happy with the new law and some refuse to comply.
At present there seems to be no exclusion for workers with international private medical insurance, but as the latter offers more extensive and private treatment, it would be wrong to remove this cover and replace it with the compulsory one, so expatriate employers should regard the new law just as another tax.


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Get an email alert if this goes back in stock.
We all need those shoes - the ones that look totally sexy and take two seconds to slip on. These awesome black box leather mules feature a stacked heel and a slip-on style Genuine leather interior, cushioned insole. Perfect with a structured pair of trousers and a sheer blouse!
*Genuine Leather Upper/Lining, Synthetic Sole
*Shoe Height: 3.5"/9cm
*Heel Height: 2.5"/6.25
If you're not utterly obsessed with your recent purchase, it's now so easy to send it back! All US returns can be completed online using our fast, hassle-free system. Check out the links below for more details.
Hair accessories, opened makeup, earrings, ear cuffs, panties and bodysuits cannot be returned.


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USC Shoah Foundation Founder Steven Spielberg Announces IWitness Video Challenge
Stephen D. Smith, Executive Director of the USC Shoah Foundation, believes that IWitness will transform learning for students now and in the future. "By integrating testimony-based education with the development of media literacy, digital citizenship, and other 21 st-century competencies, IWitness can help students understand the power of their words and actions and prepare them to be global citizens who add value to society."
Teachers interested in signing up their students in the IWitness Video Challenge must do so by June 30, 2013 and video essays must be submitted by October 31, 2013. USC Shoah Foundation will fly the IWitness Video Challenge winning student, a guardian/parent and teacher to Los Angeles in March 2014 to screen the video essay as part of the Institute's 20 th anniversary activities.
For more information about the IWitness Video Challenge, visit iwitness.usc.edu.
About the USC Shoah Foundation
USC Shoah Foundation The Institute for Visual History and Education is dedicated to making audio-visual interviews with survivors and other witnesses of the Holocaust and other genocides, a compelling voice for education and action. The Institute's current collection of 51,696 eyewitness testimonies contained within its Visual History Archive preserves history as told by the people who lived it, and lived through it. Housed at the University of Southern California, within the Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, the Institute works with partners around the world to advance scholarship and research, to provide resources and online tools for educators, and to disseminate the testimonies for educational purposes.
SOURCE USC Shoah Foundation Institute


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Team Losi Racing Slipper Plate Set (2) (TLR 22)
This is a Team Losi Racing Slipper Plate Set, intended for use with the Team Losi Racing 22 1/10 buggy. These are direct replacements for the Losi 22, but are also compatible with the entire XXX family of Losi vehicles.
This product was added to our catalog on April 22, 2011.
|Low Price:
Manufacturer InfoBrowse other products from Team Losi Racing


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n the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting last December, school officials are reviewing enhanced lockdown procedures for students and staff in the event of an emergency.
In the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting last December, school officials are reviewing enhanced lockdown procedures for students and staff in the event of an emergency.
Administrators across the district have been trained in the new "AliCE" system and school officials are in the process of explaining the system to staff members, parents and students with the possibility of implementing the new more aggressive approach to emergency lockdowns, said Superintendent Kevin Lyons.
The system - which stands for alert, lockdown, inform, counter, evacuate – differs from the normal lockdown procedure in that it encourages a more proactive approach to escaping a shooter.
Lyons and Jenny Gormley, director of health, nursing and safety, detailed the response tactic, which stresses the need for classes to be alerted to emergencies and locked down in their classrooms.
"It's a good place to start," Gormley said of a lockdown.
"ALiCE" stresses constant communication from a school's main office over its public address system about where a shooter is inside the school. Gormley said if teachers and staff members know the shooter is far from their classrooms, they can safely evacuate the school.
The new system also encourages teachers to barricade their classroom doors with desks, chairs and other items to prevent or slow down a shooter from entering a classroom, said Gormley.
"There's a lot of logic to it," said Gormley.
Initially not a supporter of "ALiCE," Lyons said that after seeing demonstrations in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting he believes the system is useful in helping students and staff safely evacuate a potentially life-threatening situation.
After undergoing training over the summer, Lyons said administrators across the district gave him positive feedback and the district is now explaining the new system to teachers, staff members, students and parents.
Lyons said school officials will likely be before the School Committee at a future meeting to request changing the lockdown procedures
Jeff Malachowski can be reached at 508-490-7466 or email@example.com. Follow him on Twitter @JmalachowskiMW.
Comments are currently unavailable on this article
Location, ST | website.com


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5 Things to Say to Your Next Yoga Girlfriend. ~ Shawna Schenk
Want to Date a Yoga Girl?
Doing one of these things may get something else flowing (other than her vinyasa):
1. When you want to do something with her, be sure to end your question with, "you down, dog?"
"I feel like saving the world, you down, dog?""Let's plant organic carrots in a community garden, you down, dog?"
2. If you get in a fight and she tells you to leave, look her in the eye and sweetly say, "Nah-imma-stay."
3. Tell her you like the way she makes your chakras feel.
4. Instead of whispering "sweet nothings" in her ear, try softly chanting: "Om nimaya shiva, baby" or "Shanti, shanti, shanti, om, sweetheart."
And when things start to get more serious than a yoga teacher in a Bikram class on a full moon:
5. Give her a yogi pet name, like [little] Ganseha (reminding her that she helps remove all obstacles in your life) or [beautiful] Warrior (letting her know she's the girl that helps inspire you to stay strong).
Like elephant journal on Facebook.
Assistant Ed: Andie Britton-Foster/Ed: Brianna Bemel
Incorrect source, offensive, or found a typo? Email us (please put title in subject bar of email so we'll be able to fix). Or do you want to write for Elephant?
{Waylon H. Lewis C Enterprises 2015: Use Rights in perpetuity. Ownership remains with author.}
4 Responses to "5 Things to Say to Your Next Yoga Girlfriend. ~ Shawna Schenk"
This is awesome! I really did LOL!
this made me laugh…great yoga humor!! we cant take our practice toooo seriously !


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Youth Voices Stories
Lynden - Broadband Interview-
Youth Producer Lynden Interviews Arrowhead's Joe Butweiler about broadband progress.
Lynden - Gotta Getta Job-
Youth Radio Producer Lynden shares his perspective on choosing a career path.
Lucy - What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up-
In this interview with Mike McHugh, high school English teacher at Cook County Schools, Youth Radio Producer Lucy explores
Lynden - Love & Stuff Too-
Youth Radio Producer Lynden shares his thoughts on love & relationships
Nina - Computer Virus-
Youth Radio Producer Nina's Poem invites us into the world of a computer virus
Sean - Internet-
Youth Radio Producer Sean talks about getting access to the internet at home for the first time.
Chloe & Lynden - Sean's Flirting Problem-
Chloe & Lynden confront Sean about his flirting "problem"
Nina - Patrick Knight Interview-
Youth Radio Producer Nina Interviews Patrick Knight about his job.
Chloe & Doran - Valentines Day At Great Expectations School-
Youth Radio Producers Chloe & Doran ask fellow students at Great Expectations School what they plan to do for Valentines day.
Nina - Valentines Day History-
Youth Radio Producer Nina investigates the history of Valentines day


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Schumer: Wireless carriers must produce accurate coverage mapsSchumer: Wireless carriers must produce accurate coverage mapsThere are more cell phone dead zones in Dutchess County than post-winter potholes on the West Side Highway – and misrepresenting coverage maps to give the impression a wireless carrier provides coverage in an area where it does not is false advertisi
- 17 hours, 29 minutes ago
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Heritage Executive Suites to hold ribbon cutting ceremonyHeritage Executive Suites to hold ribbon cutting ceremonyDutchess County's new Heritage Executive Suites, which offers a unique office set-up of furnished, individual suites with shared amenities, will hold a ribbon cutting ceremony hosted by Dutchess County Regional Chamber of Commerce Oct. 13 at 4 p.m.
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Smoke Rise Golf & Country Club
7 Reviews
- 4900 Chedworth Dr, Stone Mountain, GA 30087
- (770) 908-2582
- smokerisecc.com
|18 total holes at facility
|Designed by Gary Roger Baird
|Built in 1998
|Driving Range: Yes
|Private golf course
Smoke Rise Golf & Country Club is an 18-hole regulation length golf course in Stone Mountain, Georgia. This medium-length layout has 3 sets of teeboxes for a fun, but challenging golfing experience. Online tee times may be available at Smoke Rise Golf & Country Club or at nearby golf courses, usually offered at a discount from the normal rate.
|Course Rating
|Back Tees
|Golf Pro: Dom Stephens
|Course Superintendent: Michael Lawrence
|Manager: Chris Wyant
Although our data about these courses is mostly valid, in some cases there may be mistakes. If you stumble upon anything that needs to be updated, please get ahold of us about it.
4.1 Stars (7 Reviews) - Last updated on July 15, 2014
On the Google+ page for "Smoke Rise Country Club", they have an average rating of 4.1/5, and they have a total of 7
Read the full reviews on Google+
Please login to add your review.


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Welcome to PastGems.com
Welcome to PastGems.com...an affordable Vintage Jewelry Shop. We're glad you stopped by!
We are closing our doors. Everything must go.
If you missed our 50% Liquidation Sale in April, not to worry.
As we continue the process of liquidating, we will consider all offers on lots of 25 pieces of jewelry or more. Put together your own lot, email me the list and your offer and we'll take it from there.
Meanwhile, I am going to be pulling jewelry from inventory and offering it in lots on eBay until everything is gone.
Act now if there's something you want!


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CAMDEN Charles Darwin may have been born 200 years ago come Feb. 12, but his theory of evolution remains an everyday touchstone for modern biologists. And while the Origin of Species author might not have known the term "global warming," he wouldn't have been surprised that the environment is changing. He would, however, be astonished by the speed at which it's happening today.
"Every species is under temporary permanence," says Bill Saidel, an associate professor of biology at Rutgers University's Camden Campus, where he teaches Animal Behavior and Behavioral Neurobiology. Darwin would have predicted changes in species' habits and even changes in the environment, but the planet's facing changes that are both drastic and unpredictable.
Saidel notes some already observed results of global warming today, like changing avian migration patterns and pH levels in oceans. But how would Darwin begin to determine how every species might respond to climate change? Most likely he'd begin by observing those habitats that are uniquely individual and well-defined.
This approach - researching one specialized habitat for insight into a larger understanding of evolution - is how Saidel conducts his own research at RutgersCamden. His interest in the exotic African butterfly fish is precisely because it has evolved two retinas in each eye, but only feeds from information derived from one. The fish's highly specialized adaptations, from retina to brain, serve as a model for discerning the circuitry of feeding in all vertebrae whose visual traits aren't as clearly segmented.
"This fish has much to teach us. It has adapted extraordinarily to a single unique environment. Yet, the consequences of a highly adapted species is that any change can be dire," says Saidel.
Dan Shain, associate professor of biology at RutgersCamden, also researches highly specialized creatures: worms that thrive in the world's most extreme climates. He
|Contact: Cathy Donovan
Rutgers University


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Tag Archives: Weekend in DC
The Weekend Round-Up: April 11-12
Spring break for DC students is starting on a peak note! The cherry trees are blooming, sunshine will be abundant, and there are some fantastic events going on to savor it all. Find details below and even more ideas in … Continue reading
The Weekend Round-Up: March 28-29
Cherry Blossom Festival events, spring and Easter celebrations, museum programs, live entertainment, plus scores of mainstay attractions around the area will keep the whole crew satisfied over the next few days. Happy Weekend! Go Fly a Kite! Where: Washington Monument … Continue reading
The Weekend Round-Up: March 21-22
Snow on the first day of spring gives new meaning to "March Madness." But while it might not look or feel like the beginning of the new season today, this weekend's weather will make up for it. Even better, it … Continue reading
The Weekend Round-Up: March 14-15
There are so many things to love about this time of year: The much anticipated change in weather, the earliest sprouts of spring, a reason to drink green beer (and drink it outdoors), the lead up to March Madness (go, … Continue reading
The Weekend Round-Up: March 7-8
What could have been a dreary snow day stuck inside the house turned out to be one of the most memorable and fun times had this winter. Yes, we joined the much publicized sled-in at the Capitol yesterday. And while … Continue reading


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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Oscar Taveras recorded a season-high four hits to lead the Memphis Redbirds to a 6-3 win over the Colorado Springs Sky Sox on Tuesday night at Security Service Field.
After being shut out over 10 innings the night before, the Memphis (22-23) offense banged out 16 hits, led by Taveras (4-for-5, 2B, 2 RBI, R), Shane Robinson (3-for-5, 2B, R) and Scott Moore (3-for-5, RBI, R).
The Redbirds jumped out to a 1-0 advantage in the opening frame by three consecutive base hits by Randal Grichuk (2-for-5, 2 R), Taveras, and Xavier Scruggs (1-for-4, RBI, R, BB).
Memphis' lead didn't last for long as Colorado Springs plated two against starter Scott McGregor in the bottom of the frame. Josh Rutledge hit a one-out single and scored on the subsequent Kyle Parker triple off the center field wall. Ryan Wheeler followed it up with a line drive single to left.
The scored remain the same until Memphis was able to knot the contest at 2-2 in the sixth. Moore hit a one-out single, moved to second base on an infield groundout, and came around to score as Ed Easley lined a game-tying two-out single to center.
Colorado Springs quickly went back ahead at 3-2 in the bottom of the sixth. With Rutledge on third thanks to an inning-opening walk and single by Parker, Ryan Wheeler grounded into a double play that allowed Rutledge to score the go-ahead run.
Memphis sent eight to the dish and rode a four-run rally to take a 6-3 lead in the seventh, highlighted by a Taveras two-run double. Moore followed with an RBI single to score Taveras for the next run, and later came home on a sacrifice bunt by Pete Kozma.
Justin Wright moved to 2-0 in his second Triple-A appearance after firing two scoreless frames. David Aardsma stranded the tying run at the plate and converted his team-leading fifth save.
Both starting pitchers walked away with no-decisions. McGregor yielded three runs on six hits and a walk over five plus innings. Christian Friedrich scattered 10 hits for two runs in six innings in a quality start.
Memphis and Colorado Springs continue its series at 7:35 pm CT on Wednesday night at Security Service Field. Left-hander Nick Greenwood is scheduled to make the start against Sky Sox lefty Pedro Hernandez (3-0, 5.89).
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- Ethics Home Page
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Feb 20, 2013
noon - 1:00 p.m.
Vari Hall, The Wiegand Center
Cost : Free
Maintaining an Ethical Culture in a High Performance Organization
Jack Domme, CEO, Hitachi Data Systems, will speak on "Maintaining an Ethical Culture in a High Performance Organization".
Hitachi Data Systems, a major international provider of business storage solutions, has won top awards for its creation of an ethical internal company culture. Jack Domme, HDS's CEO, will speak about the success factors that drive the business and how business ethics strengthens the brand and drives success. This will be an excellent occasion to consider ethics not just as a personal issue but also as something also ideally embedded in an organizational structure.
More Information
Monica DeLong
Ethics at Noon
10/14/15 : Pizza, Passion, and the Minimum Wage
New Materials
- The Center and the Pope
Staff comment on the papal visit
- Can We Expect Ethical Behavior From our Leaders?
A Talk by Kirk Hanson at University of St. Thomas
- Gifts, Conflicts of Interest, Public Records
Brief case studies raise issues in government ethics.
Center News
- Pizza, Passion, and the Minimum Wage
A talk by Pizza My Heart President Chuck Hammers, Oct. 14
- How Can Someone Be a Troll?
A talk by Anonio Casilli, Oct. 9
- Character Education Director Receives President's Award
Johnson gets special recognition Innovations in Catholic Education
- More News ��


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The term "feedback" is coming close to finding itself in clichéd business word category (along with personal favorites "synergy" and "paradigm"). Even if for you the word itself isn't necessarily something that you expect to see in a Dilbert cartoon, the thought of what feedback entails can be unpleasant. For many it conjures up visions of clueless coworkers asking you to add animated .gifs and flashing purple buttons to a page, or of a client submitting a list of 82 new items to create on their site even though you are on the ninth round of changes. If nothing else, getting feedback stinks because it's more (usually boring) work for you, and let's face it, you'd rather be doing something else.
But you need some feedback. So, here's the question: how can you keep from having to waste hours upon hours getting feedback from largely unhelpful sources, while still making sure that what you are creating actually makes sense, looks good, and doesn't end your career?
Here are a few strategies for getting feedback as well as some tools that have been proven to help web designers simplify the feedback process:
Community Driven Feedback
Imagine walking into a big room of graphic and web design professionals (much like yourself). These folks are smart and on top of their respective games (again, much like yourself). Now imagine standing up in front of all of them, showing them your latest work, and then asking for feedback. While there is the potential to get some great input on what you've created, the whole process would likely be highly disorganized and nerve-wracking. Fortunately there are some tools that get pretty close to the benefits of standing up in front of a roomful of like-minded professionals, without any of the disorganization or (as much) potential humiliation.
Concept Feedback is a web based community of graphic and web designers that give input on submissions of each other's work. Anyone can join and post their own "concept" and get advice on how to improve their work from the user community through the site's innovative rating tools (while in turn giving your own advice on other people's work). In addition to getting feedback from the thousands of users on the site, you can also receive feedback from smaller panels of industry experts hand-selected by the Concept Feedback staff. Finally, the site also offers tools so that you can privately share and receive feedback from your clients and team.
One less comprehensive yet innovative take on community driven feedback is Five Second Test. It's just like it sounds- users look at your site for five seconds and then report back on their first impressions of your work. While you aren't going to get in-depth existential analysis of what you've created, you will be getting input akin to what actual site visitors will be thinking when they visit your site in the future.
Alternate Tools:
In-Person User Testing
While online community driven feedback is great for getting a whole lot of different input in a short amount of time, there are other methods that can help you get more detailed and personalized responses to your work. These methods are also helpful for getting feedback from people outside the web and graphic design world (people that, while clueless about the specifics of your field, are nonetheless buying the junk that your site is selling or logo is promoting, which in turn is providing you with the income you need to keep going to Comic-Con year after year). These methods are also good for getting the interweb proletariat to explain what they actually mean when they make statements like "I hate that logo" or "This page needs to be more, um, you know, snappy."
In-person user testing is as simple as sitting someone down in front of a computer with you and having them browse your site or look at your designs. There aren't any hard and fast rules for in-person testing, but it is very important that you have the right people doing this work: each tester should be selected and their opinions weighted based on how well they fit in to your target audience. Another important thing to do with in-person testers is to ask questions. Getting testers to explain their criticisms will not only get you beyond simple yes/no responses, but their elaboration will probably let you know quickly whether or not to trust the user's feedback.
One tool that can help you with in-person (or remote) user testing is screen recording software Morae from TechSmith. In addition to capturing all on-screen activity, Morae can also record audio and video of your tester while they browse. Screencasts and the accompanying audio are easily shared with co-workers or clients via YouTube, Quicktime, or Windows Media.
Alternate Tools:
Remote User Testing
If you don't have the time to have testers sit down with you in person to give you feedback (or if your office happens to be your bedroom, complete with Green Lantern posters and seven month old Filet-o-Fish packages), remote user testing might be a better option. The principle is basically the same as in-person testing, and with the right screen sharing and recording software you can do your own testing with your own users. However, there are some great tools out there that can keep you from having to hunt down new testers and provide you with more useful info than you could obtain by yourself.
UserTesting.com provides you with screen and audio recordings of their testers interacting with your site. You can start seeing testing results in as little as one hour, and you can request users that meet your target demographics. The per-user testing cost isn't cheap ($39 per user), but you get helpful, comprehensive feedback fast with no hassle on your part.
If you want to better understand how website users are seeing and comprehending your site, utilizing the eye tracking features of GazeHawk might be a good move. You simply provide GazeHawk with a URL and they use some fancy webcam trickery to track what test visitors are drawn to on your page. The result of the test is a heatmap that is easy to understand and would make Predator jealous. This tool is especially helpful for landing pages.
Alternate Tools:
Polls and Surveys
The nice thing about user testing is that you get a personal response quickly; you usually come away with some type of helpful information about your work, even if it is something simple. However, there is no replacement for hard data collected over an extended period of time. And even if polls and surveys and the cool charts and graphs they produce aren't your thing, they are sure to impress clients and give weight to your brilliant suggestions.
While pop-ups that ask "Do you have time to tell us about your experience on this site?" translates for some people into "Can we ask you some boring questions for 5 minutes and give you nothing in return?", there are indeed others that actually click "Yes" on those things. And believe it or not, they actually can provide some helpful information. Three providers of useful on-site polls and surveys are KISSinsights, Kampyle, and PollDaddy.
In my experience I've found that the amount and quality of feedback from your site's users improves if they can expect something in return. Try offering a 10% off coupon code or entry in a drawing for a gift card in exchange for a completed survey. Not only will you get larger amounts of better feedback, but you very well could increase sales or submissions of prospect contact info.
Alternate Tools:
As frustrating, time consuming, and expensive as obtaining quality feedback can be, doing so should be a standard step in the design process for all web and graphic designers. All it takes is a couple of simple mistakes to derail a project for an important client. A little time and money spent could very well save you embarrassment and angry clients. So what strategies and tools do you use for website feedback? Let us know in the comments!
About the Author
Aaron Griffith is part of the Concept Feedback team, a free website review community for designers, developers and marketers. You can learn more at Concept Feedback or follow the team on Twitter.
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Results 1 - 4 of 4 Page 1 of 1


text:
|Publication number
|Publication type
|Application number
|Publication date
|Apr 16, 1991
|Filing date
|Mar 31, 1989
|Priority date
|Mar 31, 1989
|Fee status
|Publication number
|Vladimir Sejnoha
|Original Assignee
|Kurzweil Applied Intelligence, Inc.
|Export Citation
|BiBTeX, EndNote, RefMan
|Patent Citations (7), Non-Patent Citations (10), Referenced by (26), Classifications (6), Legal Events (13)
|External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, Espacenet
The invention relates generally to speech recognition systems and in particular to a method and apparatus for automatically updating an error compensation signal relating to the characteristics of the speaker and the transfer function between the speaker and the speech recognition system.
It is well known that speech recognition systems contend with many variable factors, such as background noise, the location of the microphone relative to the speaker, the direction in which the speaker is speaking, the context of the speech including the level of emotion in the speaker's voice, the rate of speech, changes due to speaker fatigue, etc. Each of these factors can vary over time and has an adverse effect on the ability of a recognition system to determine or recognize the words or utterances of a (known or unknown) speaker; and accordingly, many different speech recognition approaches have been proposed to correct for or take into account the potential variations which tend to mask the lexical content of the speech signal. Indeed, this is one of the reasons why speech recognition is a difficult and challenging problem. These factors are different than the normal variability in the pronunciation of words for which speech recognition systems apply different recognition techniques.
In one particular speech recognition system, described in Feldman et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,799,262, filed June 22, 1985, and granted Jan. 24, 1989 (the specification of which is incorporated, by reference, in this application), a speech recognition system is described which uses a code book containing a plurality of quantized vectors which reflect the range of sounds a user can produce, and to which unknown incoming speech frames are compared. Sequences of the vectors thus represent the words in the recognition vocabulary. Each input word is assigned a sequence of vectors and the system recognizes words by examining these sequences. Both the generation of the codebook during an enrollment phase and the assignment of the codebook vectors to input speech during training and recognition are influenced by the so-called speaker or system "transfer function." This function can be viewed as, in effect, distorting the ideal, intended output of the speaker by the time the audio output is converted into electrical signals at the receiving microphone. Incorporated in this transfer function are both characteristics associated with the speaker's voice type, the characteristics of the microphone, the direction and distance of the speaker from the microphone, as well as environmental effects. This transfer function changes over time, due to, for example, changes in the position of the microphone or changes in the user's voice. When such changes occur, the input signal no longer closely matches the codebook, incorrect vectors are selected, and recognition performance suffers. Consequently, it is important to track changes in the transfer function and compensate for them.
One typical way to do so, described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,799,262, is to require the user to periodically perform a "mike check." The mike check consists of the user speaking a small set of known words which are used by the system to compute an estimate of the transfer function and compensate for it. The set of words spoken during a mike check is fixed so as not to compound the problem of tracking changes in the transfer function by introducing changes due to the different spectral content of different words. Alternately, some systems do not require a mike check but average successive input words to deemphasize the spectral contribution of individual lexical items; but to do so properly (especially in specialized applications) requires a very long adaptation time which makes it difficult to adequately track the changing transfer function.
While doing mike checks during enrollment may constitute an adequate solution to the problem of tracking the varying transfer function, users are less willing to interrupt useful work to perform mike checks during recognition and, accordingly, changes in the transfer function can dramatically and adversely affect the resulting accuracy of the speech recognition process as substantial errors of recognition can occur. It is thus highly desirable to track the changing transfer function automatically, without additional work by the user and therefore any such automatic method must be able to operate with unknown input speech and be inherently stable since it must work in an unsupervised fashion.
Systems have employed, for example, methods which determine non-speech boundaries of the incoming speech signal, and then set noise thresholds which depend upon the level of the actual noise measured during non-speech. Still other systems are directed toward providing better representations of the noise during non-speech times so that a better recognition of speech can be obtained by subtracting the "true" noise from the speech signal during actual speech. These systems, however, typically do not take into account the effective "noise" which results from movement of the microphone or the relation between the speaker and the microphone, and changes in the speaker's voice which can vary in a random fashion.
In addition, systems for reducing stationary noise or for filtering near stationary noise have been provided using, for example, Weiner or Kalman filter theory for minimization where a prior knowledge of the noise is acquired and is not assumed. These systems, also, do not take into account the transfer function from speaker to microphone, and do not allow for the automatic adaptation of the actual speech using statistics available during and from the speech process itself.
Other systems try to account for the transfer function but either (a) require knowledge of input text that is, a kind of retraining, (b) assume that the speech recognition outputs are correct and use word identities (an assumption which cannot be properly made) or (c) require various and impractical adaptation time, to average out word information.
Accordingly, an object of the invention is a method and apparatus for continuously updating a data correction signal representing the speaker to microphone system transfer function and which can be employed during actual speech recognition or training of the system. Other objects of the invention are a speech recognition method and apparatus which provide higher accuracy of speech recognition, which adapt to changing speaker/microphone conditions in an automatic manner, which provide accurate high level updating of the speaker transfer function without interrupting the speech recognition process, and which provide for efficient and more precise speech recognition using a vector quantization code book analysis.
The invention relates to a speech recognition apparatus and method for recognizing input speech data. The apparatus of the invention provides for updating the parameters of a transformation function, the purpose of which is to deemphasize those components of the speech signal which do not carry lexical information and which thus cause poor recognition performance in the apparatus. These components can result from a particular speaker's voice, a particular lip-to microphone transfer function, microphone type, etc. The values of these parameters typically change over time and thus need to be tracked. The particular illustrated embodiment of the invention models these components as an additive error spectrum (designated an "LTA") (in the log-spectral domain) and estimates the error vector automatically. Other models of the transformation functions (that is, ones which are not merely additive in the log-domain) can equally well be used in the method and apparatus described here. The updating of the model parameters operates with unknown input speech; and consequently, the method must be able to distinguish between aspects of the input signal which contain lexical information and those characteristics which represent the changes in the transfer function. The present invention accomplishes this goal by an iterative process which involves the association of each input speech frame with the closest stored standard frame. The difference between the two frames is assumed to be explained by changes in the transfer function and is used in the derivation of the parameters of the model of the transformation function. After an adequate number of input frames are observed, the model parameters are updated and the model is used to modify new input frames. These are in turn compared to the standard representative frames and the cycle continues. Since frames spanning the entire speech space are considered, only global, systematic transfer function changes are tracked and the process cannot diverge. The process is complete when systematic discrepancies between input frames and the closest standard representative frames have been eliminated.
The apparatus features circuitry for updating an error compensation signal representing a system transfer function between the speaker and the recognition apparatus. The updating apparatus features circuitry for generating an initial compensation signal; circuitry for generating, from the input speech data, a succession of speech representing input frames, modified by the compensation signal, and which include as a distorting value, a current error signal corresponding to the difference between the compensation signal and the actual compensation signal values determined by the then system transfer function; circuitry for associating each speech representing input frame with one of a plurality of speech representing standard frames; circuitry for accumulating the differences between respective successive speech representing input frames and the associated speech representing standard frames; circuitry for periodically determining an average update signal representative of a selected number of the accumulated differences; and circuitry for updating the compensation signal in accordance with the average difference signal to generate a new current compensation signal.
The apparatus further features an associating circuitry having elements for associating each input frame with a spatial volume in a speech recognition decision space, each volume being characterized by its centroid, and wherein the accumulating circuitry sums the difference in value between the input frames and the centroid of the volume associated with that frame.
Preferably, the updating step is automatically performed no more often than about every fifty input words, as determined by the speech recognition apparatus, and the generating circuitry selectively discriminates from generating frames during those time durations including either silence or noise as the sole input. When the compensation signal is the long term average data signal, the circuitry further features elements for removing any DC offset from the averaged long term average data signal.
The method of the invention features the steps of initially generating the error compensation signal; generating from the speech input a succession of input frames representing the speech input modified by a current compensation signal, each input frame including, as a distorting value, a signal corresponding to an uncompensated error instantaneous value of a system transfer function; associating each speech representing input frame with one of a plurality of speech representing standard frames; successively accumulating the differences between successive speech representing input frames and the respective associated speech representing standard frames; periodically determining an average update signal representative of a selected number of said accumulated differences; and updating the compensation signal in accordance with said periodically determined average update signal.
In specific embodiments of the invention, the method features associating each input frame with a spatial volume in a speech recognition decision space, each volume being characterized by a centroid representing the standard frame, and summing the difference in value between the input frames and the associated centroid of the associated volume. Preferably, the number of centroids is less than the number of standard frames used in the speech recognition application. The updating step preferably operates no more than about once every fifty input words, as determined by the speech recognition method being employed.
Other objects, features, and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment taken together with the drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an overall speech recognition system in accordance with the invention;
FIG. 2 is a schematic flow chart illustrating operation of the apparatus of FIG. 1 in accordance with the invention;
FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration of the speech recognition space into which the input speech "vectors" are placed;
FIG. 4 is a schematic illustration of a speech recognition space according to a preferred embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 5 is a detailed schematic flow chart illustrating operation of the updating apparatus in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 6 is a schematic illustration of the upper level/lower level identification of decision/LTA vector spaces in accordance with the invention; and
FIG. 7 is a circuit diagram illustrating an apparatus for updating the LTA according to the invention.
Referring to FIG. 1, a typical speech recognition apparatus has a microphone or other audio input device 12 for receiving the audio speech input from a speaker 14. The output of the audio input device 12, an analog audio signal over a line 16, is delivered to an audio processing circuitry 18 which typically includes at least an audio amplifier and audio filtering. The output of the audio processing circuitry 18 is directed to an analog to digital converter circuitry 20. The analog to digital circuitry 20 digitizes the audio input from the audio processing circuitry for processing by the remainder of the speech recognition apparatus which operates in the digital domain. The sampling rate of the analog to digital converter is typically in excess of 16,000 samples per second.
The digital output of the analog to digital (A/D) converter 20 is received by a digital signal processing circuitry 22. The digital signal processing circuitry can operate, in accordance with the general speech processing field, according to many different speech recognition methods. In the illustrated and preferred embodiment of the invention, the digital signal processing circuitry 22 and a recognition processing circuitry 24, typically implemented in software, operate in accordance with the method and apparatus described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,799,262, granted Jan. 24, 1989, and identified above. The output of the digital processing circuitry is typically, in the illustrated embodiment of the invention, a sequence of speech recognition vectors which represent the incoming audio speech from the speaker 14. These vectors are compared, in the recognition processing circuitry, with a code book of preselected quantized vectors from which speech recognition decisions are made. The sequences of vectors representing an input word are used by pattern matching software 26 in arriving at a recognition decision. The speech recognition decision can be applied to a speech application method or apparatus, can be displayed on a display screen, or can be applied, for example, to a digital computer for further processing.
Referring now to the flow chart of FIG. 2, in accordance with the preferred speech recognition apparatus of the invention, that apparatus being described in general terms in the above-identified United States patent, the digital signal processing circuitry 22 receives, at 30, the digital samples from the A/D converter 20 and generates representations of the speech in the form of successive input frames. The digital representation described by each of the input frames will typically be the logarithms of spectral values of the input signal, at a given time, for each of a plurality of spectral bandwidths in the range of 0-7,000 hertz. These input frames, according to this embodiment, form input frame vectors, and are then compared, at 32, with each of the standard preselected quantized vectors in a code book. The preselected vectors (or "standard frames") are stored in memory in the apparatus and are the vectors generated during the enrollment process.
There exists, in association with the code book vectors and the input frame vectors, a multidimensional recognition space, and associated with each quantized preselected vector is a decision vector space. If the input frame vector is within the associated decision space, the quantized preselected vector is chosen as the vector to be associated with that input frame vector. Typically, the notion of closest matching vector is used to define the vector decision space and is that preselected vector for which the distance between the input frame vector and a preselected vector is a minimum for the "matching preselected vector."
Referring, for example, to FIG. 3, a vector space 33 can be divided into a plurality of volumes 34 and with each volume is associated a quantized preselected vector 36. Typically, the spaces are irregular as illustrated in FIG. 3, and have generally linear boundaries. The vectors exist in a n-dimensional space so that the quantized vector Vr has as its arguments a1,r, a2,r . . . , an,r. Thus, if an input frame is located within a volume 34i, it is then associated with the quantized vector Vi, having argument values a1,i, a2,i, . . . , an,i.
Referring again to FIG. 2, after a sequence of input frames has been "quantized" and is represented by a sequence of quantized vectors from the "code book," the sequence is compared, at 40, with the stored vocabulary "words or items" represented by sequences of the quantized vectors (a sequence of quantized vectors can then represent a code word to be "recognized"). Typically, the stored code word and an input sequence of quantized vectors do not match exactly and a decision for determining the closest matching code word(s) is undertaken at 42, as described in detail in the above-referenced patent. Once the closest matching code word or code words have been determined, they are passed to a speech recognition application at 44. One application may simply be to present the closest matching code word and alternate choices, that is, the second, third, etc., closest matching code words, for display on a monitor. Other applications may include printing the code words in a document, causing various actions to occur in an industrial process, etc.
During the process of forming the quantized input frame vectors, various external influences can substantially and severely adversely affect the resulting accuracy and precision of the system. For example, changes in the speaker's voice, the occurrence of external noise into the system may alter the spectral frequencies and amplitude values of the input frame, the movement of the speaker relative to the microphone can further vary the input frame signals, the parameters of the audio processing circuitry, including differences in microphones, can further alter the spectrum of the input frame signals generated by the apparatus. All of these influences, termed herein a system transfer function, are preferably monitored and eliminated by the subtraction of the LTA. This estimate is adapted to track changing conditions, in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the invention, using a long term average data signal (LTA) generated by an LTA update circuit 25 (FIG. 1) (although, as mentioned above, other compensation models or transformations (other than an LTA) can equally well be used).
Referring to FIG. 5, which describes the LTA update process of the LTA circuitry 25 of FIG. 1, in accordance with the invention, once the system is initialized at 60, the apparatus selects, at 62, an initial value for a "long term average data signal" (hereinafter designated the "LTA") which will be subtracted from the input frame (from A/D 20) and generated at 30 (FIG. 2) and prior to comparison of that input frame with the quantized vectors in the code book (in recognition processing circuitry 24) at 32.
In accordance with the invention, after a spectrum for an initial LTA is obtained, the method and apparatus maintain and update the LTA spectrum, reflecting changes, if any, in the user's voice, the acoustic path between the user's lips and the microphone, the frequency response of the microphone and the audio front end, and any other external variable noises or effects which may occur. The updated LTA spectrum is then subtracted from every generated input frame with the intent of eliminating these sources of signal variability since they do not carry information about the lexical content of the words being spoken and could thus cause a false recognition.
In accordance with the invention, the initial LTA is obtained by requiring a speaker to repeat a set of known words, the frames of which are averaged into a single spectrum. This initial LTA is not a true long-term average. To obtain a true LTA would require far more speech data, enough so that it would not matter which words were chosen because word specific spectral information would be averaged out. Since the LTA is preferably required before the first speech frame is processed, requiring the data for a "true" LTA is impractical and, accordingly, an initial LTA having a spectral shape which also reflects the chosen words is generated. While the words which determine the initial LTA can be hand chosen, one cannot assume anything about the lexical content of words spoken during a recognition session except that, most probably, the words will vary and will probably not be a typical representative sample of English (that is, not a "stationary" sample). This is especially true for specialized applications of a speech recognition system such as, for example, recognizing a vocabulary associated with medical radiology. Thus, it is not sufficient to average all of the received frames to obtain an LTA update since successive updates will exhibit differences due to the different sets of words used in deriving the updates as well as differences due to the important changes which were to be the focus of the updates.
These problems are solved in the preferred embodiment of the invention, where the LTA update signals are obtained by using the vector quantization matching process described above. That is, an input frame vector, I(i1, i2, . . . ,in), altered (or normalized) by the current LTA estimate, is first associated with the closest matching quantized preselected vector. Once the best matching quantized vector or "VQ centroid," V(v1, v2, . . . ,vn), is found for an input frame vector, the difference vector D(v1 -i1, v2 -i2, v3 -i3, . . . vn -in) (difference for each vector argument) between the input frame vector and that best matching VQ centroid is determined. Under ideal conditions, those differences are independent of the identity of the particular frame-centroid pair and reflect the overall mismatch between the set of centroids and the input spectral vectors. Using the frame-centroid differences thus achieves a normalization of the occurrence frequency of input words, since the specific spectral content of the input words is removed by the differencing process. Averaging the differences (Equation 1) thus shows the discrepancy between the current LTA and its desirable or optimum shape. ##EQU1## Furthermore, updating the current LTA by adding to it the average difference vector (defined in Equation 2) does not obliterate any component, due to the original word set in the LTA, that is, the original LTA value which is embedded in the reference code book vectors and thus must also be subtracted from the new frames.
Smoothed average difference LTA Update=1/2[Previous smoothed average difference+current average different ] (Equation 2)
The D.C. offset of difference from Equation 2 is removed prior to the summation step in Equation 3 to obtain the new LTA value.
New LTA=Current LTA+Smoothed Average Difference LTA Update (Equation 3)
In practice, then, and referring to FIG. 3, if a new input frame 70 is associated with a vector quantization centroid 72, then the contribution to the LTA update is the difference represented by the vector 74. The values for these vectors 74 are accumulated; and after, for example, fifty input words, the average update value is determined and used as an actual update to the current LTA signal data value. Only input frames known by the apparatus to correspond to actual speech (as opposed to noise or silence) are employed as valid frames at 92.
In the case of large mismatches between the correct centroid and an input frame, due to large changes in the transfer function, there can result a substantial mislabeling of an input frame as the frames migrate across the code book space boundaries. Thus, for example, if an input frame 76, which should be associated with a first centroid 80 because they both represent the same type of speech event, crosses a boundary such that it will be associated with a centroid 78 instead, an error in the update will occur. Accordingly, instead of selecting the correct vector 82 as the difference value, a very different vector 84 (illustrated as both shorter in magnitude and having a substantially different direction) will be selected. Thus the frame-centroid difference will be based on an incorrect centroid and will suggest an erroneous LTA update adjustment.
The more and the closer in distance are the boundary crossings (corresponding to smaller volumes and more boundary crossings), the slower will be the convergence of the method. Accordingly, a smaller set of larger decision spaces, and hence a smaller number of centroids can be advantageously employed. Each centroid in the smaller set will have a larger "neighborhood" and hence will be less prone to those boundary crossings which cause errors in the computation of the frame-centroid differences. Referring to FIG. 4, this set of "upper level" centroids (they are called "upper level" because each of these volumes (neighborhoods) contains several of the volumes (neighborhoods) in FIG. 3) thus reduces the likelihood of boundary crossings and, with regard to a serial code book tree, can be viewed as the upper branches of the tree. The optimum number of centroids thus is a trade-off between ensuring adequate normalization and limiting the boundary crossings.
It is not necessary to encode the input frame vectors with a separate small code book in order to employ the upper level centroids. Instead, the number of centroids normally employed in the recognition method (for example 256 as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,799,262), can be used to create a smaller code book wherein each of the 256 centroids is assigned to one of the centroids in a smaller set. Thus, as each input frame vector is associated with a quantized preselected code book vector in a normal manner, its association with an upper level centroid is obtained at no additional cost. The corresponding upper level spectra are determined ahead of time (at initialization) and the difference between that upper level centroid spectrum and the input frame spectrum is accumulated over, as noted above, fifty or so input words. It is also important to note that the use of a lesser number of centroids does not adversely bias the process because in the absence of a transfer function change (error) the input frames associated with one neighborhood are more or less uniformly distributed over the recognition space in that neighborhood and hence do not bias the LTA update in one or more directions, even though each decision space will encompass a larger number of input frames.
Referring again to FIG. 5, after the initial value L(l1, . . . ,) of the LTA is determined at 62, the remainder of the recognition system is initialized at 90 and the system then generates, at 92, the spectrum for the next input frame. The current LTA is subtracted from the input frame at 93, and is then associated with a standard frame for the larger set of quantized vector volumes, at 94, and the difference between the input frame and the associated centroid of the smaller set of vector volumes is determined at 96. The differences are accumulated; and once a sufficient quantity of data has been accumulated, as determined at 98, the average accumulated LTA difference is determined and normalized at 100 (where the D.C. offset is removed), averaged (Equation 2), and is added, in accordance with Equation 3, to the current LTA at 102. If more input speech is to be received, the LTA process is reinitialized at 90 and the process continues. If, at 98, an insufficient number of LTA differences have been accumulated, the system returns to the next input frame and determines the next associated difference.
Referring to FIG. 6, a representative two-dimensional decision space has 128 decision volumes 500, each volume being identified by a seven binary digit number, and each volume having associated with it a standard input frame vector which can be, for example, of the class specified in the code book recognition process described in above-identified U.S. Pat. No. 4,799,262. Accordingly, each input frame vector, after subtraction of the then current LTA, is processed and associated with one of the standard vectors in the two-dimensional decision space.
After the standard input vector is identified, the same processed input vector frame can be associated with a centroid representative of a smaller set of larger volumes for use in calculating the update difference value for the current LTA. Each volume of the smaller set (in one preferred embodiment there are six) includes a plurality of the recognition volume decision space elements, and are identified schematically in FIG. 6 as a grouping of six upper level volumes bounded by solid lines. These volumes are numbered 502 and have a centroid associated with the volume, for example at 504, 506, etc. The identification of each centroid can be easily attained simply by associating the standard input frame vector, using an index table, with an upper level centroid. In this manner, substantially no additional computation is necessary to determine the centroid vector corresponding to a standard vector.
Referring now to FIG. 7, in a particular embodiment of the invention for determining and continuously updating the LTA, an input frame from within a speech element (noise is ignored) is available over lines 520 and the current LTA is available over lines 522. These values are differenced in a summation circuitry 524, argument by argument, and the resulting processed input frame is available over lines 526. The processed input frame is directed to a recognition circuitry 528 operating to identify the standard code book vector associated with the processed input frame. The output of circuitry 528, the standard code book vector, is delivered to a word element recognition circuitry 530 and to an LTA difference circuitry 532. The recognition circuitry forms a decision and makes that decision available to application circuitry over lines 534. In addition, the recognition circuitry 530 provides a word count to an adder/counter circuitry 536 over a line 538.
The summation circuitry 532 outputs the difference between the input frame which has been compensated with the current LTA and the upper level centroid corresponding to the associated standard code book vector. (In some special instances, the upper level centroid may also be the standard code book vector.) The successive outputs of circuitry 532, the LTA difference value over lines 540, are summed in the adder/counter circuitry 536. The summation continues until approximately fifty words have been recognized, at which time the output of the adder is made available to a divide by "N" circuitry 542 (where N equals the number of frames in the fifty words for the illustrated embodiment). The adder/counter then resets to sum the input frames corresponding to the next set of words. The output of the divide by "N" circuitry 542 is the current average difference LTA. This is available over lines 544 and is directed to a smoothing circuitry 546. The smoothing circuitry provides at its output the new smoothed average difference LTA value and that value is also fed back to the input of the smoothing circuitry. The smoothing circuitry 546 performs the function specified in Equation 3 above. In this manner, the current LTA signal is updated approximately every fifty words.
In the illustrated embodiment, the smoothing circuitry 546 can also remove the DC offset from the resulting current LTA signal.
Additions, subtractions, deletions, and other modifications of the preferred embodiment will be apparent to those practiced in the art and are within the scope of the following claims.
|Cited Patent
|Filing date
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|Bell Telephone Laboratories, Incorporated
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|Unsupervised Speaker Adaptation of Spectra Based on a Minimum Fuzzy Vector Quantization Error Criterion , Matsumoto et al., Second Joint Meeting of ASA and ASJ, Nov., 1988.
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|Speech recognition method and apparatus using lexicon group tree
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|Method and system for efficient pacing of speech for transcription
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|Method for speech recognition, apparatus for the same, and voice controller
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|Identification of the presence of speech in digital audio data
|Feb 24, 2006
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|Yasuharu Asano
|Speech recognition apparatus and speech recognition method
|Jan 31, 2006
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|Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
|Speech recognition method and apparatus using lexicon group tree
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|Andreas Wittenstein
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|U.S. Classification
|International Classification
|Cooperative Classification
|European Classification
|Mar 31, 1989
Owner name: KURZWEIL APPLIED INTELLIGENCE, INC., MASSACHUSETTS
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Nexus Ones across the land are getting updated to Android 2.2.1 -- "FroYo.1," if you will. Whether Gingerbread will ever make an appearance on this bad boy remains unclear, but hey, at least Google's still hustling to keep it updated in the meantime.
[Thanks, Gilad A. and everyone!]
[Thanks, Gilad A. and everyone!]
Get it for FREE
- Key specs
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- Released 2009-11
HTC Google Nexus One


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Asigra Recognized in 2014 CRN Channel Chief Awards
TORONTO – February 24, 2014 - Asigra Inc., a leading cloud backup, recovery and restore software provider since 1986 today announced that Eran Farajun, EVP for Asigra has been recognized by Computer Reseller News (CRN) magazine in the 2014 Channel Chief Awards for the third consecutive year. This prestigious list of the most powerful leaders in the IT channel recognizes those executives directly responsible for driving channel sales and growth within their organization, while evangelizing the importance of the channel throughout the entire IT Industry.
"We are pleased to highlight the many executives throughout the industry who work tirelessly to advance the standing of the channel community within their organizations. The CRN Channel Chief honorees lead, inspire and engage peers and serve as valuable advocates to help ensure the health and longevity of the channel within the IT industry. We applaud their efforts and look forward to their continued success," said Robert Faletra, CEO, The Channel Company.
CRN Channel Chiefs were selected by the CRN editorial team based on channel experience, program innovations, channel-driven revenue, and public support for the importance of IT channel sales. Asigra was noted for the company's 100% focus on the channel the company's recently announced recovery-based pricing model for backup and recovery software. The new model has received praise throughout the industry as a game-changer with both partners and customers acknowledging its advantages.
Until recently, channel providers have been without options to capacity-based pricing for backup and recovery where costs increase as data volumes grow - even if organizational recovery rates remain constant. In support of service provider efforts to remain competitive, the Asigra Recovery License Model® (RLM) meets the expectation of technology buyers that backup and recovery pricing should reflect the business value provided. With this approach, customers who recover less to pay less, and costs are capped so customers never pay to recover more than 25% of their data. Organizations adopting this model can expect immediate savings of 40% and long term savings of 60% to 70%.
"Over the last several years we have put significant resources into our channel programs and recently spearheaded efforts to roll out the company's recovery-based pricing model throughout our global partner ecosystem," said Eran Farajun, Executive Vice President, Asigra. "We are committed to listening to our partners as it is their feedback and insights that help fuel enhancements to our program. We are pleased to see continued positive response from partners and thank the editors at CRN Magazine for their recognition of our efforts."
The 2014 Channel Chiefs list is featured in the February 24th issue of CRN, and online at http://www.crn.com/channel-chiefs/cc2014-details.htm?c=16
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Visit Asigra Online at: http://www.asigra.com
About Asigra
Trusted since 1986, Asigra provides organizations around the world the ability to recover their data now from anywhere through a global network of partners who deliver cloud backup and recovery services as public, private and/or hybrid deployments. As the industry's first enterprise-class agentless cloud-based recovery software to provide data backup and recovery of servers, virtual machines, endpoint devices, databases and applications, SaaS and IaaS based applications, Asigra lowers the total cost of ownership, reduces recovery time objectives, eliminates silos of backup data by providing a single consolidated repository, and provides 100% recovery assurance. Asigra's revolutionary patent-pending Recovery License Model provides organizations with a cost effective data recovery business model unlike any other offered in the storage market. Asigra has been recognized as a Gartner Cool Vendor and has been included in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Backup and Recovery Software since 2010. More information on Asigra can be found at www.asigra.com.
About The Channel Company
The Channel Company is the channel community's trusted authority for growth and innovation, with established brands including CRN, XChange Events, IPED, and SharedVue. For more than three decades, we have leveraged our proven and leading-edge platforms to deliver prescriptive sales and marketing solutions for the technology channel. The Channel Company provides Communication, Recruitment, Engagement, Enablement, Demand Generation and Intelligence services to drive technology partnerships. Learn more at www.thechannelcompany.com.
Asigra and the Asigra logo are trademarks of Asigra Inc. All other brand and product names are, or may be, trademarks of their respective owners.
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Ultimate Bulletin Board 5.47a
Ultimate Bulletin Board 5.47a


text:
Nmap - Welcome to the Matrix
key review info
- Application: Nmap 4.01
- Reviewed on:
application features
- Flexible: Supports dozens of advanced techniques for mapping out networks filled with IP filters, firewalls, routers, and other obstacles. This includes many port scanning mechanisms (both TCP & UDP), OS detection, version detection, ping sweeps, and more. See the documentation page.
- (5 more, see all...)
Nmap is a well known tool for security auditing. I am choosing to present this software because it installs very easy, it also has a frontend and with minimum effort gives the best result. Using Nmap in a black console with green fonts can make you look smart even though it is one of the easiest software available. Now let's see what it does!
Nmap was designed to rapidly scan large networks and for this reasons it is commonly used for security audits and for network inventory. Most of the time I use it on a single host. It allows me to see what types of services a host is using. You can imagine that when scanning a large network it is pretty impressive when all the host appear and for each one information like the OS that is running, services and the version of that service, what firewall is used, etc. Knowing this stuff is very important because some older services might have known security holes and bad crackers could harm that machine. Knowing this you can update to the latest version and the danger will decrees a lot. This is also applies to the OS version and the firewall type.
I'm not going to explain what ports are because if you read this review you should already know this. It's common sense Internet knowledge, similar to knowing why cars have wheels. In my opinion, the most interesting info is about ports. Detected ports are displayed in a table. For every detected port is listed the port number, the protocol, its state, the name of that service and its version. Let's talk a little about the state. It can be open, closed, filtered or unfiltered. Open means that the service on the server is listening for connections or packets on that port. Closed ports don't have a service that listens. Filtered means that on that machine there is a firewall that blocks Nmap and it can't decide if the port is opened or closed. Nmap classifies ports as unfiltered when they are responsive to Nmap's probes, it cannot determine whether they are open or closed. I have never encountered this in a real live situation. Usually the state of ports is opened or closed and sometimes filtered.
On the website it is stated that Nmap can provide further information on targets, including reverse DNS names, operating system guesses, device types, and MAC addresses. I like that I can use it to find a MAC address and reverse DNS is really useful to me. When it comes to OS guesses all I can say is that it is as trustworthy as a gypsy that 'sees' in a globe. It's not just a problem of Nmap. Even expensive enterprise class software can't do it very good.
The console Nmap
Here is where all the magic happens. To first have a list of parameters just type nmap in a console. At the bottom of the mini-help there are some examples. If basic Nmap functionality is enough for you, type nmap followed by the name or IP of the host you want to scan. As I said before this software makes you look smart and the console interesting.
The Frontend
The frontend is useful if you are new with Nmap and if you don't like the console. You can easily use it to pass different pre-configured parameters to Nmap without remembering any command. The frontend really comes in help to newbies and it actually provides a very comprehensive set of options. One of the best things is that it highlights some of the info in colors to be read easier. If you don't like the default frontend, go to the insecure.org website and at projects related to Nmap are also some alternative frontends and some other cool stuff. A very different frontend is Knmap.
What more can you ask for?! I guess in console nothing else can be displayed.... but in the frontend a link to vulnerabilities available on that version would be nice! Expensive software has this feature, but hey, Nmap is free and small. I like good, free and small software.
The Good
I like Nmap because of many reasons. First of all it is powerful enough to satisfy most people's needs. It is easy to install and easy to use. I also like that it is one of the smallest software of its kind (0.6 MB) and can be easily deployed in mini distributions. Nmap is one of the best software for security auditing and it can definitely be a good starting point for people who want to dig a little into security.
The Bad
I really can't think of something bad about Nmap. It is not bad. It is good, very good. It's Nmap. Maybe it lacks a very cool frontend to show its value.
The Truth
The truth is that sometimes Nmap can really prevent disasters, but most of the time is just plain fun software to use. I guess you already realized that this is also one of the favorite tools of crackers. I hope you will also realize that is better to fight for the good side.