The AH Coffee Shop and Reading Room 09

[TheRedLantern]

How did you do that? I use a Mac for most of my writing but I use a PC for read-aloud (MS Edge has text-to-speech built in).

 

[Candy_Kane54]

It's a nice sunny morning here today after the rainy afternoon we had yesterday. Tomorrow the cold front is coming through and we could get a wintry mix as the temperature plunges into the twenties overnight. The swelling on my lip is nearly gone but I'm going to have a serious chapped lip for a few days as the tissue constricts back to normal and settles down.

I've got a fresh pot of coffee (not Irish) brewing and the teapot is hot. There are danishes on the counter for those suffering a snack attack.

I'll be over in the corner working on my new story that was nagging at me while I was finishing my Winter Holiday contest story. So, of course, I'm sitting here staring at the screen and the words aren't coming. I'm really going to have a talk with my Muse ...

 

[MrPixel]

Tomorrow the cold front is coming through and we could get a wintry mix as the temperature plunges into the twenties overnight.

Fortunately we're dodging the precip, but, yeah, low-20s here as well.

Today's project is gathering everything to trap and house the bunny, who has been hanging around. C has named it "Cole", or "Colette". We have serious doubts it has a place to huddle against the unseasonable cold. It's a pet rabbit, not a wild one with natural instincts (or very diluted), so we're going to try to shelter it.

Contacted the closest house bunny rescue last night, but haven't heard back. We can't keep it, not with the dog. He already tried to jump through the window on the car when he saw it in the yard. It wouldn't be a happy encounter.

 

[iwatchus]

How did you do that? I use a Mac for most of my writing but I use a PC for read-aloud (MS Edge has text-to-speech built in).

I use pages and it has speech built in. But I think it is part of the speech package that pervades the os. What do you use to actually write with? I’m away from my Mac now so I can’t check but I think it will read as part of accessibility on almost any app

 

[TheRedLantern]

I use Google Docs pretty exclusively.

I download it as a PDF and then open the PDF in Edge on a Windows PC and use the "read aloud" feature. It's very good, which is why I go through the hassle. The "Read Aloud" step is one of the last ones I do for every story.

 

[iwatchus]

I use Google Docs pretty exclusively.

I download it as a PDF and then open the PDF in Edge on a Windows PC and use the "read aloud" feature. It's very good, which is why I go through the hassle. The "Read Aloud" step is one of the last ones I do for every story.

Back home I can check this out more. It appears the new voice is only in Pages. And somehow google docs seems to block the OS from seeing the content of a doc -- I cannot get it to directly read to me from a google doc. You can get the old voice from Preview for a pdf. It's passable. Or you could copy and paste the text of your story from a google doc to a Pages doc.

For preview, speech is about 3/4 of the way down the Edit menu (where else would it be ). In Pages,I select a block of text and right click (control-click) and Speech is right below paste about 1/3 of the way down the pop up menu. As a warning, the new voice seems to choke on block quote and br tags.

 

[NuclearFairy]

Or you could copy and paste the text of your story from a google doc to a Pages doc.

You can also download a Google doc into 8 different formats. Just click on the file menu, go to download, and choose which format.

I do this when making external backups of my story.

 

[iwatchus]

You can also download a Google doc into 8 different formats. Just click on the file menu, go to download, and choose which format.

I do this when making external backups of my story.

They do not give an option for exporting to Pages format.

Once upon a time, the two companies got along famously well. They even cross membership on their boards. Then the google rep (Sergey?) on the Apple board went back to Google and had them completely redesign their Android phone and add a whole range features to the OS. The original phone was about to be released as a blackberry clone, with a keyboard and a small screen. They delayed the release and it came out as an iPhone clone instead. Apple was pretty pissed at the breach of etiquette if not legal fiduciary responsibility. The two companies have not cooperated since then. Beyond Google paying them billions to make google the default search engine on iPhones.

 

[NotWise]

You guys got me to try speech-to-text in Firefox. The Linux world has lagged on speech-to-text, and the Google text-to-speech extension produced the best result I've had yet.

But then, the story I tested with (Every Girl in Edgarville) was narrated by a middle aged man, and the female voice seemed more like a teen both in pitch and intonation. That cognitive disconnect alone made it hard to follow.

I expect that can be adjusted, but I haven't gone there yet.

Cut more broccolini today. We've only eaten it once, and there's enough in the fridge for four more meals. My wife is a broccoli fan since childhood, and she shocked me by saying the broccolini was better than broccoli. I think we'll probably figure out how to freeze it rather than giving it away.

 

[MillieDynamite]

@NotWise, you mean text-to-speech. Speech to text is you talking and the computer writing for you. Yes, I nitpick. I'm a nitpicker.

You guys got me to try speech-to-text in Firefox. The Linux world has lagged on speech-to-text, and the Google text-to-speech extension produced the best result I've had yet.

But then, the story I tested with (Every Girl in Edgarville) was narrated by a middle aged man, and the female voice seemed more like a teen both in pitch and intonation. That cognitive disconnect alone made it hard to follow.

I expect that can be adjusted, but I haven't gone there yet.

Cut more broccolini today. We've only eaten it once, and there's enough in the fridge for four more meals. My wife is a broccoli fan since childhood, and she shocked me by saying the broccolini was better than broccoli. I think we'll probably figure out how to freeze it rather than giving it away.

 

[TheLobster]

They do not give an option for exporting to Pages format.

Practically nothing is compatible with Apple Pages proprietary format. I think it’s only LibreOffice that tries to reverse engineer what it can from it, but it’s tricky since Apple changes it with every edition.

The original phone was about to be released as a blackberry clone, with a keyboard and a small screen. They delayed the release and it came out as an iPhone clone instead.

Nope, that’s just how Steve Jobs painted it. In reality the first versions of Android supported phones with physical keyboards just fine; it was indeed one of the main design goals to run on many different form factors, including those popular in the emerging markets.

 

[iwatchus]

Practically nothing is compatible with Apple Pages proprietary format. I think it’s only LibreOffice that tries to reverse engineer what it can from it, but it’s tricky since Apple changes it with every edition.

Absolutely true.

Nope, that’s just how Steve Jobs painted it. In reality the first versions of Android supported phones with physical keyboards just fine; it was indeed one of the main design goals to run on many different form factors, including those popular in the emerging markets.

It is absolutely true that Google had no plans to do anything like a modern smartphone until they saw the prototype at the board meeting. You can look at when they added features (like multi-touch screen) and it's well down into their development cycle. Everything that is before that first prototype in the Android system is to support a blackberry clone. Yes, phones like that could be made more cheaply and so were popular. There is nothing wrong them. The problem is that google wanted to chase high end phones and improperly using information shown to the board is a very slimy way to not start out a year farther behind.

 

[NotWise]

@NotWise, you mean text-to-speech. Speech to text is you talking and the computer writing for you. Yes, I nitpick. I'm a nitpicker.

You're right. I needed a nap.

 

[MillieDynamite]

I didn't mean to hurt your feelings.

You're right. I needed a nap.

 

[Candy_Kane54]

I made sure there's a fresh pot of coffee brewing and put out some pepperoni pizza for late night snackers.

 

[MillieDynamite]

Going to FaceTime with Mary @theWollstonecarftWoman, and we're going to watch Frankenstein on Netflix tonight together! Decaf coffee, smack talking, and a monster, a day late (because of Sabbath).

 

[TheRedLantern]

Me: "You don't understand! It's the Winter Holiday Contest on Literotica and I'm really excited that my entry goes live in two days! This is a big deal!"

Person I'm Talking To: "Uh, our flavors are chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry."

Me (defeated): "Strawberry."

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

My Fan Club seems to be thriving.

 

[Candy_Kane54]

It's a gloomy morning, especially hearing that @sirhugs may be experiencing a medical emergency. I hope everything works out and he'll be back spreading cheer (and hugs) soon.

For now, all I can do is make sure there's fresh coffee brewing and the teapot is hot for when he needs a cuppa. There are donuts and cookies on the counter for snacking.

I'll be over in the corner working on my new story, hoping to have it ready for the contest deadline. I got three weeks and I'll need every one of them ...

 

[NuclearFairy]

I sat down to eat my breakfast, and felt something tickling my face right between my lips and chin. I thought it was a hair so I went to move it to the side, only to wind up with a freaking spider in my hand! I screamed and threw it, but not I'm going to be a twitchy paranoid mess for the rest of the day.

 

[NotWise]

I sat down to eat my breakfast, and felt something tickling my face right between my lips and chin. I thought it was a hair so I went to move it to the side, only to wind up with a freaking spider in my hand! I screamed and threw it, but not I'm going to be a twitchy paranoid mess for the rest of the day.

Eeew!

Bright and sunny here, but it's cooling off a little. Weather Service thinks our temps will stay below 70, but barely.

I pureed three and a half pounds of paste tomatoes this morning and cooked them down about 1/3. The pot is cooling on the stove so I can bag it and freeze about two pints. I originally had three mixing bowls from gleaning the vines, and now I'm down to one. At least half of the remaining tomatoes are ripening.

 

[MrPixel]

It's currently 37°F, and I need to get my butt off this chair to empty out hoses and make sure the heat in the guest cottage and workshop is where it should be before tonight's hard freeze (20-something).

Also have to schlep laundry to the cottage if I want to have socks tomorrow. The washing machine here at the house shot craps and is waiting for a part. Its companion dryer broke two months ago; fortunately the company covered that out-of-warranty repair, which was going to cost half of a new one. The pair is 18 months old. I told the store rep that we won't be buying that (major!) brand again.

We were all set up to trap the bunny, but haven't seen it since Thursday. Hope it's snuggled-up someplace secure from the cold.

 

[_Lynn_]

It's 37 here. Sunny, though, so it doesn't look cold. They've been talking about a band of snow coming this way but we don't have any yet. Most likely it will start in the middle of the week when I have a cardioversion scheduled. At least I won't be driving.

 

[iwatchus]

I just finished 8 1/2 hours of editing on my Winter Holidays event (over the last 9 1/2 hours). But it's submitted! My first submission in two months!

It's chilly here, but I keep expecting to see heavy snow on the ground (my story takes place in the midst of a historic blizzard.

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

I



Am



Ang


RY!!!