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October 15, 2011 12:37 PM Subscribe
Another mind numbing tumblr blog- shit siri says. Apparently Apple Purposely Gave Siri Some Attitude. Here is a cnet demo of siri on youtube.
Does Siri work with a Scottish accent?
posted by Lanark at 12:41 PM on October 15, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by Lanark at 12:41 PM on October 15, 2011 [2 favorites]
For a minute there, I thought I might have found a reason to get an iPhone, but then I realized this site exists so that I don't have to.
posted by sageleaf at 12:44 PM on October 15, 2011 [4 favorites]
posted by sageleaf at 12:44 PM on October 15, 2011 [4 favorites]
Oh, I love this.
posted by pemberkins at 12:45 PM on October 15, 2011
posted by pemberkins at 12:45 PM on October 15, 2011
They were trying it out on Tested's crazy 24-hour podcast thingy and at one point Will Smith (not that one) said "text my wife I love her" and Siri said "text [wife's name] with message 'I love her.'"
posted by kmz at 12:47 PM on October 15, 2011 [5 favorites]
posted by kmz at 12:47 PM on October 15, 2011 [5 favorites]
Google is using google voice to help with speech recognition and data gathering, I wonder if apple's doing the same thing with siri.
posted by TheBones at 12:48 PM on October 15, 2011
posted by TheBones at 12:48 PM on October 15, 2011
If they were to allow voice kits for Siri, ala GLaDOS or Hal or something, I would actually break my contract or pay full fare for the damned thing. So close! A toy, but a fun toy.
posted by cavalier at 12:49 PM on October 15, 2011 [6 favorites]
posted by cavalier at 12:49 PM on October 15, 2011 [6 favorites]
SlashGear had a pretty decent demo vid: I am Siri on iPhone 4S.
posted by kmz at 12:52 PM on October 15, 2011
posted by kmz at 12:52 PM on October 15, 2011
I like this one: Watch Two Siris Confuse the Hell Out of Each Other.
posted by bendy at 12:56 PM on October 15, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by bendy at 12:56 PM on October 15, 2011 [2 favorites]
Here's a really weird video of a girl in a really thick accent describing what just happened in the cnet review, it showed up in the related videos. I guess it some kind of spam (she's dressed in revealing clothing). I just found it odd.
posted by delmoi at 12:58 PM on October 15, 2011
posted by delmoi at 12:58 PM on October 15, 2011
gender-neutral or an attitude
So is that what the A strands for in LGBTQIIA?
posted by biffa at 1:00 PM on October 15, 2011
So is that what the A strands for in LGBTQIIA?
posted by biffa at 1:00 PM on October 15, 2011
I was playing with my new phone yesterday and I told it "Send my mom an email saying 'this is a cool phone!'" It responded by creating an email to my mom that said "This is a call fuck." Bad Siri.
posted by JDHarper at 1:12 PM on October 15, 2011 [19 favorites]
posted by JDHarper at 1:12 PM on October 15, 2011 [19 favorites]
The where do babies come from is an interesting example of the kinds of errors these AIs can make.
posted by delmoi at 1:19 PM on October 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by delmoi at 1:19 PM on October 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
"Siri" does sound like the name of a girl who would tantalize you with her prospects before making your life a living hell.
posted by Trurl at 1:22 PM on October 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Trurl at 1:22 PM on October 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
"Siri" does sound like the name of a girl who would tantalize you with her prospects before making your life a living hell.
Ha
posted by TheBones at 1:26 PM on October 15, 2011 [3 favorites]
Ha
posted by TheBones at 1:26 PM on October 15, 2011 [3 favorites]
Some of these (e.g. "I want to get a blowjob tonight") aren't sass so much as Siri doing its (her?) job a bit better than expected.
I do find it interesting that Siri is far more conservative when it comes to asking where to score drugs.
posted by Dr. Eigenvariable at 1:29 PM on October 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
I do find it interesting that Siri is far more conservative when it comes to asking where to score drugs.
posted by Dr. Eigenvariable at 1:29 PM on October 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
The where do babies come from is an interesting example of the kinds of errors these AIs can make.
Wait, babies don't come from the baby store?
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 1:30 PM on October 15, 2011 [5 favorites]
Wait, babies don't come from the baby store?
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 1:30 PM on October 15, 2011 [5 favorites]
"Siri" makes me think of Lalitha in Jonathan Franzen's Freedom.
posted by limeonaire at 1:34 PM on October 15, 2011
posted by limeonaire at 1:34 PM on October 15, 2011
(My own initial experiences with Siri)
posted by The Confessor at 1:35 PM on October 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by The Confessor at 1:35 PM on October 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
I thought it would be a cool toy that I'd ignore after five minutes, but it is amazing for when you are driving.
posted by Bookhouse at 1:35 PM on October 15, 2011
posted by Bookhouse at 1:35 PM on October 15, 2011
The thing that breaks it for me is that you have to press buttons to make her listen. I guess it eats battery and processing, but if I could activate her listening just by saying, "Siri, [do this]," then I'd want this pretty hard.
posted by cmoj at 1:45 PM on October 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by cmoj at 1:45 PM on October 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
cmoj: Actually, if you hold the phone up to your head while you're not on a call, it will also activate Siri.
posted by JDHarper at 1:47 PM on October 15, 2011
posted by JDHarper at 1:47 PM on October 15, 2011
I could activate her listening just by saying, "Siri, [do this]," then I'd want this pretty hard.
There's been a voice command thing in MacOS for years which you can either address using a keystroke or with a keyword. A friend of mine had his set up with "shithead", so he could say things like "shithead, turn up the volume" and the computer would raise the volume.
Actually, it had a bit of a delay a-la the Star Trek computer, where you address the computer, it gives a recognition tone, and then you give the command.
I've never set it up on my Mac, but it's still a built-in part of MacOS.
posted by hippybear at 1:49 PM on October 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
There's been a voice command thing in MacOS for years which you can either address using a keystroke or with a keyword. A friend of mine had his set up with "shithead", so he could say things like "shithead, turn up the volume" and the computer would raise the volume.
Actually, it had a bit of a delay a-la the Star Trek computer, where you address the computer, it gives a recognition tone, and then you give the command.
I've never set it up on my Mac, but it's still a built-in part of MacOS.
posted by hippybear at 1:49 PM on October 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
If they were to allow voice kits for Siri, ala GLaDOS or Hal or something, I would actually break my contract or pay full fare for the damned thing
If they had Snoop Dogg I would be ALL OVER that shit.
posted by elizardbits at 1:57 PM on October 15, 2011 [2 favorites]
If they had Snoop Dogg I would be ALL OVER that shit.
posted by elizardbits at 1:57 PM on October 15, 2011 [2 favorites]
me: "find me some fly bitches yo"
phone: "aight playa let's roll"
&c
posted by elizardbits at 1:59 PM on October 15, 2011 [10 favorites]
phone: "aight playa let's roll"
&c
posted by elizardbits at 1:59 PM on October 15, 2011 [10 favorites]
Goddamn. That's pretty amazing. I wonder if she knows how to make TNT?
posted by Ryvar at 2:04 PM on October 15, 2011
posted by Ryvar at 2:04 PM on October 15, 2011
It is very real, Dixiecupdrinking. I was playing with my BF's phone last night and "where can I find a hooker" was the third or fourth question we asked. The response to "where can I hide a dead body" was even better.
posted by munchingzombie at 2:06 PM on October 15, 2011
posted by munchingzombie at 2:06 PM on October 15, 2011
Blowjobs are real.
posted by cashman at 2:06 PM on October 15, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by cashman at 2:06 PM on October 15, 2011 [2 favorites]
The only time I tried Siri, I asked it a question and it thought I meant to call someone and I had to hang up quickly. The tumblr is cute and I follow it but I'm not impressed with Siri so far for my own use. I'm on a 3GS, though. Maybe it would be better if I had better hardware.
posted by immlass at 2:12 PM on October 15, 2011
posted by immlass at 2:12 PM on October 15, 2011
That's... odd, immlass; if you're using a 3GS you shouldn't have access to Siri, unless you've jailbroken/hacked your way into it, immlass. You might be talking about iPhone's pre-Siri voice controls, which were far more limited or able to understand natural speech.
posted by The Confessor at 2:17 PM on October 15, 2011 [3 favorites]
posted by The Confessor at 2:17 PM on October 15, 2011 [3 favorites]
> The only time I tried Siri, I asked it a question and it thought I meant to call someone and I had to hang up quickly. The tumblr is cute and I follow it but I'm not impressed with Siri so far for my own use. I'm on a 3GS, though. Maybe it would be better if I had better hardware.
You weren't using Siri.
You are just using the poor voice assistant that came with iOS 4.0/5. I haven't had a chance to test what happens to Siri in airport mode (does it fall back to bad voice assistant, or is there some slightly lobotomized version of Siri present).
Currently, the iPhone 4s is the only phone that has Siri. It might be a hardware thing (they had trouble getting the old app working on the 3gs according to the devs), but also a "apple didn't want millions of iOS 5 users hitting their servers on day 1" by tieing it into a new phone revision, it creates a slowly growing test pool on their best hardware. It should at somepoint be out for atleast the iPad 2, which still has a faster processor than the iPhone 4s.
posted by mrzarquon at 2:23 PM on October 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
You weren't using Siri.
You are just using the poor voice assistant that came with iOS 4.0/5. I haven't had a chance to test what happens to Siri in airport mode (does it fall back to bad voice assistant, or is there some slightly lobotomized version of Siri present).
Currently, the iPhone 4s is the only phone that has Siri. It might be a hardware thing (they had trouble getting the old app working on the 3gs according to the devs), but also a "apple didn't want millions of iOS 5 users hitting their servers on day 1" by tieing it into a new phone revision, it creates a slowly growing test pool on their best hardware. It should at somepoint be out for atleast the iPad 2, which still has a faster processor than the iPhone 4s.
posted by mrzarquon at 2:23 PM on October 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
Yes, that's entirely correct. They have managed to get the interface to work on an iPhone 4, but because Siri is heavily dependent on cloud services to process requests, and because Apple can block whatever hardware they want from having access to those cloud services, Siri can only listen and cannot respond if you're on an iPhone 4 or older.
I don't know what you were chatting with on your 3GS, but it wasn't Siri.
posted by hippybear at 2:23 PM on October 15, 2011
I don't know what you were chatting with on your 3GS, but it wasn't Siri.
posted by hippybear at 2:23 PM on October 15, 2011
Also, I can see why Apple decided to keep Siri called Siri, Voice Assistance already has a bad enough rap as it is, and since it already shares the same "push to talk" functionality, there would be even more confusion if it was also called "Voice Assistance"
posted by mrzarquon at 2:32 PM on October 15, 2011
posted by mrzarquon at 2:32 PM on October 15, 2011
Ryvar wrote: Goddamn. That's pretty amazing. I wonder if she knows how to make TNT
Clearly, AskMe will no longer be the go-to source of body disposal information. Sad.
posted by wierdo at 2:41 PM on October 15, 2011
Clearly, AskMe will no longer be the go-to source of body disposal information. Sad.
posted by wierdo at 2:41 PM on October 15, 2011
Obviously what we need to have happen is for Siri to start referring to that comment when asked how to dispose of a body. How can we make this happen?
posted by hippybear at 2:45 PM on October 15, 2011 [4 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 2:45 PM on October 15, 2011 [4 favorites]
Well, that's reassuring. I never use voice control stuff on anything I own, so I never tried the old voice control before. When I get my new phone (anticipated next month for my birthday) I doubt I'll mess with Siri anyway. I'm mostly interested in the new camera.
posted by immlass at 3:03 PM on October 15, 2011
posted by immlass at 3:03 PM on October 15, 2011
Of course this is iPhone-only. iPad users are out of luck, as they are with several other notable iOS 5 features like Weather and Stocks on the Notification Center. The update had a lot less in store for iPad users in general: the Notification Center and tabs in Safari are the highlights.
posted by JHarris at 3:05 PM on October 15, 2011
posted by JHarris at 3:05 PM on October 15, 2011
Well, that and the splitting keyboard, which makes holding the device and thumb-typing fly like the wind.
posted by hippybear at 3:07 PM on October 15, 2011
posted by hippybear at 3:07 PM on October 15, 2011
"Siri, load up Celery Man please."
posted by weinbot at 3:19 PM on October 15, 2011 [16 favorites]
posted by weinbot at 3:19 PM on October 15, 2011 [16 favorites]
The splitting keyboard is pretty minor I thought; I thought it would be better than it turned out to be. But compared to voice recognition it's not really that big. Five-fingered task switching doesn't seem to work on the first try half the time, iTunes wifi sync ditto, iCloud is less compelling if you already sync to web services like Google Calendar, just, blah. The only really cool new thing besides the Notification Center (which is very nice) is a fairly hidden feature: the "Emoji" keyboard which allows inserting goofy little emoticons into messages is more easily accessible as its own "language" in the Keyboard settings.
This has always been kind of my problem with present-day Apple -- they decide what they think you will need and give you that, and only that. It might work okay for many people, but I seem to be consistently outside of that group.
posted by JHarris at 3:26 PM on October 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
This has always been kind of my problem with present-day Apple -- they decide what they think you will need and give you that, and only that. It might work okay for many people, but I seem to be consistently outside of that group.
posted by JHarris at 3:26 PM on October 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
You weren't using Siri.
Huh? There's been a Siri app for the iPhone since Feb 2010, which Apple pulled when they announced the product's integration into iOS 5.
posted by nicwolff at 3:32 PM on October 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
Huh? There's been a Siri app for the iPhone since Feb 2010, which Apple pulled when they announced the product's integration into iOS 5.
posted by nicwolff at 3:32 PM on October 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
If they were to allow voice kits for Siri, ala GLaDOS or Hal or something, I would actually break my contract or pay full fare for the damned thing. So close! A toy, but a fun toy.
Youtube: Introducing GLaDOSiri on iPhone 4S
What's the traffic like around here?
"The traffic will be slow and meaningless. Just like your sad little life."
posted by jjj606 at 3:40 PM on October 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
Youtube: Introducing GLaDOSiri on iPhone 4S
What's the traffic like around here?
"The traffic will be slow and meaningless. Just like your sad little life."
posted by jjj606 at 3:40 PM on October 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
I really wish I could've said this during my retail days, but I would've gotten so much grief for it at the time.
posted by Smart Dalek at 3:45 PM on October 15, 2011
posted by Smart Dalek at 3:45 PM on October 15, 2011
"Siri" does sound like the name of a girl who would tantalize you with her prospects before making your life a living hell.
So I actually know a bonafide person named Siri*, so this whole thing just confuses the heck out of me.
*She is not at all that type of girl.
posted by DiscourseMarker at 3:49 PM on October 15, 2011 [2 favorites]
So I actually know a bonafide person named Siri*, so this whole thing just confuses the heck out of me.
*She is not at all that type of girl.
posted by DiscourseMarker at 3:49 PM on October 15, 2011 [2 favorites]
Oddly. I know the girl the character from 30 rock is based on. She was Lorne Michael's assistant when Tina Fey was on the show. Dated Jimmy Fallon for a while I think.
She was most definitely that type of girl.
posted by Ad hominem at 4:23 PM on October 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
She was most definitely that type of girl.
posted by Ad hominem at 4:23 PM on October 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
I personally have no desire to talk to my phone (and making it easier to do other stuff while you're driving is ... actually not great), but it's typically boffo marketing from Apple that they did this. This isn't really functionality; it's more like voice-activated Subservient Chicken.
posted by Linda_Holmes at 4:26 PM on October 15, 2011
posted by Linda_Holmes at 4:26 PM on October 15, 2011
iCloud is less compelling if you already sync to web services like Google Calendar, just, blah
Well, of course. The whole iCloud feature is playing catch up with google. For someone like me, that's a huge new feature. Honestly, if I was using google for all my services, I probably wouldn't be using an iPhone. If Apple pulls this off one of the only areas I envied on Android devices is gone.
Huh? There's been a Siri app for the iPhone since Feb 2010, which Apple pulled when they announced the product's integration into iOS 5.
But that Siri is different than the one released in iOS5. They didn't just buy it and stick it in. They've obviously done a lot of work on it. So forming an opinion on Siri based on a 2010 version doesn't really carry much weight.
posted by justgary at 4:50 PM on October 15, 2011
Well, of course. The whole iCloud feature is playing catch up with google. For someone like me, that's a huge new feature. Honestly, if I was using google for all my services, I probably wouldn't be using an iPhone. If Apple pulls this off one of the only areas I envied on Android devices is gone.
Huh? There's been a Siri app for the iPhone since Feb 2010, which Apple pulled when they announced the product's integration into iOS 5.
But that Siri is different than the one released in iOS5. They didn't just buy it and stick it in. They've obviously done a lot of work on it. So forming an opinion on Siri based on a 2010 version doesn't really carry much weight.
posted by justgary at 4:50 PM on October 15, 2011
Siri looks amazing, but I wish it had a more natural voice. It can be done -- Salli, Joey, Amy, and Brian on this site sound very lifelike.
posted by Rhaomi at 4:50 PM on October 15, 2011
posted by Rhaomi at 4:50 PM on October 15, 2011
Lots of these are really cute and hilarious until I remember the little bit I knew about the Casey Anthony murder trial.
Time until Siri queries used as evidence at a trial < month
posted by MCMikeNamara at 4:52 PM on October 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
Time until Siri queries used as evidence at a trial < month
posted by MCMikeNamara at 4:52 PM on October 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
I actually meant less than 6 months. Last time I enter a comment using google's voice input.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 4:54 PM on October 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by MCMikeNamara at 4:54 PM on October 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
Siri is fun. When it works it is like living in the future. And for every time I tell it to "remind me to be mean to the dog" and it enters a task as "call hitman" which I am pretty sure is a joke, there is another time when I ask it to "find Japan" and it calls my friend Amit. My eight year old is obsessed with Siri. I asked Siri "what should Eliza have for breakfast" and she said "Eliza was my first teacher, would you like to learn about her?" which warmed a cognitive science guy's heart.
However, her response to "Earl Grey tea, hot" is humorless.
posted by shothotbot at 5:21 PM on October 15, 2011 [6 favorites]
However, her response to "Earl Grey tea, hot" is humorless.
posted by shothotbot at 5:21 PM on October 15, 2011 [6 favorites]
Dr. Eigenvariable: "I do find it interesting that Siri is far more conservative when it comes to asking where to score drugs."
By all rights it should navigate you to the seediest part of town.
posted by dunkadunc at 5:22 PM on October 15, 2011
By all rights it should navigate you to the seediest part of town.
posted by dunkadunc at 5:22 PM on October 15, 2011
So I actually know a bonafide person named Siri*, so this whole thing just confuses the heck out of me.
Me too! But if it confuses the heck out of us, imagine how much it confuses actual people named Siri.
posted by madcaptenor at 5:22 PM on October 15, 2011
Me too! But if it confuses the heck out of us, imagine how much it confuses actual people named Siri.
posted by madcaptenor at 5:22 PM on October 15, 2011
Linda Holmes
I just took my new iPhone out for a walk. I had all of my songs loaded on it, but no playlists. Instead of fumbling through menus and submenus or using the cumbersome on-screen keyboard to search for a particular song, I could just hold the phone up to my ear and speak the name of a particular song or artist, and nine times out of ten the correct item would play:
Circle of Life, songs by Phil Vassar, Keep it Gay, I'm Super, Mountain Town, Me and Emily, Need You Now, Belle, Don't Rain on My Parade, Bad Romance.
Where the correct song did not play it was more often a matter of improper context than improper parsing. For instance, when I tried to dial up Pure Prairie League's Amie, it incorrectly gave me a song by an artist named Amy Dalley.
Earlier today, I used Siri to set a wake up alarm for tomorrow morning, to remind me to pick up some dry cleaning next Thursday, and to send a quick text message to a friend. All of these processes were facilitated by using Siri.
I even used Siri to dictate parts of this comment, and while it had trouble inserting punctuation at the proper places, I think I finished it quicker with Siri than I would have just using the on-screen keyboard.
posted by The Confessor at 5:27 PM on October 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
I just took my new iPhone out for a walk. I had all of my songs loaded on it, but no playlists. Instead of fumbling through menus and submenus or using the cumbersome on-screen keyboard to search for a particular song, I could just hold the phone up to my ear and speak the name of a particular song or artist, and nine times out of ten the correct item would play:
Circle of Life, songs by Phil Vassar, Keep it Gay, I'm Super, Mountain Town, Me and Emily, Need You Now, Belle, Don't Rain on My Parade, Bad Romance.
Where the correct song did not play it was more often a matter of improper context than improper parsing. For instance, when I tried to dial up Pure Prairie League's Amie, it incorrectly gave me a song by an artist named Amy Dalley.
Earlier today, I used Siri to set a wake up alarm for tomorrow morning, to remind me to pick up some dry cleaning next Thursday, and to send a quick text message to a friend. All of these processes were facilitated by using Siri.
I even used Siri to dictate parts of this comment, and while it had trouble inserting punctuation at the proper places, I think I finished it quicker with Siri than I would have just using the on-screen keyboard.
posted by The Confessor at 5:27 PM on October 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
The Confessor: " I just took my new iPhone out for a walk. I had all of my songs loaded on it, but no playlists. Instead of fumbling through menus and submenus or using the cumbersome on-screen keyboard to search for a particular song, I could just hold the phone up to my ear and speak the name of a particular song or artist, and nine times out of ten the correct item would play:"
Challenge mode: Prisencolinensinainciusol
posted by Rhaomi at 5:34 PM on October 15, 2011 [3 favorites]
Challenge mode: Prisencolinensinainciusol
posted by Rhaomi at 5:34 PM on October 15, 2011 [3 favorites]
(You do have a point, Rhaomi; after "Keep it Gay" I wanted to listen to Haben Sie Gerhort Das Deutsche Band or Guten Tag Hop Clop, but I suspected Siri would choke on either of those titles.)
posted by The Confessor at 5:38 PM on October 15, 2011
posted by The Confessor at 5:38 PM on October 15, 2011
Someone in my family had a professional connection to the (old) Siri, and when he demo'd it for me, he used "I want a hooker" as an example. I assumed that would be stripped out of the Apple version, considering that this is, after all, Apple. But no - you can totally ask her for prostitutes, and she'll help out happily.
A nice touch: Slur "I'm so drunk" at Siri and she'll find you a cab.
posted by Tomorrowful at 6:12 PM on October 15, 2011
A nice touch: Slur "I'm so drunk" at Siri and she'll find you a cab.
posted by Tomorrowful at 6:12 PM on October 15, 2011
Me: Can you talk dirty to me?
Siri: The carpet needs vacuuming.
posted by The Confessor at 6:19 PM on October 15, 2011 [2 favorites]
Siri: The carpet needs vacuuming.
posted by The Confessor at 6:19 PM on October 15, 2011 [2 favorites]
So for those of you who have Siri, does she do thesaurus lookups? "Find a synonym for beautiful?" for example. Just curious.
shothotbot: " However, her response to "Earl Grey tea, hot" is humorless."
It's "Tea, earl grey, hot." Try saying it like that.
posted by IndigoRain at 6:24 PM on October 15, 2011
shothotbot: " However, her response to "Earl Grey tea, hot" is humorless."
It's "Tea, earl grey, hot." Try saying it like that.
posted by IndigoRain at 6:24 PM on October 15, 2011
It's "Tea, earl grey, hot." Try saying it like that.
Good point. No dice.
posted by shothotbot at 6:29 PM on October 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
Good point. No dice.
posted by shothotbot at 6:29 PM on October 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
It did fetch me synonyms for several words when I asked. Oddly enough, it did not work with the specific word "beautiful", nor with the exact syntax that you used; I used "Show me synonyms for..." instead.
posted by The Confessor at 6:38 PM on October 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by The Confessor at 6:38 PM on October 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
Nicola Griffith wonders if the different answers in American Siri (girl) and UK Siri (boy) are gendered or random or what.
posted by rtha at 6:59 PM on October 15, 2011
posted by rtha at 6:59 PM on October 15, 2011
Man, I can't get this thing to work.
Quit tying to shout into the mouse.
posted by shothotbot at 7:38 PM on October 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
Quit tying to shout into the mouse.
posted by shothotbot at 7:38 PM on October 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
Siri looks amazing, but I wish it had a more natural voice.
Maybe it's because I'm not a native German speaker, but I find that the German voice is more realistic sounding than the (US) English one. By comparison the French voice sounds horribly robotic.
posted by jedicus at 8:20 PM on October 15, 2011
Maybe it's because I'm not a native German speaker, but I find that the German voice is more realistic sounding than the (US) English one. By comparison the French voice sounds horribly robotic.
posted by jedicus at 8:20 PM on October 15, 2011
"Siri" does sound like the name of a girl who would tantalize you with her prospects before making your life a living hell.
In Sanskrit, Siri is also one of the many names for goddess Lakshmi, and hence for 'wealth' in general. There's a great verse in the Bhagavatam where the god Vishnu leaves his divinely abode, Vaikuntam, in a hurry without asking his wife, Lakshmi (or Siri), for help. Quite amusing to re-read it with a contemporary eye.
(Or I'm a sucker for weak puns)
posted by the cydonian at 9:50 PM on October 15, 2011
In Sanskrit, Siri is also one of the many names for goddess Lakshmi, and hence for 'wealth' in general. There's a great verse in the Bhagavatam where the god Vishnu leaves his divinely abode, Vaikuntam, in a hurry without asking his wife, Lakshmi (or Siri), for help. Quite amusing to re-read it with a contemporary eye.
(Or I'm a sucker for weak puns)
posted by the cydonian at 9:50 PM on October 15, 2011
SIRI??! Yoosh. That handle needs to be customizable. SIRIously? yes. (Anyone could yell a command in the background, for another thing.)
I'm trying to decide how risky using "Hey Boy" would be. Might play okay in San Francisco, but ... ah what the hell.
posted by Twang at 10:19 PM on October 15, 2011
I'm trying to decide how risky using "Hey Boy" would be. Might play okay in San Francisco, but ... ah what the hell.
posted by Twang at 10:19 PM on October 15, 2011
Can somebody ask her for a shrubbery and post a pic of her response?
posted by obiwanwasabi at 3:59 AM on October 16, 2011
posted by obiwanwasabi at 3:59 AM on October 16, 2011
I just took my new iPhone out for a walk. I had all of my songs loaded on it, but no playlists. Instead of fumbling through menus and submenus or using the cumbersome on-screen keyboard to search for a particular song, I could just hold the phone up to my ear and speak the name of a particular song or artist, and nine times out of ten the correct item would play.
Sure. If you like listening to music this way, this makes sense. I don't listen to music this way. I don't pick one song, then pick one more song, then pick one more song. That doesn't mean you shouldn't. You say nine out of ten correct? I say out of every ten times I used it, I'd swear and want to throw the phone. It's a very personal thing.
Earlier today, I used Siri to set a wake up alarm for tomorrow morning, to remind me to pick up some dry cleaning next Thursday, and to send a quick text message to a friend. All of these processes were facilitated by using Siri.
All together, this would take me ... less than 30 seconds, I suspect, and I'm fine with that. I realize Siri might be faster, but I'm just not that busy. I'm somewhat serious about that -- I really get freaked out by the idea that I'm supposed to place a huge premium on shaving seconds off of things that are already extremely fast and easy. I don't have an eight-second task I can do in the eight seconds I would save here with Siri, you know? But for people who love it, they love it, and that's completely cool.
posted by Linda_Holmes at 4:40 AM on October 16, 2011
Sure. If you like listening to music this way, this makes sense. I don't listen to music this way. I don't pick one song, then pick one more song, then pick one more song. That doesn't mean you shouldn't. You say nine out of ten correct? I say out of every ten times I used it, I'd swear and want to throw the phone. It's a very personal thing.
Earlier today, I used Siri to set a wake up alarm for tomorrow morning, to remind me to pick up some dry cleaning next Thursday, and to send a quick text message to a friend. All of these processes were facilitated by using Siri.
All together, this would take me ... less than 30 seconds, I suspect, and I'm fine with that. I realize Siri might be faster, but I'm just not that busy. I'm somewhat serious about that -- I really get freaked out by the idea that I'm supposed to place a huge premium on shaving seconds off of things that are already extremely fast and easy. I don't have an eight-second task I can do in the eight seconds I would save here with Siri, you know? But for people who love it, they love it, and that's completely cool.
posted by Linda_Holmes at 4:40 AM on October 16, 2011
'Siri' is a diminutive of 'Sigrid'. There's a lot of Siris out there. And they're pissed.
posted by Hogshead at 6:55 AM on October 16, 2011
posted by Hogshead at 6:55 AM on October 16, 2011
SIRI??! Yoosh. That handle needs to be customizable. SIRIously? yes. (Anyone could yell a command in the background, for another thing.)
I'm trying to decide how risky using "Hey Boy" would be. Might play okay in San Francisco, but ... ah what the hell.
Remind me of the custom names everyone was giving their BrainPals in Old Man's War.
posted by JDHarper at 6:43 PM on October 18, 2011
I'm trying to decide how risky using "Hey Boy" would be. Might play okay in San Francisco, but ... ah what the hell.
Remind me of the custom names everyone was giving their BrainPals in Old Man's War.
posted by JDHarper at 6:43 PM on October 18, 2011
> SIRI??! Yoosh. That handle needs to be customizable. SIRIously? yes. (Anyone could yell a command in the background, for another thing.)
There isn't a voice activation last time I checked, you still have to hold a button (home button or menu button on headset for about a second) before it will listen, you don't actually have to preface a comment with "siri" or anything like that.
posted by mrzarquon at 7:01 PM on October 18, 2011
There isn't a voice activation last time I checked, you still have to hold a button (home button or menu button on headset for about a second) before it will listen, you don't actually have to preface a comment with "siri" or anything like that.
posted by mrzarquon at 7:01 PM on October 18, 2011
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