[DECtalk] History of the DECtalk Archive

Alex H. linuxx64.bashsh at gmail.com
Thu Jul 12 11:16:47 EDT 2012


No...4.61....

On 7/12/12, Tyler <programmer651 at comcast.net> wrote:
> The website dectalk.com has 5.0. When you click "check out the Archive," one
> of your
> options will be "Dectalk Software and Manuals." I believe 5.0 is the only
> version left there.
> It's a Gwmicro thing, so you'll get that option once you click "Dectalk
> Software and
> Manuals."
> Tyler Z
> On Thu, 12 Jul 2012 10:11:58 -0400, Alex H. wrote:
>
>
>>Hi,
>>
>>Awesome little lesson there. I was a latecomer to this list, first
>>stumbling upon DECtalk in 2006, but all I could find was the terrible
>>4.61 version that everyone seemed to dislike, and didn't sound like
>>any of the demos I found online made by Patrick and others. Sad times.
>>
>>Two years later, I was running across old list results in Google, and
>>I found someone mention speak43. I knew that was what I was going for,
>>DECtalk 4.3. I did some digging, and eventually found the Speak43 and
>>its associated data. I then seriously began learning DECtalk phonemes
>>in late 2008 with the aid of some demos and text files, and plenty of
>>soft drinks. :)
>>
>>I pulled down a copy of the Archive in 2010 for my own local use so as
>>not to suck up any more bandwidth and have most of the DECtalk
>>versions. I'm only missing the 5.0 speak window. If anyone's got it, I
>>want it. Badly. It'll round out my collection nicely.
>>
>>Thanks for the trip down Memory Lane, Jayson. That was awesome.
>>Alex
>>
>>On 7/11/12, Blake Roberts <beroberts at hughes.net> wrote:
>>>That was a very interesting lesson. Although I first joined this list in
>>>late 2004 or early 2005, I had forgotten some of the history due to the
>>>passage of time. Jayson, it has been my experience during the past 7
>>> years
>>>that you are an excellent list moderator. You are both helpful and fair,
>>>which are both great leadership qualities. It is my hope that you will
>>>continue hosting this listserv on BlueGrassPals for a long time yet. I
>>>consider this Dectalk listserv to be an invaluable resource.
>>>Blake
>>>
>>>-----Original Message-----
>>>From: dectalk-bounces at bluegrasspals.com
>>>[mailto:dectalk-bounces at bluegrasspals.com] On Behalf Of Jayson Smith
>>>Sent: Wednesday, July 11, 2012 8:30 PM
>>>To: DECtalk Discussions
>>>Subject: [DECtalk] History of the DECtalk Archive
>>>
>>>Okay, class, get back in your seats and pay attention, since I'm going to
>>>teach a little history lesson. There will be a pop quiz on this material
>>>sometime next week. Hehe, just fooling around here, but this is gonna get
>>> a
>>>bit long.
>>>
>>>So when I first came in contact with the DECtalk archive it was being
>>>hosted
>>>by Andre Louis. This was in October of 2003. Over time Andre started to
>>> get
>>>more and more annoyed at the bandwidth burden the DECtalk archive had
>>>become. He eventually started asking for donations, and put a password on
>>>the archive for a little while. Around this same time, I, Jayson Smith,
>>>proud owner of my very own Linux server, was looking for ways I could use
>>>that server to give to the community. One of my early ideas was to
>>>establish
>>>a mirror of the DECtalk archive. So I ran my mirror, Andre got more and
>>>more
>>>annoyed/annoying, the less of which said the better, until finally on
>>>August
>>>18, 2005, he pulled the plug permanently. Here's the Email I sent out to
>>>this very list when I discovered this fact.
>>>
>>>Hello,
>>>Having attempted to access the official archive at Andre's site less than
>>>an
>>>hour ago, it appears that he has silently pulled the plug, finally.  As
>>> far
>>>as I am concerned, this leaves me as the de facto archive maintainer.  As
>>>such, here are a few things I want everybody to know.
>>>1.  The Red Dwarf files are staying.  I know this is a bit risky given US
>>>copyright law, but I don't see lawyers banging on my door right now, so
>>>don't think it's a real huge deal.  If it ever becomes one, the files
>>> will
>>>be removed and someone in the UK can host them, but hopefully that won't
>>> be
>>>necessary.  I have set up an ftp account exclusively for those involved
>>>with
>>>the uploading of Red Dwarf files, and a script which moves these files to
>>>the red_dwarf directory once an hour.  If you are involved in the upload
>>>process, please write me off-list at ratguy at bellsouth.net and I will
>>>provide
>>>the username and password.  To prevent abuse, this account is only
>>>available
>>>to people who upload Red Dwarf episodes and not to anybody else, and it
>>>will
>>>be removed after dt8-8 has been uploaded.
>>>2.  All other files are staying.  If Tony took over the archive, he had
>>>already stated that some files would be removed.  I don't want to do
>>> that,
>>>because then I'm being the judge of what is and is not acceptable.  If
>>>things get out of hand I may have to implement some rules, but for now,
>>>everything stays.
>>>3.  File upload is currently unavailable.  I am looking for a secure
>>>mechanism to make this happen.  It must be secure against people
>>>downloading
>>>from the upload area, people deleting uploaded files, and people
>>>overwriting
>>>other files by uploading new files with the same names.  Any suggestions
>>>are
>>>welcomed.  What I'd love to find is a web-based solution which would
>>> allow
>>>people to upload files, it Emails me saying there's a new upload, I look
>>> at
>>>the file then approve or reject it as appropriate.
>>>4.  If there is enough demand, I will make a torrent of all or part of
>>> the
>>>archive from time to time.
>>>5.  Although I hope to find a secure solution to the file upload problem,
>>>even if this archive remains forever static with the exception of Red
>>>Dwarf,
>>>I have no problem with hosting it for as long as anyone wants.
>>>6.  I will write a new Readme file as soon as possible.
>>>7.  I reserve the right to investigate possible mirroring options, and if
>>>bandwidth usage gets out of hand, I reserve the right to restrict
>>>downloading directly from me to mirror sites, install bandwidth limiting
>>>modules, or take other actions to eliminate the problem.  However, I will
>>>make every effort to investigate possible alternatives before I remove
>>> the
>>>archive or ask for donations.
>>>If you have any questions or comments about this announcement, feel free
>>> to
>>>write to the list, or to me personally at ratguy at bellsouth.net.
>>>Thanks.
>>>Jayson Smith
>>>
>>>From what I remember, I pretty much did what I said I'd do in that
>> message.
>>>
>>>I did eventually find a way to allow file upload, and also set up a few
>>>directories for specific people to upload files. On December 23, 2005, I
>>>set
>>>up a mirror of the archive through Planetmirror. Less than a year later,
>>> an
>>>error on my end caused that mirror to be deleted. I did eventually have
>>> to
>>>put a bandwidth limit on the archive. Things went well until October 21,
>>>2008, when Insight, our cable ISP, did a port scan and found open ports
>>> on
>>>our IP. They suspended our service until I closed all the ports.
>>> Obviously
>>>this meant my then over four-year-old Linux server had just become a lot
>>>less useful. So I got a VPS from a hosting company and moved everything
>>> to
>>>that server. Things were going okay, but the DECtalk archive was becoming
>>> a
>>>huge bandwidth concern. Finally, on March 15, 2009, I decided to pull the
>>>plug, with this message:
>>>
>>>Hello,
>>>
>>>I'm sorry it has come to this... As some of you know, I was forced to
>>>switch from running my own server to using a hosting provider. This
>>>provider, openhosting.com, meters bandwidth. So far this month, I have
>>> had
>>>unusually high bandwidth utilization, and estimates are that my charges
>>>will
>>>exceed my commit rate by at least a few dollars. Looking at website
>>>statistics, it's clear to see that the DECtalk archive is accounting for
>>> an
>>>extremely high percentage of web traffic and/or bandwidth utilization. I
>>>always had my mind made up that I would host the DECtalk archive as long
>>> as
>>>it didn't actually cost anything. Now however, it might actually cost
>>> extra
>>>money to run the archive. For this reason, and in an attempt to keep the
>>>charges from going over my monthly commit rate, I have moved the archive
>>> to
>>>an area of my server inaccessible to the public either via FTP or HTTP,
>>>effective immediately. Please note, though, that nothing has been deleted
>>>from my server, only moved out of public access areas.
>>>I have a feeling that some person or persons, probably outside this
>>>list, are running poorly written or misconfigured mirroring programs.
>>> They
>>>seem to be downloading the same files over and over and over again. I am
>>>willing to work with anybody who wishes to host the archive, and at this
>>>point, I would be willing to turn it over to somebody else full-time. If
>>>anybody is interested, please step forward and we'll work something out.
>>>It's been a great run, since I more or less took the archive over by
>>>default
>>>in August of 2005. However, I am no longer willing to support the
>>> humongous
>>>bandwidth hog the archive has become. Note however, that I will continue
>>> to
>>>run this mailing list for as long as anybody wants. This list is a very
>>>low-bandwidth affair as compared to the archive.
>>>If anyone has any thoughts, please share them. I will not delete my
>>>copy of the archive, and will cooperate fully in making it available to
>>>anyone who wishes to take it over.
>>>Thanks for your understanding.
>>>Jayson
>>>
>>>That was pretty much the end of my involvement with the DECtalk archive.
>>>I'm
>>>pretty sure Tony Baechler hosted it for a while. Now Christopher Toth is
>>>hosting it I believe.
>>>Hope you enjoyed this little trip down memory lane!
>>>Jayson
>>>
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>>>
>>>
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>>>http://bluegrasspals.com/mailman/listinfo/dectalk
>>>
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