Blodget’s Blog

You can embed a nice audio widget from Box.net. Store your audio files (mp3) on box.net (they allow up to 1 Gb) in a folder. They give you the embed code that you can use in your blog or web page. Here’s a sample.

Update: I embedded this code using the embedit WordPress plug-in. Get it here.

Listen to this post

I stumbled upon directions for converting text to speech. The solution for Mac uses an Automator script.

SETUP – MAC
1. Make sure the document you want to use is converted to plain text and that your document is saved with the .txt extension.
1. Open Automator.
2. Add an action by searching for and dragging “Get Contents of
TextEdit Document” from the menu on the left to the blank box on the
right.
3. Add action: “Text To Audio File” and complete the fields: System Voice, Save As, and Where.
4. Add action: “Rename Finder Items (Make Finder Item Names
Sequential)”. In the first drop down box, select “Make Sequential”.
Select “Add number to existing name”. Place number “after name”, and
separated by “dash”
5. Add action: “Import Audio File”. Select “MP3 Encoder” and check the “Delete source files after encoding.”
6. Save the Automator workflow as “Text to Speech”. Go to File – Save as plug-in, and select Script Menu to save.

Now you are finished with Automator and only have a few more steps to complete. Continuing with the process:

7. Open the document in TextEdit.
8. If needed, make any modifications to the text at this time.
9. Select the Scripts menu located in your menu bar. It looks like a
scroll or curly “S” and choose the “Text to Speech” workflow.

You will see the status of the conversion at work in your menu bar.
When it’s complete, an audio file will automatically be added to your
library in iTunes.

I was surprised by how quickly the conversion was done. It took only about 30 seconds to convert a book length text to an hour and 20 minute mp3 file. The previous way I did it required recording the file in real time using TextEdit and Audio Hijack.

Here’s the book length sample mp3 file. (18Mb)
It’s taken from “A Conjurer’s Confessions by M. Robert-Houdin

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Listen to this post

Crows usually don’t hang out at our house. This morning when I got up I could hear a mob at the top of our fir trees having an arguement. I threw on a hat and coat and stepped out on our back porch with my mp3 recorder and a stereo lapel mic clipped to the front of my jacket. I made a beautiful 10 minute recording standing in the 30 degree F fresh air, but when I got back inside, I discovered that I had plugged the mic into the headphone jack. Dang. By the time I got back outside, most of the group had departed. So what you hear is a much smaller group. This recording was made at 7:30 am on Sunday, December 3, 2006.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Listen to this post

Odeo.com supplies a very nice Flash player for podcasts. I linked to all my Zipboingwow podcast recordings and created a podcast on Odeo. This is the player they provide for embedding in your blog or website. I was an early adopter of podcasting. These were done two years ago in 2004.

I like the way the player displays pictures for each recording and that when you click the picture it takes you to that recording’s page. Here’s a link to the podcast on Odeo.com and here’s a link to my original podcast page on Zipboingwow.com.

Listen to this post

You can embed a nice mp3 player using Google’s on your own page. Just use the iframe tag and add your own URL to the mp3 file.

Here’s the code:

<iframe id="musicPlayer" style="border: 1px solid #aaaaaa; width: 350px; height: 25px"
src="http://mail.google.com/mail/html/audio.swf?audioUrl=
http://www.yourwebsite/yourmp3file.mp3"></iframe>

Listen to this post

This is my standard crickets recording used for testing purposes. I made the recording last summer in my backyard.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Listen to this post

I just installed an audio player plug-in. Let’s see if I can add an audio player to the end of this post.

[[code]]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[[/code]]

Listen to this post