code , ruby comments (0) Well, having the Economist read at any rate. First, set up Festival (configuring it to use ALSA and an ‘English’ voice ): apt-get install festival apt-get install festvox-rablpc16k cat > ~/.festivalrc <<END (Parameter.set 'Audio_Command "aplay -D plug:dmix -q -c 1 -t raw -f s16 -r \$SR