There isn't a strong pattern when narrowing to a single voice, but the ElevenLabs voices in general are much more easily mistaken for a human compared to any other provider we're currently using.
Apple doesn't publicly comment on how the chart rankings are calculated, which is why we can't draw strong conclusions, but our understanding is that this would do the job. Since the somewhat catastrophic failure of the charts a week ago its clear that Apple did update their algorithms, but its not clear how (and some of the same players identified in the blog are still ranking highly).
We can't say for sure how the charts are being gamed, but there is strong evidence that its related to a pay per play scheme to pump subscription numbers in a small time window. The implication of the graph visualization is that the same iTunes users are subscribing to all of the suspect shows, and all on one storefront (the U.S.).
That is a great question - we actually didn't consider using elastic search, we went with Solr because we use it for Octopart and are experienced with it so it made developing ThriftDB easier. We're evaluating other options now and will have a look.
Thanks for the feedback - you're right, the TOS prohibition was overly restrictive, we've removed the deep-linking clause.
As far as attribute comparison, we are constantly trying to add more attribute data into our system, but we're still lacking in that department. We do have some data on sample rates for adcs though:
http://octopart.com/partbrowser#search/requestData&start...
(this link is to our new partbrowser interface - we've been working on designing a new interface specifically with engineers in mind)
If you have any other suggestions or ideas, definitely let us know.
I think this is more because of the community in the Bay Area rather than how far Chicago is. Most of my non-techie friends from U of I did move to Chicago. Chicago seems to be a hub for all big ten grads to move to. My techie friends who did stay in Chicago tend to have crappier jobs than those who went to the Bay area.
This is particularly embarrassing as the state has a very good flagship tech school at the U of I (the most visible internet product coming from there being paypal, which ended up being based in California).
I know the Dawdle team really well, they are very hardworking guys (who love video games) and have put a lot on the line for Dawdle to succeed - I really hope it does.
I've also used Dawdle before - it was quick and painless to buy a video game.
I went to U of I and am pretty happy with the education there. It is generally very good in engineering so you'll be able to explore a lot within that discipline (I started in computer engineering, and finished in physics), and engage in some great research opportunities. I was in-state and the extremely affordable tuition is probably the biggest reason I went, though I doubt the out of state tuition is unreasonable. I'm not sure what it takes to get legal residency in Illinois, but if you plan carefully you might be able to get it after your first year.
And, you'll probably have a pretty decent social experience. Going to a Big 10 school with one of the largest greek systems in the country can be fun, even if you're not a big college sports or frat fan (and, who isn't a sorority fan?).
I'm a little wary of doing that - presumably they'll start pushing back and getting on credit card shit lists is something that makes me feel even more helpless than not being able to cancel something.
That is a really good idea - I had the same issue with a wireless provider I signed up for (Deep Blue Wireless, if anyone has ever used them) previously.
Regardless, I think it is a pretty shady business practice to obfuscate the process of removing charges which were signed up for. It can be done really well - Netflix has made it really easy, and because of it I am willing to go back and forth as a subscriber. At this point I will never sign up again for a LinkedIn business account.
Check out Dawdle (http://dawdle.com). A friend of mine started it, its a pretty nifty E-Bay like site based around video games which takes a stab at solving the credentials issue.
Monopoly isn't the most technically accurate word, but behaviorally I'd say that Digi-Key is acting like a monopoly. Typically monopolies like to hold on to existing business practices rather than adapt to changing market economies. Regardless of 'good', 'evil' or 'monopoly', it seems to me that it is inevitable that online price comparison will start to become the norm for most markets. Digi-Key's reaction to this is very monopoly-like (in another world, they could choose to work with us and make sure they get the lion's share of traffic from our site).
This discussion of whether we are adding value or not seems very hypothetical to me. We aren't forcing anyone to use our site, presumably if people are using our site, it is because they find it useful.
I'm not sure I understand - Octopart does not sell any parts. Digi-Key's core function is to sell parts. They do in fact have a warehouse of parts and a team of salespeople, whereas we are three guys working out of cafes. Our interests certainly overlap to a high degree in that we both want accurate part information. But Digi-Key is in the information business in the same way that Walmart is in the information business (a company that also re-sells most of its inventory from manufacturers in its supply chain).
This information is freely available on their website (not to mention their widely distributed paper catalogs). Google has crawled much of Digi-Key's website and has this information on their servers. However, Digi-Key is specifically targeting Octopart (actually, I'm not sure if they're threatening Google, my uninformed guess is no though). The only thing we're doing differently than Google is distilling the information in a way that allows part buyers to compare prices readily. There are other part information websites also crawling Digi-Key, but Octopart is one of the only ones doing price comparison - again, I'm just guessing, but I doubt Digi-Key is threatening any of these other websites.
The quote, "It's cheaper equity", seems like a bad p.r. move. I've never heard that as a stated reason for YC's investment model, regardless of whether it is one. I think it betrays one of the most significant differences between YC and the imitators - a certain level of class. But, I'm sure the other incubators provide great opportunities for young entrepreneurs.
well, 'ping amazon.com' is not returning from two different locations for me. 'ping google.com' on the other hand is just as reliable as always. smugmug.com is also down, for me, which i seem to recall heavily uses the amazon services. maybe its some local routing issues.
it must be someone else (we're exiled in berkeley but haven't yet been evicted from san francisco) but, personally, i think the situation is absurd-what percentage of this place was filled by referrals from justin.tv?
Its interesting to me that everyone here seems to have advice to offer, some of it very personally critical, to a man who is merely outlining his own train of thought, not telling anyone to follow his path. I am nearing the end of my fourth year in physics grad school and have never been closer to quitting. My own experience has been very isolating-I work long hours in the basement of a lab, limiting of my personal growth-I've been in a kind of 'stasis' where I'm in this college environment but very clearly do not fit the mold of a college student, and professionally frustrating - not only do I not have the kind of control over my project which people claim as the holy grail of a Ph.D., there is no clear end in sight to what I am doing. The only thing keeping me here is momentum and fear. Here is a man who just took his life off the usual path and spat in the face of fear. That deserves respect.