Messages

1

General / Re: the "Supporters" group

« on: February 05, 2014, 02:12:23 AM »

Hope this is still possible. Bought this awesome program back in July 2012, been great to work with!

Thanks for all your hard work James, and the support that Kalle, nime5ter, and others like them bring to this community!

2

Tips and Tricks / Re: Verify Internet Status

« on: February 05, 2014, 02:05:49 AM »

My apologies for the delay response. Work's been keeping me very busy.

Thank you very much Kalle and James for the additional modifications, I really appreciate your feedback!

3

Tips and Tricks / Verify Internet Status

« on: January 12, 2014, 03:40:22 AM »

Happy 2014 all!

In my never-ending quest to teach myself scripting, and the fact that where I live I'm regularly plagued with internet connection issues, I wrote a script that checks my internet connection by pinging Google public DNS server (8.8.8.8 ). The scripts kick back a vocal response using the SAPI voice, depending on whether or not the ping responds. It's very convenient if I'm watching a show and suddenly lose connection, I can ask VC to verify my internet connection, it'll call the script, which pings, then responds.

Something simple, yet useful. I've thought about how to use the ping command from python to generate the ping so VC can do the work so I won't have to use an outside script, but I'm still learning .

Code: (VBS Script) [Select]

set objVoice = CreateObject("SAPI.SpVoice")
google_dns = "8.8.8.8"
function ping(arg)
  with CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
    ping = Not CBool(.run("ping -n 1 " & arg,0,true))
  end with
end function
 
if ping(google_dns) = true then
  objVoice.Speak ("Connected")
else
  objVoice.Speak ("Disconnected")
end if

Code: (VC Command) [Select]

<command id="317" name="internet status" enabled="true" alwaysOn="False" confirm="False" requiredConfidence="0" loop="False" loopDelay="0" loopMax="0" description="">
    <action>
        <cmdType>Launch.OpenFile</cmdType>
        <cmdString>C:\<path_to_script>\internet_status.vbs</cmdString>
        <cmdRepeat>1</cmdRepeat>
    </action>
    <phrase>verify internet status</phrase>
</command>

4

Tips for better speech accuracy / Re: Ignore your instincts. Start with low microphone input level.

« on: July 24, 2013, 02:20:03 AM »

I experimented with this process this evening and noticed a significant improvement in recognition. I'm using a CAD Audio U7 USB boundary microphone mounted to the ceiling, and this trick really helped. This time of year when the AC is cranked up the mic has a harder time recognizing commands, but with this trick it must help drown out the background noise from the air flow.

A+++ work James and nime5ter. Thanks!

5

General Discussion / Re: Recommended TTS voices

« on: June 09, 2013, 05:28:23 AM »

Ah, thanks for the info nime5ter!

I showed my wife the video, and she was more interested in Markos than the Vox stuff.

6

General Discussion / Re: Recommended TTS voices

« on: June 09, 2013, 04:49:36 AM »

Hi Kalle.

Do you rotate between the voices, or are they integrated for specific tasks?

7

General Discussion / Recommended TTS voices

« on: June 09, 2013, 02:41:39 AM »

Greetings all,

I watched the scenario Jitterjames put on YouTube (twice?), and I loved the usage of functions and peripherals. I noticed he uses Neospeech's Bridget voice. I myself use Ivona's Brian (Male UK) voice, and after seeing the video I was wondering what everyone else uses.

My dream TTS would be GLaDOS from Portal, but after scouring the internet this is the closest thing I could find: http://glados.biringa.com ... and some tutorials on how to make some .wavs yourself.

So what do you use?

8

VoxCommando Basics and Core Features / Re: Can't get out of standby by voice

« on: June 11, 2012, 11:54:43 PM »

My apologies for bumping this. I thought it best to consolidate my inquiry with this rather than create a new topic as I am having the exact same issue. Speaking the default "Listen" commands does not bring VC out of standby.

I followed the instructions jitterjames posted, but it has not resolved the issue.
VC acknowledges the command I give it, but says "ignoring command / we are in standby"

Version 0.939
Config: XBMC

Any assistance would be appreciated.

9

Tips and Tricks / Re: Using Mumble instead of Skype for a wifi microphone.

« on: June 02, 2012, 04:39:43 AM »

1. Launch the executable (the same one that installed the Mumble client) on the machine you want the server on (in my case, my Windows NAS). You can also install it on the same machine as the Mumble client, but I prefer to keep them separate as to min/max resources.

2a. If you're installing the server on the same machine that already has the mumble client: select Next > Change > Install (See attachment #1)

OR

2b. If you're installing the server on its own machine (like my NAS): select Next > Agree to EULA > Uncheck Mumble and check Murmur > Install (See attachment #2)

Once installs are complete...

3a. Client + server on the same machine: launch Mumble, click the {+} next to Public Internet (you won't use those), click "Add New" and enter your computer info.
For example:

Label: localhost
Address: 127.0.0.1
Port: 64738
Username: HTPC

OR

3b. Server only: Launch Murmur. You'll only see a system tray icon populate. Right-click on it for the "Show Log" to show status.
Then go back to the client machine, launch Mumble, click the {+} next to Public Internet (you won't use those), click "Add New" and enter the computer info of your server system.
For example, mine is:

Label: NAS
Address: 192.168.1.100
Port: 64738
Username: HTPC

Repeat 3b on your Android, but change your Username to reflect that it's your phone.

4. Connect both clients. By default they'll both be in the root channel together. Go to Configure > Settings > Check "Advanced" box at the bottom, and configure VAC in the settings using the Skype instructions from the wiki (see my first post attachments for reference). For my config, I also upped the Audio Output Volume to 200% because Vox kept telling me "too low" when talking to the phone. I also did Configure > Minimal View, but that's just a personal preference.

You should now be able to talk to Vox through your Android.

10

Tips and Tricks / Re: Using Mumble instead of Skype for a wifi microphone.

« on: June 02, 2012, 03:36:58 AM »

Certainly.

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumble_(software)
Official Website: http://www.mumble.com/

Server and Client are both included in the install.
Mumble mobile client is also available for iOS, but I do not own any iOS devices so I cannot verify its usage or stability.

I can see additional benefits to this as well. Like if you have multiple systems in your house for which you want to send voice commands to, they can all have their own Mumble client in the same channel waiting for instructions from a user's (or multiple users') phone.

Example: My wife is notorious for leaving her system on for days at a time without using it. When she goes to bed, and I'm watching XBMC on the other side of the house, I can just whip out my phone and see that her system is in the Mumble channel and say "Peach shut down". Then watch her system leave the channel, thereby verifying that the computer is shutting down. This is assuming my HTPC will ignore the command because it started with "Peach". I'm still a noob learning this stuff heh. If it doesn't, each system can have its own channel in Mumble to receive commands.

Of course, my main reason for this is only to keep the resources being used internally.

11

Tips and Tricks / Using Mumble instead of Skype for a wifi microphone.

« on: June 02, 2012, 02:49:44 AM »

Greetings to all,
 
I've been experimenting with Vox on my home network and my HTPC/XBMC. Such an awesome program, I love it. My Android phone never leaves my side so I wanted to integrate that as my mic to control Vox, but I was uncomfortable using an outside communication resource as Skype to control my network voice commands. So I got to thinking of what I already had that's available to use.
 
I successfully integrated Mumble, VAC, and Vox using the exact same method described in the wiki article to configure Skype. There is an additional step required of installing a Mumble server (Murmur) locally since you aren't connecting to the Skype service elsewhere on the internet. My current setup is using an old POS Dell with XP as a temporary NAS to hold my media. I installed Murmur on it, installed the Mumble client and VAC onto my HTPC, and installed the free Mumble client on my Android phone. I configured Mumble the same way the wiki describes how to configure Skype. Launched both clients, connected to Murmur, and voila! I can now speak to XBMC from my phone using only internal network resources.
 
My long term goal is to have a Synology NAS to host my media in addition to Murmur (plus other services). Fortunately they have a Linux package called uMurmur that is a Mumble server for Synology. I'm excited to try it out too.
 
Now to convince the wife that the $35 is a good investment.

Thoughts on this?