md5 Module Problem on mod_python
I got this error message in my /var/log/apache2/error.log:
[Fri Aug 14 10:16:51 2009] [error] /usr/lib/python2.6/dist-packages/mod_python/importer.py:32: DeprecationWarning: the md5 module is deprecated; use hashlib instead
[Fri Aug 14 10:16:51 2009] [error] import md5
I had tried upgrade the libapache2-mod-python package from 3.3.1-6build2 (jaunty package) to 3.3.1-7 (karmic package), but it wasn’t solve the problem.
So, the solution is edit /usr/lib/python2.6/dist-packages/mod_python/importer.py. Change import md5 to from hashlib import md5 and also md5.new(file).hexdigest() to md5(file).hexdigest().
Festival Can’t Open /dev/dsp
I installed Festival in my Ubuntu 8.10 and when I was trying to use it to synthesize text, I got this error:
Linux: can't open /dev/dsp
Fortunately, I found the answer here. To solve this problem just write this .festivalrc in your home directory.
(Parameter.set 'Audio_Command "aplay -q -c 1 -t raw -f s16 -r $SR $FILE")
(Parameter.set 'Audio_Method 'Audio_Command)
Skype’s Sound Devices Configuration
Some people can’t configure the Sound Devices in Ubuntu-based (maybe Unix-based) Skype so that its Sound In works. Fortunately, I relatively didn’t get problem with my Skype 2.0 and Ubuntu 8.10 which is installed in Dell Inspiron 6400. I just need to change the setting from Default device (default) to HDA Intel (hw:Intel,0).
However, I wonder why the Volume Control on keyboard (Fn + Page Up/Down) controls the Capture Volume, not the Master Volume. So, I can control the microphone volume with that Function Key. For now it’s ok, but if someday I want to “correct” the function, I wonder how to do it.
Install Skype 2.0 in Ubuntu 8.10
Add Medibuntu repository to your sources.list:
sudo wget http://www.medibuntu.org/sources.list.d/intrepid.list --output-document=/etc/apt/sources.list.d/medibuntu.list
Then, add the GPG Key:
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install medibuntu-keyring && sudo apt-get update
And finally, install Skype 2.0:
sudo apt-get install skype
For your information:
Medibuntu (Multimedia, Entertainment & Distractions In Ubuntu) is a repository of packages that cannot be included into the Ubuntu distribution for legal reasons (copyright, license, patent, etc).
Medibuntu has two components for its repository. They are labelled free and non-free. The free component has the packages for software whose sources are made freely and/or are distributed with an open source license such as the GNU General Public License. The non-free component contains software whose sources are not made freely available and/or are distributed with a license that restricts certain ways the software can be distributed.
Software in the free component are not distributed in the Ubuntu repositories because of legal issues with that software in certain countries. Some software such as Amarok and Kaffeine are distributed through the main Ubuntu repositories but with certain functionalities taken away, again because of legal issues. Medibuntu distributes these kind of packages with those functionalities in place.
Software in the non-free component are not distributed in the main Ubuntu repositories because of the licenses that these software are distributed with restricts how they can be distributed. The software in the non-free component are usually not needed for general use as there are alternatives or implementations in other open source licensed software. Some software, such as Google Earth and Adobe Acrobat Reader, are available directly from the company’s website that owns the rights to them.
Since the packages in the non-free component are usually not needed, the instructions in the next section will include a step to exclude acquiring package information from the non-free component of the Medibuntu repository.
taken from: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Medibuntu
Ubuntu 8.10 + Huawei E220 + Telkomsel Flash Unlimited
Whew.. I’m pretty excited right now. I just installed Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid Ibex on my laptop, substituting Slackware 12 which I rarely used.
The interesting part here is Ubuntu 8.10 automatically detects the HSDPA USB modem I use (Huawei E220). And fortunately, there is pre-configured mobile broadband connection setting for Telkomsel (Flash). I only need to input PIN of the SIM card. Wonderful..
Maybe, it’s the momentum I need to use Unix again and “get away” from Windows. ^_^
Mermelstein – Articulatory Model for the Study of Speech Production
When doing my final-year project, I used Mermelstein’s paper (“Articulatory Model for the Study of Speech Production”) as my most important resource because it defined Mermelstein’s articulatory model which I used in final-year project. Thanks to Jose Brito who gave me the scanned version. Here, I will share the PDF version for you.
Download the paper, here.
My Final-Year Project Abstract
Parameterization of Articulatory-Model Speech Synthesizer for Indonesian Phonemes
ABSTRACT
The evaluation of text-to-speech system can be started with evaluation of speech generated by the system. There are two evaluation criterias, that are naturality and intelligibility of speech. Theoretically, articulatory synthesis is a good method of speech-generating process for the text-to-speech system because it can generate natural speech. So, it will have high intelligibility rate. Until now, there is no complete data of articulatory-model parameters for generating Indonesian phonemes. Whereas, these data are very important in Indonesian text-to-speech system development which use articulatory synthesis for generating speech. Therefore, a research on finding these parameters has to be done.
In this research, parameterization involve speech synthesis process which is done using ARTM toolbox in MATLAB. Speech synthesis process itself can be divided into analysis, speech inverse filtering, excitation set up, and synthesis process. Pre-processing and post-processing can be added to those processes. Pre-processing provide formant contour of speech signal from the speech recording input. Frames which contain four first formant frequencies information is produced from formant contour in analysis process. Articulatory-model speech generator parameters for certain frame then can be provided from the frame in speech inverse filtering process. Using these articulatory-model parameters and excitation parameters, which are determined in excitation set up, synthesis process produces speech signal. Post-processing is done to determine the right frame to represent a certain phoneme and its articulatory-model parameters.
Using this methodology, articulatory-model speech synthesizer parameters for almost all Indonesian phonemes, except fricative phonemes, can be obtained. Although those parameters have not represent ideal articulatory-model yet, articulatory-model speech synthesizer parameters for Indonesian phonemes which are obtained in this research can generate human-speech-like signal.
Keyword: text-to-speech, speech synthesizer, articulatory synthesis, articulatory model
Problem (Bug) in Magento Installation
Just now, I tried to deploy Magento, an e-commerce CMS, version 1.0.19870.1. Although it’s just for fun, I really want to try this CMS, because in a review (I forget where I read the review) Magento regarded better than osCommerce. However, in the installation process, I met this kind of error.
Url “http://localhost/magento/” is not accessible
Error parsing body – doesn’t seem to be a chunked message
Where “http://localhost/magento” was my Base URL.
Fortunately, it can be solved easily. I just had to add‘”index.php/’” in <path>\magento\app\code\core\Mage\Install\Model\Installer\Config.php line 139 so that the original syntax:
$client = new Varien_Http_Client($url.$prefix);
will be like this:
$client = new Varien_Http_Client($url.‘index.php/’.$prefix);
It will solve the problem.
(I think the developer just forget to add that part of syntax.. :p)
Why is ‘w’ pronounced ‘double u’ rather than ‘double v’?
English uses the Latin alphabet of the Romans. However, this had no letter suitable for representing the phoneme /w/ which was used in Old English, though phonetically the sound represented by /v/ was quite close. In the 7th century scribes wrote uu for /w/; later they used the runic symbols known as wynn. European scribes had continued to write uu, and this usage returned to England with the Norman Conquest in 1066. Early printers sometimes used vv for lack of a w in their type. The name double-u recalls the former identity of u and v, which is also evident in a number of cognate words (flour/flower, guard/ward, suede/Swede, etc.). (source: http://www.askoxford.com/)
The earliest form of the letter W was a doubled V used in the 7th century by the earliest writers of Old English; it is from this <uu> digraph that the modern name “double U” comes. This digraph was not extensively used, as its sound was usually represented instead by the runic wynn (Ƿ), but W gained popularity after the Norman Conquest, and by 1300 it had taken wynn’s place in common use. Other forms of the letter were a pair of Vs whose branches cross in the middle. An obsolete, cursive form found in the nineteenth century in both English and German was in the form of an “n” whose rightmost branch curved around as in a cursive “v” (compare the shape of ƕ). (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/)
In the IPA vowels chart, we also can see both semivowel y and w. Phoneme y is a rounded front close vowel, while phoneme w which represented as an inverted-m is a unrounded back close vowel.
At first, I didn’t know what symbol represents phoneme w in the IPA vowels or consonants chart. However, after I read several information (history) about why grapheme w is pronounced ‘double u’, I’m quite sure that the inverted-m symbol in IPA vowels chart represents phoneme w.
UEFA Champions League Winner ‘07/’08
It’s another miracle after UEFA Champions League ‘98/’99 Final.
It’s not just about how you play the game, but it’s also about how lucky you are.. 
Congrats, guys..!
