Comments on: Getting my Mac to read to me http://www.ethanzuckerman.com/blog/2009/07/30/getting-my-mac-to-read-to-me/ EthanZ's musings on Africa, media and international development Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:45:31 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Portnoy http://www.ethanzuckerman.com/blog/2009/07/30/getting-my-mac-to-read-to-me/comment-page-1/#comment-1679950 Portnoy Sun, 02 Aug 2009 08:56:11 +0000 http://www.ethanzuckerman.com/blog/?p=3114#comment-1679950 Hope all is well with you. Hope all is well with you.

]]> By: Diehl Mackey-Pyfer http://www.ethanzuckerman.com/blog/2009/07/30/getting-my-mac-to-read-to-me/comment-page-1/#comment-1678421 Diehl Mackey-Pyfer Fri, 31 Jul 2009 18:25:39 +0000 http://www.ethanzuckerman.com/blog/?p=3114#comment-1678421 Thanks for raising these issues!! I'm interested in being able to listen to one thing while reading or looking at something else. . .and read your article and comments with great interest. Good luck on your coming surgery and recovery!!! Thanks for raising these issues!! I’m interested in being able to listen to one thing while reading or looking at something else. . .and read your article and comments with great interest. Good luck on your coming surgery and recovery!!!

]]> By: Ethan http://www.ethanzuckerman.com/blog/2009/07/30/getting-my-mac-to-read-to-me/comment-page-1/#comment-1678399 Ethan Fri, 31 Jul 2009 17:50:44 +0000 http://www.ethanzuckerman.com/blog/?p=3114#comment-1678399 Thanks, Ed. You site is very unclear on that point. When you sign up, you're given the opportunity to download titles in a format not supported on the Mac. Your FAQ apologizes for the fact that RFBD titles aren't supported on the Mac. So you can understand why I might be confused. Thanks, Ed. You site is very unclear on that point. When you sign up, you’re given the opportunity to download titles in a format not supported on the Mac. Your FAQ apologizes for the fact that RFBD titles aren’t supported on the Mac. So you can understand why I might be confused.

]]> By: Ed Bray http://www.ethanzuckerman.com/blog/2009/07/30/getting-my-mac-to-read-to-me/comment-page-1/#comment-1678351 Ed Bray Fri, 31 Jul 2009 17:20:13 +0000 http://www.ethanzuckerman.com/blog/?p=3114#comment-1678351 Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic has over 51,000 titles availalbe in DAISY-- downloadable and on CD. Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic has over 51,000 titles availalbe in DAISY– downloadable and on CD.

]]> By: James Craig http://www.ethanzuckerman.com/blog/2009/07/30/getting-my-mac-to-read-to-me/comment-page-1/#comment-1678336 James Craig Fri, 31 Jul 2009 17:05:19 +0000 http://www.ethanzuckerman.com/blog/?p=3114#comment-1678336 I was going to suggest the same thing as Joe. Automator is the right move for recording audiobooks. You could also start practicing VoiceOver the built-in screen reader on Mac OS X. Automator is the better solution for audiobooks, but VoiceOver would allow you to check your email and news feeds without using your eyes. To learn the basics, turn on VoiceOver with Cmd+F5, and launch the tutorial with Ctrl+Opt+Cmd+F8. Good luck with your surgery. I was going to suggest the same thing as Joe. Automator is the right move for recording audiobooks.

You could also start practicing VoiceOver the built-in screen reader on Mac OS X. Automator is the better solution for audiobooks, but VoiceOver would allow you to check your email and news feeds without using your eyes. To learn the basics, turn on VoiceOver with Cmd+F5, and launch the tutorial with Ctrl+Opt+Cmd+F8.

Good luck with your surgery.

]]> By: Doug Hacker http://www.ethanzuckerman.com/blog/2009/07/30/getting-my-mac-to-read-to-me/comment-page-1/#comment-1678319 Doug Hacker Fri, 31 Jul 2009 16:44:44 +0000 http://www.ethanzuckerman.com/blog/?p=3114#comment-1678319 Ethan TextCast by BitMaki http://www.bitmaki.com/textcast "Textcast turns any text - documents, web pages and entire blog feeds - into personal podcasts you can listen to right on your iPod and iPhone." I've used it, it's great Ethan

TextCast by BitMaki

http://www.bitmaki.com/textcast

“Textcast turns any text – documents, web pages and entire blog feeds – into personal podcasts you can listen to right on your iPod and iPhone.”

I’ve used it, it’s great

]]> By: Joe http://www.ethanzuckerman.com/blog/2009/07/30/getting-my-mac-to-read-to-me/comment-page-1/#comment-1677924 Joe Fri, 31 Jul 2009 08:13:12 +0000 http://www.ethanzuckerman.com/blog/?p=3114#comment-1677924 Hi Ethan, You can also whip something up in the Automator application. If you paste the text you want into a textedit document, you can set up a workflow that looks like this: Ask for Finder Items Get contents of TextEdit Document Text to Audio File That spits out a .aiff sound file, but you can add Import Audio Files To get iTunes to take it in and convert it to mp3 . But Clipboard to MP3 looks hard to argue with! Hi Ethan,

You can also whip something up in the Automator application. If you paste the text you want into a textedit document, you can set up a workflow that looks like this:
Ask for Finder Items
Get contents of TextEdit Document
Text to Audio File

That spits out a .aiff sound file, but you can add
Import Audio Files

To get iTunes to take it in and convert it to mp3 .

But Clipboard to MP3 looks hard to argue with!

]]> By: Kat Prawl http://www.ethanzuckerman.com/blog/2009/07/30/getting-my-mac-to-read-to-me/comment-page-1/#comment-1677870 Kat Prawl Fri, 31 Jul 2009 07:30:53 +0000 http://www.ethanzuckerman.com/blog/?p=3114#comment-1677870 HI Ethan. Rather than using Audacity (a fine program) and digital-analog-digital conversion via hardware jacks, have you ever tried Audio Hijack Pro from Rogue Amoeba? It will create a digital file from any Mac application with an audio component (including, I'm sure, "say"), which you can then playback via iTunes, etc. HI Ethan. Rather than using Audacity (a fine program) and digital-analog-digital conversion via hardware jacks, have you ever tried Audio Hijack Pro from Rogue Amoeba? It will create a digital file from any Mac application with an audio component (including, I’m sure, “say”), which you can then playback via iTunes, etc.

]]> By: quinn http://www.ethanzuckerman.com/blog/2009/07/30/getting-my-mac-to-read-to-me/comment-page-1/#comment-1677789 quinn Fri, 31 Jul 2009 04:43:13 +0000 http://www.ethanzuckerman.com/blog/?p=3114#comment-1677789 due to a neck injury i can't really read books for very long, so the text-to-speech feature on my mac (and audiobooks from the lib, etc) have become my new form of literacy. i've never sought any kind of disability status- i think this is kind of under the radar. i mostly treat my laptop like a giant mp3 player, but eventually that will get old. i will be trying this with you, i suspect. due to a neck injury i can’t really read books for very long, so the text-to-speech feature on my mac (and audiobooks from the lib, etc) have become my new form of literacy. i’ve never sought any kind of disability status- i think this is kind of under the radar.

i mostly treat my laptop like a giant mp3 player, but eventually that will get old.

i will be trying this with you, i suspect.

]]> By: Ethan http://www.ethanzuckerman.com/blog/2009/07/30/getting-my-mac-to-read-to-me/comment-page-1/#comment-1677729 Ethan Fri, 31 Jul 2009 02:11:25 +0000 http://www.ethanzuckerman.com/blog/?p=3114#comment-1677729 Great find, Jesse. Clipboard to MP3, a Mac ap available at manythings.org/mac, does a great job of creating these files from your clipboard, running them in the background, and depositing them into iTunes. Exactly what I was looking for - thank you. Great find, Jesse. Clipboard to MP3, a Mac ap available at manythings.org/mac, does a great job of creating these files from your clipboard, running them in the background, and depositing them into iTunes. Exactly what I was looking for – thank you.

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