Getting Your News as MP3s?

GreenKiwi asks: "I've been really interested in finding a news source that has MP3s of their brodcasts. I have an iPod and download the news in text form most mornings to it so that I can find out what's going on. However, I would love to download (preferably automatically) news in the form of an MP3 that I could download to my iPod in the morning so that I could listen to the news on my way to work. The BBC has Real Audio output, but no MP3s that I can find. NPR has them for Real and WMP. I guess I could download and then convert the files. If that's possible. I'd love to hear whether anyone is doing this and how."

Comments

DIY :)

[joebp]

lynx -dump ${URL} | ${YOUR_FAVOURITE_TEXT_TO_SPEECH_PROGRAM} | ${YOUR FAVOURITE_MP3_ENCODER} > outfile.mp3

You'll probably need to tweak the voice the TTS program produces to avoid involuntarily wetting yourself laughing when it makes hilarious speak-o's.

Also, you'll need to find a decent news site with few extraneous words and crap.

I agree with this post.

[tps12]

I wholeheartedly agree with you. Festival is a particularly good text-to-speech program. It sounds like an English butler, so you will feel wealthy and pampered while listening to it.

Another benefit of this is that it can be modified with minimal effort to give you audio versions of not just any web site, but any plain text source, whether it be email, your grocery list, your "to do" list (so you can get in the right mindset before arriving at work), yesterday's server stats.

I first learnt of text-to-speech when my uncle lost his eyes in a fishing boat accident. He's a computer enthusiast, and I was soon impressed with his neat new software. Since then, I've noticed that many of the "accessibility" mechanisms put in place for the handicapped can be beneficial to normal people as well. I frequently browse the 'web with no images, and just use ALT tags (intended for the blind). Certain city intersections that "chirp" for blind people when the light is green allow me to cross the street while reading. Wheelchair ramps are easy on the knees, and handicapped parking spaces are usually open and very close to my destination. Text-to-speech may be your first step into a larger, more convenient world.

Try listening to your local radio station

[duffbeer703]

Most AM stations have news every half hour.

Re:Try listening to your local radio station

[bje2]

well, the author didn't specify, where he works, or how he commutes, which is a problem when answering this question...obviously your answer is easy, if a radio is readily available...i'm going to assume that the author must not drive to work, because if he did, he could just listen to the news on his radio as you stated, and not bother asking this question...however, i'm guessing he probably lives or works in a major city, where he takes a subway, etc, making a radio/walkman useless (if he's going to the trouble to ask this)...if this *is* actually the case, then the author does need an alternative to the radio...of course, he could just throw a casette tape in his stereo while he's showering/getting ready for work/eating breakfast in the morning...tape a half hour or hour of the news...and then listen to it with a walkman on the way to work...i dunno, it's just hard to answer without having all the pertinent information....

Storing streaming audio as mp3

[randylea]

I use a program called Total Recorder, available at http://www.highcriteria.com/ for $11.95 (US). It records the output of Real player, M$ Media Player, or even Winamp digitally, and allows you to save the file as wav or mp3 (using Lame or Blade mp3 libraries). Even includes a timer, so you can leave the audio player running all day, with set start and stop times. Best $12 I've ever spent on software.