tjw@unix.cis.pitt.edu (TJ Wood WA3VQJ) (09/02/90)
In article <15084@shlump.nac.dec.com> wales@gidday.enet.dec.com (David Wales) writes: >Sounds like a great idea. Using the latest verison of the software (1.5) there >is a text to speech program provided. You would only need a pre-processor to >catch the smileys etc and then ship the whole lot off to sbtalker. I'd like to write something that would not only translate the "smiley faces", but would also change pitch when quoted (">") text is seen. Maybe it could up the pitch by 2 points for evern (">") it sees and correctly handle the pitch for the "In article <...> so-and-so writes" lines. It would be nice if the driver also offered a female voice, but it doesn't as of yet. The whole thing could then be tied to a terminal emulator that would read the text as it came in (of course, you'd probably want to strip off the usenet headers). While one could use the "say" program that comes with the Soundblaster, I think better control of the voice could be had by programming it directly. For example, the say program says things too slowly for my taste. However, the text-to-speech software can actually speak much faster if you use the callable routines in the developer's kit. It's too bad that Creative Labs didn't put more "switches" on the command line, to control such things. Maybe we could suggest that to them! Anyway, this is all stuff for "when I get some spare time". I wish I could get a "grant" from some blind organization to develop something like this. It'd be fun to write. Oh well! I'll get around to it sometime! Terry -- INTERNET: tjw@unix.cis.pitt.edu BITNET: TJW@PITTVMS CC-NET: 33802::tjw UUCP: {decwrl!decvax!idis, allegra, bellcore}!pitt!unix.cis.pitt.edu!tjw And if dreams could come true, I'd still be there with you, On the banks of cold waters at the close of the day. - Craig Johnson