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Industry Trade
Shows and Fan Conventions
Reported by R. Allen
Leider
Business, Finance and
Technology Editor
SpeechTek
New York City Hilton Hotel
August 2011
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 Today, speech provides opportunities beyond the call center with multimodal and mobile solutions for customer self-service, advanced speaker identification and verification technologies to provide simple and secure login procedures, and analytics solutions that provide a wealth of data to understand and anticipate customer needs. To benefit from these developments, organizations need a plan for including speech as part of a cross-channel communications strategy that engages customers via the telephone, web, SMS, chat, and social networks.
Speechtek 2011 will feature tracks devoted to Business
Strategies, Customer Experience, Speech Deployments,
Next-Generation Speech Technologies, and Voice Interaction
Design. Attendees can experience the latest speech technology
products, talked to developers, and spoke with judges
who evaluated solutions in five lab sessions: analytics,
development tools, in-car systems, natural language
and translation, and voice-enabled personal assistants.
There will be presentations devoted to specific topics,
including multimodal applications, cross-channel applications,
analytics, speaker identification and verification,
and more across the traditional vertical conference
tracks in addition to brief, focused sessions for useful
insights on various topics, so attendees will be able
to take home practical skills to improve speech at their
organizations. |
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Fan Conventions
and Expos |
Chiller
Theater Expo
Hilton Hotel,
Parsippany, NJ, October 2011 |
 Entrepreneur
Kevin Clement ( Mr. Chiller ) has cooked up another
slam-bang Chiller Con for this Spring with hundreds
of exhibitors, events and guests like the Dead Elvi
band. crush of fans mobbed the autograph pit - the main
lobby of the hotel- for a chance to get their fav celebrity's
autograph and that cherished picture for the blog, FB
page or den wall. Expensive? maybe, but that's relative
to how many pics and autographs you want and how much
cash you have - always saving some for the huge dealers
room.
Chiller
Theatre Toy, Model and Film Expo was created in 1990
and has continued in the Spring and Fall of each year
since. Check out the coming Chiller Expo at
http://www.chillertheatre.com/main.htm The show
has grown as has the enterprise: for example the
Chiller Shop http://www.chillertheatre.com/shop.htm
and Chiller Radio http://chillerradio.libsyn.com/
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Chilller Theatre Con, Toy, Model and Film Expo was packed
with exciting guests.
Among
the celebs who came to the Spring 2011 Chiller Show
were Ernest Borgnine, Loni Anderson, Bai Ling, Tony
Clifton, Gary and Jake Busey, Dean Stockwell, Chris
Sarandon, Heather Langenkamp, Vivica A. Fox, Britt Ekland,
Ellen Travolta, Butch Patrick, The Willie Wonka Reunion,
Maud Adams, Rae Dawn Chong & many
many more including this comely vampiress who makes
custom fangs. yes, most of the fav dearlers returned
this year.. the pricey custom made dolls of practicall
every horror figure and star you could remember, the
books and DVD's of the hard to find flicks and TV shows,
that model you always meant to buy and jewelry and the
missing major horror celeb autograph you've dreamt of...like
Lugosi and Karloff!! |
 The
Hilton in Parsippany is always jammed to the rafters with
fans and horror aficionados that want a personal experience
that canonly be found at a Chiller Expo,so many get there
early and get their tickets in advance. Here's Zacherely,
the Dean of TV horror show hosts touting our own project
- Wicca Girl, the first novel in the quadrilogy. I first
met Zach when I was in Jr. High School and on a day off
- went to his show in Newark. I was one of the luck three
guys who got access to him at the studio every Thursday
night when he taped the show. It was dumb luck. Eventually
the three of us started to write gags for him ( for food
-mostly hamburgers ) and as time wne t on and he moved
from ABC to Wor to Wpix we followed, honing our skills.
Personally, it all helped get this new book franchise
started. Thanks, John....see you next Fall!! |
 If
you are a collector, horror fanatic, model builder or
one that is into Horror, then this is a must attend
show. You
will find old Movies, Toys, TV Celebs, rock stars, idolized
actors, people in costume, special effects gurus, bats,
magazine publishers, and the collector who only comes
out of his cave to collect more stuff from these shows.
Here if there's any sort of horror movie DVD, movie
poster, or expensive, delicate figurine you can imagine,
you will find it. Obscure horror movie you and 3 friends
on myspace have seen?
Of course there are more things happening than retail
sales. The costume contest/show, the concerts featuring
The Dead Elvi, Zacherly singing the hits from his four
albums, and guest performers. Jane Wiedlin of The Go-Gos
made an appearance. She sang some of their classics.
After she was done Bai Ling sang a song! In all it was
the consummate Horror fan weekend and ,after all, that's
what kevin puts together - memorable Chiller Shows. |
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Coming -
Balticon 46
America's
Oldest Science Fiction Convention
Marriott
Inn, Hunt Valley, MD
May 25th - 28th, 2012
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 Balticon
46 will feature over 300 Hours of Multi-Track Programming
featuring authors, publishers, editors, artists, scientists,
musicians and other creative SF luminaries. Join over
a thousand SF fans for the area's largest and longest
running convention of its kind! Visit our huge art show,
dealer's room, concerts, dances, gaming room, computer
room and video room. Everything Science Fiction and Fantasy
in one huge package.
Yes,
that's R. Allen Leider and wife Barbara
(l.) promoting ''Wicca Girl 2'' last year.
Guest of Honor: Jody Lynn Nye
Artist Guest of Honor: Jim Odbert
Music Guests of Honor: Heather Dale and Ben Deschamps
Compton
Crook: James Knapp
Scientist Guest of Honor: Dr. William D. Phillips, Laureate,
the Nobel Prize in Physics 1997
Ghost of Honor: Robert Aspirin
Fan Ghost of Honor: Richard Butler
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New Technology
Products
Wacom Intuos Graphic Tablets
Working professionals and serious creatives
will make the Intuos4 a necessary, daily-use tool.
It is the finest pen tablet experience ever created
by Wacom. The Intuos4 speeds production time for photo
editing, design and art creation and the latest pen
tip sensor technology and 2048 levels of pressure
sensitivity allow you to capture subtle nuances of
pressure, so you can dynamically adjust exposure,
brush size, opacity and more with astounding accuracy.
Available in four sizes, plus a medium-sized Bluetooth®
Wireless model, you can choose the professional pen
tablet that is right for you, depending on your screen
size, brush stroke style, and desktop space.
Natural Ergonomic Design. The tablet shape and surface
have been completely re-engineered to enable ergonomic,
consistent strokes, even over long periods of time.
The innovative, ambidextrous design of Intuos4 allows
you to maximize the productivity of both your hands.
Having the ExpressKeys™ and Touch Ring on the
same side of the tablet ensures that they are perfectly
positioned for the hand that is not holding the pen.
Available in four wide-format sizes (S, M, L, XL)
and a wireless model, you can pick the perfect one
to fit your specific working style and workflow needs.
This all new professional tablet takes
into consideration the many aspects of a professional's
workflow, software integration points, and equal demand
for both performance and comfort. These new features
include programmable ExpressKeys to activate time-saving
shortcuts and modifiers in each of your applications.
The finger-sensitive Touch Ring provides intuitive
control of scrolling, zooming, brush size, canvas
rotation and layer selection. A central toggle button
allows you to control up to four different functions
in each application.
Attention to Detail. Find innovation in every detail.
That's Intuos4. With its new Wacom Tip Sensor to capture
every nuance of a stroke, a new precision mode, and
added levels of pressure sensitivity to dynamically
adjust exposure, brush size, line weight and opacity,
Intuos4 promises to exceed your every expectation.
Like the Cintiq interactive pen display,
the Intuos4 pen controls the cursor in any application
and provides pressure- and tilt-sensitive effects
in supported applications such as Adobe® Photoshop®,
Autodesk® SketchBook® Pro, Corel® Painter™
and hundreds of other applications. All Intuos4 tablets
work elegantly with both Mac and PC platforms. The
Wacom PTK640 Intuos4 Medium Pen Graphics Tablet is
the most popular and versatile choice among creative
professionals. With 48.5 square inches of working
area, this tablet provides ample workspace for most
tablet users. The medium size is built with eight
Express Keys and illuminated Express Key displays
that provide easy reference to your assigned functions.
Features include :
New pen tip sensor technology lowers activation force
and captures every nuance of pen pressure
2048 levels of pen pressure sensitivity for precise
pressure control
User-defined ExpressKeys & multi function Touch
Ring put time saving shortcuts, modifiers, scrolling,
zooming, and more at your fingertips.
Illuminated ExpressKey displays provide a constant
reference each Keys setting (Bullet only for use with
the Medium, Large or Extra-Large sizes of Intuos4
Versatile choice for creative professionals
48.5 square inch work area
8 express keys
Powered by USB port
Compatible with Mac and PC
Logitech HD WebCam C510
Amazing Low-Cost HD WebCam Works Out of the
Box with Windows and Linux
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 The
Logitech HD Webcam C510 joins the growing party of webcams
able to make high-def video calls with a relatively
compact, foldable design. In addition to videoconferencing
in greater detail, the C510 ($59.99) also lets you upload
HD videos directly to Facebook and YouTube. However,
you won't be able see that high-def quality when using
Skype. The C510 is plug-and-play, so once you slip the
USB port into your PC, the camera's drivers upload either
automatically with Windows XP or with a few prompts
with Windows 7 or Vista.
Enjoy
widescreen HD video (720p) on most major IMs and Logitech
Vid™ HD. One-click HD upload (720p) to Facebook™
and YouTube® makes it easy to keep friends and family
up to date. Slip it in your bag, purse, even your pocket—with
its fold-and-go design, this webcam is incredibly portable
and goes wherever you go. High-definition beats standard
definition every time, plain and simple. An HD picture
so sharp and crisp, your video chats will feel like
you’re both in the same room.
With deep rich, vibrant colors, your videos will seem
more lively and energetic than those with standard definition
webcams. And color tuning ensures that skin tones stay
natural-looking.
Logitech's
RightLight™ 2 Technology was designed to ensure
high-quality video in low-light conditions. The cam
intelligently adjusts to compensate for the light, so
you don’t end up looking like a shadow or a ghost.
You can fit more of your friends in widescreen picture.
When it comes to a wider 16:9 aspect ratio versus the
4:3 standard, you simply get more of the story, or more
of the party. No matter how close to camera you get,
Logitech's state-of-the art Carl Zeiss optics equipped
with autofocus will track you all the way, so you always
appear crisp and clear. Call,
chat, blog, stream, record and share it all in just
one click. There’s lots of way to connect with
your audience these days, whether they’re a friend,
family member or a sea of fans. The picture is so sharp
and rich, your message is sure to get across loud and
clear.
Durable design
Camera turns a full 360 degrees
Logitech Vid HD rivals Skype in ease of use
Fun special effects software
For
more information: http://www.logitech.com/en-us/hd-webcams/hi-def-webcams
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