YellowBridge Talker

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Purchase Related Questions

Do I need a YellowBridge Subscription in order to use YellowBridge Talker?

No, the Yellowbridge Talker is independent from the YellowBridge Subscription. You do not need a subscription in order to use the Talker and vice versa. Some features of ther website, however, do benefit from the presence of both.

Do I have to use Paypal to purchase YellowBridge Talker?

All payments to us are processed by Paypal but you don't actually need to sign up to Paypal if you don't want to. On the payment page simply click on the line that says "Don't have a Paypal account?" and you'll be prompted for the credit card information instead. Note, however, that Paypal won't allow you to enter a credit card or email that is already registered to a Paypal account.

If you pay via a credit card, your license key will be sent to you via e-mail immediately. If you pay via a Paypal eCheck, there will be a delay of about four business days before your key is sent because the eCheck has to be cleared by your bank.

After filing the payment form, I keep getting the following message "Your payment session has expired. To complete this transaction, you will need to enter your information again."

This message is caused by your browser not accepting the Paypal cookie. If your browser is currently set to disable cookies for security reasons, simply enable cookies to complete the transaction and disable cookies again afterwards. Alternately, you can add http://www.paypal.com to the list of sites whose cookies you'll accept.

I completed the purchase via Paypal but still haven't received the promised licensed key?

Our licensed key is sent out automatically within a few seconds from your completing the transaction. If you still haven't received your key after about 15 minutes, you should check your inbox to see whether it was mistakenly filtered out by your anti-spam software. We have found out that 99.9% of the time the license key is sent out correctly but because our e-mail is not recognized by your e-mal filter, it is mistakenly placed in your spam or junk mailbox.

Product Features

Does YellowBridge Talker pronounce correctly words that have multiple pronunciations?

The text-to-speech engine used by YellowBridge Talker is able to deal correctly with common words having multiple pronunciations provided there is enough context to determine the right pronunciation. For example, both 便宜and 方便，or 还书 and 还是, are pronounced correctly. Of course, when it pronounces a single character or encounters less common combinations, it may not use the one you intended. This may occur in the YellowBridge Dictionary pages related to a specific character.

Can YellowBridge Talker read non-Chinese text?

Although the primary purpose of YellowBridge Talker is to read Chinese text, its unique ability to read text from any web page can also be used to read non-Chinese text if the necessary voices are available on your computer. The necessary voices must be compatible with Microsoft SAPI 5 standard. YellowBridge Talker is only shipped with the Chinese voice but if you are running the US version of Windows XP, you already have at least one American English voice (Microsoft Sam). Voices in other local languages may be available in version of Windows sold in other countires. YellowBridge Talker examines the first character of the text to be read before deciding which voice it will use. If the first character is a Chinese character, it will use the Chinese voice. Otherwise it will use the current default voice for your computer.

You can change the current default voice as follows:

1. Click on Start->Control Panel or Start->Settings->Control Panel->Speech.
2. Click on the Text-to-Speech tab.
3. Choose the desired voice under Voice selection. You should never choose a Chinese voice as your default voice because the default voice will only be used to pronounce non-Chinese text.

Do you have a Cantonese version?

No. You might try http://www.se.cuhk.edu.hk/cuvocal/ and see whether their product does what you want.

Do you offer YellowBridge Talker in a CD-ROM?

No, the download file is only about 2MB so it will download quickly even if you are using a dial-up connection. If you are more interested in having a CD-ROM for backup and re-installation purposes, you can copy the downloaded file to a CD-ROM yourself.

Does YellowBridge Talker run on Mozilla Firefox or Netscape?

The short answer is no because the YellowBridge Talker relies on technologies that must run inside an Internet Explorer (IE) page. However, Mozilla Firefox and Netscape have extensions that allow an IE page to be display as a tab within them. Hence, if your goal is simply to avoid switching browsers just to use the YellowBridge Talker, using such a browser extension is a viable workaround. On the other hand, if you really are trying to avoid running IE at all costs, this is not a solution because you will still be running it, albeit stealthily. Here's how:

• Install the IE Tab extension.
• Go to the page to want to view. Right mouse click and select View Page in IE Tab.
• You can tell IE Tab which sites you want to always view via IE.

Please note that YellowBridge cannot provide support for installing or maintaining these third party extensions.

Versions

Will there be version for Mac, Linux, etc?

We are afraid not. YellowBridge Talker is partially dependent on technology which is currently only available on Windows.

Has there been a recent update to YellowBridge Talker?

The YellowBridge Talker release history is as follows:

• Version 1.0 (Nov 25, 2004)- Initial Release
• Version 1.0.0.1 (Jan 13, 2005). Fixed error preventing words which start with the Chinese character yi ("一") from being pronounced.
• Version 1.0.0.2 (Oct 20, 2006). No functionality change. Only changed string identification of module to "YellowBridge Talker" to prevent confusion for users of Internet Explorer 7.
• Version 1.0.1 (July 4, 2007). Support for Windows Vista.

If you have installed an earlier version of the software, simply uninstall the earlier version before installing the new version. You will need to reenter your permanent license key if you have purchased a copy of the software. Note, however, that the license keys issued prior to version 1.0.1 are not compatible to those issued for version 1.0.1 or later. If you have purchased a version prior to 1.0.1 and need to reinstall the software, please download the archived version here.

After Installation

What do I do if I still get the message "Sorry, YellowBridge Talker is not installed on this computer or your evaluation period has expired" after installing the YellowBridge Talker evaluation?

You need to make sure that your settings for Internet Explorer are not disallowing the execution of ActiveX controls. Setting the IE security levels to their default levels should be sufficient.

How to change your Security Level on IE.

• Select Tools » Internet Options » Security from the IE menubar
• Click on the Internet content zone
• Click on Default level or click Medium (IE6) or Medium-high (IE7) for the 'Security level for this zone'.
• Click on OK

Also see answer to the following question.

After upgrading to Internet Explorer 7, YellowBridge talker stopped working. What do I do?

YellowBridge Talker does work with IE7. However, after upgrading to IE 7, the first time that you try to run a YellowBridge Talker, IE may give you a security warning and prompt you whether to accept the installation of YellowBridge Talker, such as:

"This website wants to run the following add-on ''YellowBridge Talker' from 'YellowBridge.com (unverified publisher)'. If you trust the website and the add-on and want to allow it run, click here..."

The IE security is easy to miss as it appears as a thin yellow line just above the web page content). You must accept it in order for YellowBridge Talker to work. On some earlier releases, YellowBridge Talker is incorrectly identified with the name of "TO DO:<file description>" but you should still allow its installation to proceed.

Alternately, do the following:

• From the IE7 menubar go to Tools » Manage Add-ons » Enable or Disable Add-ons...
• In the Manage Add-ons popup, select "Add-ons that have been used with Internet Explorer" under Show.
• Look for "YellowBridge Talker" or "Talker class" under the Name column. Select the entry and select it.
• Select Enable under Settings and click on OK.

If all else fails, you can always download and reinstall the Talker but you must then reenter your license key.

What should I do if I installed YellowBridge Talker but I can't hear any sound but there are no error messages?

• Make sure that you can hear sounds generated by other programs. (For example, play a song using Windows Media Player or any other audio player.) If you can't hear any sounds: (1) ensure that the speakers are plugged in and connected; and (2) open the Control Panel and ensure that the sound is not muted or turned too low.
• Make sure that your security settings allow the running of unsigned ActiveX controls, as follows:
  • In your Internet Explorer menubar, click on Tools->Internet Options.
  • Click on the security tab.
  • Click on the Internet zone icon (the world icon).
  • Click on the Default button.
  • Click on OK to dismiss the dialog.
• In neither of the above solves the problems, then go to Settings » Control Panel » Speech.
  • Click on the Text-to-Speech tab
  • Select "Microsoft Simplified Chinese" under "Voice selection" and click on Preview Voice.
  • Select "Microsoft Sam" or any other voice listed under "Voice selection" and click on Preview Voice. (Depending on the version of Windows youn are running, there may not be any other installed voice).
  • If you can't hear any sound or get the message "This voice cannot be played, please try selecting another voice or selecting a different audio output device", the problem may be due to an incompatibility between your sound card and Microsoft SAPI 5 software or some other improper hardware or software configuration. You will need to remedy this problem before YellowBridge Talker can work.

What do I do if the product still thinks that it is in evaluation mode after I registered it using the purchased license key?

This is almost always caused by mistakes in entering the license key. Make sure that the key was entered EXACTLY as is, including the upper or lower case of the letters. Pay attention to the difference between the letter O and the number zero, the letter l and the number 1. It is usually best to copy/paste the key to prevent keying errors. After key registration, try the Talker in a NEW browser window.

A second but remote possibility is that you are you running some computer protection program that prevents the Windows registry from being changed. Some computer antivirus programs may have such behavior. To ensure that this is not the case, you should turn off any such program before performing the installation or key registration. YellowBridge Talker reports the license key in use whenever it issues an expiration message so that you can easily compare the reported key against the key you tried to register.

How do I move my YellowBridge Talker if I have upgraded a new computer?

If you bought YellowBridge Talker prior to July 4, 2007:

• Download the archived installation software from here.
• Reenter the license key issued to you when you purchased the Talker.

If you bought YellowBridge Talker on or after July 4, 2007:

• Download the current installation software from here.
• Reenter the license key issued to you when you purchased the Talker.

How do I uninstall the YellowBridge Talker?

The YellowBridge Talker can be uninstalled like any other Windows application using the Add or Remove Programs option from the Control Panel.

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