I'm impressed by how well Vocaloid's developing. True, the voices are still detectably synthetic, but then, with the degree of autotuning in common use now, they hardly stand out. ^_^ Here are some example tracks of two of the newer voices, Clara and Bruno, mostly in Spanish, with one in Japanese.
The Chaos Computer Club continues to be a hotbed of novel thinking - this time, they're proposing an independent, uncensorable satellite network. It's a large proposal, but microsatellites can made made quite cheaply, and the mesh of base stations they're suggesting would be aimed around the 100€ mark, intended to readily affordable.
Wow, that was (mundanely) impressive - swung by the supermarket to pick up some cheeses, meats, and ciders for tonight, and despite the place being packed, barely anything was out of stock. I'd been a bit concerned getting there four hours before closing, given some of the NYE shelves I've seen in the past.
Curse these January sales.. I'd fallen for this design of boot, but availability seems scant, especially in the size & color I was wanting, and the full price was a bit eye-watering. Coincidentally, they have a local store, and lo, 20% off.. they'll still have to order them in, but.. oh, I do like these. ^_^