Hi Shaun. You do know that you can sign up for a free 60-day trial .Mac account, don't you? You could use that for iChat. I'm not sure whether the ability to use iChat even expires after the 60 days, since your user name is probably still active. Of course, if you send mail to your .Mac account you won't be able to read it without subscribing after the 60 day period.
If you're interested, just go to: http://www.apple.com/dotmac/ and use the links chooser menu (VO-keys+U) to navigate to the "Free Trial" button. VO-keys+space bar will take you to the signup page. I got a dot Mac account through a promotional offer at my Apple Store, and not through the web page, but it should be doable if you're interested. Cheers, Esther On Dec 06, 2007, at 05:11PM, VaShaun Jones wrote: >I will have to get a AIM account. Give me a minute to figure out the >security mechanism that AOL has when this type of account is set up. >On Dec 6, 2007, at 10:02 PM, Jane Jordan wrote: > >> Yes, since I don't have a Google account set up, nor have I gotten >> MSN working right yet. >> >> Jane >> >> >> On Dec 6, 2007, at 8:30 PM, VaShaun Jones wrote: >> >>> So do I have to be on AIM to do screen sharing with you? >>> On Dec 6, 2007, at 6:27 PM, Jane Jordan wrote: >>> >>>> It's an AOL account--taken from when I was in college and >>>> attending ROTC classes. :) >>>> >>>> Jane >>>> >>>> >>>> On Dec 6, 2007, at 6:07 PM, VaShaun Jones wrote: >>>> >>>>> I like that screen name lets set it up. I have MSN and g-mail. >>>>> Will either of these work or do I need a dot Mac account? >>>>> On Dec 6, 2007, at 10:03 AM, Jane Jordan wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> Forthat matter, the three of us could get together and chat. >>>>>> >>>>>> My screenname is BlindCadet. >>>>>> >>>>>> Jane >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> On Dec 6, 2007, at 12:40 AM, Darcy Burnard wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>>> Hi Shaun. Are you on ichat? I was thinking that automator is >>>>>>> one of those things that would be easier to show rather than >>>>>>> explain. So if we could do the ichat screen sharing thing some >>>>>>> time, that might be easier. >>>>>>> Darcy >>>>>>> >>>>>>> On 5-Dec-07, at 10:35 PM, VaShaun Jones wrote: >>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Either Jane or Darcey, can I contact either of you for a >>>>>>>> understanding of Automator? >>>>>>>> On Dec 5, 2007, at 10:16 PM, Jane Jordan wrote: >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> Hello Darcy. >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> I don't know of a range of values. I e-mailed the >>>>>>>>> accessibility folks and they sent me a link to a really >>>>>>>>> complicated reference on controling speech output with >>>>>>>>> commands embedded in text. As an example, they gave me the >>>>>>>>> rate control, but there's lots more that I haven't even begun >>>>>>>>> to play with. >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> What I am *really* curious about doing now is, say, editing a >>>>>>>>> file to have certain characters read with certain voices, for >>>>>>>>> example, and have a narrator voice. But that will be a while >>>>>>>>> coming. I may just have to write a test file and see how it >>>>>>>>> works. >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> I may be able top play more tomorrow--the doctor has told me >>>>>>>>> she would prefer it if I stayed home to try and get better >>>>>>>>> from this cold--so I will see if I can come up with more. >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> But yes, to get back to the original question. All I did >>>>>>>>> was put left-bracket left-bracket rate 300 right-bracket >>>>>>>>> right-bracket at the very top of the document, left it open >>>>>>>>> in Textedit, and ran the application. I am trying to figure >>>>>>>>> out how to get text from email, hav e it delete certain text, >>>>>>>>> and then run it, but I don't know if that is possible. >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> To the other person who wanted to ask questions, I can *try* >>>>>>>>> and help, but I think actually Darcy is a little more >>>>>>>>> experienced than me; he was the one that explained the very >>>>>>>>> basics--he deos more with it thatn I am doing at the moment-- >>>>>>>>> though I am working on changing that, at least as far as >>>>>>>>> creating books goes. Which makes me wonder---if I put >>>>>>>>> embedded commands into a text file, and ran it through >>>>>>>>> books2burn, i wonder how well that owuld work? I *think* it >>>>>>>>> would work well. I am doing the Say one for now, because it >>>>>>>>> simply seems to be faster. My one gripe with my automator >>>>>>>>> action er application so far is that it automatically names >>>>>>>>> the file audio text.aiff, and places it on the desktop, and >>>>>>>>> what I want to do is to have it have the same name as thbe >>>>>>>>> original file, except for audio at the end. Ideally, I >>>>>>>>> woul.d have it convert to mp3, but I don't know if that can >>>>>>>>> be done without me playing it in iTunes. Can it? >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> I apologize--the toddler is sleeping, and I am just sitting >>>>>>>>> down to think and so all this came up. >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> Jane >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> On Dec 5, 2007, at 9:27 PM, Darcy Burnard wrote: >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> Hi Jane. This is cool. So then do you just place the rate >>>>>>>>>> command in the text itself? Also, you used rate 300 in your >>>>>>>>>> example. What is the range of values you can put in there? >>>>>>>>>> Darcy >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> On 5-Dec-07, at 6:15 PM, Jane Jordan wrote: >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>> OK, so I could have done this in Terminal, I guess, but >>>>>>>>>>> Terminal was proving to be difficult to get to work right. >>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>> I did an automator work flow that takes text from TextEdit >>>>>>>>>>> and converts it into an audio file. >>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>> If you put left-bracket left-bracket rate 300 right-bracket >>>>>>>>>>> right-bracket >>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>> you will get Say to read the file at that speed. I spelled >>>>>>>>>>> out the symbols, otherwise Voic eOver would interpret them >>>>>>>>>>> as a command and you'd suddenly start having very fast >>>>>>>>>>> speech! Or slow, depending on how you like your Mac to >>>>>>>>>>> talk to you. >>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>> Anyhow, now I am experimenting with ways tomake it even >>>>>>>>>>> more interesting,. It seems that saving a Workflow as an >>>>>>>>>>> Application is the best way to go. >>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>> Jane >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>> >>> >> >> >> > > > >
