How synthetic speech and text-to-speech works

Kes: I actually don't listen to my screen reader nearly this fast--my usual speed is only somewhat faster than an average speaker, I would call it highly caffeinated geek speed--and, while I have issues listening to older lesser quality TTS, II don't aspire to the higher quality, human-sounding TTS for most purposes: most of the time, the TTS is rendered kind of invisibl inside my head, equivalent to my internal reading voice.
https://tink.uk/notes-on-synthetic-speech/#main-content

Two Linux options for visually impaired users

Kes: Alexx helped me install Pengwin (note the spelling)) a few weeks ago which, since it works with Windows, means I can use my Jaws screen reader with it, but today I found out about Accessible Coconut, which seems to be self-voicing, although I haven't tried it yet.

1. Accessible-Coconut is a community-driven Linux distro aimed at providing the ideal Linux experience to visually impaired people
https://www.makeuseof.com/accessible-coconut-linux-distro-for-visually-impaired/

Features of Accessible-Coconut
Accessible-Coconut features a plethora of easy-to-use accessibility features across the platform. Since this distro is specially developed for blind and low-vision people, its features are all geared towards helping the minority group in whichever way possible.

For example, the screen reader is Orca, while the speech engine is eSpeak. Users have an option to choose other forms of speech engines, including IBM ViaVoice and Cepstral.

All the accessibility tools are present in the Universal Access section and are accessible while performing any task(s) on the system.

Visually challenged people often require specialized software to read books and documents. In this regard, optical character recognition proves to be an excellent way of converting regular documents into accessible ones.

The book reading features in Accessible-Coconut include:

Print reading: The print reading feature offers the facility to read printed books using an optical character scanner. This scanner can linguistically translate major languages like English, Spanish, Hindi, and Arabic.
Daisy-player: The Daisy-player plays books in DAISY (Digital Accessible Information System) format. This player majorly works as a CD player, as it has large tactile controls specially designed to cater to blind and low vision readers.
Ebook speaker: The Ebook speaker reads books in standard formats like EPUB, PDF, text files, etc.
Accessible-Coconut comes with pre-built audio and video players to offer an excellent multimedia experience to the user. Standard system utilities like web browsers, email clients, messenger, PDF viewers, and text editors are preinstalled in the OS.

2. Pengwin: A Linux distro optimized for WSL based on Debian
https://github.com/WhitewaterFoundry/Pengwin

Pengwin
Release 21.8.0

Wiki
https://github.com/WhitewaterFoundry/Pengwin/wiki

Pengwin
is the easiest to use Linux distribution on
Windows Subsystem for Linux.
Pengwin is a Linux environment for Windows
built on work by Microsoft Research
and the Debian project.
Install just the tool you need: use APT
https://www.whitewaterfoundry.com/features/9q1h1yyjtmficna2td7zwapokplr28
Windows Terminal seamless integration
Pengwin Linux

What is WSL?
Windows Subsystem for Linux is a compatibility layer for running Linux binaries natively in a console environment on Windows 10. No re-compilation or porting is required. WSL provides a Linux-compatible kernel interface developed by Microsoft and allows a user to chose a Linux distribution to install from the Microsoft Store.

Americans with disabilities less likely to own computer, smartphone | Pew Research Center

Some 62% of adults with a disability say they own a desktop or laptop computer, compared with 81% of those without a disability, according to a Pew Research Center survey of U.S. adults conducted Jan. 25-Feb. 8, 2021. And when it comes to smartphone ownership, there is a gap of 16 percentage points between those with a disability and those without one (72% vs. 88%).
...Whether or not someone goes online also varies by disability status. Americans with disabilities are three times as likely as those without a disability to say they never go online (15% vs. 5%). And while three-quarters of Americans with disabilities report using the internet on a daily basis, this share rises to 87% among those who do not have a disability.

https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/09/10/americans-with-disabilities-less-likely-than-those-without-to-own-some-digital-devices/

Bodhran for beginners

Kes: First of all, I'm embarrased at how badly I have been mispronouncing the name of this drum for the past few weeks, although I am pleased to find out that it shares the name of my favorite pub
The Bodhran by Seamus Kennedy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYKArhNzjsQ&list=PLpTusYbea9pf32O4YiskFUqYKEhyy1Ne1&index=75

Bodhran Lesson How to hold and the basic stroke by the Online Academy of Irish Music
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y540acW6NQM

Here are a couple of MP3 instructional CDs you can purchase on Amazon:

Bodhran Practice (Slow Sets for Beginners & Practice)
Alison Boyd

The Bodhran
Mark Stone

And here is a Udemy course:

Learn the Irish Drum- Bodhrán | Udemy
Created by
Siobhan O'Donnell
All Ireland Bodhran Champion
https://www.udemy.com/course/learn-the-bodhran/