Xarex

In Windows, I used to use a program that would read text to me, but I'd usually have to copy all the text into a window and then hit a button that would make it speak to me. Once I got a Mac OS, I wondered where I could find this feature. Although I love reading, my eyes are just not able to focus on text for too long, so I was looking for some kind of program to read to me - that is, have it read Ebooks (pdf) to me. So I have the computer read to me. Might be a little lazy, but it sure does the job!So one of my favorite features of the Mac, which I thought I'd share if anyone is interested, is the Speech feature.On the very top left of your screen is the Apple Icon. Click.Scroll down to System Preferences... and click that. The preferences window will open. Find and click on the Microphone icon which says Speech.It should automatically open to the Text to Speech.In here, you can change the voice to whichever you prefer. I use Alex. Hit Play to hear the voices.You can also change the speed. The normal speed is very slow so I speed it up to a little less than half the time between Normal and Fast.Select the Speak selected text when the key is pressed and hit Set Key...I have mine set to Option (Alt) + S since there aren't the Mac OS doesn't assigned any shortcuts to use that particular key pattern.After this, you are done. Ensure that your volume is turned up.Go to any file or document and hit the Option (Alt) + S key and you should hear sound coming from your audio.The speech should start playing automatically.And all you have to do is listen. At this current time, I believe the only voice it speaks in and the only text it will recognize is English.Very useful feature that I use often. I'm sure some of you Mac users have discovered this, but for those of you that don't know, I hope this helps!*By the way, it tends to impress and fascinate people when I tell them (or when they hear it), "No need to read, I'll have the computer read it." And then I have the computer start reading, most people are either in awe, or just grunt about how they could never put up with that "annoying voice." I really don't find it annoying and though it can be monotone without enthusiasm at times, it's just a computer reading text. It's doing exactly what it's demanded to do. Enjoy this amazing feature contained within the Mac OS!

Wow, very informative. Thank you for the information!

This is a very short informative tutorial on how to add a "Share This" button to your website to increase your chances of driving more traffic to your website. There are a large amount of popular social networking sites out there. While anyone can go to your site and return on several occasions, there is no guarantee that they will be sharing the link with their friends. There is no question that you should not add such a feature to your website. Your website is not going to get popular simply by your word of mouth or your sharing of links. You will need to rely on your visitors to do it for you. I doubt that hardly ever does a visitor copy the link to your website from the address bar and think to share it on their popular social networking site for all their friends to see. However, if they had a button present that they could click and share, they are more likely to click it since it is easily accessible. Therefore, it is a very smart idea to put a "Share This" button on your website. A visitor can click a button to their favorite social networking site and share your site with Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, among dozens of other popular websites. Go to http://www.addthis.com/ and sign up. It's FREE. The good thing about this site is all the data they provide on the sharing of your links and of social networks in general. Afterwards, you will select which type of buttons you want to show. Once you've selected your choice of buttons, click Get AddThis. And copy the code you are given. You will be given a code like this: <!-- AddThis Button BEGIN --><div class="addthis_toolbox addthis_default_style "><a class="addthis_button_preferred_1"></a><a class="addthis_button_preferred_2"></a><a class="addthis_button_preferred_3"></a><a class="addthis_button_preferred_4"></a><a class="addthis_button_compact"></a><a class="addthis_counter addthis_bubble_style"></a></div><script type="text/javascript">var addthis_config = {"data_track_clickback":true};</script><script type="text/javascript" src="http://s7.addthis.com/js/250/addthis_widget.js#pubid=..."></script><!-- AddThis Button END --> Add the code you copied to all of your webpages and it will share the current page being viewed. Add the code you copied to your website and you will at least guarantee your visitors a button to share your website! It is far easier to get your website out through the word of mouth of others! Give your visitors the option to do this and increase your site traffic!

I was watching "The Human Footprint" on Discovery, I tried to record as much information as possible. This is what we consume, as human beings, in our entire lifetime, as individuals. Hence: The human footprint.

Google Voice is now open-signup. As long as you link it to a working phone (which doesn't have to continue working), and choose a number that is not your primary service number, you can text to anyone for free. https://www.google.com%2Fvoice&followup=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Fvoice&ltmpl=open

I've had Gmail since 2005. It is worth everything. It is one of the best email systems to happen to the Internet! The fact that I can search something from 6 years ago is amazing! I archive the majority of my email and after 6 years, I'm at around 40% full. When you eventually do run out of space, than you could easily create another email and just have everything forwarded to it so you won't have to actually change your original email which is probably linked to so much.Love or hate Google, trust it or not, its surely worth it to have a Gmail account -- most companies will probably unofficially respect you more for having a Gmail account. It outdoes Yahoo and Hotmail. And it comes equipped with an amazing spam filter. I'd say I get around 3 or 4 spam emails a year. Not bad considering my Yahoo email gets hundreds. GET GMAIL. No longer on an invite system and everyone is free to sign up!

Some more advice for writing tutorials: A professor of mine had advised me during a presentation I was giving: "A child should understand what you are saying."In other words, simple basic English getting your point across that everyone can understand.Writing things down in easy-to-follow steps is good practice.And ensure that you don't skip something in your steps.If you are in doubt about something that someone might understand, then assume that the person will not understand what you are trying to say.If you think someone might be confused about a particular step or there might be additional details present that could confuse the person, than make sure you explain everything -- what a person should expect to see, what to do, etc.Use correct punctuation and attempt to write professionally! And especially, check your spelling. Most browsers are equipped with spellcheckers and your text will be highlighted if you spell something wrong. If you are in doubt, copy and paste it into some kind of Word or spell checker. And it's also good practice to read your tutorial over after you've finished it -- to check for mistakes and to ensure that it is fully comprehensible.

This tutorial is designed for those using Mac computers and wish to download flash or YouTube videos using Safari. This may work for Windows users too who are using Safari. This tutorial does not cover converting videos to mp3. It will only cover downloading a video from YouTube or any other source that contains a video file. The following example uses this link from YouTube: http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/ I will write this in steps. 1. Open Safari and insert the above link into the address bar and hit enter. 2. Once you have arrived at the page, make sure that the video has started playing. Click Window on the top Menu and choose Activity. Make sure that the YouTube video is loading or playing. In Activity, you will see a bunch of links, but if you look at their sizes, they are all usually listed in bytes or KB (kilobytes). While some videos can also be listed as a KB, most are the size of MB (megabytes). To help you find the link, the video will probably still be downloading and the Activity window will show something like 2.1 MB of 9.8 MB which should help you find what you want to download. Often times, your video link will include the words videplayback or similar within the link itself. The link that you want to this particular video is: http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/ 3. Select this link in the Activity window and press the Command + C (copy) key on your keyboard (CTRL+C (copy) for Windows users). 4. Click on Window in the top menu once again and choose Downloads. 5. Ensure that the Downloads window has the focus and press the Command + V (paste) key on your keyboard (CTRL + V for Windows users). The video will start downloading to your default download folder. It will probably be named "videplayback.flv" Rename it to whatever you choose. Congratulations. You now have learned how to download videos from any website using Safari.

Someone will do the speed tests soon. I've become a Google Chrome fan because it's so fast -- Windows or Mac. But Firefox is still my second default. They supposedly put in a silent update system which will update Firefox. Wish they would add in a silent Firefox plugin update system -- nothing more annoying than opening up a new window, getting bombarded with new updates and prompted to download and install them. I want instant! Okay. Well, at least let me launch the browser and then update it next time or something! Eh just minor annoyances that have kept Firefox from being my default browser.

I love this service. I was invited to join Google Voice a few years ago but never took advantage of it until recently. I was going to be traveling overseas so I figured I'd just get a number so I could use the texting feature and make calls. Little did I know.. Google voice uses your phone to make calls. The texting feature, however, works great whether your phone is working or not.However, a hidden feature I discovered.. was in Gmail. It doesn't happen all the time, but occasionally, and being overseas, the "Call Phone" button is available.. and I can make a free call from where I'm located to the United States.I love this service. I'm hoping they keep it free. Awesome to have, awesome to keep in touch, and best of all -- UNLIMITED TEXT MESSAGES!Important to note: Don't sign up using your phone connected to your existing plan. There are more benefits to just creating a new number with Google Voice.

You don't have to do anything to link them. Just post and wait for the updates. I noticed that it can take anywhere from 2-4 hours. But when you receive an email, it will tell you that it is updated every 24 hours. Just keep making some good posts and your myCents will come.

Microsoft has been releasing free editions of Visual Basic, often known as Express Editions or Student / Educational Editions. For downloads, go here: http://ccm.net/download/ If this link errors, google search terms: Free Visual Basic, Free Visual Basic Download, Visual Basic Express Edition -- etc. If you want to start learning a language or start programming -- although I'd highly advice learning C++ just to begin with and dive into the hard stuff, this is a language -- my first learned programming language -- and I highly recommend it for Windows programming.

I love Ebay for finding cheap products that costs $$$ in stores. I bought an HDMI cable for about $6.. in stores.. about $40. I bought another Mac to HDMI adapter .. $30 something in stores, paid $4 on ebay. And just recently needed a Mac to Projector piece.. found it for $1 and $1 S&H. Not bad at all.So you have your good deals definitely. Sometimes bad deals. Ebay gives you an estimate on how much stuff costs and how much people are willing to pay.I've only dealt with one scammer whose shipping info and paypal info were unmatched. To make a long story short.. and Ebay/Paypal informing me that I was being scammed, yet somehow there was $1000 in my account... I just left the whole scene for almost a year. Forgot about whatever was in there -- they said they were working things out.. would retrieve the money and not to do anything. So I returned after not logging into my Paypal account for a year, to $500 in my Paypal account. I guess that was mine now.. and I deposited it into my bank account and used it to pay some tuition for college!Good times with Ebay .

Thanks for having such a concept of Hosting for Posting or Community Based Hosting.Anyone can have a website. It can be a subdomain of any primary hosting site, but it won't be taken seriously unless it's an actual .com domain name.So I was up and running on a free webhost, but I really don't want to go public with it. I have most of my site working but I don't want to start making it public without first getting the domain name.Unfortunately, in doing my research.. there are dozens of sites claiming to be "the best" -- and dozens more "Best Hosting Sites" -- which all are being paid money by these "best hosting sites" to be kept in the top 10. This is not real and it's likely that you are just getting ripped off.After searching, I am between GoDaddy.com, ByetHost.com, and Xisto.com -- and Xisto.com seems to be more community oriented and focused and looks like they care about their members -- or at least, they should! I sure am glad I found this site.. and I've yet to come any negative reviews. I'm here to stay. I'm just wondering what happened to everyone. I see active members, but I guess there aren't 50,000+ active members anymore. Hopefully there are still plenty around. Glad I joined the community.I do feel like this is the first official webhost that I am putting my trust in completely. I'm hoping it remains that way. Seems like you finally understand the concept: Invest in your clients and they will invest in you.

Spell check. Just wrote a tutorial and it got accepted! I was always told: "You should always write to the point that if a child were to read it, they would understand it." A professor in college said this to me in my Social Psychology Lab class when I was trying to explain a potential research experiment. I did my best. But realized afterwards, I didn't do well enough. And rethought about it.. and it's similar to something like Wikipedia's great idea for people who aren't great with English or speak another language -- Simple English Wikipedia -- https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page -- explained in very plain basic simple English language without any fancy language. Pretty smart move to help people learn and understand what they are reading in the English language.

I wish I had a profession. Hah. Fairly recent college graduate.. but chose to delay the start of my life and volunteer abroad in another country for .. almost a year. Crazy that I would do such a thing! But I did.. and still currently doing it. Getting lots of experience and education though. Teaching ESL among other things. So hopefully when I return to the US, I will be able to do some things. I'm actually hoping to return to school eventually. I would love to do something with Leadership Education -- like a Career Counselor or similar, but more than just a desk job and actual stepping in and running leadership development programs.But I always just consider myself a student. A student of life!

Google is YouTube! Or at least, owned by Google

Most of these sites you list have affiliate programs -- costs you nothing except some code and space on your site! So it's definitely a good thing that these sites are helping regular people be able to become money makers from their own websites.I've a Google affiliate and an Amazon affiliate. Attempting Ebay .. had trouble. But I'm glad there's no penalty for not having anyone click links or buy things. Very glad these companies aren't penalizing anyone for not making a certain amount of quota. A more "if they buy they buy, if not, there will be more who see it" attitude.

Pros of YouTube are the fact that it is making many more film makers and editors out of people. Anything can be a YouTube moment or a YouTube sensation that will attract millions of users and can make someone a bunch of money really quickly. It's probably also YouTube's annoying bit / con -- the fact that everyone is trying to do something or come up with someone that will "make them the next big thing."YouTube is not eliminating time limits, which is awesome. But YouTube is basically for people who own their own content.I personally love uploading clips from Family Guy to YouTube, but I can't do it because FOX owns it. So I hate the fact that I can't share what I think are the funniest moments with others -- even though in the long run, it'd be making FOX money because more people would probably buy Family Guy-related things.Such is YouTube and Google.But I guess it's also tapping into human creativity and connection in a way that could never have happened before -- and its connecting people all over the world -- and in minutes -- anyone can be doing anything that everyone wants to see - whether it be health, news, entertainment, culture, travel, etc. -related materials.I can't say I've ever hated YouTube.. not like I have my love/hate relationship with Facebook -- just kind of wish I had thought of such an idea like YouTube first! I remember what it was like before Google owned it. Now it's still just as good, if not better! And I can't imagine how many TB it caters too .. so many. I wonder how many hard drives YouTube is taking up in Google's warehouses.

I hate some of YouTube policies.. had several accounts banned without so much as being able to ask a question or demand a reconsideration. But YouTube is definitely not dying. It's always growing.. probably more towards personal blogs and different creative and interactive shows. I love the fact that YouTube has now removed their time limit and you can upload a video that is over 2 hours long!Just have to be smart about it.. I have a few accounts -- one where I upload possible videos that could go against TOS and an account that is completely personal videos. But besides that, YouTube draws millions of people per day and ads are on there a good amount of the time. A website that is making billions of dollars per year is not going anywhere anytime soon. Even if possible lawsuits are filed.. Google / YouTube are doing their best to make everyone happy.Can't say they are succeeding, but no one has ever been perfect! But without YouTube, my site wouldn't exist. So I depend on YouTube, in a way.

I started programming when I was 12 years old. I actually had no clue how to even do it or where to start. I discovered Visual Basic 3.0 and was amazed at the easy controls and access. But still, clueless. To make a long story short, I wanted to do it so bad, I dreamed about it one night, woke up, and just started. Don't know how, but from then on, every language I've come across seems to be the same basic logic. Maybe a different language, but all the same logic which makes languages pretty easy to learn.I stopped programming around the age of 18 or 19.. just gave it up completely. Probably just got tired of it or staring at a computer or whatever it may be. But I never stopped thinking about programming, how different applications worked, how things were designed, where the loop was occurring, or whatever. I attempted to learn Cocoa a while ago, but didn't get too much into it. Cocoa is Mac programming. I think it is closely related with C++ which is still a language I struggle to learn. And I just got busy with life, so I wasn't able to learn it.Recently, I just had an idea for a website and didn't want to go the old fashioned HTML and JavaScript which is all I knew, so a friend introduced me to PHP and MySQL and I've fallen in love and although I didn't take the time to learn every single aspect of the language -- just working with it through trial and error and through observation and looking at source codes from different websites, I'm able to understand it. So I'm happy to say I'm somewhat back into programming. I feel at home and at place again. It's not my full time job, but definitely a hobby. So I guess overall, minus the years I wasn't programming, I've been a programmer for about 5 years or so. Always learning something new.. and glad I'm getting into it again.

I was a Windows user. But was actually forced to switch to Mac and fell in love with Mac. But Mac provided something that I just never could seem to get or understand how to do with Windows: dual booting and Virtual Machine.I had dual booted Windows XP and Mac but also had been able to install Virtual Machine software, and discovered something free and filled with seemingly endless possibilities.. Linux. And the choices of the different Linux OS's are endless too.. so many. I decided to go with the most popular and what people were using.. simply because it was for beginners and also had a lot of support: Ubuntu 10. Installed it off a CD I burned it on to. Very small and took up very little space.And wow.. I must say, it was fast loading and very simple with lots and lots of utilities I would soon add. Although I'm probably a Mac User for life, I would definitely consider getting a very cheap Netbook and installing only Linux on there. So while I'm not quite converted yet.. Linux is not too far from my mind. Also allows me to feel like I'm a part of some cool crowd that has went beyond Microsoft Windows to something far more interesting. Glad I gave Linux a chance. Fast. Seems like it's virus free and wouldn't even know how to run spyware even if it set foot on the platform (a good thing) and I'm quite glad that Linux works well with Virtual Machines, as you can install many more Linux OS's and test them out.

Thanks for your reply Yordan. I was just curious if everything was still active and Xisto was still going strong before I made any commitment to it. I was just hoping I hadn't missed the boat completely. Such a great reputation and a great concept.. I am impressed and definitely don't mind posting. A new place to come, a new family, new friends.. it's an amazing concept. As for two physical sites.. only one is actually needed right now, and then I discovered that is why subdomains exist. I look forward to continue being here and seeing you around too. Hopefully other people are still active and alive out there.

What's the Decade Plan? That's crazy.Seems like the regular Logic plan is the way to go to get what you need asap.

I haven't been into website design or websites in a long time. And in the last few weeks, I've rejoined the party. Unfortunately for these forums, it seems like the party is dead. They are hardly active anymore and I'm curious why.I've experienced several free webhosts and I do understand that a paid one is best, but I wanted to get everything up and running first. I would think that if the web host gives me an excellent free service, I'm going to likely buy the paid one. But unfortunately, the paid is supposedly better than the free and the free goes down all the time. Therefore, my bad experience makes me not want to stay with the company and therefore, I'm seeking new web hosts.I come across Xisto.com which seems almost too good to be true. To post in the forums? To spend a couple of minutes of day making friends, helping others, and getting help myself? And what do I get from it? A free webhost and domain name? Or even if it's not free.. it's extremely cheap. And there are no complaints about this place. Hardly any that exist.And then I look through threads and I am tempted to reply, only to see that these threads were created in 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008 and the topics are long dead. And still, there are others that are somewhat active with a few people hidden in them. I understand the point of keeping old threads in the view -- so we don't have a history repeat itself, and the same questions get asked again and again. But why is there no archive for these things? The new should always be around. The old in the back.This site seems amazing and too good to be true and I'm so happy to be here and to support it in any way I can. But I think I've arrived much too late. Yet, it's a working website! It works! I signed up for 2 sites here.. I posted.. and I got credits. Therefore, this tells me that the Administrators are still active here because the entire system is still working!So I'm wondering.. where are all the active people at? And why aren't you posting more?