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Here is my Macintosh reading the Panatang Makabayan (mp3, 604k).

A few posts ago, I mentioned I was going to find a way to record my Mac’s text-to-speech voice. Well, I found a couple of Applescripts at VersionTracker that does just that. Easy enough. The hard part was getting my Mac to speak in Tagalog. I chose the Philippines’ Pledge of Allegiance for my Macintosh to read because I figured the monotonous way in which this piece is usually recited would suit the intonation of the Mac’s robotic voice. But additional work was needed to be done in order for the Mac to read Tagalog convincingly. I modified the text so that it would be read phonetically, plus I used dashes, commas, and periods to add the proper pauses and syllable emphasis.

Here’s the text for reference:

Panatang Makabayan

Iniibig ko ang Pilipinas
Ito ang aking lupang sinilangan
Ito ang tahanan ng aking lahi.

Ako ay kanyang kinukupkop,
At tinutulungan upang maging
Malakas, maligaya, at
Kapaki-pakinabang

Bilang ganti, diringgin ko
Ang payo ng aking mga magulang
Susundin ko ang mga tuntunin
Ng aking paaralan
Tutuparin ko ang mga tungkulin
Ng isang mamayang makabayan
At masunurin sa batas

Paglilingkuran ko ang aking Bayan
Ng walang pag-iimbot
At ng buong katapatan
Sisikapin kong maging
Isang tunay na Pilipino,
Sa isip, sa salita at sa gawa.

An English translation can be found at Paulo’s site.

Here’s how much I butchered the text in order for it to be read properly:

For what it’s worth, I got my 10,000th visit a few moments ago.

Congrats to whomever visited.

[update: I realized it’s more accurate to call it visit rather than visitor]

      
The Philippine archipelago has always looked to me like fossilized dinosaur bones. Luzon is the skull, the Bicol peninsula and Samar form the spine, the rest of Visayas form the rib cage, Palawan acts as an overextended front limb, Mindanao’s the hip bone and the Sulu islands are fragments of shattered hind legs.

A film on the life of Martin Luther is coming out this month. The church’s most famous reformer is played by Joseph Fiennes. Shouldn’t he have been played by Alfred Molina (who is also in the movie) instead?

Generation Rice sports a new look.