Unfortunately, due to some problems experienced by the Irish, there will be no ICC this year. However, there will be an ICC in 2009 in Vienna, Austria.
In the meantime, please feel free to check out the ICC Camp Website where you can find pictures and discover what you’re missing out on!
If you would like to keep up with the VITech podcast please note that the website address has changed to www.VITechPodcast.com
The ICC Voice Chat finished at about 21:10 GMT today, meaning that it ran for just over three hours. I would like to extend a huge thanks to everyone who took part: Adam T, Adam H, Michael D, James S, Matthew H, Nadine S, Puja S and Davy K.
The chat’s topic was the ICC and related topics and we spoke about a number of things: the ICC of course, Accessible Web Design, Mobility and Mobility of the Future and much, much more. Over the next few days the chat will be edited down and published on the newly established VITech Podcast, so if you’re interested in what we talked about that’s the place to look!
The chat went down so well that I will probably hold a few more. Further chats, however, will not be recorded, nor will they have a set topic. They’ll just be an opportunity for all the ICC participants and staff to hang around with each other for a few hours. If you’re an interested ICC participant or staff member, please ,a href=”mailto:matthew@thehorspools.com”>E-mail me. In your E-mail please let me know what, if any, experience you have with voice chat software. For example, have you used MSN voice chat, Skype, Ventrilo, TeamTalk or something similar?
Thanks for reading, and remember: check out the VITech podcast for archives of the ICC voice chat!
Hi,
Don’t know if anyone is still keeping up with this blog, but I just thought I wood let you all know about the ICC Voice Chat, witch is to be held at 19:00 GMT, on Thursday the 16th of august, 2007. If you wish, you can take part in the chat in one of the following ways:
Downloadand install TeamTalk, by going to this address:
http://bearware.compytech.net/TeamTalk_v3.3_Setup.exe
When TeamTalk is installed, open the application and press the F2 key on your keyboard, and type thehorspools.bounceme.net. You will then be connected, and ready to talk!
If you don’t want to do this, but you want to take part, you can use Skype. Just add the Skype name matthewhorspool to your Skype contacts.
ames
Also, you may be able to take part in the chat through MSN/Windows/Windows Live Messenger. Just add the address matthew@thehorspools.com to your contact list..
Please note: A microphone must be connected to your computer for you to take part, and you must be connected to the internet.
The ICC-Journla has been finished. You can download it as Word- and PDF-File. Many, many many thanks to Jochen and Andrea.
Using a keyboard is a very old-fashioned way to control a computer. Talking to the machine seems to be much easier. The workshop speech-recognition offered by Klaus gives an impression of how it is like to start a conversation with a computer. If you use the screenreader with speech-output it is a real onversation because it even answers. But notice: You cannot ask it a question and expect an answer, it is still the silly old machine. And it is still a hard work making a computer to understand you by reading several texts you have to read from the display. And this is another problem you cannot youse a brailledisplay, because there is so much trouble on the monitor that your screenreader is unable to organize the staff. So my work as co-tutor was to whisper the texts on the screen to the user.
After that we had a lot of fun, because the training does not end after reading the texts. It is “learning by doing”. Everyone started to dictate short texts and controlling the cursor using the voice.
I have chosen one result for you. Have a look what a computer understand if you talk to him or her (perhaps your computer is female, as mine. I call her “Anna”):
“I am in Finland now.
It is very enjoyable.
Here we can learn new things about computers..
In the evenings we have a lot of different activities.
I like it very much.
Another lifetime and faster
By me”
After two hours training this is a really good result and it gets better and bettern by using the speech-recognition-programme. But as if you may have heard sometimes the machine has terrible problems to understand her (and his) user.
Of course there are a lot of reasons to use voice-control: You have someone you can boss around.
But lets get seriously: If you use a braille-display you can just keep your fingers on it and read during writing texts. Instead of searching horrible menus you are also able to start applications by only saying one word. There are other target groups either to whom this technology might be very beneficial. Deaf people just can read on the display what another person tells them.
Shortly: Their are many settings speech recognition is useful and if you are not to serious you can have a lot of fun with it during the first days.
If you’re happy and you know it,
say login, say login. (repeat the two lines)
If the spirit falls on you,
make you shout:
I C Ciky!
If you’re happy and you know it
say login, say login.
If you’re happy and you know it,
eat chocolate, eat chocolate. (repeat the two lines)
If the spirit falls on you,
…
If you’re happy and you know it,
say Espo, say Espo. (repeat the two lines)
If the spirit falls on you,
…
If you’re happy and you know it,
say logout, say logout. (repeat the two lines)
If the spirit falls on you,
make you shout:
“To the party!”
If you’re happy and you know it,
say logout, say logout.
I’m Boglarka, from Hungary. There are so many exciting programmes here to write about, so it’s quite difficult to choose one to tell you my experience is about. This morning I attend in a workshop called Day/living/skills. I found it so interesting, so I think it would be nice for you to hear about it.
With me the participants were from Sweden, Italy, Hungary / hope I haven’t forgotten any and we were there to look at things are so necessary in life and could be done every day. One of these things is cooking we must do so many times that’s why we did something like this. All of we baked a pizza with on top what we wanted and also made a fruit salat, was so delicious. It was so great to wash the dishes, set the table and do all the work in kitchen.
For people who enjoy cooking like me this workshop could be so lovely. However my mom is still a better cook than me. I wish you could also visit this workshop during this week and could have a great time there.
Getting together with games
What children like is even well for youngsters and it in some cases playing games is not as easy as it seems. But of course this is a very good worrking possibility to meet friends if you do’nt know each other. Our host prepaired some wonderful activities for us I’d like to report on two of them at this place:
First: Imagine you have to cross a big swamp with a group of ten women and men. There is no bridge and you only have a a few planks. What to do? The last person in the queue has to pick up the plank behind her or him and gives it to the top. Sounds very easy? It is’nt believe me. Try it and you know what I mean.
Second: Another game: Everyone of us has to interview a person she or he does’nt know. After that we had to introduce or partner to the whole group.
An extra class brain training.
The most important question during the inteviews: What do you expect of ICC? The answers were similar: All participants want to improve their Computer-knowledge and expect to get in touch with new technologies and to make new friends.
Yes, it is true. It is my fourthth ICC, although it isn’t allowed, but Austria is such a small country that there are too less participants … so I have the chance to go as often as I like. I think every year is something very special … with many new ones, but actually are always some people from the year before. The workshops are getting easier to understand (or maybe my English gets better) and so I can enjoy each day. Although I’m always a bit tired….but that is tradition too…there is a life after the workshops (which “could” continue until 4 a.m. J) But there is always something new…the people of course, the city/country/place…the food, and some new workshops or some old which I haven’t attend, cause I was to ”young” I thought. For example the Speech Recognition workshop was a fantastic experience. I had known something about it, But it wasn’t much, but yesterday I had this workshop and it was special new experience to train a computer to understand me (ok…there were some-many-hundreds of mistakes, but it was really like a kind of magic *haha*) And the Japanese writing is SO extraordinary … but I have written my name (oh…wonder) It is the 2nd day only… so it will happen much more…maybe I will write again such… strange text … cause I can’t shut my mouth … greetz to all at ICC.
