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I'm designing a creative / funny prank for OSX via command line. By running in the background, most users would not notice it when she/he first starts using the computer.

Using say command with creepy voice (Deranged) is my best bet. Setting volume to very low during saying the sentences is even more creepy! My problem is, I don't know how to grab current current volume to set it to the same volume after saying. 

sascript -e "set Volume 2"
say "Naaame I see you" -v Deranged -r 20
sascript -r "set Volume 0"
sleep 600
sh thisscript.sh

Can I get the current volume and store it in a variable using unix shell scripts?

bmike
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Mohsen
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    I'm not so sure this is a good post. This is more of an open-ended subjective post. If you'd like to edit it and make it more objective, that'd be great, but I'm going to vote to close it for now. – daviesgeek Jun 28 '13 at 19:29
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    I think this question is off topic. BUT, I can't resist sharing this: Try fixing a piece of tape to the bottom of the user's mouse. Infared or laser won't pick up the location, so looks like their screen froze. – ckpepper02 Jun 28 '13 at 19:29
  • I intent to be ask a open ended question. Just like this – Mohsen Jun 28 '13 at 19:39
  • @Mohsen: personally, I think the question you cite is an exception to the usual AD format. Although it’s open-ended, it’s clear what the value and merit of the question is. I don’t think the same can be said for this one; pranks aren’t especially useful or helpful. – alexwlchan Jun 28 '13 at 19:45
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    As mentioned, this is a list/poll style question that is not as productive or educational as the ones that we have allowed in the past. – Nathan Greenstein Jun 28 '13 at 19:48
  • I would close it if it's not inline with sites values. But pranks are sometimes valuable to users. – Mohsen Jun 28 '13 at 20:25
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    @Mohsen I love that avatar. Hit us up in [chat] and we might see about a blog post on pranks. I bet we could use the chat rooms to make some discovery and put it on the blog. I'd even help promote the chat room since it's summer and a little fun can't hurt if it's in the right place. Heck, the site owners often do hat contests and such so we could try a new way to have fun, no? – bmike Jun 28 '13 at 21:02

1 Answers1

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You could always get the volume, change the volume, say your line, and then restore the volume within the AppleScript:

#!/usr/bin/osascript
set currentVolume to output volume of (get volume settings)
set volume output volume 1
say "Hello" using "Deranged"
set volume output volume currentVolume
Daniel
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