this and that, kith/kin, random: So an unnamed member of my kith/kin family “mentioned” that I was posting too much. He/she likes me to string them all together. Well, I will compromise. I will post my favorites daily, but will try to post a features page every few days. This will be the totally random or entertainment “features” post. I hope I get my good karma back from my readers. 🙂
This one is funny … who remembers Tilly? Well, the Tilly voice artist is the Siri voice artist, and she recorded the voice 8 years and did not know who it was for until friends recognized her voice. She now speaks to more than 100 million people through what at the time of the recording was a not-yet-invented phone
From Tilly to Siri. Who else remembers Tilly!?!
For the past two years, she’s been a pocket and purse accessory to millions of Americans. She’s starred alongside Samuel L. Jackson and Zooey Deschanel. She’s ‘s provided weather forecasts and restaurant tips, been mocked as useless and answered absurd questions about what she’s wearing.
She is Siri, Apple’s voice-activated virtual “assistant” introduced to the masses with the iPhone 4S on October 4, 2011.
Behind this groundbreaking technology there is a real woman. While the ever-secretive Apple has never identified her, all signs indicate that the original voice of Siri in the United States is a voiceover actor who laid down recordings for a client eight years ago. She had no idea she’d someday be speaking to more than 100 million people through a not-yet-invented phone.
Her name is Susan Bennett and she lives in suburban Atlanta.
Actually my favorite is the oreo ad link posted on twitter during the SuperBowl blackout. What is your favorite?
How many caught your attention?
There’s a plane in the Hudson. I’m on the ferry going to pick up the people. Crazy.
via The Tweets That Will Go Down in Twitter History (with images, tweets) · wsj · Storify.
I’ve posted several times on 3 D printers. Now technology duplicates art … in 3d. Look at the strokes!
The London based married couple and artist team, with no relation to this Nick Carter, tapped into the burgeoning 3D printing trend to bring Van Goghs beloved bouquet out of the frame and into the real world.The team began by turning the paintings into completely three-dimensional files, then printing them in wax bronze. The process allowed for shocking levels of precision in the translation between brush stroke and sculptural shape.
Selma AL, I Will Dance, Broadway, change, youth, hope:
Dancing isn’t all they do. Check out another video of one RATCo participant, Vinny, doing his thing.
via These Dancing Teens Are Defying Expectations, Statistics, And Maybe A Few Laws Of Physics.
via ▶ I WILL DANCE Official Trailer – YouTube.
That privacy thing … why do they do this??
Is having open-plan bathrooms just the natural extension of our open kitchens and a general global modern-day tendency to open up our living spaces and live in lofts or loftlike spaces? Is it an extension of the idea that bathrooms aren’t just functional necessities but spa-like focal points of our sanctuary-like homes? Or has the erosion of privacy in our public lives just made us all more comfortable being overexposed, even at home?
Rousseau thinks it’s a generational question. “I think with age we look for ways to seduce by modest gestures and by covering ourselves up,” she says. “I don’t see myself proposing an open bathroom to older people; they need much more privacy.”
Unexpected outcomes, 9.25.13 Pakistani Earthquake:
A very unexpected outcome from a major earthquake in Pakistan that killed more than 300 people: The sudden appearance of a small new island off the country’s coast. http://on.wsj.com/18pHqWr
via Facebook.
The magnitude 7.7 earthquake that struck Pakistan\’s Baluchistan province created a small island visible off the southern coast. The Pakistani Navy visited the island and captured video of the newly formed landmass. Photo: Getty Images
This is along the same lines as the tiny libraries or random act of kindness? Would you take a book? Would you leave a book?
You happen to be visiting London this summer (or heck maybe you live there), there’s a chance you’ll find books left on the seat of some bus or subway for you. Books on the Underground is a really simple idea: leave a book you love for a stranger to find and ask them to release it back into the world when they are done with it.
A simple sticker on the cover explains the idea to the book’s finder–and karma does the rest.
Pretty lovely idea, no?
Miss Manners answered this question years ago. She suggested you simply introduce them with their names. 🙂
What’s the No. 1 debate topic for many cohabitating couples who are over age 50? The labels, they said.
via Living together titles: What do people who live together call each other? – Chicago Tribune.
…
Q: What should I say when introducing people whose social status might make other people uncomfortable? For example, unmarried couples living together, or homosexual couples?
Miss Manners says: I don’t want to know what kind of parties you are throwing where people’s sexual statuses need to be provided with introductions. Just use names.
via Miss Manners on: introductions | Bitch Please, Bitch Thank You.
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