Checking Siri - international accents

Today I ran a quick check on how accurately Siri could transcribe the phrase "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog". The comparison was done in a conference room with significant background noise, and used the new Apple iPhone 5.

Here are the results, with errors underlined for clarity. The format is:
"Phrase" - Name (Country of origin)

• "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" - Mark (America)
• "The quick brown fox jumps was leaving" - Yu (China)
• "Doesn't groundhog jumped over the lazy dog" - Surbhi (India)
• "The quick brown fox jumps over dead lazy dog" - Ali (Iran)
• "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" - Nathaniel (America)

This (very unscientific) test suggests that Siri performs reasonably well for a typical American accent, but struggles with international accents to varying degrees. Not too surprising.

2Quik Carbon Technology: aero wheels on a grad student budget

Felt F4 with 60 mm clinchers from 2Quik Carbon Technology

I recently acquired a new wheelset for my road bike, and - since I couldn't find many other product reviews online - I want to share my thoughts here in case someone on my budget with a passion for going fast is surfing Google looking for feedback from an actual rider.

As a graduate student and a bike racer, I’ve learned to make purchases based on value. In my mind, value means two things: (1) a price that I can afford, and (2) a product that does what I need, with a company that stands behind it. With wheels from 2Quik Carbon Technology, the first component of value - price - is obvious. They’re noticeably less expensive than comparable Easton or Profile Design wheels, and around $2k less (!) than a set of the more refined Zipps or HEDs. 

The second component of value, performance and reliability, is harder to judge from a website. When I ordered my 60 mm carbon clinchers I found Anthony, the owner, very easy to work with - and I had the custom built wheels on my bike in two weeks. However, after a few hundred miles I did notice a small wobble in the rear wheel. My local bike shop helped me take apart the hub, which showed that there was a manufacturing defect in the hub. Rather than leave me with a good, but not great, wheelset, Anthony offered to have the factory rebuild the entire wheelset on a set of upgraded hubs. I returned the wheels, had them rebuilt, and got them back onto my bike within two weeks. This level of concern for both performance and customer satisfaction seems to be what drives 2Quik as a company. All companies will have the occasional defect; not all of them will treat their customers as well. 

As far as ride quality goes, the wheels are fantastic. They’re stiff enough to sprint on, comfortable enough for century rides and, according to my Garmin Edge, switching from Easton Circuits to 2Quik clinchers increased my average cruising speed from ~20 to ~22 MPH. When I’m in the market for another wheelset, I’ll be looking at a second set of 2Quiks.

Tunis-Roubaix Race: Day 2 - Criterium

RUCT Racers: David, Peter, Georgia, Elizabeth, Sarah, and Mark(left to right)

Criterium

The starting field for the crit this morning was, once again, 40+ riders. Unlike yesterday, however, when we set our tires on the line the weather was perfect: 70 degrees, sunny, dry pavement, and clean turns. Ideal racing weather. 

The race started with a tentative first lap as everyone got acquainted with the turns, then settled into a nice 22+ MPH pace. Cruising along. Everyone would string out in the turns, then bunch back up on the long straightaway. David had to drop due to cramping. A few minutes later, one of the riders hooked handlebars with another and several men went down. The field mostly escaped, though, and the race continued. 

About 10 minutes into the race, the bell jangled and "PRIME LAP!" rang out. The field accelerated through the turns, and up into the straightaway. My legs were feeling good, so I moved up the pack, and onto the front. Three of us were lining up to contest the sprint, with several more lurking in the front of the pack. We came through the last turn toward the line, and everyone went. I tucked into the drops, and gave it the 'ol college try. One by one, riders fell off my wheel. Whizzing across the line in 1st, I thought to myself, "Well, at least something went according to plan this weekend!"

Then I realized we still had 20 minutes of racing to go. I fell back into the pack to let my legs recoup a little. The laps clicked by. An A&M rider hit a cone and rolled onto the pavement. Then it was "ONE TO GO! ONE TO GO!"

Coming out of the last turn before the straightaway, I made a fatal strategic error. I'd fallen too far back, and was drafting the last rider out of the turn, from UNT. He made an effort to grab the back of the lead group, but his legs failed and we fell back. By the time I realized what was happening, a 20 foot gap had opened. I bridged the gap just before the final turn, but toasted the last of my energy to do it. Going toward the line I sat up, knowing a top 10 finish was out of reach.  

I finished 14th, far down the field. Today was an object lesson in how important it is to race smart, not just hard.

Results from RUCT:

Men's C

Mark - 14

Peter - 16

David - DNF

Women's B

Sarah - 4

Georgia - 7

_________

Disclaimer: the events reported here are what I did and/or saw today. This is in no way intended to be a full race report.