podbooks dot org

anyone else out there have the linux Dectalk Runtimes from Fonix?

This error message sometimes comes up

say: Could not find any wave devices
say: Is the MM server ready?
say: Exiting
I discovered that I like using padsp to solve this problem

I type

#padsp say -r 320

From there, I simply past all the texts I would like to have read out loud directly into the command prompt.  I think I might be writing some better scripts soon and publishing the couple I have already made.  I think an easy one that I just have not gotten around to is one that deletes lots of the garbage that bogs down the tts engine like “……………………”  on some table of contents pages.

Here is a script I made to convert text to mp3 files.  Some comments or complaints may push me to tune it more

(script didn’t paste correct in wordpress will post link)

More a not to myself to examine some of these sites listed by Yahoo on a search for Podiobooks. Google is big but sometimes yahoo manages the human touch to search results.

A silly idea hit me.  I was to have a group of highschool students read a play outloud together.  Few wanted to take the different roles and they mortified when I suggested to read it with a bit of passion.  To spur things on, I decided to take a part and I figured I must put the passion I asked of them into it.

I was soon shouting and overacting and making a fool of myself.  Unfamiliar with the play, I often started a line in an angry voice when it was supposed to be the voice of moderation, or I’d act sad, discovering by the context at the end that I should have been happy.  It was pure silliness but it kept most of the students awake.

How about taking a very dry commonly assigned college reading and making a dramatic mess out of it? I figure something public domain like Plato or Machiavelli.  Shout Scream Cry and laugh as I plod through reading it into my recording equipment.

Any suggestions of a dull book that could be enlivened.

Many of these books are actually dear to people and not dull at all.

Any legal junkies out there?
If you are studying to be a lawyer, interested in being a better citizen or trying to the next John Grisham, it could be fun to listen to SOME of this project. It strives to publish, “all audio recorded in the Court since the installation of a recording system in October 1955.”
Oyez.org

about $100 per course (free at some public libraries)
The Cadillac of audible non-fiction, the teaching company offers great college courses in audioform. Now that they offer content in mp3 form, they qualify as a podpook publisher.

The courses are designed for adult life long learners. This means that they strive at the parts of a subject that are intellectually interesting but not bogged down in the minutia that professional training would entail. So it may fail some looking for professional training but they are interesting enough.

Spoken Alexandria is a project that is trying to put out content nearly free. Books often cost less than $1.00 and money is used to fund the hosting and creation of content.

Audiotreasure offers the bible for free download or on a low cost CD.

freechristianaudioSome computer read books are not everyone’s cup of tea. I myself am leaning strongly toward these types of books because I can quickly make one for myself from any text I can download or scan onto my computer.

Christian audio.com is a commercial site but offers the old Christian Classics ethereal Library audio collection and a free download of the month.

The former CCEL collection books can be found scattered about the net now. For example G. K Chesteron’s works can be found at librivox. I might set about the project of making a recommended list.

Looks like this catholic collection is immense.

A small selection of works written and performed by there creator childrens_stories
and Short stories Nice production.

Project Gutenberg has a huge repository of texts which I recommend for use with a text to speech program. They have a section of public domain human read books. Public domain usually means that the author has died long enough ago for the work to belong to us all. The recording is made by a volunteer choosing to read the book.  Production values are often low but I am biased in favor of the value of the classics.

PG’s human read books

A lot of stuff not exactly to my taste I prefer those dry old classics like on project gutenberg but probably what most people are looking for when they think of podbooks. Contemporary authors submitting there work for exposure or just the love of writing

Non Fiction and Essays

Children’s **Caution there are also selections inappropriate for children. But they are clearly deliniated**

Everything else