The Transdedu-decoder

The Transdedu-decoder was almost complete. This was going to be PMS’ s one of the much needed early boost to his career. PMS not to be confused with Post menopausal syndrome was the tech and maths whiz who was buzzing all over the web world, but like all ambitious people, aimed now, for bigger things. But again as all big things , in order to become bigger , starts small, so this supposedly small quickie invention of the transdedu-coding technology by our dear protagonist as a precursor to better things ahead. It did not need much tinkering and was just a clever combination of the already prevalent technology of predictive text, voice sensor, which he tweaked it a bit to add the auto grammar corrector and mood sensor – and voila – out rolled the transdedu-coder. Well, almost! He was going to put it for trial today and I on behalf of our e zine was specially invited to witness the marvel as a friend cum journalist.

But before that, let me tell you a little bit about the transdedu-coder. It’s a simple technology, which when refined will be incorporated into computers, mobile phones etc. which, in turn will enable the user ‘s voice command to be translated into written text . Well I know such technology already exist, but this is different because of its advanced application. The mood or emotion sensor of the technology will not only translate the voice into text, but will also correct the grammar and sense the mood of the speaker and punctuate it accordingly. In other words it will correct your grammar, sense your tone and also make sense of your messed up pronunciation. So by uttering just a few word , you can have your proper English sentence.

Coming back to the job at hand, PMS just finished giving the finishing touches and throwing a careless grin at me, asked me, “ready?”

“Of course, whenever you are”

He was about to test it in his laptop, specially programmed for the trial. He switched it on, shutting his eyes in a silent prayer for a brief moment, spoke on to the microphone

“ I met the chief”

Ah! That was a facebook status of his a few months back, I remembered.

We looked eagerly at the monitor as the words slowly appeared.

“I made the chief”

I giggled while he gave a short laugh. ( I think we both were imagining the chief’s reaction at those words )

He tried again, pausing a bit longer in between the words as if he was giving some time to it to comprehend.

“I mate the chief” the screen flashed much to my amusement.

He was visibly upset now and barked at the machine , “I MET THE CHIEF”. Even before the words came, I knew that it would go wrong.

The transdedu-coder failed to catch the word MET yet again but didn’t fail to catch the shift in the emotion.

“I AM MAD AT THE CHIEF” filtered onto the screen.

“Here, let me try” Before he became madder, I volunteered.

I slowly and clearly spoke the same words into the microphone, stressing the word ‘met’ a little more than I intended.

It came as “I meet the chief” I shrugged while he snorted behind my back. Well , at least the damn thing had got the verb correct if not the tense.

“Maybe if I tried again…” I said decisively as I repositioned myself in front of his laptop.

The words took a little longer to pour in.

I almost fell of my chair as I read the latest deduction-“ I am maid to the chief” while PMS laughed his head off.

“See , I think you need to work on it “ I said a little bit irritated.

He immediately sobered down and gave an exasperated sigh.

“ I don’t know why it is turning out like this. I had taken care to deal with the minutest details…Well let me give one last try”

“I. Met. The .Chief.” he hissed.

The screen went blank and then for a brief moment the words , “I melt the thief” appeared before going blank again. But after that there was a beep and an error message flashed .

“ Your programme has shut down due to a grave error . Please abort the program”

“ Sigh! You are wrong. I don’t need to work on it. I need to stop working on it” he spoke slowly.

I felt bad. Poor guy, he had really worked hard on it..

“maybe you just need to ..” I tried to comfort him, but he cut me short mid sentence.

“Assumptions and deduction had never worked in a relationship, so why would it work out here?” He replied with a smile. And I knew he wasn’t defeated.

“But the irony is that it is the same assumptions and deduction, which keep us going…”

Well well , did he succeed ? For that we have to wait for a few months more…

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