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I tuned in to KALW on my way home yesterday when I caught a young girl singing the last few stanzas of the Philippine national anthem. She sang them flawlessly. I thought, “Hey, it must be the Asian hour or something.” Then she spoke with an American accent. Then I thought, “Wow, that’s rare for a Fil-Am kid to know the Philippine National Anthem by heart.” She was then urged by someone who turned out to be her father to sing a Cantonese song. She proceeded to sing it. I thought, “Wow, this kid’s talented.” When the segment ended, I found out who the girl was: a young Sofia Coppola. A 1977 NPR interview with her and Francis Ford Coppola was being re-aired.

I discovered a way to read web pages while working. All I do is plug my headphones into my Mac, launch my Safari browser, go to a page I would like to read (it’s better if it’s super long), highlight the text, then select Speech>Start Speaking Text under Safari’s Services menu. My Mac would then read me the page! The default voice I use is Bruce but I sometimes use Victoria. The Mac’s spoken text capabilities have always impressed me. It’s a technology that’s been around since the early ’90s I believe. Apple adding it to the Services menu, which is available to every application (though it doesn’t work with IE), has elevated it from mere novelty to practically usable.

Mind you, I can’t have my Mac read to me all the time. This type of thing is perfect only when I do production work, like creating graphics and coding. But if my task involves some thinking (yes, production work is mindless work, heh), I definitely wouldn’t try it.

One other thing I do is listen to sermons/talk radio online. My favorite places to visit are STR Radio, The Bible Answer Man, RZIM, and a couple of local pastors’ archives in OnePlace.com. Formats come in WMV, RealPlayer or MP3. When sermons are available in MP3 or RM formats, I just download a whole bunch of them at home, burn it on CD, then listen to the CD at work.

Apparently I can listen to the Bible while working now too - it’s available in streaming audio or MP3 (link via Phisch). But I may have to rethink that. The Word of God surely requires much more concentration, reverence and deeper study than I could ever give at work. Listening to the Bible in this format is probably more suited for commute trips and doing household chores. Maybe it’s time to save up for an iPod.

CNET Radio (910 AM KNEW) went off the airwaves today. I only started listening to it back in November when I began carpooling with my brother-in-law Ron. The station, with its high-tech news and talk format, was a welcome addition to my radio dial repertoire. CNET Radio, I hardly knew you.