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Apples Siri said to be Atlanta woman

Susan Bennett claims
to be the voice
behind application

Patnick
~* | Vaillancourt
Mews Editor
Ds lew theriegrest.o0

woman from Georgia is
laiming to be the voice
of Siri, Apple’s voice-activated
assistant.

Susan Bennett, who lives in
the suburbs of Atlanta, came out
publicly claiming that she was
the voice of Siri, which launched
on the Apple iPhone 45 two
years ago.

 

While Apple has not
commented on the claim,
Bennett's lawyer, as well
as independent forensic
voice analysts, state that the
comparison between Siri and
Bennett's voice is “100 per cent”
the same.

Bennett got her beginning in
voice acting in the 1970s and had
no idea that her voice would one
day literally be in the pockets of
millions of iPhone users.

Bennett told CNN, the outlet
which broke the story, that it was
her friend who discovered her as
being the voice of Siri, and that
Bennett was completely unaware
that Apple was using her voice
for their new virtual assistant.

“I went to the Apple site.

That’s when I heard the voice
and I went, ‘Oh, that is me!’”

Bennett said she began
recording on the project in July
2005, working four hours a day
in her home-based recording
studio. Bennett had been
presented to ScanSoft by GM
Voices, a company with which
she had done a lot of work.
The recordings were for a voice
database, but they would one
day find their way to Apple.

Bennett is a proven talent
in the voice recording business,
having done voice work for GPS,
commercials, and Delta Air Lines
in the past.

In response to questions
about her going public, she
said that she is not bound by

nondisclosure agreements and
that recent inaccurate reports
about the origins of Siri played
arole in her coming forward.
Earlier this year, reports began
to surface about another voice
actor, Allison Dufty, being the
voice of Siri—a claim which
Dufty vehemently denied on her
website.

“Allison Dufty is an award-
winning writer, producer
and voiceover artist AND is
absolutely, positively NOT the
voice of Siri—this is a case of
mistaken identity,” says Dufty’s
website.

Bennett explained to CNN
that years have now passed
and that, since the story was
of such intense public interest,

that it was time for her to come
forward. The voices of Siri in the
United Kingdom and Australia
have already been identified.

“T wasn’t sure that I wanted
that notoriety... [But after the
Dufty incident] it seemed like
everyone was clamoring to find
out who the real voice behind
Siri is, and so I thought, well,
you know, what the heck? This is
the time.”

Apple is reported to be
entertaining ideas of rebranding
Siri by integrating it with its
reported new acquirement,
social search engine Cue, but
the company does not comment
publicly on future product or
software releases until they are
launched.

 

Looking for work

David Lam hosts Douglas
College job fair

Julia
Siedlanowska
Stat Writer

 

he concourse of the David

Lam campus was buzzing
with activity on October 2 as
job seekers looked to connect
with employers at the Douglas
College job fair..

The job fair, hosted by the
Student Employment Centre,
connected students with 17

were offered during the two
weeks leading up to [the event].
Many students in attendance

at the Fair provided positive
comments to Employment
Centre staff,” says Kojder.

In the concourse from 10
a.m. until 3 p.m., students had
the opportunity to explore the
booths and speak to employers.
One student said of the event,

“T thought it was good because
there were a lot of different
booths and they were varied.”

“We noticed that today was
a job-hiring fair, and to be hired
for ajob you need to have public
speaking [skills]. So we saw a lot

branding products, branding
companies, building a front of
the business really.”

Director of Innovation for
SNX, Navid Shahram expressed
his views on connecting with
students at the fair: “We're all
students, we all know what it
feels like to be a student. We
want to help people just like us
out. And we hope to inspire as
well. Sometimes you just need
to dive into what you love and if
you have the drive and you have
the passion beautiful things can
come out of it.”

With the Douglas College
Student Employment Centre

Many students in attendance at the Fair provided positive comments to Employment

(entre staff

employers including Bayshore
Home Health, Best Buy Mobile,
Bank of Montreal, Boulevard
Casino, Costco Wholesale,
London Drugs, RBC Royal
Bank, Red Robin Restaurant,
Rogers Communications, and
the Developmental Disabilities
Association, among others.

“In organizing this job fair,
the local business community
responded favourably to the
opportunity of meeting with
potential candidates, especially
from an institution such as
Douglas College,” says Barb
Kojder, coordinator and job
developer at Douglas College.
“To prepare students for the
event, preparatory workshops
including ‘Resumes and More’
and ‘Presenting with Success’

of the people out here coming
to us saying that we need this
because they sometimes don’t
go through interviews well,
and we coach them to know
how to present themselves
effectively,” said Kusayla
Nathan of the Downtown
Coquitlam Toastmasters Club,
an international non-profit
educational organization.

Sam Badaye, Art Director of
SNX Powerhouse, provided the
Other Press with a description
of his business and the type of
talent he was looking for: “We
do everything that encompasses
advertising and marketing,”
said Badaye. “There's a technical
side... and then there's the
artistic side and more creative
side. So that’s content generation,

having opened its doors
September 16, the job fair is just
one of the services they have
to offer. “With offices at both
campuses—room 2844 in New
Westminster and room A1430
at David Lam. Both locations
offer computer and Internet
access, a variety of job search
resources, and onsite assistance.
Other services include: weekly
workshops covering a wide
range of job search topics
both online and physical Job
Boards; access to labour market
information and job leads;
and resume, cover letter and
interview help,” says Kojder.
“Our objective is simple. We
are here to assist current Douglas
College students and alumni
connect with jobs.”

 

 

DOUGLAS COLLEGE STUDENT EMPLOYMENT
CENTRE DROP-IN HOURS:

 

Mon:

9a.m.-12p.m.

NWC {COQ

 

Tues:

1-4 p.m.

NWC

 

Wed:

1-4 p.m.

COQ

 

Thurs:

1-4 p.m.

NWC {COQ

 

Fri:

 

 

1-4 p.m.

NWC