How to Add More Voices for Text-to-Speech In Windows 7 32-bit

Warning: The following steps involve editing the registry. Continue at your own risk.

This tutorial is based on Voran's guide found here. The steps he outlines is for Windows 7 64-bit. If you have a 32-bit system, then follow the instructions below. Also, please note that I was only able to make this work with US voices when used with Microsoft Word. For an excellent tutorial on how to enable text-to-speech in Word, watch this video.

Now, on with the steps.

1. Download the SpeechPlatformRuntime.msi file for x86 systems from http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=27225

2. Just double-click the file and follow the installation instructions.
3. Download the two US voices Helen and ZiraPro from http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=27224 . As I said earlier, these were the only voices I got to work.

I tried the procedure with GB_Hazel and CA_Heather but no joy. If you get these voices to work, please leave a link or comment below on how you were able to make these work.

4. Again, just double click each .msi installer for each voice and follow the installation instructions.
5. Now it is time to edit the registry. Run regedit. Initially, if you go under Under - HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Speech\Voices
you should only see Microsoft's default voice Anna. While if you look under
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Speech Server\v11.0\Voices
you should see the two voices you installed (Helen and ZiraPro). If you're wondering why my image has four voices, refer to my comments above.

Our goal is to edit the registry so that the image above becomes like the following image

 
6. To do that, right click the "Tokens" folder under
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Speech Server\v11.0\Voices
and choose Export. Save this file to your desktop as voices1.reg so it will be easy to find later.

7. Open voices1.reg in Notepad. Then do a Find-and-replace. Enter \Speech Server\v11.0\ into the "Find What" field and enter \Speech\ into the "Replace With" field. Click "Replace All". Then save the file. Note, after you save the file, its icon might change into a notepad icon, meaning you might have saved it as a text file instead of a registry file. If this happens, make sure you save the file with a .reg extension instead of a .txt. If the file still won't open using the registry editor, try right-clicking it and opening using regedit.

8. Double click the newly saved voices1 registry file. You will then receive a registry warning prompt. Click Yes.
9. To check if you were successful, go to Control Panel > Ease of Access > Speech Recognition > Text to Speech.

10. You should now be able to select additional voices (Helen or ZiraPro) aside from Microsoft Anna in the dropdown box. You can then press on Preview Voice to check if they sound right. If you're satisfied with the voice, then click on OK. Now, you should be able to use the new voice to read portions of your word document. Really useful in proofreading, and hopefully less annoying than Anna.

I hope this tutorial was able to help you out. Feel free to leave me feedback below.

Addendum: I tried changing the voices in Narrator and it was able to recognize GB Hazel and CA Heather. But MS Word still wouldn't recognize these two non-US voices. Again, if you are able to come up with a solution to this issue, please let me know. Thanks.

Clash of Clans: Hearbroken or a Proposal?

The image above, to me, seemed so funny, I just had to write about it. Three theories come to mind.

First, the player who made this is madly in love. He (or she) is so in love that he has ceased to be rational and has forgotten about the basic principle of protecting one's resources in Clash of Clans using the walls. Instead, he has used the walls to declare his undying love for the other person. He is probably in love with a fellow Clash of Clans player, a clan mate perhaps. Maybe they met through Clash of Clans and this is the most memorable way for him to tell the other person about his love. Maybe it is a marriage proposal, or maybe a be my partner proposal.

The second theory is that the two players are already in love. But they are in rough patch. And this is one of the player's way of saying sorry. He's probably a Clash of Clan addict and gives the game more time and attention rather than his partner. So, in order to say "Sorry" and to make amends, he sacrifices his well built town, allowing any other player, even novices of the game, to completely obliterate it because of poorly constructed defenses.

Finally, the last theory still revolves around lovers. But they have broken up, and it is a complete split up. The other person refuses to get back with the player who made the town set up. He is completely heart broken. In utter frustration, he allows other players to trample on his town in the same way that his partner trampled with his heart.

I rarely see poorly made defenses on Clash of Clan. I've seen people who use the walls artistically. I've even seen a bat symbol reminiscent of the logo used in the Christian Bale movies. But I haven't seen a player do what has been done in the image above. Out of the three theories, I probably like the one where the player quits Clash of Clans for good to devote more time and attention to his girlfriend or wife. So he leaves the game completely, and this town setup is his proof for his loved one that she is more important to him.

Globe Acquisition of Bayantel, A Worsening of Service

Bayantel used to at least send technicians within a promised period of 24 hours. Now that Globe Telecom has acquired it, they are instilling worst practices in order to minimize on expenses. And that probably includes downsizing on manpower, and using technology that is prone to failure.

This year alone, I've had to deal with internet connection failures for the past three months, and a no dial tone issue this month. Instead of receiving service, all I get are sloppy excuses and insincere apologies. "We are upgrading our services", "Sorry for the inconvenience".

The no dial tone issue is still unresolved after six days, and Bayantel won't even give us the courtesy of sending a technician. "Your phone is ringing whenever we call it." That doesn't mean that the phone works. I've tried calling our number with the unit disconnected and it is still ringing. Shouldn't you as a service provider verify that you can actually talk with the customer before closing the case?

So for people who are thinking of applying for a Bayantel connection, think twice. Better yet, just find a different internet and phone service provider. If you don't believe me, just look at all the customer complaints on Bayantel's Twitter page. ( @askbayan )

And as for you, Bayantel, don't be sorry. Just refund the payment for the days when we can't avail of the services we paid for.

Post Script: It took Bayantel 11 days to fix the issue.