CHIPSpeaking Software

PROGRAMMING IT ALL . . .

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other diseases that steal vocal abilities.

To be robbed twice would be heartbreaking. I am determined to keep this software free for many reasons, but mostly because I have seen firsthand the anguish felt by A.L.S. victims.

So, I decided to write some software using the free text to speech software that Microsoft supplies for free. We're on the right track with free. Next I had to get the Agent™ software from Microsoft. Thanks Bill and Co.!

So then came the fun part. Writing the software. It took about three weeks of fiddling with Visual Basic™ until I re-learned BASIC within the Windows environment. Once I get the hang of it, it took quite a number of hours of programming and testing time to come up with a test version.

A.L.S. is a progressive neuromuscular disease which slowly robs the patient of his or her ability to move voluntary muscles. Eventually, it affects involuntary muscles and their nerves, which makes it impossible for the patient to breathe and live.

Cal Ripken, Jr. and the Baltimore Orioles team were wonderful the day Mr. Ripken passed Lou Gehrig's record. They sold box seats to that game with the proceeds going to the Lou Gehrig ALS research center. The ticket sales totaled 2.3 million. Cal Ripken and his teammates rounded the figure up to a full 3 million OUT OF THEIR OWN POCKETS AND BANK BOOKS! Go Orioles!

Not long ago, another famous baseball player died from the disease, Catfish Hunter - a great pitcher and a hero since my youth. The disease is a slowly advancing neuromuscular disease. This means that the simple tasks that many of us take for granted are gone for many ALS patients - as well as victim of other similar diseases. There is no known cure and eventually, the stricken person's lungs stop breathing because the nerves and muscles required atrophy and waste away. It is usually fatal within 2 ½ to 4 years of the patient's diagnosis

CHIPSpeaking and CHIPSpeech are fairly simple, and quite easily used. The buttons are easy and fairly large to accommodate persons with motor skill difficulties. CHIPSpeaking has an area to type what you want the computer to say. It also can let you paste text into the speech entry area. This allows you to read your email without looking at it, which will allow persons with difficulty seeing small text on the screen to hear their messages.

The software requires a multimedia equipped IBM or compatible computer. In short, it is a pure 32 bit program, and even though you

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About CHIPSpeaking | Chip was a gentleman, we will miss him. | Programming it all . . . | Directory of Related Links | Getting the Software

| Ways you can help . . .

| Donations are encouraged | Suggestions please! |  Future construction! | Future construction!

To contact us:

CHIPSpeaking Software

112 Dean Court

Lexington, SC 29073-7567

Email: chipspeaking@aol.com