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No diversion can divert me from the fact that treadmills are boring. Even if the weather is bad, I'm not much of a TV viewer -- on or off the treadmill. And I often find the most energizing music to also be the most annoying. Reading on a treadmill can be downright nauseating.

But thanks to an experimental system out of Purdue University, I soon may be able to catch up on my backlog of New Yorker digital issues while clocking time on the dreaded tread.… Read more

As news spread of the blasts at the finish line of the Boston Marathon on Monday afternoon, people in the area reported that phone lines were down and cell phone calls could not get through. However, smartphones enabled some to send text messages and update social media accounts.

People took to social media sites like Twitter and Instagram to notify loved ones that they were OK. Others were using Twitter as a tool to reach out and ask those in the area to post updates.

The newest version of iOS has a built-in text-to-speech function that will mechanically read any words on the page to users with learning or sight impairments. It is easy to turn on and works fairly well for most apps and all Web browsing. For those that have more robust text-to-speech needs or that want to communicate with other people through the text-to-speech function, SpeakText FREE is a potentially useful app.

The app's biggest issue is the poorly executed user interface. Lacking clear menus, busied by excess and animated ads, and not taking advantage of the space available on the … Read more

Designed to convert text to speech in a variety of settings, either in the original language or translated into one of a handful of languages in its libraries, SpeakText for Web FREE could be a very useful app. Because the voice files are downloaded before you start, the process is relatively quick and accurate; but an obtuse design, steep pricing structure, and lack of clear direction make it an app only suited for a small number of users.

The first thing to know about the SpeakText apps is that the core software is designed for three different uses, and this … Read more

At first glance, SpeakText for Office FREE seems like a redundant app. It uses text-to-speech technology to read what is onscreen, either in the original language or translated. Of course, the iPad and iPhone come with text-to- speech software, so what purpose does this app have beyond centralizing it into a single space? For the most part, the text-to-speech functions are efficient, but the restrictions with the free version and high cost of the upgrade lessen this app's usefulness.

The free version of SpeakText for Office has limitations on the number of sentences you can have spoken or translated. … Read more

The SpeakText line of apps is designed to provide a more robust suite of tools for text-to-speech integration on your iOS devices, including translation into over 30 languages. SpeakText for Me FREE combines the abilities of several SpeakText apps, but has quite a few shortcomings, not the least of which is a pretty hefty price tag if you opt to upgrade from the limited free version.

The interface for SpeakText for Me FREE is the most immediate issue. Messy, ad-supported, and sprawling, it lacks the clear direction and sharp design needed to recommend a paid upgrade. It actually proved fairly … Read more

When using some common sandboxed applications in OS X such as TextEdit, you may run into an issue where the program experiences file access errors for which you may not even receive a notification. For example, if such an error occurs in TextEdit, you may see a warning stating that you do not have permission to access a file you are trying to open, or you may just find yourself unable to save a new or existing file you are currently editing.

In addition, access restrictions in sandboxed applications may result in odd file-saving behaviors in which multiple copies of … Read more

It seems no one is immune from the lure of the cell phone. Not even pilots. Not even in midflight.

National Transportation Safety Board records show that the pilot of a medical helicopter sent and received texts before the helicopter crashed in Missouri, killing four people.

As Bloomberg reports, the helicopter was operated by Air Methods Corporation, an air medical transport contractor whose policy forbids its pilots from using their cell phones in flight. The company didn't respond to Bloomberg's requests for comment, according to the news agency. We've contacted Air Methods and will update this report … Read more

Drivers who use mapping software on their phones to find out where they're going may not be paying enough heed to where they're going.

At least that's one way of characterizing a recent ruling by a California court.

Issued late last month and made more widely known by a tweet today from law professor Orin Kerr, the ruling says handling a cell phone while driving, even if "solely for its map application," is every bit as illegal in the Golden State as holding the phone to your ear while talking, or using your thumb (or … Read more