Welcome to the YAKiToMe! Frequently Asked Questions page. If you don't find what you're looking for in these pages, let us know using the Feedback form. This is a living document and was last updated on September 6, 2008.
What does YAKiToMe! do?
YAKiToMe! uses text-to-speech (TTS) technology to convert electronic text documents to MP3 or WAV audio files. Audio can be searched, cataloged, shared with other users, and downloaded to your computer or iPod for off-line listening.
Can I use YAKiToMe! TTS voices for free?
YAKiToMe! gives you free access to AT&T Natural Voices(R) TTS technology licensed from Wizzard Software Corp. and Windows voices from the Microsoft Corp. By using YAKiToMe! you agree to not edit or redistribute the audio files you make on YAKiToMe! using AT&T Natural Voices. You may distribute URLs or links to YAKiToMe! podcasts that you make or find here on YAKiToMe!
What's the fastest way to learn how to use YAKiToMe?
Hover your mouse cursor over any link (blue text) or icon button and YAKiToMe! will tell you where it leads to or what it does.
How do I convert text to speech?
Press Free Text To Speech, fill out the form to specify the text you want converted to audio, choose your reader's voice and press the "Convert Text To Speech" button. We'll take you back to the Podcast Library page where the display will show you how long you have to wait before your audio file is ready for listening.
Text to speech conversion is compute intensive so you may have to wait briefly while our computer runs your job. You can browse our public library for other audio files of interest while you wait.
The TTS countdown timer is only an estimate. We've noticed that for very large files we can overestimate by as much as 40%, which means that your text to speech conversion might actually be done even thought the countdown timer hasn't reached zero. We're going to make the countdown timer more accurate in the future. In the mean time, if you want to check to see whether a TTS conversion is really done, click on the title of the podcast in the library view, or if the audio is already selected, hit the refresh button on your browser.
Can I edit my file after it's converted to audio?
After converting text to speech,
you can edit the title, author, copyright, image, and sharing
properties by clicking on the
icon next to the file's title.
YAKiToMe! doesn't support editing the text itself after TTS conversion.
You have to go back to the
Free Text To Speech
tab to change and reconvert text to speech.
Can I listen to the same file with different voices?
Yes.
On the Podcast Library
page, click on the "Choose Reader" menu to select the desired
voice/speed combination.
Then press the
button to listen to the audio.
If you want to add a new voice/speed combination to the reader list, press the
button next to the "Choose Reader" menu.
You will be directed to a page where you can select a different
voice to read your text.
If you are the file owner, you will also see a
icon that will delete the current voice/speed combination
showing on the "Choose Reader" menu.
Can I control pronunciation?
Pronunciation controls are available when you convert Free Text To Speech (look under Step 2) or by following the Settings link.
Speaking of pronunciation ... what's a YAKAttack?
A YAKAttack is when you use funny pronunciations to make your YAKiToMe! audio file sound funny. By changing the pronunciation you can make one thing sound like another. For instance, "The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog." can be made to sound, "The quick brown dog jumped over the lazy fox." When applied to source material like today's news, a clever YAKAttack! can be pretty amusing. Have fun!
How do I listen to an audio book podcast?
Press the Podcast Library
link.
When viewing a library, in the lower-middle portion of the screen
click on the title of an audio book.
The book will load into the audio player and the title will appear
in the audio player box at the top-middle of the screen, just below the
Podcast Library
link.
Press the
button to listen to your selection.
Can I download audio files to my computer?
Yes, but you must first login to your YAKiToMe! account
before you can download a file.
After logging in, hover your cursor over the
and
icons to learn how to download audio files to your computer or iPod/MP3 player.
The following answers will also give instructions in more detail for how
to download files from YAKiToMe!
How do I podcast from YAKiToMe!?
To podcast to iTunes, simply drag the
icon onto iTunes.
The audio file will automatically download
to iTunes' podcast folder.
When you podcast a group or your private files,
iTunes will automatically synchronize
with YAKiToMe! as new audio files appear
in your group or your private files.
Note: feeds that change on YAKiToMe! may not synchronize
automatically on iTunes after the first time they're downloaded.
We are investigating this issue.
Meanwhile, the workaround is for you to manually delete the iTunes podcast
and recopy the YAK feed to iTunes to get iTunes to update properly.
Can I podcast more than one file at a time?
Yes. Entire collections of TTS conversion files can be podcast at once
by dragging the
icons under the "View My Library" and "View My Groups" navigation headings on the
left side of YAK's
Podcast Library
page.
Can I directly download audio files to my computer hard disk drive?
Yes. Look for the
icon in the title bar of the audio player panel in the middle of the
Podcast Library page.
In Windows Explorer, right-mouse-click
on the icon and select the "Save Target As ..." menu entry.
In Mozilla Firefox, right-mouse-click
on the icon and select the "Save Link As ..." menu entry.
You will be prompted to specify where you want to write the file
onto your computer hard disk drive.
Does YAKiToMe! work with MP3 players other than the iPod?
We've only tested our MP3 interface with iTunes and the iPod. Our desire is to support all MP3 players, but we don't have every player under the sun at our ranch. So please let us know if you have any trouble with downloading to your MP3 player and we'll try to get it working for you!
How long do I have to wait for a TTS conversion?
If your file is in the TTS queue,
your wait time and queue position will be
shown in a status panel where the
usually lives.
After the countdown finishes, the status panel will automatically change
to the PLAY button.
What input file formats does YAKiToMe! support?
Supported input text formats include:
- .doc (MS Word document format)
- .pdf (Adobe PDF format)
- .txt (Plain ASCII text format)
- .html (html format)
- .xml (xml feed format -- Atom, RSS 0.96, RSS 1.0, RSS 2.0)
- email (Email reader)
I tried reading a PDF file but all I got was garbage! What's up with that?
YAKiToMe! can not convert locked PDF files to speech. If you try to convert a locked PDF file, the YAKiToMe! PDF reader will produce a garbage file full of strange-looking control characters. Therefore, you must first unlock the PDF file before trying to read it into YAKiToMe!
What output file formats does YAKiToMe! support?
YAKiToMe! generates .wav or .mp3 files that are suitable for downloading to your iPod or equivalent media player. Support for OGG is planned for the near future. Give us a holler on the Feedback page to get us to do it faster.
YAKiToMe! is cool, but what is it good for?
Use YAKiToMe! to listen to books, memos, email, webpages, RSS feeds when you're in a hands-busy, eyes-busy situation. YAKiToMe! can help you learn new languages and word pronunciations. You can download useful phrases or listen to a walking-tour guide. YAKiToMe! is great for multi-tasking, proofreading, and learning. When you download to an iPod or MP3 player you can listen on the go!
What are groups?
Groups are a way for you to share audio files with other users. Join a group or start your own and invite others to join.
Note that the group feature is work in progress. Read on to learn more ...
Can I make my group private?
Yes. Private groups let you share confidential information with friends and colleagues. With private groups, only people you invite to join the group can listen to your audio files. Audio files associated with a private group are visible only to members of the private group. Also, only members of the private group will be able to see the group listed anywhere.
Can businesses use YAKiToMe! groups?
Businesses can share audio files among private groups. Mobile professionals can have YAKiToMe! read them their emails. Sales managers can broadcast important announcements to their account executives, who can listen to them while they're on the road.
What about public groups?
Audio files associated with a public group are visible to the public. Public groups will be visible to anyone in the group listings.
Can I advertise on YAKiToMe!?
Yes, YAKiToMe! supports an advertising business model. We can uniquely match audio content to demographic data, enabling an entirely new and untapped marketing channel. No other website can make the same claim with such authority. If you're interested in advertising on YAKiToMe!, contact us using our Feedback Form.
What is Project Gutenberg?
YAKiToMe! has many titles from Project Gutenberg that have already been converted from text to speech. In their own words, "Project Gutenberg is the first and largest single collection of free electronic books, or eBooks." At this writing, Project Gutenberg had over 17,000 electronic books. We need your help to convert these files over to YAKiToMe! Every time you convert a Project Gutenberg ebook, please do not change any text in the ebook and be sure to share your converted file(s) publically so that everyone will be able to benefit.
Useful RSS feeds.
The web is exploding with RSS feeds. Here are a few we like and have (mostly) already converted from text to speech. We include them here as examples of useful feeds. You may wish to search for them on YAKiToMe! before creating your own copies.
We especially like the Yahoo! search function that creates an RSS feed from your search words.