def xstr(s, encoding="utf-8"):
        if isinstance(s, str):
            return s
        else:
            return unicode(s).encode(encoding)
Records until a second of silence or times out after 12 seconds
dataset/ETHPy150Open nigelsmall/httpstream/httpstream/util.py/xstr--crossover with--dataset/ETHPy150Open jasperproject/jasper-client/client/mic.py/Mic.activeListenToAllOptions