Metafilter pointed me to the interesting Let Me Sing It For You speech synthesis toy, which converts a typed sentence into sound samples from popular songs. The sample list is far from complete, so I tested some of the most common words in the English language with it. All the words that I found are below. The list is very incomplete, so feel free to fill in any missing words you’ve found in the comments. (Preferably at least ten at a time.)
Self-Publicity Roundup
Jesper interviewed me for his excellent Under the Iron interview series, along with two new interviews with Feedster’s Scott Johnson, Daring Fireball’s John Gruber, and the always great Jeffrey Zeldman. Not sure how I ended up in such great company, but it’s flattering.
In other self-publicity news, I mentioned in the sidebar that an article/interview about Upcoming.org was in the New York Times last week. Strangely, that was my fourth appearance in the NYT this year, all for completely different reasons. The others were January 18 (Mickey Mouse/Eldred), January 30 (Lost Friends), and May 19 (Star Wars Kid). Can you still be considered a media whore if they contact you?
Anton Maiden, Dead
Anton Maiden represented the ultimate in geek DIY culture. Using MIDI files of Iron Maiden songs cribbed off the Internet and a microphone plugged into his PC, 19-year-old Anton Gustafsson created energetic and excitable versions of his favorite band from his home in Sweden. His unusual recordings became a cult hit in the United States, mostly with college radio DJs and fans of “outsider music.”
Anton is dead at the age of 23, after being reported missing for over a week. His homepage remains unchanged, though this article has more information. If you can confirm these reports, e-mail or IM me. His death is confirmed (thanks Tomas), and it appears to be suicide.
High-quality MP3s of the Anton album (Allmusic.com review) are available, thanks to Dan H. Warning: negative comments about Anton’s music will be deleted.
Kids Show
The following 14-minute masterpiece is the pilot for “Kids Show,” a deranged version of Sesame Street developed by comedy writers Vernon Chatman and John Lee for USA Networks, but recently sold to MTV for a six-episode contract. The quality of this video isn’t very good, but it doesn’t matter. (Warning: Not for the easily offended.)
Watch the video: Windows Media, 24MB (mirror)
Cubs Fan
The Smoking Gun unmasked the name of the Cubs fan that interfered with a foul ball in Tuesday night’s Cubs game, and the Chicago Sun-Times printed far more information. The entire world now knows his name, age, employer, Little League team, and neighborhood. They also published a neighbor’s name, Ron Cohen, which exposes the fan’s home address, as well. A quick glance in Usenet shows that he has a long posting history, so we even know his likes and dislikes. (Update: It’s not the same Steve Bartman… Thanks, Jon.)
Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t he still considered a private person? And doesn’t the Chicago Sun-Times article tangibly endanger his life? I’d love to hear from someone familiar with privacy law. Is he considered a limited public figure by appearing in a public place and trying to catch a foul ball? I’d say he has a decent case against the Smoking Gun and the Sun-Times for negligence.
At any rate, he’s rapidly turning into the net’s newest celebrity. The Photoshop remixes are coming fast and furious… I’ve compiled a list of them below. (My personal favorite.)
Update: DPS notes that SteveBartman.com/org/net domains have all been registered in the last few hours.