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![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/ky9mm.png)
We are currently in the process of writing an iOS app that does handwriting recognition of numbers, which is one of the hardest things in computing. To improve our engine we need lots of samples and that's where you can help us out. In exchange, you'll be in the running to win $50 of iTunes Store credit (see below).
Here are the steps (iOS only):
1. Sign up for TestFlight
2. Tap this link on your iPad or iPhone
3. Press "Contact Developer" and say "Hi" to Ben, our friendly Echidna tamer
+ Show Spoiler +
4. Twiddle your thumbs whilst Ben feeds the Echidnas
5. Upon receiving an email notification, proceed to install Echidna
6. When prompted, install the provisioning profile
7. Install Echidna
Please only install Echidna on one device.
How to win the $50 iTunes Credit
Your goal is to collect as many handwriting samples as possible in the broadest range of environments. Ask your mother, your flatmate, your siblings or even your pet lizard. Bonus points are awarded for:
- Collecting samples from lots of different people.
- Collecting samples whilst walking or in different sitting positions.
- Collecting samples from right and left-handed people.
Points are deducted for:
- Dreadfully messy handwriting (if a 5 looks like a 7, please clear and try again)
- Overlapping symbols (please don't run the numbers into each other, computers aren't that clever yet
 )
We will be manually looking through all the samples to calculate who the winner is.
A big thank you to:
- Numba
- SunTurtle
- Ritse
- sallz
- Psykomantis
We are eternally grateful for your help! It would be great to have another 90 people help us out so we can attain our goal. 
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Always happy to help out TLAF, but I lack the necessary iPod or iPad. Sorry!
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I might be too messy to help out, but I shall try anyway!
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Will install on both iPhone and iPad, hopefully I get more on the iPad as I'm sure iPhone ones will be pretty messy! 
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GL don't have an iPhone or iPad to help out though
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This device cannot install this build
This iPhone 4 has not been given permission to install this build. TestFlight will notify you when your developer permits this device to insall future builds.
This iPhone 4 has not been added to the application profile. TestFlight will notify you when your developer adds this device to future builds.
I would if I could... D:
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On April 30 2012 12:56 SunTurtle wrote:Show nested quote +This device cannot install this build
This iPhone 4 has not been given permission to install this build. TestFlight will notify you when your developer permits this device to insall future builds.
This iPhone 4 has not been added to the application profile. TestFlight will notify you when your developer adds this device to future builds. I would if I could... D:
There is a buttoned labelled "Contact Developer", please press that and say "Hi" to Ben.
Edit: I've fixed the description. Sorry!
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Not android
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My download gets about 4/5 of the way and says it cannot complete at this time. Probably on my end.
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On April 30 2012 13:23 m3rciless wrote:
My download gets about 4/5 of the way and says it cannot complete at this time. Probably on my end.
TestFlight can also be a little weird at times. Hopefully it clears up soon. Thanks for helping!
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Ever any plans to branch out to android?
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On April 30 2012 13:52 skAnarky wrote:
Ever any plans to branch out to android?
Once the situation on Android improves.
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Sorry, don't have an iPhone/Pod/Pad/Thing ... I will tell my friends though!
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Will install it soon on my iPad!
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i don't really care about the $50 card, i just wanna help a fellow liquid out
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Sry Android.....would have installed it
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I contacted the developer and he sent me the email with the green install button, but it keeps saying i can't install the build :/
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One question. Of all the animals in this world...why Echidnas O.o I mean...i know pandas, seals and whales are beyond overrated and overmarketed to the point u want to kill them just so u don't see commercials of them anymore...but still.
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On April 30 2012 20:42 ReboundEU wrote:
One question. Of all the animals in this world...why Echidnas O.o I mean...i know pandas, seals and whales are beyond overrated and overmarketed to the point u want to kill them just so u don't see commercials of them anymore...but still.
It's an Australian native, and a monotreme to boot, a mammal that lays eggs. Creepsville.
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I would totally help if I had an iPhone/iPad! I send/receive mail to/from all over the world, and I have plenty of writing samples available.
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On April 30 2012 23:14 Dingobloo wrote:Show nested quote +On April 30 2012 20:42 ReboundEU wrote:
One question. Of all the animals in this world...why Echidnas O.o I mean...i know pandas, seals and whales are beyond overrated and overmarketed to the point u want to kill them just so u don't see commercials of them anymore...but still. It's an Australian native, and a monotreme to boot, a mammal that lays eggs. Creepsville.
And they are pretty friendly, laid back little fellas (: I'm a blackberry user but I will attempt to get my lady friend to give it a go.
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To me this looks like a program to break CAPTCHA's.
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On May 01 2012 03:58 Apoo wrote:
To me this looks like a program to break CAPTCHA's.
Definitely not. We can't make the world a better place by doing that!
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Will it work with an iPod touch?
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On May 01 2012 05:58 Eufouria wrote:
Will it work with an iPod touch?
Yes! Thanks in advance for helping.
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On May 01 2012 06:41 Heosat wrote:Yes! Thanks in advance for helping.
I don't know how much help I'll actually be. I have super bad handwriting, like the worst handwriting that most people have ever seen.
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On May 01 2012 06:47 Eufouria wrote:Show nested quote +On May 01 2012 06:41 Heosat wrote:On May 01 2012 05:58 Eufouria wrote:
Will it work with an iPod touch? Yes! Thanks in advance for helping. I don't know how much help I'll actually be. I have super bad handwriting, like the worst handwriting that most people have ever seen.
Which is why you would be most helpful, with your help they can make it read even terrible handwriting.
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On May 01 2012 06:53 HoMM wrote:Show nested quote +On May 01 2012 06:47 Eufouria wrote:On May 01 2012 06:41 Heosat wrote:On May 01 2012 05:58 Eufouria wrote:
Will it work with an iPod touch? Yes! Thanks in advance for helping. I don't know how much help I'll actually be. I have super bad handwriting, like the worst handwriting that most people have ever seen. Which is why you would be most helpful, with your help they can make it read even terrible handwriting.
Exactly! We value all handwriting, whether good or bad. If your brain can recognise the character then we need to be able to teach our computers to read it.
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On April 30 2012 20:42 ReboundEU wrote:
One question. Of all the animals in this world...why Echidnas O.o I mean...i know pandas, seals and whales are beyond overrated and overmarketed to the point u want to kill them just so u don't see commercials of them anymore...but still.
It's a codename and as we are an Australian company we decided to give some love to it.
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I can see why number recognition is hard for computers, I can't even differentiate between my 4s and 9s sometimes
Probably not good for someone who wants a degree in science/mathematics
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On April 30 2012 12:10 Alethios wrote:Always happy to help out TLAF, but I lack the necessary iPod or iPad. Sorry!
Ditto =(
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On May 01 2012 09:17 Antimatterz wrote:I can see why number recognition is hard for computers, I can't even differentiate between my 4s and 9s sometimes Probably not good for someone who wants a degree in science/mathematics
If you're interested, 4 & 9 can be relatively easy to work out for a computer. The reason is that most people draw a 4 in 2 parts, first the left stroke of the four (either vertical or diagonal which extends into the horizontal stroke) followed by the vertical stroke to complete the glyph. In the case of 9, most people draw it in one stroke.
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would love to help, but lack an iOS device, sorry!
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On April 30 2012 14:16 Heosat wrote:Show nested quote +On April 30 2012 13:52 skAnarky wrote:
Ever any plans to branch out to android? Once the situation on Android improves.
what is the android situation btw? alot of app devs are citing this but very little info can be found....
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On May 01 2012 13:02 KiF1rE wrote:Show nested quote +On April 30 2012 14:16 Heosat wrote:On April 30 2012 13:52 skAnarky wrote:
Ever any plans to branch out to android? Once the situation on Android improves. what is the android situation btw? alot of app devs are citing this but very little info can be found....
To say it succinctly, developing for Android is the equivalent of death by a thousand cuts, especially if you started out developing for iOS. A short list of issues:
1. People don't buy apps in the same numbers on Android and we don't like sullying our apps with ads.
2. There are thousands of devices to consider although that may change as Samsung takes over Android.
3. There is no dominant version of Android to develop for; ICS only has < 5% marketshare.
4. There are no tablets.
5. The Google Play store has no restrictions on copyright infringement making apps hard to discover and misleading potential customers.
6. Designers predominantly are iOS users and dislike designing for phones they don't use.
7. Android has been overtaken as the #1 smartphone in the US.
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On May 01 2012 13:41 Heosat wrote:Show nested quote +On May 01 2012 13:02 KiF1rE wrote:On April 30 2012 14:16 Heosat wrote:On April 30 2012 13:52 skAnarky wrote:
Ever any plans to branch out to android? Once the situation on Android improves. what is the android situation btw? alot of app devs are citing this but very little info can be found.... To say it succinctly, developing for Android is the equivalent of death by a thousand cuts, especially if you started out developing for iOS. A short list of issues: 1. People don't buy apps in the same numbers on Android and we don't like sullying our apps with ads. 2. There are thousands of devices to consider although that may change as Samsung takes over Android. 3. There is no dominant version of Android to develop for; ICS only has < 5% marketshare. 4. There are no tablets. 5. The Google Play store has no restrictions on copyright infringement making apps hard to discover and misleading potential customers. 6. Designers predominantly are iOS users and dislike designing for phones they don't use. 7. Android has been overtaken as the #1 smartphone in the US.
The Android SDK is also a huge pain, I've encountered numerous problems with documentation being out of date on their website, or entirely incomplete. On top of that, Eclipse will often think a line of code is perfectly fine, only to find out on next start that everything is entirely wrong, and there actually isn't even a function defined for what you want to do... But so it goes with learning a new language in general I guess (Even though it's supposed to be Java =\).
ANYWAYS, signed up and sent Ben an email. I'm on a college campus currently, so ought to be able to find a plethora of different samples for you guys. Hope I can help, this sounds like an amazing project, and eventual product! :D
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On May 01 2012 16:13 ExTerminator wrote:Show nested quote +On May 01 2012 13:41 Heosat wrote:On May 01 2012 13:02 KiF1rE wrote:On April 30 2012 14:16 Heosat wrote:On April 30 2012 13:52 skAnarky wrote:
Ever any plans to branch out to android? Once the situation on Android improves. what is the android situation btw? alot of app devs are citing this but very little info can be found.... To say it succinctly, developing for Android is the equivalent of death by a thousand cuts, especially if you started out developing for iOS. A short list of issues: 1. People don't buy apps in the same numbers on Android and we don't like sullying our apps with ads. 2. There are thousands of devices to consider although that may change as Samsung takes over Android. 3. There is no dominant version of Android to develop for; ICS only has < 5% marketshare. 4. There are no tablets. 5. The Google Play store has no restrictions on copyright infringement making apps hard to discover and misleading potential customers. 6. Designers predominantly are iOS users and dislike designing for phones they don't use. 7. Android has been overtaken as the #1 smartphone in the US. The Android SDK is also a huge pain, I've encountered numerous problems with documentation being out of date on their website, or entirely incomplete. On top of that, Eclipse will often think a line of code is perfectly fine, only to find out on next start that everything is entirely wrong, and there actually isn't even a function defined for what you want to do... But so it goes with learning a new language in general I guess (Even though it's supposed to be Java =\). ANYWAYS, signed up and sent Ben an email. I'm on a college campus currently, so ought to be able to find a plethora of different samples for you guys. Hope I can help, this sounds like an amazing project, and eventual product! :D
It would be so amazing if you could get a large set of samples. We would be forever in your gratitude!
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Uploaded I think around 1.5k from people from my student union. Everyone coming in for something had to do some, da roolz. Hope it helps!
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This seems like a fun and worthy project. Will sign up if you ever trial an Android port.
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Would do if I had a smart-phone. Looks like a cool project ^ ^
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On April 30 2012 20:42 ReboundEU wrote:
One question. Of all the animals in this world...why Echidnas O.o I mean...i know pandas, seals and whales are beyond overrated and overmarketed to the point u want to kill them just so u don't see commercials of them anymore...but still.
I don't feel like an app named "Panda," "Whale," "Seal," "Leopard" (which is already taken), "Jaguar" (again, already taken), etc., really has the same pull as "Echidna."
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i would help, but i dont think i have an ipad or iphone -.-
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EPT![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/Gax1W.png)
![[image loading]](http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110816200406/powerlisting/images/2/20/Knuckles_the_echidna.gif)
