Re: "Mutineer's Moon (Dahak Series)" by David Weber

Titus G <[email protected]> wrote:
> On 29/03/24 18:19, Ted Nolan <tednolan> wrote:
>> In article <[email protected]>, Titus G  <[email protected]> wrote:
>>> On 26/03/24 08:59, Cryptoengineer wrote:
>>>> On 3/25/2024 12:11 PM, Ted Nolan <tednolan> wrote:
>>> snip
>>>>> 
>>>>> I've lost one jailbroken 2011 Kindle Keyboard to some sort of
>>>>> hardware issue, but the other is still going strong.  It is amusing
>>>>> how slow search gets when you have 1240 books loaded.  Definitely
>>>>> don't want to "trade up" to one without the read-out-loud feature and
>>>>> a headphone jack.
>>>> 
>>>>  I use the kindle app on ipad and an android phone, and haven't
>>>> noticed any ads beyond 'you might like this book'.
>>>> 
>>>> ...but I don't get the text-to-voice, and I'd love to have it.
>>>> 
>>> 
>>> My first Kindle was bought in 2011 but my books are all stored in
>>> Calibre so I never would have had more than a hundred on it so never
>>> noticed speed of response to anything but the touch screen on later
>>> models is far superior for ease of use. I use the Amazon provided Kindle
>>> for PC and do not register the Kindle so do not receive any ads.
>>> I suspect you would be very disappointed with the quality of text to
>>> voice on this 2011 Kindle as the computer just produces words in a
>>> computer voice with no change in emotion, speed or volumne.
>>> 
>> 
>> Yeah, I have all my ebooks in Calibre as well, the 1240 also on the
>> Kindle are just the ones I haven't read yet.
>> 
>> I posted an example of the text-to-voice here a few weeks ago, let me
>> dig it up agian:
>> 
>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0nxRIQz0kc
> 
> Thanks, but I thought that that was terrible and I couldn't understand
> much without reading at the same time.
> 
>> 
>> There are a few settings you can tweak.  As I recall I picked a female
>> voice and either sped it up a little or slowed it down a little the
>> default was off one way or the other.
>> 
>> It takes a little getting used to, but I find it quite comprehensible.
>> 
>> There are occasional comic aspects.  For instance, Lindsay Buroker has
>> a writing tic where her characters say "Hmm." as a thinking pause.
>> The Kindle pronounces this as "hectameters".  Since the first place
>> I encountered it was a semi-steampunk setting where "hectameters" was
>> a plausible mild swear, it took me a while to figure out what was going
>> on.
>> 
>> I get the feeling from reading Amazon reviews that lots of people expect
>> audiobooks to be something close to radio dramas.  I don't get that at
>> all.  A narrator should not try to act the book.
> 
> My complaint is with the Kindle as narrator. I have never listened to an
> audio book. I am sure my eyes, not knowing what to do, would close
> inducing sleep.
> 
> 

One I use on my Android phone (Moon+ reader) has a text to voice feature.
It has a little inflection, rising at the end of questions, an momentary
pauses
at the end of sentences. However, it makes errors, particularly with names
and
acronyms. At one point, it enchanterd a text referring to a woman's 'DD'
assets, which it pronounced 'Doctor of Divinity'.

BTW, I'm posting this using 'NewsTal', the only iPad capable newsreader on
the Apple Store. It has some truly brain dead design decisions, but sort of

works. Does it look ok?

Pt