Hello, and welcome…
Rick’s Daily Tech Tips Update for Sunday, August 28, 2022
Topics covered in this issue…
• Q&A: Is Apple’s Siri really the voice of an actual person?
• How to save Gmail attachments to your Google Drive storage
• Scam alert: Beware these dangerous ‘Free Credit Monitoring’ scams
• Video: Visit to Barrow, Alaska – The northernmost city in America
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Today’s quick tech tip….
Q&A: Is Apple’s Siri really the voice of an actual person?
Question from Janice: I heard the other day that when Siri talks on an iPhone the voice we hear was actually recorded by a real person.
I’ve always thought Siri’s voice was computer-generated.
So which is it?
Rick’s answer: Janice, the most accurate answer to your question is “a mixture of both”.
Siri’s initial voice really was the spoken voice of an actual person: Susan Bennett, a voice actor and backup singer from Atlanta, Georgia.
However, at some point Apple did begin using a computer generated simulation of Bennett’s voice for Siri because there were simply too many possible words for Siri to use for one voice actor to ever record.
But here’s the intriguing part…
Apple has long denied that Bennett recorded the initial voice of Siri, but analyses performed by independent voice recognition experts found that Bennett’s voice and Siri’s voice are so nearly identical that the odds are virtually 100% that Siri’s original voice was indeed recorded by Bennett, just as she claims it was.
Today, when Siri speaks you are hearing a computer generated voice, but that voice was indeed based upon the voice of Susan Bennett.
And now, I’ll finish up with this…
Susan Bennett wasn’t the only human voice of Siri.
iPhones in Britain, Australia and a handful of other countries use Siri voices that are based on native speakers from those countries.
The latest from Rick’s Daily Tips Tech Blog…
• Scam alert: Beware these dangerous ‘Free Credit Monitoring’ scams
Scammers are posing as credit monitoring services to trick people into handing over their sensitive info. This post explains how to avoid these scams.
• How to save Gmail attachments to your Google Drive storage
This is an easy way to ensure that you never lose access to an important attachment due to an accidentally deleted Gmail message.
• Click here to see today’s ‘Picture of the Day’.
Every morning I post a new photo that I find inspiring, intriguing, or just plain beautiful to look at. Jumpstart your day by checking it out.
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Rick’s Daily Pick…
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Keep all of your portable devices up and running with this super-handy and top-rated high capacity portable power bank.
Today’s post from ‘My Daily Smile’…
Video: Visit to Barrow, Alaska – The northernmost city in America
This video might surprise you, in several ways.
Tech news that caught my eye…
• Twilio breach let hackers gain access to Authy 2FA accounts
• Judge grants Elon Musk access to Twitter data to determine spam accounts on the platform
• Startup develops AI that makes call center employees sound like white, American robots
• Apple says 95% of iCloud users already have 2FA enabled ahead of Passkeys launch
• Twitter is bringing podcasts onto its platform
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Thanks so much, and have an amazing day.
Your tech buddy,
Rick Rouse
https://www.RicksDailyTips.com