Found this speaking time vbs batch script today & figured I'd ask for advice on how it works and how Windows gadgets work

[Arlen Holder]

First off, I've _never_ run a VBS script before (as I didn't even know they
would work on Windows 10 without installing "something else"... nor have I
(knowingly) installed what is referred to in that thread as a "Windows
gadget"...

Hence my related question, in terms of scripts & gadgets for talking time.
o *Can you kindly expand on how this stuff works & what to look out for?*

As I am wont to do, I was helping out in this talkingiclock thread today:
o White-Tiger T-Clock Redux: Updated version of T-Clock
<https://groups.google.com/d/msg/alt.comp.freeware/MUxmAVcShTo/DwIvCYCmAgAJ>

In that endeavor to find a freeware talking clock, it turned out there may
be two existing freeware solutions, one of which is a vbs script (which
worked the first time in my tests) and the other of which is a "Windows
gadget", which I'm a bit afraid to install pending more information from
folks I trust.

The good news is, apparently, that the VBS script worked as tested:

(1) Visit this web site for the details, which I tested successfully:
o Windows Trick: How To Make Your Computer To Speak Out Time At Every Hour
<https://www.nextofwindows.com/windows-trick-how-to-make-your-computer-to-speak-out-time-at-every-hour>

(2) Download "time.vbs" <https://www.nextofwindows.com/download/Time.vbs>
Dim speaks, speech
speaks = "It is " & hour(time) & " O'clock"
Set speech = CreateObject("sapi.spvoice")
speech.Speak speaks

(3) Doubleclick on that "time.vbs" file, which should speak the time
(mine spoke it only within the hour, e.g., 8:15 was spoken as 8:00)

(4) Add that vbs script to the task scheduler to speak the time hourly:
Win+R > taskschd.msc
Task Scheduler: Task Scheduler (Local) > Actions > Create Task >
Create Task: General > Name=SpeakTime > Triggers
New Trigger: Begin the task=On a schedule
Advanced settings: [x]Repeate task every=1hour
for a duration of=Indefinitely > OK > Actions > New
New Action: Action=Start a program
Program/script=C:\app\os\bin\vbs\sayhourlytime.vbs > OK > OK
Task Scheduler: File > Exit

I only added it an hour ago, but it appears to be working, even as I don't
recall ever adding Microsoft Visual Basic interpreters on purposes, but
almost certainly some freeware somewhere required it, so that's likely why
it worked without downloading Microsoft Visual Basic:
<https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/visual-basic/>
<https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-other_settings-winpc/how-to-know-what-installed-andor-depends-on-each/796b997b-2389-442a-9155-d6021619cc4d>
<https://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/vstudio/en-US/f45a1be4-a613-4b15-bda5-f57e3aa13037/what-versions-of-quotvisual-cquot-do-i-have>
etc.

If you need finer time-talking intervals than hourly, I found this:
o Talking Clock overview
<https://windows10gadgets.pro/clocks/talkingclock/talkingclock.html>
<https://windows10gadgets.pro/001/TalkingClock.zip>
Name: TalkingClock.zip
Size: 186489 bytes (182 KiB)
SHA256: 57AE1928D2713648C7216DC9F3E3FD098F517CD939D5C53CC5FA411CC3FF6657

Which is some kind of "Windows gadget" which I'm unfamiliar with.
Name: TalkingClock.gadget
Size: 189768 bytes (185 KiB)
SHA256: 005348106BE954D862A55278F10340E836C857C0BEDB4E2550EF67641260D525

Do you ever install Windows "gadgets" and what should I look out for?
o <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Desktop_Gadgets>
"Windows Desktop Gadgets (called Windows Sidebar in Windows Vista)
is a discontinued widget engine for Microsoft Gadgets. "
o <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Gadgets>
"Microsoft Gadgets are lightweight single-purpose applications,
or software widgets, that can sit on a Microsoft Windows user's
computer desktop"

It's confusing whether I should trust these "gadgets" or not:
"According to Microsoft, Gadgets were discontinued because they have
"serious vulnerabilities", "could be exploited to harm your computer,
access your computer's files, show you objectionable content,
or change their behavior at any time"; and "an attacker could even
use a gadget to take complete control of your PC".[1]"

In summary, what can you expound upon in terms of the visual basic script
and the Windows Gadget for adding a freeware talking time to Windows?
(so that all benefit from every action given your knowledge in this area)
--
The high cost of freeware is simply in finding & installing only the best.

[Arlen Holder]

On Thu, 11 Jun 2020 16:50:36 -0000 (UTC), Arlen Holder wrote:

> Dim speaks, speech
> speaks = "It is " & hour(time) & " O'clock"
> Set speech = CreateObject("sapi.spvoice")
> speech.Speak speaks

UPDATE:

As described prior, the visual basic spoken hourly clock sucks.
<https://www.nextofwindows.com/windows-trick-how-to-make-your-computer-to-speak-out-time-at-every-hour>

That hourly time clock has some gotchas, so far in my quick test today:
1. It speaks out "14 o'clock", instead of "two o'clock", and,
2. It runs on the hour but from when you _started_ the schedule
(i.e., if you started at 10:15, it runs at 11:15, 12:15, 1:15, etc.,
speaking "11 o'clock", "12 o'clock" & "13 o'clock respectively).

In short, it sucks, so if it's going to be used, it needs improvement.
--
On Usenet, helpful adults pitch in to benefit everyone who participates.

[Robin Goodfellow]

Arlen Holder <arlen...@newmachine.com> was looking for an alternative operating system for his
smartphone.
news:rbtncs$as$1...@news.mixmin.net:


https://ubuntu-touch.io/


In its current state, our OS is designed primarily for touchscreen mobile devices such as smartphones and
tablet computers. Ubuntu Touch offers a completely refreshing approach to the mobile experience. Thanks to
the intuitive and clean interface, members of the community report a very 'natural' experience. With a gentle
swipe from the edge of the screen, you have access to all of the device's apps, tools and settings. There are no
accidental button pushes or hard-to-reach dungeons of your mobile device: Everything is just a swipe away.
This unique operating system will help you stand out in a crowd with a new fashion in mobile technology.


Privacy Ensured

Although Big Brother and others in the world may wish to spy on you and steal your personal data - don't worry.
With Ubuntu Touch - a safer system that respects your privacy - they will have nothing to see. Ubuntu Touch
keeps you secure because most unsafe parts are blocked by default; the only way that the peepers and
creepers can get a peek is if you invite them. We've got your back.
No Backdoors

Ubuntu is an open source software operating system. This means that everyone has access to the source code
and change, distribute or copy it. That makes it impossible to install software backdoors.

The Ubuntu Touch OS does not depend on the cloud and is also virtually free of viruses and other malware that
can extract your data.

[Arlen Holder]

On Thu, 11 Jun 2020 21:31:46 -0000 (UTC), Arlen Holder wrote:

> 1. It speaks out "14 o'clock", instead of "two o'clock", and,
> 2. It runs on the hour but from when you _started_ the schedule
> (i.e., if you started at 10:15, it runs at 11:15, 12:15, 1:15, etc.,
> speaking "11 o'clock", "12 o'clock" & "13 o'clock respectively).

Duh.
o Mea culpa.

I'm clearly not used to using the task scheduler.
o To get it to start on the hour, all you do is change the start time.
--
It still speaks out 2pm as "fourteen o'clock" though...

[*Char Jackson*]

I spent 20 seconds and made the following tweak to make it use a 12-hour
clock rather than the default 24-hour clock.

Dim speaks, d, speech
d = hour(time)
if d > 12 then d = d - 12
speaks = "The time is " & d & " O'clock."

Set speech = CreateObject("sapi.spvoice")
speech.Speak speaks

I also used the following line in place of the one above:
speaks = "Hi there, it's " & d & " O'clock. I thought you'd wanna know."

[Flasherly]

Ambitious, although "mobile or smart" monikers inherently devolves
into reducing computer technology, for venues channeled to direct
control by industry, governments, and their sole interest -- least if
untenably not freeware or a public bearing of autonomous programming
interests.

Running a so-called computer that advertises itself illustriously for
"all possible things" is the goal to promoting itself, finely as
advertising copy illustriously runs, in itself;- for Ubuntu
miraculously to purport, at one up, that it can expand on advertising
copy, to delivery everything it is quite commonly not, which indeed
would prove the interesting caveat -- given it does not break a
so-called smart/handhelld irretrievably into tiny little bits of All
to Hell by rootkiting one with Ubuntu.

Still, and as before, rootkits have been variously around awhile with
a pragmatic presence, more or less;- as, still, they're not apt to
become a second-generation "computer revolution", hardly that, with an
overall lock-down state the WEB, Microsoft, et al, have had to advance
since private wealth resides above all, on perfunctory computer
platforms now facilitating that end.

As slick-paged advertisers began baying at the beginning of handhelds,
quick to point out, from a backdrop of their sponsorship -- 'Your days
on the Wild Wild West are over, Granddaddy.'

Personally, possibly theoretically, I wouldn't advocate installing
Ubuntu Touch on the richest man in America, on his handeld -- that
would be of course Jeff Amazon's Fire/Kindle. Somewhat proprietary,
but for their price perhaps less stigmatic just to buy another one
should breathing wrong turn it asp green and broken.

Didn't they besides pass a law fifty years ago about making smart
phones that didn't break if not locked into, delivered per se for a
trademarked "brand-product" that works on a revolving payment plan
that never ends? Or, maybe, perhaps in the interest of the computer
revolution, they're still working on the finer details of that
commercialized FCC law before publicly passing one.

[R.Wieser]

Arlen,

> (2) Download "time.vbs" <https://www.nextofwindows.com/download/Time.vbs>
> Dim speaks, speech
> speaks = "It is " & hour(time) & " O'clock"
> Set speech = CreateObject("sapi.spvoice")
> speech.Speak speaks

I don't think that you are ware that that is an *EXAMPLE*, giving you
something to start with. Its is NOT MENT as an install-and-just-use
script.

> (mine spoke it only within the hour, e.g., 8:15 was spoken as 8:00)

Yes, that is what "hour(time)" returns. Just the hour. If you want
minutes too you have to add that part yourself. Hint: Its strikingly
similar to how to get the hours. Hint(clue)-by-four: google for "vbscript
minutes".

> If you need finer time-talking intervals than hourly, I found this:

You already have the script. Why don't you try to change it yourself ?

> In summary, what can you expound upon in terms of the
> visual basic script and the Windows Gadget for adding a
> freeware talking time to Windows?

Neither does.

Being able to speak has been part of Windows as far back as XP. Both are
just ways to gather what you want to have spoken, and than deliver it to the
speech engine. And as you have been able to see, in VBScript having the
'puter speak is done with just two lines of code (of the four lines of
script the first is not actually needed and the second is the gathering and
creation of /what/ to say).

> UPDATE:
>
> As described prior, the visual basic spoken hourly clock sucks.

VBScript is NOT equal to Visual Basic. Although they share quite a bit,
they are quite different. (for fun, there is also VBA - Visual Basic for
Applications)

As for "it sucks" ? It does exactly what its designed for. Maybe your
expectations where set a bit to high for this four-line example script ?

> In short, it sucks, so if it's going to be used, it needs
> improvement.

...

> Duh.
> o Mea culpa.
> I'm clearly not used to using the task scheduler.

Understanding the tools that you use is a prerequisite. :-)

> It still speaks out 2pm as "fourteen o'clock" though...

Which is exacty what it was written to do. And as long as you do not change
the script it will keep doing that.

IOW: Welcome in the wonderous world of VBScripting.

Regards,
Rudy Wieser

[R.Wieser]

P.s.

Why did you xpost this to "alt.msdos.batch" ? Nothing in your post is
related to either DOS, or Batch.

Regards,
Rudy Wieser

[JJ]

On Thu, 11 Jun 2020 16:50:36 -0000 (UTC), Arlen Holder wrote:
> First off, I've _never_ run a VBS script before (as I didn't even know they
> would work on Windows 10 without installing "something else"... nor have I
> (knowingly) installed what is referred to in that thread as a "Windows
> gadget"...

Is Windows 10 your first Windows OS?

[Mayayana]

"R.Wieser" <add...@not.available> wrote

| Why did you xpost this to "alt.msdos.batch" ? Nothing in your post is
| related to either DOS, or Batch.
|

I think that demonstrates 2 common misunderstandings.
One is that VBS is VB. The other is that anything interpreted
is a "batch" file. Maybe that gets mixed up because there
was never really a name for it. In the beginning it was all
just DOS and sometimes people would automate that with
BAT files.
People write "batch" files these days and get very angry if
you call it DOS, even if it is. But even the word "batch" really
just indicates an automated operation to do something
repeatedly, which is not necessarily what script is doing.

To make matters more confusing, on Linux they call their
interpreters shells and refer to commandline as shell scripting,
while in Windows the shell (Explorer GUI) is everything except
commandline. Meanwhile, Microsoft named their DOS-esque,
Linux-wannabe, one-executable-for-every-command monstrosity
"PowerShell", adopting the Linux nomenclature.

A third common misconception is that
interpreted code and commandline are "bare metal"
computer use, which is like thinking that a fireplace
is the most efficient way to heat a house, simply because
it requires the most work.

My XP computer has a clock in the lower right that tells
me hours and minutes at a glance. I also have a clock on
the shelf over my computer. And Scheduled Tasks is
completely disabled. So I don't have to write any code to
find out the time. Ah, the good old days. :)

[Sjouke Burry]

Wow,yes, that worked in XP PRO. Sounded horrible though.

[Mayayana]

"Sjouke Burry" <burrynu...@ppllaanneett.nnll> wrote

| Wow,yes, that worked in XP PRO. Sounded horrible though.

If you care, the Michael and Mary voices were made
available by someone as an XP installable. There are
also other voices. Probably all of them could be put
on XP but it requires putting the file into...

C:\Program Files\Common Files\SpeechEngines\Microsoft\TTS\[language ID]\

...and then adding a few Registry settings.

[Arlen Holder]

Hi JJ,

My post was initiated with "purposefully helpful" intentions.
o Consider my intent - and then think - think hard please - about yours.
--
I said from the start I never used nor cared for vbs nor for widgets, nor
did I claim to desire the results for myself (as my system clock is random
anyway); what I said, very clearly, was that I was helping others, and
hence, I simply asked for helpful advice in expounding on the experience.

[R.Wieser]

Mayayana,

> If you care, the Michael and Mary voices were
> made available by someone as an XP installable.

Do you perhaps have some more info ?

A number of years ago I tried to add a more understandable voice to my
XPsp3, but hit a brick wall when the voice-files I downloaded never wanted
to work - and often didn't even contain files ending in either .sdf or .spd
(as the "sam" voice-files do).

Most of the time I can't understand what the "sam" voice says, even though
I've entered the text myself. Heck, just emitting a few beeps is currently
often more helpfull. :-(

Regards,
Rudy Wieser

[R.Wieser]

"Arlen Holder" <arlen...@newmachine.com> wrote in message
news:rbvv4a$uk8$1...@news.mixmin.net...

> On Fri, 12 Jun 2020 18:19:04 +0700, JJ wrote:

Well f*ck ....

> My post was initiated with "purposefully helpful" intentions.

....

> I said from the start I never used nor cared for vbs nor for widgets,

Translation: "I only accept answers I do not need to do anything for, and
can just copy-paste into my next tutorial."

I hoped something different (the needed changes where simple enough, some
googeling would have provided the answers), but I should have known. :-(

Regards,
Rudy Wieser

[Wildman]

I think you missed the goal here. There is no time for
practical solutions or straight-forward answers.

--
<Wildman> GNU/Linux user #557453
The cow died so I don't need your bull!

[Paul]

timing.vbs (don't use reserved words for command names...)

Dim speaks, speech
speaks = "It is " & hour(time) & " hours and " & minute(time) & " minutes"

Set speech = CreateObject("sapi.spvoice")
speech.Speak speaks

Back when I took my first Fortran class (for credit, not because
I needed it), one of the other students was blabbering on about
"bimodal distribution of marks". I was rather amused by this notion
at the time, that this could actually happen in a topic.

% |
| ^ ^
| / \ / \
| ---/ \-------/ \------
+-------------+---------------
FAIL PASS

But the message there, is students either "get" programming
or they "don't get it". There did not seem to be any in-between.

I managed to squeak by on the PASS side. Great.

However, different subjects in programming lead to
different outcomes. When I tried my hand at AI programming,
I was a dismal FAIL. And my firmware buddy quipped "oh,
you have Fortran brain damage". And he was probably
spot on. Too much procedural programming, damages
the brain. He managed to conquer both.

The AI Language I tried my hand at, was something our
Math PhD wrote, and it came on two floppy diskettes.
A lot of booleans were involved. "If Mary has two sheep
and Fred has two sheep, are they sheep farmers?"
And the answer might be, for some reason, "True".
Now, say as a Fortran programmer, you wanted to
totalize their sheep herd and get 2+2=4 printed
on the screen. Well, that was virtually a hopeless
task (or so I concluded from my FAIL comprehension
of the language).

I don't mind admitting I "didn't get it". I didn't
have any background material, course notes, and was
trying to puzzle this stuff out on-screen.

But that language could do the 8-queens problem
like the clappers, and without apparent brute force.
It got the answer in a very short time, on a gutless
processor.

One of the neat features of the language, was when it
did math, it could associate an accuracy indication
with the answer. Such as "the total sheep is 4.001 +/- 0.001
sheep" :-) And that happens to be called "interval arithmetic".
I see the Wiki does a better job of explaining it than
I might.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interval_arithmetic

Paul

[Mayayana]

"R.Wieser" <add...@not.available> wrote

| Do you perhaps have some more info ?
|

It's under 4 MB. I could email it if you want to
get in touch. Note that my email autodeletes
webmail like gmail and hotmail.

[nospam]

In article <rc0vk8$irv$1...@dont-email.me>, Mayayana

<maya...@invalid.nospam> wrote:

> Note that my email autodeletes
> webmail like gmail and hotmail.

that's rather extreme and doesn't do what you might think it does.

gmail and hotmail can be used with non-web mail clients via imap, both
desktop or mobile, and/or a custom domain.

other email providers frequently offer web access in addition to imap.

[Paul]

I blame the lousy voices on Windows, on the "Bubbles" voice
on MacOS :-) That set the precedent for crap.

It seems OS companies are not interested in particularly
moving quickly in that area, whereas commercial synthesis
companies sell web based TTS and dictation for muí dinero.
When a scam phone call claiming to be the CRA arrives
on my phone, the synthesized voice on there sounds better
than an OS TTS.

I thought ATT made some voice files available, but I was never
able to track down a working example.

https://superuser.com/questions/1020849/get-more-microsoft-text-to-speech-voices

Paul

[Auric__]

I believe he means specifically those two, probably along with other free
services like Yahoo. It's not that extreme; I believe there are lots of
people who do so.

--
- No, come on, stay with me. Stay with me!
- The mission....The nightmares...are...finally over.

[nospam]

In article <XnsABDAA5D8617A0au...@144.76.35.198>,

Auric__ <not.m...@email.address> wrote:

>
> > In article <rc0vk8$irv$1...@dont-email.me>, Mayayana
> > <maya...@invalid.nospam> wrote:
> >> Note that my email autodeletes
> >> webmail like gmail and hotmail.
> >
> > that's rather extreme and doesn't do what you might think it does.
> >
> > gmail and hotmail can be used with non-web mail clients via imap, both
> > desktop or mobile, and/or a custom domain.
> >
> > other email providers frequently offer web access in addition to imap.
>
> I believe he means specifically those two, probably along with other free
> services like Yahoo. It's not that extreme; I believe there are lots of
> people who do so.

almost none, since doing so will block a lot of legitimate email,
particularly since both can be used with custom domains. there is also
no reason to block those who choose to use a web client, which can be
used with just about any email provider.

if the goal is to block google and microsoft from ever seeing his
email, then blocking by domain is guaranteed to fail since there's no
way to reliably determine if email has transited either one.

if the goal is to block spam, then blocking by domain is also
guaranteed to fail since spammers fake just about everything.

gmail has some of the best spam filtering around, and one reason why
many companies use it as a back end for their own email on their own
domain.

[Mayayana]

"Auric__" <not.m...@email.address> wrote

| > other email providers frequently offer web access in addition to imap.
|
| I believe he means specifically those two, probably along with other free
| services like Yahoo. It's not that extreme; I believe there are lots of
| people who do so.
|

Yes, that's exactly what I mean. When people write to me
it's generally to ask for help, code, etc. Which I'm happy to
provide. But I figure the least they can do is to write from
a real email address that isn't spyware.

[Mayayana]

"Paul" <nos...@needed.invalid> wrote

| I thought ATT made some voice files available, but I was never
| able to track down a working example.
|
|
https://superuser.com/questions/1020849/get-more-microsoft-text-to-speech-voices
|

I just tried installing Michael/Michelle. It doesn't work.
So I unpacked the MSI. It's some kind of funky InstallShield
mess that's putting the files in the installshield folder and
not in the SAPI folder. There are also files put in an "L_H"
folder, but those files are not SPD and SPF speech files.
It seems to be a custom package for Lernout & Hospie,
not an actual SAPI5 package.

[Mayayana]

The Mike and Mary download does seem to be legitimate
Windows SAPI5 voices. They should work. Not as nice as
Siri, but not as surly, either.

[Robin Goodfellow]

Flasherly <Flas...@live.com> wrote in
news:f7t5eft0e4kkeh2i6...@4ax.com:

Was simply pointing out that all phones are not the same, at least at the time of this writing, and there is
hope that this monopolistic control over the digital revolution might bring help in knowing thate there are
many who desire a free and open forum

[nospam]

In article <rc16kp$kdg$1...@dont-email.me>, Mayayana

gmail and outlook/hotmail are real email addresses and not spyware.

there's also no way to reliably determine if email is being handled by
either one.

[Arlen Holder]

On Fri, 12 Jun 2020 16:08:06 -0400, Paul wrote:

> Back when I took my first Fortran class

My first Fortran class was on, oh, I think it was the IBM 1130 (before
Fortran 77 even existed), where a deck of decent size for a student project
was from half a box of cards to a box of cards (roughly), with all that
lovely JCL in the front, where the result was often something cryptic like:
. "error 41"
Which we looked up in thick books bolted to the wooden shelf below the
punched-paper alphabetically-labeled output cubbies.

I also took PL/1, COBOL, IBM Assembly language, etc., and I wrote papers on
DEBUG tutorials (one of my first "successful" tutorials which was
"published" by the school for students to benefit from); yet, I never
"liked" programming, and as such, I use it like I would a screwdriver or
hammer - which is to say to get the job done but it's not my shtick.

Like most here, in the early days of "personal computers", I wirewrapped my
own microcontrollers (my chosen CPU was the 68701 as I've described
multiple times in the past), where you eventually get good at thinking in
hex commands, but, as with thinking in "write(x,y)" statements, burning
EPROMS and wire wrapping with hand tools just isn't my shtick.

Moving forward on this topic, I found five default voices on v1909:
. Settings > Ease of access > Narrator > Choose a voice
.. [Microsoft David]
.. [Microsoft Zira]
.. [Microsoft Mark]
.. [Microsoft David Desktop]
.. [Microsoft Zira Desktop]

Although only three of them showed up in the registry:
. Computer\HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Speech_OneCore\Voices\Tokens
.. MSTTS_V110_enUS_DavidM
.. MSTTS_V110_enUS_MarkM
.. MSTTS_V110_enUS_ZiraM
Apparently because "Cortana" voices are separate.
. HKCR\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\AppContainer\Storage\
microsoft.windows.cortana_cw5n1h2txyewy\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Speech_OneCore\Isolated
.. A1hdl50UVDh2ZbG324Nx-6fZgntcGnHOs5kHLdmaJYE
.. ohDO1Sgy3MzgdEgEb4WYfDS4eikKwN2EBJ1Cyr7HTF0
.. YjUX0LhiWH34l55J52QWs4VCvCT-efpDIK2ZdqrXKQE
Where _each_ of those three had its own Cortana voice "Tokens"
. \HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Speech_OneCore\Voices\Tokens
Which listed a ton of "Cortana" voices available on my machine:
.. MSTTS_V110_deDE_KatjaCortanaM
.. MSTTS_V110_enAU_MatildaM
.. MSTTS_V110_enCA_EvaM
.. MSTTS_V110_enGB_SarahM
.. MSTTS_V110_enIN_CortanaKoyalM
.. MSTTS_V110_enUS_DavidM
.. MSTTS_V110_enUS_EvaM
.. MSTTS_V110_enUS_MarkM
.. MSTTS_V110_enUS_ZiraM
.. MSTTS_V110_esES_AnaM
.. MSTTS_V110_esMX_MilaM
.. MSTTS_V110_frCA_NathalieM
.. MSTTS_V110_frFR_NathalieM
.. MSTTS_V110_itIT_ElsaCortanaM
.. MSTTS_V110_jaJP_SayakaM
.. MSTTS_V110_ptBR_AnaM
.. MSTTS_V110_zhCN_HongyuM
(and that's just the first set of Cortana voices native on my system.).
--
If unlocking all those additional existing voices aren't enough for folks,
apparently here are some "freeware" voices for Microsoft Windows available:
<http://www.zero2000.com/free-text-to-speech-natural-voices.html>

[Arlen Holder]

On Thu, 11 Jun 2020 21:38:47 -0500, *Char Jackson* wrote:

> I spent 20 seconds...

This improvement takes into account common (Am)English vernacular.
o *As always, please improve so that all benefit from every post*.

Note: I tested that VBS below briefly for only four key conditions:
(1) Meridium indication (i.e., AM or PM)
(2) 'Oh clock' indication (i.e., at zero minutes)
(3) 'Oh' indication (i.e., from one to nine minutes)
(4) 'Oh No' indication (i.e., from ten to fifty-nine minutes)

Dim speaks, speech
hour_now=hour(time)

if hour_now > 12 or hour_now = 12 Then
hour12 = hour_now - 12
ampm = "PM"
Else
hour12 = hour_now
hourfinal = hour_now
ampm = "AM"
End If

If hour12 = 10 Then
hourfinal = "Ten"
Elseif hour12 = 11 Then
hourfinal = "Eleven"
Elseif hour12 = 12 Then
hourfinal = "Twelve"
Elseif hour12 = 0 Then
hourfinal = "Twelve"
Elseif hour12 > 0 and hour12 < 10 Then
hourfinal = hour12
End If

min_now=minute(time)

if min_now = 0 Then
ohno = " "
min_now = " "
Elseif min_now > 0 and min_now < 10 Then
ohno = " oh "
Else min_now=minute(time)
End If

speaks = "It is " & hourfinal & ohno & min_now & ampm
Set speech=CreateObject("sapi.spvoice")
speech.Speak speaks
--
Mostly based on this script but modified by me to add minutes:
<https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/windows-speak-time-every-hour/>

[Arlen Holder]

As always, striving to add on-topic technical value with every post,
below is another template users may benefit from testing out.

It covers the four main conditions we spoke about prior:
. 11:59PM => Good evening; the current time is eleven fifty nine pm
. 12:00AM => Goood morning; the current time is 12 o'clock midnight
. 12:01AM => Goood morning; the current time is 12 oh one am
etc.

Set Sapi = Wscript.CreateObject("SAPI.SpVoice")
dim str
if hour(time) < 12 then
Sapi.speak "Good Morning TechLog" ' Add Your Own Greetings
Message.
else
if hour(time) > 12 then
if hour(time) > 16 then
Sapi.speak "Good evening TechLog" ' Add Your Own Greetings Message.
else
Sapi.speak "Good afternoon TechLog" ' Add Your Own Greetings Message.
end if
end if
end if
Sapi.speak "The current time is" ' Add Your Own Time Greetings
Message.
if hour(time) > 12 then
Sapi.speak hour(time)-12
else
if hour(time) = 0 then
Sapi.speak "12"
else
Sapi.speak hour(time)
end if
end if
if minute(time) < 10 then
Sapi.speak "o"
if minute(time) < 1 then
Sapi.speak "clock"
else
Sapi.speak minute(time)
end if
else
Sapi.speak minute(time)
end if
if hour(time) > 12 then
Sapi.speak "P.M."
else
if hour(time) = 0 then
if minute(time) = 0 then
Sapi.speak "Midnight"
else
Sapi.speak "A.M."
end if
else
if hour(time) = 12 then
if minute(time) = 0 then
Sapi.speak "Noon"
else
Sapi.speak "P.M."
end if
else
Sapi.speak "A.M."
end if
end if
end if
--
Source:
<https://techlog360.com/how-to-make-your-computer-greet-you-and-tell-you-the-time-on-startup/>

[Arlen Holder]

On Fri, 12 Jun 2020 08:09:56 -0400, Mayayana wrote:

> I think that demonstrates 2 common misunderstandings.

Here are simple C# & Visual Basic "hello world" coding tutorials:
- Coding4Fun: *Giving Computers a Voice*
<https://channel9.msdn.com/coding4fun/articles/Giving-Computers-a-Voice>
(1) Create an Interop.SpeechLib.dll using Visual Studio
(2) Reference the interop namespace in C# or in VB
*In C#*:
using SpeechLib;
*In Visual Basic*:
Imports SpeechLib
(3) call Speak() in C# or in VB
*In C#*:
SpVoice voice = new SpVoice();
voice.Speak("Hello World!", SpeechVoiceSpeakFlags.SVSFDefault);
*In Visual Basic*:
voice = New SpVoice
voice.Speak("Hello World!", SpeechVoiceSpeakFlags.SVSFDefault)

For example, below are C# and VB.NET "hello world" samples to test out:
- <https://sec.ch9.ms/ecn/c4fcontent/migration/909044/TTSHelloWorld-CSharp.msi>
- <https://sec.ch9.ms/ecn/c4fcontent/migration/909044/TTSHelloWorld-Visual_20Basic.msi>
--
Every Usenet post should strive to add on-topic value for all to benefit.

[Flasherly]

On Sat, 13 Jun 2020 00:54:23 GMT, Robin Goodfellow
<Ancient...@Heaven.Net> wrote:

>Was simply pointing out that all phones are not the same, at least at the time of this writing, and there is
>hope that this monopolistic control over the digital revolution might bring help in knowing thate there are
>many who desire a free and open forum

Ubuntu Touch qualifications by dint a firm/hardware platform indeed
would sound alternatively interesting. A name in itself and not just
another toss into a barrel for attempting to load indistinguishable OS
rootkits, hacks, mods, and patches, by in large though certainly
convenient to a base industry for UNIX derivations already given by
opcodes and a class of processors they're running. Of course I
wouldn't think either they're least all about being the same;- were I
not able "shoehorn" in Touch over Bezo's Fire, say after gaining an
incentive from Ubuntu features to do so, as I was saying earlier the
cost isn't exactly a prohibitive factor to second-checking a
competitive platform conductive to Ubuntu. (Is there really any other
choice left to computers, overall, in this day and age of Windows 10?)

Then there's software to consider. Writing programs for an *NIX Intel
instruction set platforms, they have to be ported to a handheld
processors, to split as it were further from typical *NIX-based
software repositories. A further outreach at distinction for
existing, as it is, handheld software APKs (application packages) not
on traditional freeware distribution sites but rather from different
venues, ( e.g. https://apkpure.com/region-free-apk-download ),
perhaps, once again, by direct instances listed as well on Microsoft,
Google, or wherever in fact it is they're then likely being charged by
"storefronts", additionally at some nominal service in and if over
affairs of sundry licensing agreements.

Of course, a handheld is a debilitation for all but specialties, where
they might yet shine according to individual needs. In "reading", a
cursory perusal of material, for instance, in itself the actual
formatting, or a search capacity subsequent to a substantive
associative of material is wholly too painful to compare by any sense
for Intel instruction sets, properly among computation devices, in all
but for vain attempts at a poor joke.

But there's certainly other things no doubt niftily to do, besides
reading, upon pulling a handheld device from one's shirt pocket, for
which Ubuntu Touch at least ought hold some promising potential.
(Hopefully at more than a token residual of four-cores, at 1.2MHz, in
a RISC array at present would signify, at least on Mr. Bezo's American
computational 8"-handheld, premier contraption.)

[R.Wieser]

Mayayana,

> It's under 4 MB. I could email it if you want
> to get in touch.

That, or any other way.

> Note that my email autodeletes
> webmail like gmail and hotmail.

:-) Your email addy is, just as mine, invalid. How do we do this ?

Regards,
Rudy Wieser

[Paul]

https://send.firefox.com/

https://techcrunch.com/2019/03/12/mozilla-launches-its-free-encrypted-file-sharing-service-firefox-send/

"When Mozilla first began testing the web-based Send tool,
file shares were limited to 1 GB. Today, that remains the
limitation until users sign up for a free Firefox account.
They can then opt to share files up to 2.5 GB."

"To use the service, the sender visits the Send website,
uploads the files and sets an expiration period - a design
choice seemingly inspired by Snapchat and its concepts
around ephemerality.

You can opt to have the files protected with a password
before sending."

"Firefox Send then offers a link you can give to the
recipient however you see fit, which they simply click
to start the download. They will not need a Firefox account
of their own to access the files, Mozilla notes."

Since the files are public quantities, shouldn't be a
problem "Sending" them.

Those files might also be on archive.org . Having exact filenames
for the items would be a start.

*******

I'm getting hits on "Sam.spd", "Mary.spd", "Mike.spd" from SDK5.1.

SpeechSDK51.exe 71,275,856 bytes

And they didn't dump the webpage!

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=10121

That must be where I got that folder of stuff.

*******

C:\Windows\inf\sapi5.inf gives some idea how sam.spd gets installed

*******

Maybe aiming for Microsoft Anna would be better ? I just tested
the VBS clock reading file, and Anna is less legible than Sam
at the current time.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_text-to-speech_voices

There simply might not be a "win" available, with these voices.

Paul

[JJ]

On Fri, 12 Jun 2020 13:14:51 -0000 (UTC), Arlen Holder wrote:
> On Fri, 12 Jun 2020 18:19:04 +0700, JJ wrote:
>
>> On Thu, 11 Jun 2020 16:50:36 -0000 (UTC), Arlen Holder wrote:
>>> First off, I've _never_ run a VBS script before (as I didn't even know they
>>> would work on Windows 10 without installing "something else"... nor have I
>>> (knowingly) installed what is referred to in that thread as a "Windows
>>> gadget"...
>>
>> Is Windows 10 your first Windows OS?
>
> Hi JJ,
>
> My post was initiated with "purposefully helpful" intentions.
> o Consider my intent - and then think - think hard please - about yours.

If that is your first Windows OS, then I would have to explain some basics
of Windows. Otherwise I won't. Frankly, I don't know why you thought
negatively first toward others.

[Mayayana]

"R.Wieser" <add...@not.available> wrote

|
| :-) Your email addy is, just as mine, invalid. How do we do this ?
|

Sorry. I thought you knew my website. I would
have just posted it there, but it was made by a private
company, so I don't feel like I have permission to
do public distribution.

But Paul's link from yesterday is the same thing:

http://www.zero2000.com/free-text-to-speech-natural-voices.html

The Mike and Mary package is the same that I have.
According to the MSI info it was made by the people
at Zero2000.

The Michael and Michelle package is a 3rd-party thing
that it might be possible to adapt but I unpacked the
installer/settings and it's very different.

[Arlen Holder]

On Sat, 13 Jun 2020 17:31:13 +0700, JJ wrote:

>> My post was initiated with "purposefully helpful" intentions.
>> o Consider my intent - and then think - think hard please - about yours.
>
> If that is your first Windows OS, then I would have to explain some basics
> of Windows. Otherwise I won't. Frankly, I don't know why you thought
> negatively first toward others.

Hi JJ,

Usenet is best when each person strives to add value when they post.
o Value that is archived in the permanent record for reuse by many.

I hope you understand that I feel you are capable of adding value.
o All I ask of you is that the next time you post, keep that in mind.

You'll note that _multiple_ people in this thread added value.
o Just not you.

For example, multiple VBS scripts were posted (each improving upon the
prior); new voices were unearthed; existing voices were unlocked
(particularly from Cortana); and definitions were clarified.

People like you, who clearly posted with zero purposeful intentions, _can_
redeem yourselves simply by posting with purposefully helpful intent.

It's not hard to post with purposeful intent, JJ...
o People like Rudy can't seem to rise to that level - but you can, JJ.

I'm sure you can.

Let's move forward given this is Usenet, JJ, where bygones are bygones.
o I don't expect people like Rudy to ever post with helpful intent.

*But I do expect you, JJ, to be able to post with helpful intent*.
o Where I expect your next post, JJ, to purposefully add on-topic value.

For example, like I did over here:
<https://groups.google.com/d/msg/alt.comp.freeware/Nv8cJ229qeI/NxjGgcceAwAJ>
o Where I added this section so that the script speaks the minutes better:

min_now=minute(time)

if min_now = 0 Then
ohno = " "
min_now = " "
Elseif min_now > 0 and min_now < 10 Then
ohno = " oh "
Else min_now=minute(time)
End If

speaks = "It is " & hourfinal & ohno & min_now & ampm
Set speech=CreateObject("sapi.spvoice")
speech.Speak speaks
--

That one snippet is more value than you added in this entire thread, JJ;
but I'm confident, JJ, that your next post _can_ add helpful value.

[R.Wieser]

Mayayana,

> But Paul's link from yesterday is the same thing:
>
> http://www.zero2000.com/free-text-to-speech-natural-voices.html

Alas, that is one of the sources I downloaded from all that time ago. I
tested a bunch of them (on a seperate machine), including installing that
"SAPI 5.1 TTS Engine". The improvement in quality was negligible to my
ears (still had to regulary guess to what was being said), so I never
installed any of it on my working machine.

Damn. I was really hoping that there would be a few legible voices out
there. :-\

Regards,
Rudy Wieser

[Arlen Holder]

UPDATE:
(a) Comments added
(b) Minutes redundancy fixed
(c) Reference URLs added

The main enhancements left are to add "noon" & "midnight" indicators.
o As always, please improve so that all benefit from your every action.

===== Begin cut for "saytime.vbs" =====
' Date: 20200613
' Name: c:\app\os\bin\vbs\saytime.vbs (8+3 conventions)
' Source (1) <https://www.nextofwindows.com/windows-trick-how-to-make-your-computer-to-speak-out-time-at-every-hour>
' Source (2): <https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/windows-speak-time-every-hour/>
' Source (3): <https://groups.google.com/d/msg/alt.comp.freeware/Nv8cJ229qeI/NxjGgcceAwAJ>
' Thread: <https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/alt.comp.freeware/Nv8cJ229qeI>
' Enhancement (1) 'Oh clock' indication (i.e., at zero minutes)
' Enhancement (2) 'Oh' indication (i.e., from one to nine minutes)
' Enhancement (3) 'Oh No' indication (i.e., from ten to fifty-nine minutes)
' Bugfix (1) Removed extraneous "min_now=minute(time)" call in the "Minutes" section
' WIP: Add "noon" & "midnight" as per <https://groups.google.com/d/msg/alt.comp.freeware/Nv8cJ229qeI/yeWvlpQfAwAJ>
' Free Voices: <http://www.zero2000.com/free-text-to-speech-natural-voices.html>
' Unlock System Voices: <https://winaero.com/blog/unlock-extra-voices-windows-10/>
' Unlock Cortana Voices: <https://www.ghacks.net/2018/08/11/unlock-all-windows-10-tts-voices-system-wide-to-get-more-of-them/>
Dim speaks, speech
hour_now=hour(time)
' Determine Meridiem <https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/alt.usage.english/eKeHcjtKuiI>

if hour_now > 12 or hour_now = 12 Then
hour12 = hour_now - 12
ampm = "PM"
Else
hour12 = hour_now
hourfinal = hour_now
ampm = "AM"
End If

' Determine Evening/Morning

If hour12 = 10 Then
hourfinal = "Ten"
Elseif hour12 = 11 Then
hourfinal = "Eleven"
Elseif hour12 = 12 Then
hourfinal = "Twelve"
Elseif hour12 = 0 Then
hourfinal = "Twelve"
Elseif hour12 > 0 and hour12 < 10 Then
hourfinal = hour12
End If

' Determine minutes

min_now=minute(time)
'
if min_now = 0 Then
ohno = " "
min_now = " "
Elseif min_now > 0 and min_now < 10 Then
ohno = " oh "

End If
' Saytime:
' Tested (1) 11:59PM => "It is eleven fifty nine pm"
' Tested (2) 12:00AM => "It is 12 am"
' Tested (3) 12:01AM => "It is 12 oh one am"

speaks = "It is " & hourfinal & ohno & min_now & ampm
Set speech=CreateObject("sapi.spvoice")
speech.Speak speaks

' EOF
===== End cut for "saytime.vbs" =====
--
Those who post purposefully helpfully are who make Usenet useful.

[R.Wieser]

Paul,

> https://send.firefox.com/

Thanks for the suggestion, but JS is an absolute no-no on my own machine.

Should I now continue with a rant about how JS is destroying a perfectly
good idea that could easily be implemented without JS ?

Nah. Just imagine I did. :-)

Regards,
Rudy Wieser

[Arlen Holder]

On Sat, 13 Jun 2020 14:26:21 -0000 (UTC), Arlen Holder wrote:

> o Where I added this section so that the script speaks the minutes better:

Correction!

Responding to JJ made me _look_ at that "minutes" section, where I
instantly realized there was a bug of redundancy in the code posted prior:
<https://groups.google.com/d/msg/alt.msdos.batch/Mpke6vAc48Y/OZPfr3S-AAAJ>

DO NOT USE THAT CODE!

After responding to JJ, I _corrected_ that bug, where I thank JJ for
allowing me the chance to take a second (fresh) look at the code I had
posted last night.

I instantly saw that I had made two calls, one of them extraneous, to:
o min_now=minute(time)

Since Usenet serves as a wonderfully permanent web-searchable archive of
purposefully helpful general purpose solutions which everyone can instantly
make use of, here's that update kindly inspired by responding to JJ's post:
<https://groups.google.com/d/msg/alt.msdos.batch/Mpke6vAc48Y/ZeJwEqHfAAAJ>

As always, please improve so that everyone benefits from your every post.
--
Usenet works best when helpful adults share ideas politely with each other.

[R.Wieser]

"Arlen Holder" <arlen...@newmachine.com> wrote in message

news:rc2qtn$gvh$1...@news.mixmin.net...

> UPDATE:
> (a) Comments added
> (b) Minutes redundancy fixed

I'm quite sure you can do /way/ better.

You're using way more variables than needed. At some point you've got
/three/ variables all holding the exact same value - with only one actually
used.

There are two more redundancies in there.

But, you're smart enough, you can figure it out for yourself.

And funny: an "Determine Evening/Morning" comment, with code that doesn't
anything of the kind, nor is most, if not all of it needed. Thats the the
fourth redundancy.

You should really put some more work in testing your stuff you know. For
this code its not /that/ hard.

> Those who post purposefully helpfully are who make Usenet useful.

Well, you got it. A clear warning that "your" code sucks, with a few solid
hints to where to look. Go git!

Regards
Rudy Wieser

[Mayayana]

"R.Wieser" <add...@not.available> wrote

| Damn. I was really hoping that there would be a few legible voices out
| there. :-\
|

I find them all very clear. I wonder if it could be
your audio driver or speakers. Or maybe the language?
They might not have put so much effort into non-
English speech.

[Paul]

Some of the phrases have no time-separation between
them, which reduces the legibility. It's especially
annoying on some "number readouts". It's almost like
the speech model is defective, rather than the voice
being the only cause.

It's possible if you were using a separate screen reader
with its own engine, the result could be different. Rather
than if it used SAPI from the system as the engine.

Paul

[R.Wieser]

Mayayana,

> I find them all very clear. I wonder if it could be
> your audio driver or speakers. Or maybe the language?

Most likely a combination of my wetware DSP (I've got a bad noise
suppressor), combined with English not being my first langage, combined with
needing to switch attention when sentences are suddenly spoken.

Regards,
Rudy Wieser

[Arlen Holder]

On Sat, 13 Jun 2020 14:32:47 -0400, Paul wrote:

> Some of the phrases have no time-separation between them

I solved that problem the same way I saw that others did, which was to
insert pauses (i.e., "<space><space") in the speech output as shown here:
<https://groups.google.com/d/msg/alt.comp.freeware/Nv8cJ229qeI/chzO8fM_AwAJ>
--
Usenet is best when adults post purposefully helpful suggestions.

[Robin Goodfellow]

Flasherly <Flas...@live.com> wrote in
news:8qo8efdjdnvspeb5c...@4ax.com:

Happy to hear that we are on the same side, I was just thinking of all the Nibulunging coders, and those that
sense our dialoug and thinking am i part of this digital revolution, am I part of this world, when I can meditate
how do I see myself, stay well

[Flasherly]

On Sat, 13 Jun 2020 23:41:17 +0000 (UTC), Robin Goodfellow
<Ancient...@Heaven.Net> wrote:

>
>Happy to hear that we are on the same side, I was just thinking of all the Nibulunging coders, and those that
>sense our dialoug and thinking am i part of this digital revolution, am I part of this world, when I can meditate
>how do I see myself, stay well

That all can be a lot longer, I find, by just keep them charged.
Anything with a LithiumIon leave on to keep changed. A tablet now
with a year of consistent usage gives me 3 or 4 hours to reach a
remaining residual at 70% charge, which at no less allowance then is
cabled on a tiny 115V to USB wall-converter for return to full charge.
10, 20 years on some devices, (toothbrushes to phones to GPS units),
even a radio-controlled Casio wristwatch, a LithiumIon charged by a
solar cell mounted in the faceplate, that's running after approaching
30-years charge cycles on the original battery..

[Robin Goodfellow]

Flasherly <Flas...@live.com> wrote in
news:5ppaefphcjv1jeo7k...@4ax.com:

You bring up a good question, if electricity is required a good battery is a useful thing, and how would this
world work without electrcity and how would I access your response in the wilderness