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Product: Television: Subtitles
Tiny Important Note Reader TV   (+5)  [vote for, against]
A Television which tells you everything in an advertisement.

Due to regulations, more and more adverts on television are appearing with added notes.

They're usually there for legal reasons. Often they're written in a smaller font than other text, and/or they make fleeting appearances of less than a second to a few seconds. In most cases they contain lots of vitally important information that perhaps you really ought to know before accepting what you're hearing...

*Your home may be at risk if you do not ...

From less than £10,000

*Model shown is £18,000

First issue £0.99p

*Usual price £3.99p

Real Italian Pizza

*Made in Germany (Not that there's anything wrong with Pizzas made in Germany, BTW. I've had some very nice pizzas in Germany. It's just the fact that the advertisers make the distinction - quietly.)

Anyway, that sort of thing. If you've never noticed them... try to keep an eye open for them. Some are quite surprising.

The idea would take the form of a text to speech application built into TV's, which enunciate items of text which fit a particular MO, which not uttered in the dialogue.

The application could work by analyzing the audio to identify when an advert is being shown (often, the audio becomes heavily compressed and the loudness increases) - And then it could analyze any text displayed, it's font size, how long and where it's displayed (OCR) and speech uttered (voice recognition) - Checking for correlation and reading aloud any discrepancies or items of text in a reduced font size or which appear fleetingly.

(As an additional feature (and similar to link [1]), it could drop the audio levels by a few dB, to normalize it with the level of the audio before the advert started).
-- Dub, Mar 24 2008

[1] Shut-up Remote button _22Shut_20up_22_20remote_20button
Another related HB idea [Dub, Mar 24 2008]

[2] http://www.halfbakery.com/editorial/help.html http://www.halfbake...editorial/help.html
[Dub, Mar 24 2008]

Vanity Cards http://www.chucklorre.com/index.php?p=1
These would flash on the screen for about Œ second at the end of the show. [Klaatu, Mar 25 2008]

Sony/BMG EULA as sung by the EULA Women's Chorus http://blog.wired.c...p3-womens-chor.html
[Dub, Apr 28 2008]

US law says TV adverts to play at same volume as show http://www.bbc.co.u...ment-arts-20716405#
[Dub, Dec 14 2012]

The trick here is to not absolve the advertiser of any liability due to such displays. You can put the disclaimer on the screen, but if I can't read it (due to size or time constraints), the law will treat it as if you didn't put it up at all.

You'll end up with advertisements with generic disclaimers that direct you to read the packaging or speak with a company representative.
-- phoenix, Mar 24 2008


Ask your doctor if this is right for you...+
-- xandram, Mar 24 2008


[phoenix] I agree, an excellent adjunct; a preferences / setup section - Perhaps a different (gender/accent) voice could be assigned when reading text too small for you (given screen size, room size, seating arrangements, eye-defects, age etc) another when the content contains a specific phrase etc.

[xandram] just imagine the chaos if we all did! -I'm surprised GP's haven't asked that these types of messages should be removed.
-- Dub, Mar 24 2008


Example of Vitally Important Information to be squeezed into an advertisement:

Thank you for visiting the Halfbakery web site titled "halfbakery.com" (the "Site"). In return for gaining access to the Site and using it, you agree to be bound by the following Agreement without limitation or qualification, so please carefully review this Agreement before proceeding. If you do not intend to be legally bound by these terms and conditions, do not access and use the Site. Halfbakery reserves the right to change this Agreement and to make changes to any of the products or programs described in the Site at any time without notice or liability. Any such revisions are prospectively binding on you and therefore you should periodically visit this page when you use the Site to review the then current Agreement that binds you. Halfbakery also reserves the right in its sole and unfettered discretion to deny you access to the Site at any time. Halfbakery enters into agreements with third parties from time to time to provide our customers with the opportunity to obtain special services, products or prices offered by the third party. You will not be deemed to be violating this agreement when acting in accordance with the terms and conditions of any such program. Likewise, the terms and conditions in this agreement will be considered broadened to the extent needed to permit such third parties to operate within the terms of a written agreement they have entered into with us. The titles in this Agreement are provided only for your convenience and are not to be used in interpreting the Agreement.

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A. All information, products, services and software contained on or used in the Site ("Content") is Copyright 2003 by Halfbakery, Inc. All rights reserved. Please assume that everything you see or read on the Site is copyrighted to, or used with permission by, Halfbakery unless otherwise noted.

B. The trademarks, logos, service marks, and trade dress (collectively the "Trademarks") displayed on the Site are registered and unregistered Trademarks of Halfbakery, Inc. or others.

C. Images of people, objects, or places displayed on the Site are either the property of, or used with permission by Halfbakery, Inc., Halfbakery Corporation, Halfbakery Training Group, Halfbakery LLC or Halfbakery Investment Services.

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Limitations on your use

Halfbakery provides the Site solely to permit you to determine the availability of goods and services offered on the Site and to make legitimate reservations or otherwise transact business with Halfbakery, and for no other purposes. The Site is for your personal, non-commercial use. You agree that you will use the Site's services only to make legitimate reservations or purchases for you or for another person for whom you are authorized to act both legally and under the terms of this Agreement.

You agree that without limitation you shall not make any false reservation or any reservation in anticipation of demand. If Halfbakery determines that you have confirmed multiple reservations to one or more destination on or about the same date, Halfbakery may without notice cancel all confirmed space associated with the multiple reservations. You agree to abide by the terms and conditions of purchase Halfbakery imposes including, but not limited to, payment of all amounts when due and compliance with all rules regarding availability of fares, products, or services. You are completely responsible for all assessments, charges, duties, fees, and taxes arising out of your use of the Site.

Your account information is owned by and proprietary to Halfbakery. While you may access your account information through the Site, you may not give access to your account to any person or entity other than a member of your household or a person that you directly supervise as part of your career or employment. You may not give access to your account to any third party on-line service, including, but not limited to any mileage management service, mileage tracking service, or mileage aggregation service.

You must access your account information directly through the Site and not through a third party web site, including but not limited to any mileage management service, mileage tracking service, or mileage aggregation service. You also violate this Agreement if you enable an Halfbakery member to access account information without visiting the Site.

You agree that you will not Misuse the Site. "Misuse" includes, but is not limited to, using the Site to do any of the following:

A. Distribute, disseminate, post, or publish any information or material that degrades, embarrasses, harasses, humiliates, intimidates, or threatens any individual or group of individuals on the basis of their age, ancestry, color, ethnicity, marital status, medical condition, mental or physical disability, national origin, race, sex, sexual orientation, union or nonunion affiliation, or any other basis protected by federal, state, or local law or ordinance.

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F. Download or upload files that do not contain the posted proprietary language, author attributions, and/or copyright, patent, or trademark notices.

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H. Engage in any commercial purpose including but not limited to: 1) Advertising or offering to sell any goods or services. 2) Conducting contests or surveys. 3) Distributing chain letters, or advertising with respect to any Ponzi scheme or pyramid scheme. 4) Advertising or offering to sell any business opportunities, direct sales opportunities, employment, independent contractor positions, multi-level marketing opportunities, or securities.

I. Post, send, or otherwise disclose confidential information, trade secrets, or other confidential and/or protected proprietary data of any entity or person, including but not limited to Corporation, Halfbakery, Inc., Halfbakery Investment Services, Halfbakery Training Group or Halfbakery LLC, or any of their affiliates.

J. Download or upload files that you know, or reasonably should know, cannot be legally distributed through the Site.

K. Upload, download, or otherwise export or re-export software from the Site: (1) to a national or resident of or into any country the U.S. has embargoed, including without limitation, Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Syria, or Yugoslavia; (2) to anyone on the U.S. Treasury Department's Specially Designated Nationals list, or (3) to anyone on the U.S. Commerce Department's Table of Denial Orders.

L. Copy or create derivative works from, display, distribute, license, perform, publish, recreate, reproduce, sell, transfer, or transmit any information, products, services, or software obtained by, from, or through the Site.

M. Monitor or copy any Content by using any manual process, or any robot, spider, or other automatic device, without first obtaining Halfbakery' prior written consent.

N. Act as an agent or attorney in fact for any person who is not: 1) A member of your immediate household; or 2) Your direct supervisor at your place of employment.

O. Take any action that will or could impose an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on our site infrastructure.

P. Act as a mileage management service, mileage tracking service or mileage aggregation service for any Halfbakery member.

Q. Access information about any Halfbakery member protected by site log-in and post it on any other web site, with or without that Halfbakery member's consent.

R. Utilize an Halfbakery member's password or personal identification number during log-in, unless you are: 1. The Halfbakery member to whom that password or personal identification number is assigned (the "Authorized Halfbakery member"); 2. A family member of the Authorized Halfbakery Member, acting with the Authorized Halfbakery Member's permission; or 3. An employee of the Authorized Halfbakery Member's employer, acting with the Authorized Halfbakery Member's permission.

S. Engage in any other conduct that is, or that Halfbakery deems to be, in conflict with this Agreement.

Halfbakery forbids such Misuses, and access of the Site for any such Misuses or other similar purposes is an unauthorized use of the Site.

No warranty by Halfbakery

The Content may contain inaccuracies and/or typographical errors. Halfbakery may alter, change or improve the Content at any time and without notice. Halfbakery makes no representations or warranties as to the Content's completeness or accuracy, and makes no commitment to update the Content. Halfbakery makes no representations about the Content's suitability for any purpose.

YOU USE THE SITE AT YOUR OWN RISK. THE CONTENT IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF EXPECTATION OF PRIVACY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, MERCHANTABILITY, NON-INFRINGEMENT OR TITLE. IN NO EVENT SHALL HALFBAKERY OR ITS AFFILIATES BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES (WHETHER CONSEQUENTIAL, DIRECT, INCIDENTAL, INDIRECT, PUNITIVE, SPECIAL OR OTHERWISE) ARISING OUT OF, OR IN ANY WAY CONNECTED WITH, THE USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE THE SITE OR FOR ANY OF THE CONTENT OBTAINED THROUGH OR OTHERWISE IN CONNECTION WITH THE SITE, IN EACH CASE REGARDLESS OF WHETHER SUCH DAMAGES ARE BASED ON CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, TORT OR OTHER THEORIES OF LIABILITY, AND ALSO REGARDLESS OF WHETHER HALFBAKERY WAS GIVEN ACTUAL OR CONSTRUCTIVE NOTICE THAT DAMAGES WERE POSSIBLE.

Halfbakery neither warrants nor represents that your use of information and material on the Site will not infringe upon the intellectual property rights of third parties. Halfbakery shall not be liable for any virus or other damage to your computer equipment or other property due to your accessing, browsing, or using the Site or due to your downloading any audio, data, images, materials, pictures, text or video from the Site.

Because Halfbakery provides services and products in many parts of the world, the Site may refer to certain goods, products, and/or services that are not available in your area. A reference to goods, products, and/or services without limiting their geographic scope does not imply that Halfbakery offers or intends to offer those goods, products, and/or services in all locations.

Use of information you provide Halfbakery

Consistent with the Halfbakery privacy policy, we ask you to provide us with certain information when you purchase travel or when you take advantage of certain personalized services. You agree that when you provide such information, the information will be accurate. Under no circumstances will you provide false or misleading information. We agree to use this information in a manner consistent with our privacy policy. To review our privacy policy, please click on the "Privacy Policy" link at the bottom of any page.

For use of certain services, we may provide you with a pass code. This pass code is proprietary to and the property of Halfbakery. However, you must take precautions to insure the security of your pass code. Halfbakery assumes no responsibility for and will not be liable in the event that another person learns your pass code or uses your pass code to cause damage to you.

While Halfbakery takes reasonable steps to safeguard and to prevent unauthorized access to your private information, we cannot be responsible for the acts of those who gain unauthorized access, and we make no warranty, express, implied, or otherwise, that we will prevent unauthorized access to your private information. IN NO EVENT SHALL HALFBAKERY OR ITS AFFILIATES BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES (WHETHER CONSEQUENTIAL, DIRECT, INCIDENTAL, INDIRECT, PUNITIVE, SPECIAL OR OTHERWISE) ARISING OUT OF, OR IN ANY WAY CONNECTED WITH, A THIRD PARTY'S UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO YOUR INFORMATION, REGARDLESS OF WHETHER SUCH DAMAGES ARE BASED ON CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, TORT OR OTHER THEORIES OF LIABILITY, AND ALSO REGARDLESS OF WHETHER HALFBAKERY WAS GIVEN ACTUAL OR CONSTRUCTIVE NOTICE THAT DAMAGES WERE POSSIBLE.

No offer to sell or buy securities

The information on the Site does not constitute an offer to sell, or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities and must not be relied upon in connection with any investment decision.

Links to other sites and to the Site

The Site may provide hyperlinks or references to other sites. While Halfbakery endeavors to provide links only to sites that are reputable and safe, we take no responsibility for the information, products, or services obtained on such other sites and will not be liable for any damages arising from your access to such sites. Halfbakery provides any such links to other sites merely for your convenience and our inclusion of such links and frames in the Site does not imply an endorsement of the linked or framed sites, their content, or the persons or entities operating those sites. Therefore, you assume sole responsibility for using links or pointers to third parties.

Halfbakery specifically denies you permission to hyperlink or provide references to the Site, unless you are allowed to do so under a separate written agreement with Halfbakery. You are also denied permission to use any trademarked or copyrighted material to provide such hyperlinks or references, unless you are allowed to do so under a separate written agreement with Halfbakery. Halfbakery bears no responsibility for sites that provide hyperlinks or references to the Site unless those sites are operated by Halfbakery.

Your communication with us

Halfbakery will not treat as confidential any communications you send to us by electronic mail or otherwise. Halfbakery has no obligation to refrain from publishing, reproducing, or otherwise using your communications in any way and for any purpose.

Halfbakery does not accept or consider unsolicited proposals related to its business, including but not limited to proposals for advertising campaigns, logos, names, processes, products, promotions, services, slogans, and technologies. Halfbakery therefore requests that you not send such proposals. Please also refrain from sending original creative artwork, blueprints, demonstratives, designs, layouts, photographs, or samples. Halfbakery has adopted this policy to prevent claims that we have copied such unsolicited ideas without authorization, when, in fact, we developed the idea independent of or even long before receiving the unsolicited proposal. If you do send us unsolicited proposals, then do so with the understanding that Halfbakery may use any concepts, ideas, inventions, know-how, or techniques that you disclose in those communications for any purpose, including the developing, manufacturing, and/or marketing of goods, products, or services. Halfbakery may do so free of any obligation to compensate you for that use.

Comparison monitoring of on-line chats or telephone conversations with Halfbakery

The Site may provide you the ability to have an on-line chat session with Halfbakery or with information as to how you can contact Halfbakery by telephone. You may use these functions only for business purposes related to the Site. For quality assurance purposes, Halfbakery may monitor, record, and/or transcribe the contents of these communications. By contacting Halfbakery, you agree that the communication may be monitored, recorded, and/or transcribed and you consent to the monitoring, recording, and/or transcribing. Such records may be kept indefinitely or disposed of at our discretion.

Your use of Forums

You agree to use any bulletin boards, chat rooms, conferences, or other communication or message facilities ("Forums") contained on the Site only to send and receive material and messages that are proper and related to the particular Forum. You further agree that you will use the Forums in conformity with all applicable laws and this Agreement. You agree that you will not Misuse a Forum.

Halfbakery reserves the right to remove at will and without notice any Content on the Site, including anything you post in a Forum. You understand that any use by you of a Forum constitutes a public communication. You understand that Halfbakery owns any and all information or material that you post on a Forum. You agree that you waive all of the rights you have to any information or material that you post on a Forum. Halfbakery has the right to do whatever it wishes with that information or material, including but not limited to deleting or editing for any reason any posting by you. You further acknowledge that Halfbakery does not endorse or sponsor any information or material posted by Forum users, and that Halfbakery has no responsibility to approve, review, or screen such information or material.

Forum for actions, governing law, and procedural restrictions

You agree that this Agreement is made and entered into in Tarrant County, Texas. You agree that Texas law governs this Agreement's interpretation and/or any dispute arising from your access to, dealings with, or use of the Site, without regard to conflicts of law principles. Any lawsuit brought by you related to your access to, dealings with, or use of the Site must be brought in the state or federal courts of Tarrant County, Texas. You agree and understand that you will not bring against Halfbakery Corporation, Halfbakery, or any of its affiliated entities, agents, directors, employees, and/or officers any class action lawsuit related to your access to, dealings with, or use of the Site.

Other terms

This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement governing your access to, dealings with, and use of the Site. Of course, separate agreements may attach to any goods, products, or services you obtain, purchase, or use from the Site. In the case of a conflict between this Agreement and any agreement specific to any goods, products, or services that you obtain, purchase, or use from the Site, the terms of the specific agreement shall govern.

Any failure of Halfbakery to assert any rights it may have under this Agreement does not constitute a waiver of our right to assert the same or any other right at any other time or against any other person or entity. If any provision of this Agreement is found to be invalid or unenforceable, then the invalid or unenforceable provision will be stricken from this Agreement without affecting the validity or enforceability of any other provision.
-- nuclear hobo, Mar 24 2008


OMG, [nuclear] - I sure hope you copied and pasted that from somewhere. Pretty scary when you read enough of it.
-- phundug, Mar 24 2008


Lawyers ...... bloody Lawyers.

'Attending a Cabinet when there was a tendency to Mutiny in the Fleet, Sir Thomas Troubridge.... who was a most excellent Officer, was asked his opinion what was best to be done. He said, "Let me hang a hundred Lawyers, and we shall have no more of this business". I asked him what he could mean - what were these People he called Lawyers. He replied, "Fellows that can read and write. They are the Fellows I call Lawyers, and make the whole of the Mischief".'

Lord Eldon (1827)
-- 8th of 7, Mar 24 2008


[phundug] ummm! You didn't read all of HB's T's&C's? Open (link [2]) - and click the 49th full-stop (period) - which is also a hyperlink.

OK [nuclear hobo] you made your point - Some sort of pause-live-TV feature should be added, too.
-- Dub, Mar 24 2008


// pause-live-TV //

But if you're then watching the un-paused TV, timehifted, then it isn't "live" at all ? Besides, given the latency in the transmission system, television is never truly "live". There are both intrinsic and intentional delays, quite apart from the propagation of radio waves. So technically it's not "pause", it's "delay more" .....
-- 8th of 7, Mar 24 2008


I'm gonna stay neutral on this one. Your heart is in the right place but I'm sure there are many, many easier ways to accomplish this stuff.
-- Doublexwhy, Mar 24 2008


where's the right place?
-- po, Mar 24 2008


Opposite the left place, naturally...
-- neutrinos_shadow, Mar 25 2008


Just use your Tivo® to freeze-frame. Works on Vanity Cards <link>
-- Klaatu, Mar 25 2008


[po] in my chest, last time I checked
-- Dub, Mar 28 2008


So, not on your sleeve?
-- coprocephalous, Mar 28 2008



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