Save Shobiz Newsy News
If you haven’t heard of Shobiz Newsy News with Ty Paddington yet, then subscribe to this free podcast now for your iPod/iPhone, or check out the website. This show is one of the funniest podcasts out there.
If you are, like me, a long time subscriber to SNN, then you might know they are trying to raise money to keep the show going. And if you have never heard of the show before, hopefully you checked out the links above and are a newly converted fan. Please donate whatever you can spare
Just to let you know, I am not affiliated with Shobiz Newsy News, or know Ty Paddington personally (he keeps rejecting my phone calls!), so this is purely a fan of the show trying to get the word out. Fingers crossed Shobiz Newsy News keeps going!
JAVA Speech Recognition
I was messing around today with speech recognition. It seemed like it was going to be pretty easy, and it was…except for the first step: Getting hold of the API!
Here is the JAR file : jsapi.jar
Import this into your IDE (typically into the “library”), then add the following lines to your code:
import javax.speech.*;
import javax.speech.recognition.*;
Below is a link to get you started with using it, enjoy!
http://java.sun.com/products/java-media/speech/forDevelopers/jsapi-guide/Recognition.html
Best youtube videos I have seen lately
Enjoy
The Grapist!
Probably shouldn’t really laugh at this…but…. 
Not strictly youtube, but hilarious!
Cats are brilliant!
Real life twitter (again not youtube…)
Great Customer Service: LensPen
Too often you read about the bad experiences people have with customer service, yet the good experiences seem to hardly get a mention. I think good customer service should always get a mention…especially when the company go above and beyond your expectations.
I ordered a Lenspen from http://www.lenspen.com on the 27th December 2008. It cost me $14.95, and the shipping was free. I knew the product was coming from America, and given that the shipping was free I expected it would take a bit of time. After January this year, I got distracted with work and a few medical issues, so forgot about the order. Then this last Sunday (15th March 2009), I was going through my To-do list, and realised that I still hadn’t recieved my Lenspen. Needless to say I wasn’t happy about this. I sent an email to Lenspen, and also sent a reply to my order-confirmation email. The following day I received an email from Lenspen (Victoria Connors) apologising for the delay, and asked me to confirm my address. I emailed back with my address, and promptly got another email telling me that a package had been sent out by UPS with a few extras included. Well, I received my package this morning and look what was inside!
This is great customer service. I expected merely to get an apology and a refund…and I would probably never have used them again. Instead they went above and beyond, and at the same time retained me as a customer. Thank you Lenspen (and thank you Victoria).
P.S. by the way, the Lenspen rocks! No more smudges on my lenses!