Meet Marc 'Elvis' Priestley: the former number-one McLaren mechanic, and the brains behind some of Formula One's greatest ever drivers. Revealing the most outrageous secrets and fiercest rivalries, The Mechanic follows Priestley as he travels the world working in the high-octane atmosphere of the F1 pit lane. While the spotlight is most often on the superstar drivers, the mechanics are the guys who make every World Champion, and any mistakes can have critical consequences. However, these highly skilled engineers don't just fine-tune machinery and crunch data through high-spec computers. These boys can seriously let their hair down. Whether it's partying on luxury yachts or gravity-defying photos aboard aeroplanes, this is a world which thrills on and off the track. This is Formula One, but not like you've seen it before.

An examination of more than sixty years of successes and failures in developing technologies that allow computers to understand human spoken language. Stanley Kubrick's 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey famously featured HAL, a computer with the ability to hold lengthy conversations with his fellow space travelers. More than forty years later, we have advanced computer technology that Kubrick never imagined, but we do not have computers that talk and understand speech as HAL did. Is it a failure of our technology that we have not gotten much further than an automated voice that tells us to “say or press 1”? Or is there something fundamental in human language and speech that we do not yet understand deeply enough to be able to replicate in a computer? In The Voice in the Machine, Roberto Pieraccini examines six decades of work in science and technology to develop computers that can interact with humans using speech and the industry that has arisen around the quest for these technologies. He shows that although the computers today that understand speech may not have HAL's capacity for conversation, they have capabilities that make them usable in many applications today and are on a fast track of improvement and innovation. Pieraccini describes the evolution of speech recognition and speech understanding processes from waveform methods to artificial intelligence approaches to statistical learning and modeling of human speech based on a rigorous mathematical model—specifically, Hidden Markov Models (HMM). He details the development of dialog systems, the ability to produce speech, and the process of bringing talking machines to the market. Finally, he asks a question that only the future can answer: will we end up with HAL-like computers or something completely unexpected?

Class Voice: Fundamental Skills for Lifelong Singing is a unique undergraduate textbook which can be adapted to needs of any potential voice user, including music education students, voice students who are not majoring in music, and adult learners. By explaining the basics of singing using practical skills and examples, this text is accessible to students with a wide range of talents, interests, and expertise levels. With chapters devoted to skills for singing solo and in groups, instructors can tailor the included materials to encourage students to become thoroughly familiar with their own voices and to identify and appreciate the gifts of others. Learning to sing is a process of trial and error. The warm-ups and other in-class performance opportunities contained in this textbook can raise student confidence and minimize anxiety. The chapters about age and size-appropriate repertoire and issues of vocal health provide vital information about preserving the vocal instrument for a lifetime of singing. Key Features * Warm-up and cool-down exercise routines, including strategies for relaxing and breath management * Repertoire topics divided by language and genre and suggestions about how to use the repertoire to develop specific skills * Issues of diversity, gender, and inclusivity covered in Chapter 9 entitled “The Singing Life” * Suggestions for comparative listening and questions for discussion to encourage deeper learning * Adaptable materials which can be tailored to fit interests in choral music, musical theater, folksong, as well as Classical vocal repertoire * Assignments, evaluation criteria, and assessment forms for midterm and final presentations * A glossary of key terms * A bibliography with resources for research and learning * Information on basic musicianship skill training for those who need it Disclaimer: Please note that ancillary content (such as documents, quizzes, PowerPoints, etc.) may not be included as published in the original print version of this book.

Speech and Language: Volume 5, Advances in Basic Research and Practice is a collection of papers dealing with clinical issues, theories, and pathology of language and speech. Several papers discuss developmental apraxia of speech, relapse of stuttering therapy, the single subject research design, and the implications of the physiologic, acoustic, and perceptual aspects of coarticulation. Other papers analyze language development, language training, the three aspects of voice quality element, and the issue of disputed communication origins. One paper notes that intervention programs for stuttering produces mostly short-term benefits. The paper discusses the known risks of relapse following the end of stuttering therapy and the independent variables that influence this risk. Another paper examines voice quality in terms of perceptual, acoustic, and physiologic features of the different voice modes. By using the "Black Box" model, in which frequency, intensity, laryngeal waveform, pharyngeal prefiltering, and formant frequency can be controlled, the paper shows that a measure of interaction among all the controls exist. For example, a voice mode represented by a laryngeal waveform and pharyngeal prefiltering still interacts with frequency and intensity. Therefore, knowledge of the differences in physiology that attend to each voice mode can be valuable in effecting changes in voice production. The collection will prove valuable for linguists, speech therapists, neurologists, neuropsychologists, neurolinguists, speech pathologists, or investigators whose works involve linguistics, learning, communications, and syntax.

John Saurino is a physician with a passion for racing cars. While at the National Championships, he meets a mysterious stranger who guides him through a spiritual journey and changes his life forever. The blessings this gentle mechanic provides are many in number, but his greatest gift waits patiently at the end of the marvelous adventure they experience together. This is an exciting story of one man's Christian walk, which begins with basic biblical teaching and progresses logically on to much more advanced theology. It addresses questions like: What is our job as Christians? How often does God speak to us and what can we do to improve our ability to hear His voice? What did you gain when Christ entered into your heart? This book will provide the vital information required to defend your faith. Get ready for God to push the envelope of what you believe.