Articles
Latest news and updates from Cockatoo
Introducing Nitrox 🫧
We built a Python library for simplified media processing that's 10x faster than existing solutions. Here's how we did it.
The Evolution of Audio Recording and Formats
From Edison's tin-foil phonograph capturing 'Mary Had a Little Lamb' in 1877 to today's streaming-optimized Opus codec, this is the epic 150-year journey of audio formats through the analog era of vinyl and tape, the digital revolution of CDs and MP3s that transformed music distribution, and the modern landscape of lossless FLAC and efficient compressed formats that power our connected world.
The Dialects of French Around the World
Explore how French evolved into a truly global language with unique regional flavors across six continents, from Quebec's preserved 17th-century expressions to Africa's vibrant street slang, showing how 300+ million speakers have made French their own while maintaining mutual understanding.
The Origins and Rise of PDF: From Camelot to Global Standard
The fascinating story of how Adobe's John Warnock solved the universal document problem, creating PDF from his ambitious Camelot project and transforming it into the world's de-facto document standard.
Dialects of Portuguese Across the World
Discover how Portuguese evolved into a global language with rich regional diversity across four continents. From Brazil’s rhythmic cadences to Angola’s Afro-Lusophone slang and Portugal’s classical precision, this deep dive explores how 250+ million speakers have adapted and localized Portuguese—while still keeping it unmistakably one language.
From Audrey to Deep Learning: The Epic History of Speech Recognition
From Bell Labs' room-sized Audrey recognizing just ten digits in 1952 to today's AI systems achieving 95%+ accuracy on natural speech, this is the epic 70-year journey of how speech recognition evolved from science fiction dream to everyday reality through statistical breakthroughs, government funding, and the deep learning revolution.